Digital Public Library of America

http://dp.la/

“Starting with over two million items, each with its own special story and significance, the Digital Public Library of America will now begin to assemble the riches of our country’s libraries, archives, and museums, and connect them with the public.”–From the website.

Also from the website:  ”[T]here will be three key elements to the DPLA:

• First, an easy-to-use portal where anyone can access America’s collections and search through them using novel and powerful techniques, including by place and time.
• Second, a sophisticated technical platform that will make those millions of items available in ways so that others can build creative and transformative applications upon them, such as smartphone apps that magically reveal the history around you.
• Third, along with like-minded institutions and individuals the DPLA will seek innovative means to make more cultural and scientific content openly available, and it will advocate for a strong public option for reading and research in the twenty-first century.”

National Storytelling Network

http://www.storynet.org/

“ The National Storytelling Network brings together and supports individuals and organizations that use the power of story in all its forms.  We advocate for the preservation and growth of the art of storytelling.”–From the website.

 

Smalldemons

https://www.smalldemons.com/

This is a search engine designed to lead you from an idea, person, place, etc. in one book to additional titles that feature or discuss whatever interests you.

This accompanying article gives some more infomation about this site:

http://www.salon.com/2012/12/04/new_search_engine_connects_literary_dots/ 

Thanks to Alex Peyton from Cordova for this posting.

Overbooked : a resource for ravenous and omnivorous readers

http://www.overbooked.org/

“Was established in 1994 and continues to be an ongoing volunteer project. Overbooked’s mission is to provide timely information about fiction (all genres) and readable nonfiction for ravenous and omnivorous readers.”–From the website.

Mapping Censorship

http://bannedbooksweek.org/mappingcensorship

“This map is drawn from cases documented by ALA and the Kids’ Right to Read Project, a collaboration of the National Coalition Against Censorship and the American Booksellers Foundation for Free Expression.”–From the site.  You can click on locations of censorship to find information about the censorship cases.

Thanks to Mary Seratt, Coordinator of Library Youth Services, MemphisPublic Library & InformationCenter, for this entry.

“Libraries, patrons, and e-books”

http://libraries.pewinternet.org/2012/06/22/libraries-patrons-and-e-books/

These are the findings of a research study conducted by the PewInterent, a project of the PewResearch Center.

From the study:  “Some 12% of Americans ages 16 and older who read e-books say they have borrowed an e-book from a library in the past year.  Most e-book borrowers say libraries are very important to them and their families and they are heavy readers in all formats, including books they bought and books lent to them. E-book borrowers say they read an average (the mean number) of 29 books in the past year, compared with 23 books for readers who do not borrow e-books from a library. Perhaps more striking, the median (midpoint) figures for books reportedly read are 20 in the past year by e-book borrowers and 12 by non-borrowers.”

It is interesting and satisfying to see that most e-book borrowers say that libraries are very important to them and their families.

Web Sites For Book Lovers

http://www.webrary.org/rs/rslinks.html

The Morton Grove Public Library offers this very extensive list of links to web sites on books, including many that will help a reader find a good book.

eBook Discovery and Sampling Skyrocketing at Public Libraries

http://www.overdrive.com/News/eBook-Discovery-and-Sampling-Skyrocketing-at-Public-Libraries

OverDrive, the leading world-wide distributor of eBooks and audiobooks, shared some interesting statistics at the ALA Mid-Winter Conference.

Key statistics for library eBooks, audiobooks and digital media from OverDrive-powered ‘Virtual Branch’ websites in 2011 include:

• 1.6 billion book and title catalog pages viewed, up 130% from 2010
• 99.5 million visitor sessions, up 107%
• Mobile device use increased to 22% of all checkouts
• 35 million digital titles checked out in 2011, with 17 million holds
• The OverDrive catalog for libraries now includes 700,000 copyrighted eBook, audiobook, music, and video titles in 52 languages, including 300,000 titles added in 2011

A Guide to Publishers in the Library Ebook Market

http://www.thedigitalshift.com/2012/02/ebooks/a-guide-to-publishers-in-the-library-ebook-market/

An interesting article from The Digital Shift.

“Libraries Make Room For High-Tech ‘Hackerspaces’

http://www.npr.org/2011/12/10/143401182/libraries-make-room-for-high-tech-hackerspaces

Interesting article from NPR on how some libraries are creating “hackerspaces” for their customers.

The Library Grants Center

http://salempress.com/store/grants/grants.htm

“Welcome to Salem’s Library Grants Center, a free web tool designed to help librarians everywhere_whatever their level of experience_navigate the world of library grants.”–From the website.

Viewshare.org

http://viewshare.org/

“Viewshare.org is a free web application for generating and customizing unique, dynamic views through which users can experience cultural heritage digital collections. The intended users of Viewshare are individuals managing and creating access to digital collections of cultural heritage materials. Contact us at ndiippaccess@loc.gov to request a free account. The site is administrated by the National Digital Information Infrastructure and Preservation Program at the Library of Congress.

American Libraries E-Content Blog

http://americanlibraries.org/e-content

“Keeping up with the many varieties of digital content—and how libraries can offer them to their patrons—just got easier.   American Libraries has launched an “E-Content” blog that provides information on e-books, e-readers, e-journals, databases, digital libraries, digital repositories, and other e-content issues. The blog complements the new section on e-content that appears in the weekly e-newsletter American Libraries Direct and focuses on similar issues.”–From ALA Website.

Best Free Reference Websites 2011

http://www.ala.org/ala/mgrps/divs/rusa/sections/mars/marspubs/marsbestfreewebsites/marsbestref2011.cfm

“This is an annual series initiated under the auspices of the Machine-Assisted Reference Section (MARS) of the Reference and User Services Association (RUSA) of ALA to recognize outstanding reference sites on the World Wide Web. “–From the website.

Find The Data — Libraries

http://library.findthedata.org/

Compare libraries from around the country according to a varied set of criteria, including the number of print materials, library visits, size of community, and much more.