After visiting the World ebook Fair site I was amazed by the scope of information on ebooks the site provides. I did not realize the sheer amount of materials that this site encompasses. I was amazed by the ability to search in a variety of languages for a variety of material, many global in nature. I enjoyed browsing the collections of edocuments available but found it difficult to access the information because when I clicked on the link provided, it appeared to be broken. Also, it does not seem that this site includes much popular ebook info. For example, I searched (unsuccessfully) for a few titles from my days as a middle school teacher and came up empty-handed. Likewise, searching for books like Twilight proved fruitless. Many of the ebooks available here seemed to provide more of a global perspective (as well as books on local, state, and federal government policy), while very important, is not so much suited for a school library environment. I think that the World ebook Fair site can definitely be a valuable resource to consult for specific documents (as well as refer library patrons to), but I don't see the practical aspect on a daily basis for many library environments. I am also interested to learn more about what the $8.95 subscription fee per year actually gets libraries. The site information on this topic seemed a little vague.
After checking my local library's ebook and audio collection (I actually went with my husband today, who checked out an audio book solely because the hard copy wasn't available), I'm continually surprised that more people do not make use of audiobooks, books on CD, or ebooks. Maybe I'm just a library traditionalist and it's hard for me to break free from the thought of traditional reading, but it really seems like audiobooks and ebooks should be more popular than they truly are (perhaps this is just my humble opinion and not based on fact). My local public library has a huge collection of audiobooks and ebooks. Patrons are able to check out up to 8 audiobooks at a time and with a simple download of software, they are a few clicks away from having an electronic or audio book within their fingertips! I'm glad this task required us to learn more about this service because it really forced me to spend time researching my own public library's ebook and audiobook process. In fact, I even downloaded "The Friday Nigh Knitting Club" for my 45 minute train commute into the city of Philadelphia! I can't wait!
After checking my local library's ebook and audio collection (I actually went with my husband today, who checked out an audio book solely because the hard copy wasn't available), I'm continually surprised that more people do not make use of audiobooks, books on CD, or ebooks. Maybe I'm just a library traditionalist and it's hard for me to break free from the thought of traditional reading, but it really seems like audiobooks and ebooks should be more popular than they truly are (perhaps this is just my humble opinion and not based on fact). My local public library has a huge collection of audiobooks and ebooks. Patrons are able to check out up to 8 audiobooks at a time and with a simple download of software, they are a few clicks away from having an electronic or audio book within their fingertips! I'm glad this task required us to learn more about this service because it really forced me to spend time researching my own public library's ebook and audiobook process. In fact, I even downloaded "The Friday Nigh Knitting Club" for my 45 minute train commute into the city of Philadelphia! I can't wait!
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