Caffeinated Books?

I've just been reading about a fantastic piece of technology called the Espresso Book Machine. Manufactured by On Demand Books, these machines are able to print library-quality paperback books on demand, quickly, and for a low cost. The digital library available for printing by the EBM includes over a million books provided through the Open Content Alliance, and they also have a partnership with Lightning Source Inc, which provides access to nearly a million titles that are currently in copyright. It usually takes about 4-7 minutes to print, trim, and bind a single book, and the cost is around ten dollars per book. There is a lot if interesting information at On Demand Books' FAQ, including the fact that "a single machine operating 12 hours a day, 7 days a week, can produce over 60,000 books per year with minimum supervision." They claim that the books produced by the machine are indistiguishable from any paperback on a bookstore shelf. Check out their brochure for a ten-step outline of how the machine works, and for a list of current locations. Among the first to get these machines were the University of Alberta bookstore, the University of Michigan library, and in 2007 there was one on exhibit at the New York Public Library. Check out the University of Michigan's video about the machine and what it means for their library. Out-of-print, rare, or hard-to-find books become accessible to anyone, and they can take home their own copy for relatively cheap. Truly amazing. And espresso means fast, not coffee.

Pimp My Bookcart

Unshelved.com hosts a contest every year for libraries to create the most pimped-out bookcart. Check out some of the pictures of the winners here! My favorites are the covered wagon, the Mystery Machine from Scooby Doo, and the "support glitteracy" hippie bus. It looks like a lot of kids have had fun decorating the bookcarts at their school libraries. This could be a great program to get kids excited about the public library as well!

One Space or Two?

Lately the battle of the spaces has been brought to my attention. Since high school, I have been a faithful member of the school of two spaces; I put two spaces between a period and the start of a new sentence. I have noticed that whenever I post on my discussion boards for class or create a new post on my blog, my writing is automatically altered so there is only one space instead of two. This automatic altering, I would guess, is the source of my troubles when I was attempting to incorporate ascii art into my blog post-- Blogger automatically undid the "art" part and slid my beautiful butterfly into oblivion.
So what's the deal? I did a little bit of research and discovered what this is all about. And it has to do with technology! Back in high school when I was using a mechanical typewriter (and printing presses were this way, too), the letters in the typeface were all the same width. Because there were so many resulting gaps within the text, a double space was used to aid the reader's eye in detecting the beginning of a new sentence. With the advent of modern technology, computers and such, the fonts we use today are proportional; an "o" and an "i" no longer take up the same amount of space. So the end of a sentence is easily recognized with only one space, and putting an extra space in there can create "rivers" in the text that can be unattractive and distracting. The MLA officially uses a single space after all punctuation marks, but they do say that there is nothing wrong with using two unless you are specifically asked not to. This is a useful thing for a librarian to know! I would imagine that grammar and format questions are not uncommon at a reference desk, especially an academic one.
Until further notice, I think I will stick with my current habit, especially since these things are sometimes automatically adjusted for me.

Sand in Technology at the Beach

I tried to use my digital camera the other day, for the first time since Spring Break.... and something is wrong. It won't focus, I think because it's having a problem moving the lens in and out (also it is making a really weird noise, it sounds like a grating noise, NOT good).
So my theory is: I got sand in my camera. Despite my careful care for it, I did take it to the beach one day, and it was in my beach bag for a short while, so it's possible there may be some sand in there. I'll take it to be repaired, and we'll see what the diagnosis is. I'm guessing death by beach. Nature is stronger than electronics.

Technology at the Beach

While on spring break last week, I did a little bit of thinking about technology at the beach (just a little bit- mostly I was relaxing!). I went to the beach with a few friends, and we spent most of our time either laying on the beach or swimming in the ocean. And I read a book! It was so great for me to be able to read a novel for pleasure; it's something I never can find the time to do while school is in session, and even if I had the time, I do so much reading for class that it might not be quite as enjoyable.
While I was reading my novel, I considered the Kindle. I've done some reading up on it at Amazon's website, and one of the advantages they mention is the fact that if you go on vacation, you don't have to pack twelve books in your suitcase. You can carry them all, nice and compact, in your Kindle. But I started thinking that if I had spent $350 on a portable reading device, I would certainly NOT want to take it to the beach. As it was, the paperback I brought with me was a wonderful read, but I was not terribly concerned about preserving it- it got a bit sandy and quite damp from traveling in my beach bag. If it had been stolen while I left it beside my towel and took a dip in the ocean, I would have been disappointed, but not heartbroken. If I had taken a Kindle, I would have been nervous the whole time! I would not have wanted it to sit unguarded, or get sandy or damp, and so I probably would have left it in my condo and not brought it to the beach at all. So why bring it? The paperback was much more practical (for this vacation, at least) and it did survive the trip in one piece.
In the same vein, when I got home I realized that I had not taken a single picture on the actual beach. I never wanted to bring my digital camera because it might get wet or stolen. I did see one person on the beach carrying one in a ziploc bag... too much hassle for me.
Another thing about technology and vacation- I really appreciated having a break from the computer. The hotel we stayed at did offer computers with internet access, and I went in there once to see if midterm grades had been posted. I actually logged onto Facebook, and when it arrived at my homepage I decided I didn't really want to deal with it after all. It just didn't seem like the right thing to do on vacation. I didn't even check my email, I just went out to the beach. So my spring break was very relaxing, I think partly because it also included a break from technology.

An Excellent Piece of Library News!

I just read in the Herald-Leader today that the Lexington Public Library is extending their hours! In these times of budget strains and economic woe, this is heartening news for librarians everywhere! Starting in April, every LPL location will stay open two extra hours on Fridays (closing at 7 pm instead of 5 pm), and they will extend their Sunday hours to 6 pm instead of the current 5 pm.
According to the paper, our current economic situation has sparked increased usage of the library, especially by people who are job-hunting. Increased usage! This is definitely a good sign. Even when the economy is under stress and unemployment is on the rise, libraries retain their immense worth to the community. The value of their services may even increase when some of our other luxuries are taken away.
The closing of the research library of the Wall Street Journal was a cause for concern for me, but this great news right here in Lexington gives me hope. Some libraries may be (wrongly?) seen as dispensable, but here in Lexington things have proven otherwise. In a time of need, our library has stepped up to serve its community, responding to increased usage by making themselves more available.

Be nice to your computer!

Thought I would share with you this sobering video about the dangers of technology.