+ Dow Jones Buys Generate (via Info Today)

+ eBooks: ProQuest Introduces Safari Select for Public Libraries

+ Yahoo Allows Users To Expand/Narrow Results On Map With New Visual Tool (via SEL)

Schools, publishers experiment to cut textbook prices
From the article:

Ohio is already experimenting with creative ways to cut textbook costs while making them more accessible to new learning styles.

“The governor and the legislature have placed a high priority on high quality, affordable education. We see lowering the cost of textbooks as an important part of this,” said Ohio Board of Regents Chancellor Eric Fingerhut.

Two institutions, the University of Dayton and Miami University in Oxford, have spent the last two semesters using e-textbooks as an alternative to traditional textbooks. The students buy passcodes from their campus bookstores and connect to the textbooks through OhioLINK, the statewide network of 86 college and university libraries.

Source: Dayton Daily News

Hat Tip: David Dillard and Net-Gold

Report Advises Against New National Database Of Ballistic Images
From the news release:

A national database containing images of ballistic markings from all new and imported guns sold in the U.S. should not be created at this time, says a new report from the National Research Council. Such a database has been proposed to help investigators link ballistics evidence — cartridge cases or bullets found at crime scenes — to a firearm and the location where it was originally sold. But given the practical limitations of current technology for generating and comparing images of ballistic markings, searches of such an extensive database would likely produce too many candidate “matches” to be helpful, the report says.
The report notes that the fundamental assumption underlying forensic firearms identification – that every gun leaves microscopic marks on bullets and cartridge cases that are unique to that weapon and remain the same over repeated firings – has not yet been fully demonstrated scientifically. More research would be needed to prove that firearms identification rests on firmer scientific footing, said the committee that wrote the report.

Direct to Full Text of 300 Page Report (Pre-Print, Free), “Ballistic Imaging”

Source: National Academy of Sciences, National Research Council

See Also: Study recommends against creating national firearms database (via AP)

+ Free Animated Download of Horton Hears a Who! (via SLJ)
From the article:

An animated digital version of Horton Hears a Who! is available for free to teachers throughout March, thanks to the National Education Association’s (NEA) Read Across America celebration of Theodor Seuss Geisel’s (Dr. Seuss) 104th birthday.

The download, now available on Kidthing, brings the classic book to life with animation, narration, and sound effects. Librarians, teachers, and care givers can turn the sound off and read the book aloud—just like their parents did.

+ Commission launches European Radio Network (via EuraActiv)

+ New Database: Qatar: Database of private doctors launched

+ Will Digital Texts Succeed? (via CampusTechnology.com)

+ From Static to Dynamic — Choosing and Implementing a Web-Based CMS (via Computers in Libraries)

From the article:

Loriene Roy, president of the American Library Association, was flying home to Austin, Texas, from a conference in Philadelphia in January. During the flight she heard that familiar ping, and an announcer said, “Turn off your electronic equipment.”

Then she heard another sound: a loud rustle as people pulled out their paper books to read.

“Nothing replaces books,” she said.

Even in the age of the Internet, libraries still remain a vital place, Roy said. According to an annual study by Florida State University, “Public Libraries and the Internet 2007” (GCN.com, Quickfind 956), library use continues to increase.

Source: GCN

+ Mobifusion inks deal with Penguin Books (via FierceMobile)

Mobile media solutions provider Mobifusion announced it will partner with Penguin Books India, Asia’s largest English-language publisher, to make a range of Penguin content available via mobile handsets.

eBooks on Demand (EOD)
From the web site:

This is the vision of the eBooks on Demand (EOD) project.

European libraries are hosting millions of books published from 1500 to 1900. Due to their age and value, they are often only accessible to users actually present at these libraries.

With the EOD service these hidden treasures will now become available to everybody - just a few mouse clicks away. Users will be able to order eBooks via the common library catalogues; the libraries will then digitise the requested item and send it to the user via the EOD service network. The books digitised in this way will simultaneously be incorporated into the digital libraries of the participating libraries and thus be accessible on the Internet. This project, co-funded by the EU, comprises 13 European libraries from 8 countries!

Source: EOD

More eBooks on the Way as NetLibrary announces distribution agreements with 21 key international publishers

NetLibrary, OCLC’s platform for eContent and the leading provider of eBooks for the institutional library market, has announced agreements with 21 leading publishers that will add thousands of new eBooks and eAudiobooks to NetLibrary’s growing catalog of more than 160,000 titles.

Source: OCLC

Getting a Read on Amazon’s New Kindle

On November 19, Amazon.com CEO Jeff Bezos announced the launch of an e-book device called Kindle. It weighs 10.3 ounces, costs $399 and can download books in less than 60 seconds. He acknowledged upfront that the e-book landscape is crowded with other efforts, most of them unsuccessful, but Bezos thinks that he has a winner. Kindle lets users download many new books for $9.99 and it can be used without a computer — offering instead a free high-speed wireless data network from Sprint. It can also download newspapers, magazines and blogs for a fee, can store up to 200 books, uses an eye friendly screen and lets readers increase the type size as needed. So, what’s not to like?

We asked marketing professor Peter Fader, Don Huesman, senior director of information technology and management professor Dan Raff to give us their reviews of Kindle. In the interest of full disclosure, we would like to note that Knowledge@Wharton’s content is available on Kindle.

Source: Knowledge@Wharton

Timelines: History of Flight
Search using categories, beginning and ending year, and keywords. Timeline data ends in 2003.

See Also: Centential of Flight Dictionary

See Also: Centennial of Flight Images

Source CentennialofFlight.gov

+ Amazon Releases Kindle eBook Reader ||| News Story ||| News Release ||| Letter from Jeff Bezos
See Also: Amazon Unveils New Book Reader (via Publisher’s Weekly)
See Also: More Coverage from Last Week

+ Google and Yahoo Sued for Hosting Content That Allegedly Infringes Trademarks–(ISC)2 v. Degraphenreed (via Eric Goldman)

+ Senators Urge FTC To Review Google-DoubleClick Deal Closely (via Dow Jones)
The story reports on a letter sent from Sen. Herb Kohl and Sen. Orrin Hatch to the head of the FTC. Here’s a copy of the 2 page letter (PDF).

+ don’t 4get ur pills: Text Messaging for Health (via Wall St. Journal)

For FishPhone, the text service used by Ms. Hemond, the Massachusetts nanny, the process is pretty simple: Users send a text to the number 30644 with the message “FISH” and the species, and then get back a message. Ms. Hemond opted for wild Alaskan salmon over farmed because of its healthier profile, according to FishPhone, which was launched last month through Blue Ocean Institute, a nonprofit marine conservation organization that also offers information via email and on the Web.

+ Amazon to debut Kindle e-book reader Monday (via News.com)
See Also: Review of Sony eBook Reader (via LIS News and Ars Technica)

Amazon to Debut E-Book Reader (via WSJ)

See Also: Amazon Kindle E Book Reader Coming Next Week (via Gizmodo)

See Also: Amazon Kindle: meet Amazon’s e-book reader (via Engadget, September 2006)

This document lists all magazines produced or distributed by the National Library Service for the Blind and Physically Handicapped (NLS), Library of Congress, through its free reading program. These magazines are produced and distributed in various formats through a network of cooperating libraries. Individuals who are unable to read or handle conventional print materials because of a visual or a physical impairment are eligible for service. To be eligible, a person with this impairment must be a resident of the United States or its territories or an American citizen living abroad.

Titles may be available in single or multiple formats, including digital braille and digital text. Braille titles may be accessed through Web-Braille, a free Internet service available to eligible readers, for download or use online with braille output devices. Digital text may be accessed via the Internet or computer diskette.

Source: NLS

First, Christopher Warnock and company at ebrary have released the results of their Global Faculty eBook Study. Interesting reading for sure but remember this report was funded by ebrary.

You can read a summary here (PDF) and request the full text (free) here.

From the summary:

“ebrary has personally learned a number of things from this survey, which we intend to apply to our business going forward,” said Kevin Sayar, President and Co-founder of ebrary. “For example, 57 percent of respondents indicated that students do not know how to use electronic resources provided by the library, and nearly 28 percent stated that there is not enough instruction in how to use electronic resources. Providing better and more comprehensive training is definitely one area in which ebrary can help librarians, faculty and students alike, and we will be rolling out a new global training program later this month.”

We’re looking forward to seeing the training program. Of course, it’s one thing to have a training program and something else for people to use it/study it. You first have to get people to use the program. We also will be looking to see if ebrary will market directly to students and faculty. In other words an ad might read, “did you know that your library offers x and x. It’s available from your dorm room, office, etc. 24x.7.”

• Approximately 50 percent of respondents indicated they prefer using online resources for research, class preparation, and instruction versus 18 percent who prefer print resources.

• Eighty-five percent of respondents viewed information literacy as very necessary, compared to 15 percent who stated it is somewhat necessary and less than 1 percent who find it unnecessary.

• Almost an equal number of faculty members require students to use electronic resources as print for course assignments.

• Fifty-three percent of respondents indicated that Google and other search engines are powerful tools for finding information. Twenty-nine percent indicated Google and other search engines are more useful tools than the print resources provided by the library, compared to 11 percent who indicated they are more useful than library-provided electronic resources.

FINALLY, don’t forget that ebrary continues to provide the ebrary Discover service. It’s completely free to search and also read more than 20,000 books online in many subject areas. Users only pay to copy or print a page. ebrary Discover is also an interesting pricing model.
1) Register for Service
2) Put a minimum of $5.00 on a credit card, this is ONLY used if you print/copy a page.
3) Download the ebrary reader.
4) Search, browse, read.

Of course, many libraries of all types also provide free access to other full text book services including:
+ Books24×7
+ Safari Tech Books
+ NetLibrary