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less comfortable
"If we take libraries-as-first-resort in search out of the equation, what is left looks something
like stewardship, loosely defined: ensuring long-term access to content in reliable, secure,
and authentic form. But we already know that a significant portion of digital scholarly
literature and primary resources, the portion available through licensed agreements, is
seldom in the possession and care of research libraries. Perhaps a preliminary answer to the
question “What are the
core functions of the research library with respect to collecting,
preserving, and making accessible resources for scholarship?” might be that research libraries
will be stewards of some sectors of the information universe, but they will not be the same
sectors as before." Abbey Smith
Tangible collections have a future too. Not just relevance of past reference, but new transmission functions. The library interacts originals and surrogates, tangible and electronic, personal and global collections continuously.
more comfortable
"From the worlds of business, technology, sports, entertainment, politics, and more, Kindle Blogs are delivered wirelessly to your Kindle throughout the day. Check back often--we're adding more blogs every day."
Jeff Bezos mentioned (on NPR) that Kindle has a mission to "make long form reading more comfortable." According to him, backlit display causes eyestrain and distracts from concentration. Electronic ink overcomes this obstacle, although full color is years away.
Another aspect of the Kindle mission is "green product" attribute. Trees are saved and gas is saved.
Just as possible the Kindle is a template device for hand-held purchasing. As such, fulfillment to paper may still play a role. As for greenness, life cycle costs and systems maintenance could factor into e-book distribution. And comfortable or not, it looks like Kindle will gravitate to short form reading.
backward, not
"Publishing is going through a fundamental sociological and technologic shift. The
way books, magazines and newspapers are published is being democratized.
Print is becoming personal. Users want to choose how and when they consume content. They want it published on demand. And increasingly, social retailing drives today’s bestseller lists.
HP’s new
BookPrep technology capitalizes on these trends by enabling publishers to digitize any existing book and turn it into a virtual asset that can be sold over the Internet and printed on demand – either as is, or personalized by the consumer."
Digital technology and connectivity advances
print reading.
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