We’ve talked in the past about Fan Fiction. If you enjoy writing, or if you just want to read some alternate stories based on your favourite TV series, movie or books, Archive of Our Own is a great site to visit. It’s well organized by subject and then broken down into smaller chunks so you can find exactly what you want to read. And if you’ve always imagined a world where Edward and Bella moved into the apartment next to the Jeffersons (okay, maybe a wild idea), this is the place to share that adventure. Just register and upload your story and wait for the reviews to roll in!
You probably won’t become an overnight sensation, but who knows? Try it for fun! If people like your writing, maybe you’ll be inspired to write that novel you’ve been thinking about for years, and you’ll already have a fan base! Good luck!
I’m not a big fan of Twitter. There is too much pressure to post interesting, quote-worthy zingers that someone will not only like, but re-tweet. It’s not enough to be famous and post about what you ate for dinner. If you have a million followers, your tweets better be entertaining, have insight and be share-worthy to the highest degree. It seems almost impossible for the average person, then, to be able to keep up with those standards. Which is probably why many of us are “followers” and “re-tweeters” more than actual “tweeters”.
In cases like the Boston bombings, Twitter played a MAJOR part in getting information out to the public, and also allowing friends and family to know that a loved one was okay. This type of usage is paramount. Amazing that we can learn about a world event in seconds, right from the source, and pass it on to others. This aspect of Twitter is incredible.
But more and more, we are seeing and even encouraged to Tweet during live events. From an entertainment standpoint, tweeting during the finale of American Idol about your thoughts on each performer probably isn’t such a big deal. I find it appalling, however, that at a recent White House Correspondents’ Dinner, people were tweeting witty remarks during the event. There was even an article from Time Magazine posted the following day with the Best Tweets from the White House Correspondents’ Dinner.
All right, I understand the irony here….that I’m complaining about communication during a correspondents’ event, but this is just the latest example. Why are so many people attending events that should mean something to them, and texting on their phones? Can’t they put their phones away for a couple of hours to actually BE in the moment? Are these events so unimportant to them that they sit there composing the best one-liners they can think of, all the while ignoring what is happening right in front of them? If that’s the case, they’re the wrong people to be involved.
We are becoming too disconnected in our lives. We sit at our computers, with our phones in hand, texting, emailing, checking Facebook status, surfing……and we’re completely ignoring our actual flesh-and-blood lives. Will this stop? I doubt it. I’m sure it’s only going to get worse as social media becomes less about being social and more about media. Maybe people should be posting more thoughts about this on Twitter, to reach the people that really need it.
Do you tweet during important events in your life?
Ereaders and eBooks are a commonplace thing now. Just about everyone has a smartphone, tablet or computer and can access eBooks in some format or other. We see a steady stream of eBooks being taken “out” of our library through OverDrive, and those are just our patrons who use the free eBooks. There are probably plenty more patrons who purchase eBooks as well. It’s a great way to read books, whether you use it for travel or just an easy way to pick up that 400-pager before bed.
Recently, I read an article wondering about the coming of hands-free books and how it would impact our society. Author and social media manager at CNET, Nathan Bransford, had an idea about the new Google Glass device and the possibilities of hands-free books. Haven’t heard of Google Glass? You can read more here, but essentially, they are an experimental device–a wearable computer–that will act as a recording device, a camera, an information center and entertainment piece….all under the guise of a simple pair of glasses. The Google Glass is still in the development stages, but Google has started a project where it is loaning out the glasses to people who presented them with creative ideas about how they would use them. So, we’ll have to see if this moves to a stage where everyone can purchase a pair and start using them!
Now, the concept of reading on the Google Glass is something Mr. Bransford was concerned about, but for different reasons. The viewing area is apparently quite small, and wouldn’t work well for doing a lot of reading. He was most excited about the thought of being able to read (hands-free) while walking or traveling on the train. It really is an interesting concept, one where you might control flipping the pages with a blink of an eye or some other simple gesture.
But as some of his readers pointed out, there are implicit dangers here. Of course, we’re thinking of using this as a reading device in the best possible ways, but what about people who will try to read while driving? (You know someone will do this!) Even the idea of reading while walking could have HUGE problems, with people not being aware enough of their surroundings already when they walk with iPods or other listening devices etc. There are just so many applications where using the glasses would be dangerous.
The Google Glass is very well designed, so much so that it isn’t all that noticeable when a person has them on. They could easily be mistaken for a regular pair of glasses. The possibilities here for reading are probably very real, and it’s only a matter of time before someone develops an idea to make books available for people who will own them. But along with using common sense, there should probably be some safeguards so that they won’t be misused. What do you think? Would reading a book hands-free using a device like Google Glass be something you’d want to try?
One thing we’ve heard through the last few years is that one drawback with ebooks is their lack of sharing capabilities. Yes, if you purchase a book, often you can share the book among devices. But unlike actual paper books, you can’t bring it into your library once you finish and donate it. So, even though the ebooks cost just as much as the hardcopy versions, you’re pretty much “stuck” with it, and no way to re-sell or donate.
Recently, however, Amazon and Apple have both applied for patents to re-sell ebooks. This has caused a great swell of backlash from a lot of different people, the same way it did when Amazon began selling used books, often at prices as low as a penny. Yes, it’s great for the consumer, but not so great for the authors, who see their work devalued. Plus, the biggest fear concerns digital rights. Who owns the book when it can be shared with anyone? Amazon and Apple have prepared for this problem–only one person can ever have that particular copy of the book at one time. So, if you purchase a book and then sell it to someone else, the book is no longer yours. I guess each book will have a special DRM (digital rights management) code built into it, making it unique.
Authors still will only be paid for the first copy of each book, even though there could be potential for more revenues with re-sale. But in the printed world, an author is paid when someone buys the book from a store, for example, but wouldn’t be paid again if that person sold their copy to a used bookseller, for example.
The question becomes, why would someone pay for a NEW copy at full price, when a used copy at a greatly reduced price might become instantly available? (This is the same question for hard copies of books, really, but these books eventually become too worn for re-sale.) Digital copies remain pristine. It won’t matter if you’re the first person to read it, or the millionth…the copy will look exactly the same on your device. With hard copies, the book’s condition will eventually match the sale price, but with ebooks, it never will. And that’s a BIG problem.
Turns out that Apple and Amazon have thought of this. Their patents might limit the bottom price, depending on the date the original ebook was released. So, if an eBook sells for $10 one day, people re-selling will have to wait six months, for example, before they can sell it for half that price, and even longer to go down to the penny sale. They may also limit the number of times a book can be resold, essentially mimicking the way a hard copy might be resold.
This is just in the early stages, and there will probably be a great deal of change before eBooks are able to be resold. The complications are vast and must be settled with all parties involved–authors, publishers and booksellers.
After starting out on a foggy and slightly icy morning, we made it to the train station in Smiths Falls and headed out on our journey.
If you haven’t taken the train before, it’s always a comfortable way to travel, with free wi-fi and frequent snack cart visits to get you through the journey. We passed through snow and rain and fog and sunshine, and got to our destination in great time.
I’ll have to admit, the train ride was the easiest part of the trip that day. After checking into our hotel and a quick bite to eat, we were off to visit the Whitehots showroom to purchase books. Let’s just say it was an interesting cab ride out to Mississauga. But once there, we found LOTS of great books, friendly staff and got down to the business of loading up our carts with books. While we left a few books on the shelves, we can’t wait until our boxes arrive back here at the library. Then, it’ll be down to work to get them all into our system and onto the shelves. Fun!
Back at the hotel, we made our way to the Conference Center and checked in. If you can imagine thousands of librarians in one space, this was it. Excitement was in the air and we were all looking forward to getting down to all the plenary sessions, author visits, presentations and poster sessions. Vendors were busy setting up the Expo which we’d all attend at least at one point during the conference, to view books & products and to meet with the wonderful people who keep libraries current and relevant.
Janet and I headed back to our room after a nice dinner with librarians from Smiths Falls, and we poured over the catalog to see what sessions we’d be attending the next day. Exciting!
Stay tuned for more information on the sessions we attended, people we saw and things we learned. It was a great week!
We’ve all heard of the idea of writing your younger self a letter, being able to tell your teenage self or your twenty (or 50) year old self something important that you’ve learned through experience. But what if you could write a meaningful letter to your future self?Isn’t this a great idea? Maybe it’s just a goal you’d like to accomplish, or an idea you don’t have time for right now but don’t want to forget. Maybe it’s a resolution for the entire year or a promise you would like to keep. You could easily get a journal and write out that letter, and promise to look at it at the end of the year (maybe jot the date on your calendar). Or, you could try this:
Write a letter to yourself and have it emailed at a later date! The people at General Assembly have created a fun and functional form that you can fill out with all your goals and ideas, and have it emailed to yourself whatever date you choose. It might be a great way to see if you’re keeping up with that goal to exercise more. Or maybe you just want to remind yourself to stop stressing about life so much. You can customize the letter in whatever way that suits you, using the funny drop down menus, or just putting everything in the body of the last question, if that’s less campy.
Now, I can see all kinds of applications for this, and overall, it’s a fantastic idea. It might also backfire if you haven’t kept up with something you really intended to focus on. It is meant as a resolution reminder, but feel free to use it whatever way suits you best. Go ahead, send a Letter to Yourself!
