Let's start an Evolution

A few weeks ago I bought my first eBook. Yep, FIRST.

I've been purchasing eBooks for my academic library for two years now and I've used some of the ones we own. But these books until very recently were only available to be read at a computer. So, I've never found them particularly useful unless I was already chained to my desk and computer. Who wants an ebook they can only use when at their PC?

And I never really understood the lure of having hundreds of books on an eReader. I mean, I don't carry around hundreds of books in the trunk of my car. I carry the one book I'm currently reading in my purse or handbag when I think I might end up waiting somewhere. Add to that the cost of an eReader on top of the cost of individual books, and for someone who makes more frequent use of the public library than Barnes & Nobel for reading material, making the investment just didn't make sense.

So, you're asking why I made the leap? What changed?  Was there a solar flare? or a Fringe event that has replaced the regular Tattooed Librarian with her alter ego from another universe?

Nope, it was simply a matter of convenience and impatience. I was looking at a recently released non-fiction book that I could not find at any of my local libraries. I knew requesting that it were ordered, or inter-library loaned would take a few weeks. The print copy of the book from Amazon cost $13.99 plus shipping, if I could find it a local book store it would have been similarly priced. The eBook cost only $9.99 and would be magically (a.k.a. wirelessly) sent to my android phone if I downloaded the FREE Kindle app. This was a no brainer. I went for the eBook. While I was buying it online, my phone was downloading the app.

The big question I get, considering I was a dyed in the wool physical book reader, is how do I like it? Well, lets face it. Reading book on screen is never going to be like reading a book on paper no matter how many tweaks they make from eInk to simulating the turn of a page. So lets stop trying to make them similar. Let me break down what I do and don't like about using my new ebook:

Like #1: it's always with me. I always have my phone so I always have my kindle app and always have my book. I don't have to guess if I'm going to stuck waiting at the vet's office or in line at the post office. I never have to fear that I'll decide to sit down for a coffee and have forgotten my reading material at home. 
But, dislike #1: My phone's screen is small. And getting a real kindle or bigger tablet kind of defeats the whole "I have it with me all the time" purpose. Having said that, I'm half way through the book and I'm still reading the electronic version, so it can't be that bad.

Like #2: I can "write" in it! and highlight, and fold down the pages and take notes. If you haven't noticed by now, I am pretty geeky, but I hate to deface books. The most annotating I can do with a book (even my own) that isn't for a class is to add post it flags to the margins. They stick out of the book, but on the shelf nobody can see. But write in an anthology of poetry? No way! Now I can though. I can highlight particularly interesting quotes. I can mark the mention of another book or author and add a note of the library call number so I can pick it up the next time I'm out (yep, I already said, Geeky). Bookmarking is folding down the corner page (which you can also undo).
Dislike #2: I can't say this is a dislike of the ebook format so much as a fault with my app. At some point it did not register that I had a book to read, despite having already read many chapters on my kindle app. So, I had Amazon resend the book to my phone. Only then, I had TWO of the same book, and every time I opened the app it would open the "wrong" copy which had a book mark around chapter 7 though I was now well past that. The fix was to remove that copy from my device.

Like #3: Page turning or rather the lack there of. I read on my lunch hour and at dinner if I am by myself. Have you ever tried to keep a paperback open on a table while eating? Or turn the page while your hands are full? It's a pain. But now with a tap of my finger on the right side of the screen the page turns and there is no keeping a book open. And no, I don't need it to mimic the turning of a page. I just want an uninterupted flow of text. Which leads me to...
Dislike #3: There is no eBook design. The book in your hot little hands right now, went through design process to choose fonts, and headings and text sizes so that everything was nicely laid out on the page. A proofreader checked over all of this to make sure everything was consistent. The ebook on your Kindle or Nook right now, probably did not, it probably didn't even see as many editors as your print copy did. So, why is that a problem? The text adjusts to the size of the screen. Which means the words of headings get cut off in really random spots and I often have to read them many times to figure out what exactly it is supposed to be.

Long story short - despite a few minor issues with using the ebooks on my kindle app, I am enjoying the experience and will probably continue to use them when I can get affordable books (like free classics that are now in the public domain), or books not at my public library.

How about you? Do you use ebooks on an ereader, your phone or computer? How do you like them and why did you switch?

Self-Helping my way

I am a huge fan of self-help books. I know they saturate the market and for any one thing you may want help on you have a dozen or more choices of books that claim to help. Still, I love them. They are filled with the promise of a better you. And there is nothing that feels so good as being told "it's gonna be okay." Which essentially is the message of self help books. Regardless of how deep your anger management, relationship, grief, debt, time management or organization problems are these books tell us that in only x steps, or x amount of time, with x system or x rules you can fix those problems. Who doesn't want to hear a message like that?

My love of self help books has me checking them out of the library on a regular basis. My most recent rental being The Power to Prosper: 21 Days to Financial Freedom by Michelle Singletary.


I first heard about her book on NPR when she was being interviewed. At the time the book had just come out, my library didn't own it, my hometown public library didn't own it, and I couldn't inter-library loan it because it was so new. So, cut to me many months later and I finally was able to inter loan it.

The book prescribes a21 financial fast where you exist on cash - a predetermined amount you take out each week - and purchase only the necessitities. Now, she's not saying don't pay your mortgage, car payment, or insurance. She's talking about all of those other things that whip out the credit and debit cards for. Those moments when you walk into the grocery store with a list of 5 items and walk out with a cart load that costs $100 or more.

The other aspect of the book is God. Yep, God. God wants us to prosper and using biblical principles and daily activities for 21-days Michelle Singletary is going to show us how.

Now, I'm not a religious person. I don't espouse any belief or non-belief in particular and I'm not a Bible reader either. So, reading this book is going to get very interesting. Add to that the fact that I am not in financial trouble. I am not in danger of being evicted or having my car repossessed. I live fairly frugally, but I will admit to buying some cute clothes for the sole reason that they were cute. And find me a librarian that doesn't need another cute cardigan. However, money is a funny thing. It is easy come and easy go. I think I can easily say that most of us would like to see it go a little less frequently. And with that in mind I'm willing to give it a try.

This won't be popular but...

I recently read an Editorial in Library Journal. I was spurred to read it by a letter to the editor regarding keeping the quality of the MLS high.

Tony Greiner's article regarding the MLS degree takes the position that the MLS requirement for entry level library profession is keeping minorities away from becoming librarians. He quotes statistics regarding the numbers of minorities in the profession being below average for the number of minorities living in the U.S.

One problem Greinen, states is that minorities don't see themselves among librarians and therefore don't see the profession as being one for them.

However, the biggest deterrant to entering the library profession according to Greiner is the Masters degree. Minorities are more likely to drop out of higher education due to financial reasons.

This got me to thinking. I was extremely lucky in gaining my MLS because as a Graduate Assistant I had my tuition covered with the exception of two summer classes. But if I had had to pay graduate level tuition it could have taken me much longer to do while I worked full time.

I also began to wonder, if entry level librarian positions really do deserve the requirement of a Masters degree.

With out any hesitation I can say: I love being a librarian. I think it is a fun, interesting and worthwhile profession, that despite of, or even because of, google is not going anywhere.

Of course we need a good education to be librarians, or college students would already know how to do research. But I have come to believe that the majority of entry level librarian positions don't need a masters degree.

I am sure that certain specialties; such as research, technology, management and admin probably do require a Graduate level degree or certificate.

But think about what children's librarian learns in a 2 year Masters course and compare it to what an Undergrad student getting a BA in Elementary Education at the same school. I am sure that they are on par, if not slightly more rigorous for the education student. A school teacher has to observe and student teach in separate semesters. A librarian takes literature courses before being tossed in a room with puppets and preschoolers. An education major studies child psychology and learning outcomes at different ages. A children's librarian takes programming courses.

I've been a children's librarian. I know that it is hard work, demanding, and time consuming. There is a reason that children's librarians burn out after a few years. I'm not knocking it. But if we are truly obtaining a Masters degree shouldn't there be a substantial difference between what the undergraduate learns and what we learn?

Maybe I'm advocating a change in the MLS degree itself. But either way I really wish the profession would reconsider it.