Category «Gadgets»

How the Hernandez family will benefit from two well-stocked national digital library systems and a digital library endowment

This is Part Two of LibraryCity’s series, by David Rothman, mapping out a digital future for U.S. libraries to better our lives. Part One is on the need for librarians to open their minds to innovations like the BiblioTech digital library. Part Three is on strategies to make well-stocked national digital libraries a reality and help the Hernandezes, not just the American elite.

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Subjects: Digital Archives, E-Books, Features, Gadgets, Librarian Resources, Mobile Technology, Social Media, Technology Trends, Virtual Library

Legal Loop: Lawyers, technology and a light at the end of the tunnel

Lawyer and legal tech expert Nicole Black highlights how federal court judges are leveraging research and current awareness sources and services provided to professionals and the public via their respective court websites, as well as actively using mobile tools and apps in their daily work flow.

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Subjects: Case Management, Court Resources, Courts & Technology, Gadgets, Gadgets/Gizmos, Online Legal Research Services, Portals, Public Records

How to get the most out of library e-books via the right gadget, text to speech, and otherwise

Want to hear text to speech from free library books on your 50-mile commute? Even if you own an Android machine and the usual app can’t do “read-aloud” unless audiobooks count? A new, expert and insightful report by David Rothman focuses on the new Kindle Fire HDXes. He recommends them to be among the top choices if you care more about reading than about tech and can accept Amazon’s proprietary requirements. His article is written for both library staffers and patrons who are passionate about e-books.

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Subjects: E-Books, Features, Gadgets, Libraries & Librarians, Library Software & Technology

Family literacy and K-12 success: How a well-stocked public e-library system for the U.S. could help our students catch up with The Smartest Kids in the World

David Rothman advocates the position that family literacy and the related recreational reading count endlessly, whether books are paper and ink or swarms of electrons. And not just learning-to-read family literacy. Parents’ efforts should go on right up to the day students leave for college, and this is where public libraries, serving all ages, have a special role to play—being able to accommodate both adults and young people, even though we also need school libraries.

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Subjects: E-Books, Gadgets

First all-digital public library system a hit in Bexar County, Texaswith hundreds of e-reader gizmos and an eager young crew to explain them

David Rothman reports on the world’s first all-digital public library system – a groundbreaking new book-less library in Texas. The library offers 600 e-readers, 200 preloaded tablets for children, 48 desktop computers, and 20 iPads and laptops; patrons can check out e-readers (and maybe other equipment?). The library also comes with eager young humans to help get people up to speed on the technology.

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Subjects: E-Books, Gadgets

How to keep e-books on young cellphone users minds – and encourage their friends to join the fun

David Rothman reviews the positive and negative outcomes of the “Library Everywhere” project in Uganda. He urges organizations, libraries and public interest groups to be sure not to just hand out tablets and hope that low-income families and others will read e-books. Also keep library e-books on the minds of children and adults.

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Subjects: E-Books, Gadgets

E-Books and the Miami-Dade Library Crisis: One Way to Help Thwart the Misers

David Rothman makes a case that the time has come for a coherent national strategy to help speed up digitization of library systems like Miami’s and use the efficiencies of e-books and other digital items to squeeze more out of tax dollars—while also increasing the total amount of money for libraries and content. In other words, be more generous at all levels of government but at the same time expect more value. Avoid ever shutting down neighborhood branches, valuable in many ways beyond loaning bestsellers and other titles, and don’t get rid of all paper books, especially picture books for children.

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Subjects: E-Books, Features, Libraries & Librarians, Library Marketing, Library Software & Technology

High Contrast – a treat for Chrome-browser users in search of greater Web and Kindle accessibility

David Rothman follows up on his review of the Voice Dream TTS e-book reader which can also read Web pages aloud, by highlighting the High Contrast add-on for Google’s Chrome Web browser. It doesn’t just add contrast to Web pages – it also turns black-on-white text into the reverse. Significantly, it works with the Kindle Cloud app within Chrome.

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Subjects: Features, Gadgets, Mobile Tech, Search Engines
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