This is a test. I downloaded the WordPress app for my iPhone and this is to see if it works. If it does, I’ll be able to write and publish posts from my phone! Sweet!
Tag Archives: apps
Looking Ahead (my new year’s resolutions!)
Well it is a new year and like everyone else I am taking stock of the year gone by and looking ahead to what I’d like to accomplish in the new one ahead.
Long Range Goals & Objectives for 2010-11
Work Goals
The chart indicates the goals & objectives I set in my Long Range Plans for 2010-11. Some are completed, some are in progress, and sadly, some have not been initiated as yet. With these goals in mind, I am recommitting to seeing that these goals are initiated or completed this school year.
Increase Advocacy & Collaboration Efforts
I have updated my “Welcome Back” brochure that I usually give teachers in August, but I didn’t this year. I have tailored it toward our new teachers (20% of our faculty are new this year) in an attempt to increase collaboration with this group.
I have also updated the LMC Teacher Guidelines and will place a copy in every teacher’s mailbox for them to add to their Teacher Handbook.
Instructional Technology
We received an iPod Grant just before the school year began. Unfortunately, we still don’t have all of the bugs worked out (including no campus wide wifi); however, just before winter break our two carts were ready for us to begin using them in classrooms. I am looking forward to assisting teachers with the implementation and use of the iPods in the classroom.
Documentation
I’m sure it is no surprise to learn that I’m an organizational “freak,” – especially since most librarians tend to be! However, while I can usually find anything I’m looking for without too much time and effort, I have trouble putting together reports. Mostly because I find it BORING and tedious. I resolve to do better!
Personal Goals
Get healthy
Some of you know that I was diagnosed as a diabetic back in October. I’ve been doing good about cutting out sugar and modifying my diet, but not so good at giving up the carbs. (Bread, pasta, and cheese are my biggest weaknesses!) So my number one goal for the new year is to eat healthier and exercise more.
Read
- at least ONE YA book per month and write a review for the 2 Read or Not 2 Read blog.
- at least ONE book per month just for me! Reading for my own personal enjoyment has been something that has been superseded by reading professional publications and online reading. One of the things I’ve lamented over since becoming a librarian is that I no longer have time to read just for me and reading isn’t always “fun” anymore.
- the professional review magazines the library subscribes to every month. Kind of a “duh” goal, but since the library has no money to buy books I haven’t been reading the review magazines lately. That has to change. Yes, I can’t buy books, but I still need to keep abreast of whats coming out, trends, and to keep a list for the “just in case I get funding” possibility.
Document
- my reading for the year using the My Bookshelf app for my iPhone. I don’t know if it is because I read so many of the same type of books or if I’m just loosing my memory, but I can’t remember what books I’ve read. I originally purchased this app to catalog my home library, but found I liked BooksApp better as I can use the iPhone camera to scan in the ISBN barcode instead of having to manually type/search for the books. However, since I have My Bookshelf also, I might as well put it to use by documenting my 2011 reading!
- my YA reading using the LibraryThing account and by reviewing the books on the 2 Read or Not 2 Read blog.
- my day by jotting at least a sentence or two on the Momento diary app on my iPhone. I have to say I like how I can set up the app to capture my online contributions (blog, flickr, twitter, etc.) as well as diary entries to record my “life.”
Re-commit to
- my blog by writing at lease one blog post a week. I’ve fallen off the PLN wagon by not participating lately. I still read my RSS Reader, but I haven’t been contributing. I need to do better.
- to Twitter. I’ve never been a big “tweeter,” but I was pretty good at reading the tweets of those I follow. However, ever since school started back I haven’t been keeping up with Twitter. I probably will never be a big contributor to Twitter, but I did find it useful and informative so I need to get back in the habit of at least checking Twitter periodically throughout the day.
Conferences/Workshops (partial list!)
- SCASL Webinars. As the Chair of SCASL’s IT Committee, on agenda item I am determined to see completed is a series of webinars to our members. They are going to begin this month and hopefully have at least one a month. Stay tuned for more details.
- present at the ETV Workshops in March (hopefully!) I submitted two workshop sessions and am waiting to hear if they were accepted.
- c0-presenting at the SCASL Annual Conference in March (hopefully!) Haven’t heard conclusively, but I agreed to be on a panel session, as well as co-present a session to introduce SCASL’s new (forthcoming) web site.
- present at our district’s TechFest in March. Applications to present haven’t gone out yet, but I agreed to submit one when they go out.
- take another photography class in March. Yep, March is going to be a jam packed month. I really want to learn all the ins and outs of my camera and taking better photographs.
- attend ISTE 2011 in Philadelphia this June! This will be my first time attending ISTE and I am so excited (and a little terrified at how expensive this trip will be!) So, along with this goal is one to begin budgeting to put money aside for ISTE!
So this is a start on my plans for the next few months! Wish me luck.
Joining the ebook reader debate … or my 2 cents.
WARNING: Extremely LONG post ahead.
There has been a lot of chatter from folks in my PLN over which ebook reader is the best option. Here is some of the most recent comments via Twitter:
twitter ebook discussion
Here’s a direct link to @technolibrary‘s (Carolyn Foote) Not So Distant Future blog post regarding ebook readers.
I’ve been corresponding with @booklover472 (Fran Bullington) for quite some time now about ebook readers and just had an email chat with her and @cathyjo (Cathy Nelson) where I gave some of my opinions on the matter and they suggested I write up a post. In @booklover472′s words: “Many of us are considering purchasing an eBook reader at some point in the future and having the input of a knowledgeable colleague is priceless!”
Now I don’t know how “priceless” my insights might be, especially since I only have considerable working knowledge with one reader, but I said I’d give it a shot.
Background:
I purchased my Sony eReader PRS-505SC in late 2007 (November or December I think as it was a gift to myself!) I had been wanting one FOREVER as I didn’t like reading ebooks on my desktop computer and my Gateway laptop had this funny quirk of only working when plugged in, but if you jiggled the cord even a LITTLE, it would freeze. So frustrating when you’re in the middle of reading! Anyway, the Kindle had just come out, but comparing it to Sony showed that Sony’s supported more formats. This is from the PDF spec sheet for my model:
Media Formats Supported
Unsecured Text: BBeB Book, TXT, RTF, ePub, Adobe® PDF10 , Microsoft® Word (Conversion to the Reader-requires Word installed on your PC)
DRM Text: BBeB Book (Marlin) Unsecured Audio: MP3 and AAC7 Image: JPEG, GIF, PNG, and BMP
Of course, it doesn’t support audiobooks and the image files are all black and white because it IS an eInk reader, but it still was better than the Kindle according to the data I had at the time and I didn’t buy it as a digital picture album but to read books!
At the time I bought my Sony the only way to load books was to use a PC and download from the Sony Reader Store. And all books purchased from the store were DRM BBeB format, meaning you can’t read them on another device except your Sony eReader or through the Sony Reader Library on your PC. Having converted to a Mac about this same time (late January 2008) this meant I had to go to a PC to purchase my books from Sony OR use a different ebook retailer with ePub format ebooks and use a third party program to transfer the files to my Reader and/or an SD card. Thankfully, the folks over at the Dear Author blog introduced me to Calibre an ebook management cataloging system that also manages transfers of files to/from your ebook reader. (This is an AWESOME program and a post for another time!)
Of course there have been two major updates since I purchased my eReader: Sony created a Mac version of the Sony Reader Library and just recently converted their ebooks to ePub formats that will allow you to read them on other readers. I think this last one was a major improvement for Sony as it potentially could bring in more buyers if their ebook prices are lower/comparable to other ebook retailers. Update 12/30/09: I contacted Sony’s customer service and was informed that even though they moved to ePub formats, the ebooks can still only be downloaded on Sony eReader devices. So much for my theory that they were widening their ebook market. Bummer! There are also new models that have touch screen navigation, allow for highlighting/notes, as well as wireless/3G purchasing of books. These all seem to be the same selling points on the Kindle and the new B&N Nook.
What I like about my eReader:
My Sony eReader
eInk screen – The one thing I didn’t like about reading on my laptop/desktop was that if I stared at the screen too long (reading!) I would get eye strain. With the eInk screen, it truly is like reading on paper.
portable - The size of the reader is perfect – just slightly taller & wider than a normal mass market paperback, but a WHOLE lot slimmer! It doesn’t weigh any more than a paperback, either.
ease of use – The ability to hold and read the reader in one hand. The location of the page buttons also makes it easy to turn the page with the hand holding the device. Great for multitasking, such as eating while reading <grin> Also, you can lay the reader flat or prop it up against something and not have to worry about holding it open to read the pages, like you would in a book.
bookmarking - The ability to place multiple bookmarks in an ebook file. Also, I can “continue reading” without having to even bookmark.
memory card slots - As I mentioned above, the reader has an SD card slot as well as a slot for a Memory Stick Duo. I’ve only used the SD slot.
menu options – you can choose/view your ebook lists by author, title, date downloaded, or view collections. You can also choose by bookmarks.
text size – you can choose small, medium, or large text sizes. Sometimes the original text sizes (particularly in PDF files) are way too small. The ability to enlarge the text is wonderful.
portrait or landscape mode – You can view your page in portrait or landscape mode. This is also great for PDF files. As mentioned before, sometimes the text on them is way too small even when you use the large text size setting. If you turn the page to landscape, the text enlarges even more.
made of metal - the device is made of metal, unlike the Kindle which is plastic. I made a comment to @booklover472 that I’ve dropped my eReader a time or two and it’s been none the worse for it. I just don’t see the Kindle holding up to that without cracking it’s plastic case. Granted, I’ve been lucky to have either not dropped it from too high a distance and/or dropping it on carpet.
download ebooks from your public library – If you’re lucky enough to live in a county that purchases ebooks for loaning, you can borrow books from them. My public library hasn’t begun offering them as yet, but our upstate does (Spartanburg and Charlotte areas).
Holy V8 Moment Batman! I just read on the FAQ section of the Sony site that you can authorize up to 6 devices to your ebook account!!!! I NEVER knew this. If this means what I think it means, you can have up to 6 people reading the same book??!!! I would love to test this out. I knew I could authorize multiple computers, but I didn’t know I could authorize more than one device! If I hadn’t been talking with @booklover472 about the Kindle allowing up to 6 devices, I never would have thought to go see if Sony had any written limitations or authorizations on how many devices you could load your ebooks to!
What I dislike about my eReader:
eInk screen - you have to have a light source since there is no backlight! Of course, if I was reading an actual physical book, I’d need a light source, too, so this isn’t that big a deal.
slow to load – if you overfill the memory, regardless if it’s the SD card or internal, then it takes FOREVER for the eReader to turn on. Sometimes I’ve even had to use the reset button multiple times to get the thing to turn on. Solution, use multiple SD cards and/or only keep your current ebooks on it and switch them out as needed. I do a little of both. I have multiple SD cards with “collections” on them as well as keep a few favorites/currents on the eReader itself. Since using this method, I’ve not had a problem getting the unit to turn on.
Update: forgot to mention here that “overfill” means I had more than 600 ebooks between the device’s memory and the SD card. Removing the SD card helped, leading me to the conclusion that the device had problems loading that many books! That’s when I split up the books over multiple SD cards.
Sony Reader Library Software – I HATE the Sony Reader Store/Software you have to download to your computer. It is slow to load the store portion. However, it isn’t any different than using iTunes (which the iTunes store is also SLOW) I just don’t understand why I have to download software to purchase ebooks. Why can’t they sell and download from the Internet (like Audible.com) and have just the library on your computer? Browsing the ebook store online on the Sony site is FAST but you can’t purchase and/or download from it – only see what books they have for sale. Browsing via the Reader Library software is SLOW and frequently times out.
No A/C power adapter included - You have to purchase an adapter as an accessory – another $30+ added to the eReader price. Not nice Sony <frowning face here> Also, the location of the adapter hookup on the eReader is smack dab in the middle of the bottom of the eReader. That is a horrible location when you’re trying to read and charge the device at the same time. Would have liked it to have been located on the side of the device or at least on one of the bottom corners instead.
Standard cover - the standard cover that comes with the eReader is horrible. Thin with plastic tabs that hold the reader in place. I don’t like to read with the cover on as it isn’t comfortable in my hand. After taking the eReader out of the cover a few times I just knew one of the times I’d break the tab. Then I found these covers. Not only are there slots for SD cards, the “tabs” at the top are elastic so I don’t worry when I pull the reader out of the case. It is also thicker (more padding) and has a flap to keep it closed. You can find the cases at M-Edge.
Miscellaneous Thoughts:
In case you haven’t guessed by now from my other posts, I have a tech gadget obsession and more recently an Apple obsession. I recently purchased an iPhone – Verizon buying out Alltel pushed me over the edge and I HAD to switch carriers because of that, so why not get what I wanted!? Anyway, I downloaded the Kindle iPhone app so I could take advantage of the free Kindle ebooks Amazon occasionally offers. As much as I love my iPhone, I wont be using it as an ebook reader. The screen is too small, meaning I have to “page” frequently as I’m a relatively fast reader. Also, eye strain! And last, the phone gets hot and the battery drains quickly if you read for long stretches at a time.
I’ve only seen/handled the Kindle for a short amount of time – and that was (I believe) one of the first generation Kindles, so I can’t knowledgeably provide a comparison, only to say it was only slightly less heavy than the Sony, but it “felt” “cheaper” – less substantial. I was afraid I’d break it. I also didn’t like the keyboard on the bottom. It was clunky in my hand and I was definitely not impressed. The only thing that impressed me was the lady who had it was able to download books immediately. We were at a conference and they were announcing this years SC Young Adult Book Award Nominees and she was able to download the ones that had Kindle editions right then and there. That was impressive.
I also cannot comment upon the Nook. I’ve not seen one or held one in person – only read about it online. I would love to test drive one out, though! What I’m REALLY waiting for is the rumored Apple Tablet as well as the Plastic Logic reader I read about ages ago and that never seems to actually be released.
PS: In case you were wondering, the other ebook retailers I use besides Sony are Fictionwise and Books On Board. Also, here are two other posts over at Dear Author that have some interesting takes on eReader devices and comparisons: To Buy or Not to Buy: The eReader Dilemma & Comparison Table of eReading Devices.
