Posts
Continuing in my efforts to destroy the concept of downloadable audiobooks, I downloaded a couple more to see if they were any easier to handle with the media player, as opposed to the mp3 player.
sigh.
I tried the radio (quickie) download first, and the quality was really awful, like listening to a reader underwater. I hadn't noticed it so much with the first book I downloaded, but I might not have been expecting much (and it was a J book). You can use the >> (fast forward) button, but it only goes faster and did not jump to the next cut. Hmm. I wondered then if it would be any better on the cd quality download, which would take longer.
Mind you, I'm working with children's books (or adult quickie fare such as the Hamish Macbeth mysteries) that should go pretty fast. The computer claimed it was taking 5 minutes to download the book. I went out to give LeVerne a break but she said she didn't need one. Then I tried to help her put books away but she shooed me off.
I tried this new higher-quality audio and ... yes, it does sound better. It sounds great, if I must say so. However, it only fast forwards, does not skip. Someone could be in for a long wait, ff'ing to where they left off. So, it's not the mp3 player, or not only the mp3 player making things awkward.
A regular book on cd will play on media player and has nicely spaced cuts to skip to. You press >> and it goes to the next one. You press << once and it goes back to the beginning of the current cut, twice and to the previous cut. Much better than holding the << down for ages.
I fear our patrons will have to be warned that NetLibrary isn't the answer to their prayers, unless they are able to sit there for an entire book. I was toying with the idea of burning it to a cd, but the cd module is off somewhere else and I don't know if (a) it's a burner or (2) if the wma file been thingied to prevent burning to cd. Just trying to think like a patron.
I've attached a url to a page describing devices that do not meet requirements. Patrons will have to refer to that. However, after using media player, I don't think it's the mp3 that's the problem. Ahem.
Friday, December 29, 2006
bookmarklets
Bookmarklets: they're just something else thought up by codemonkeys to drive us crazy. Little bits of code, lurking for some purpose that I haven't found a need for yet ... bleagh.
Okay, I went to Wikipedia ages ago and tried one, but somehow either screwed it up, or didn't understand what I was doing. I have since gone back and tried again. Now, on the CR workroom computer I have a bookmarklet that will look up a word for me in W. either by my highlighting it or by giving me a prompt box tp type it into. Phew! Now, how that's so much shorter than just having a bookmark (excuse me, "Favorite" for Wikipedia) is beyond me. They had me put it under the "Links" folder in Favorites which means I have to click on that and then on my bookmarklet. If I had Wikipedia itself on Favorites, I'd be there in one click.
Of course, then I would have to type in the word ... how long will that take? Oh, soooo useful. I think I'll go use it for a while and see if I get excited. I really need the knowledge of how to make my own ... after I get the inspiration for an idea of what I'd like a bookmarklet to do.
Maybe there's a bookmarklet that will suddenly make the page look like I'm working.
Okay, I went to Wikipedia ages ago and tried one, but somehow either screwed it up, or didn't understand what I was doing. I have since gone back and tried again. Now, on the CR workroom computer I have a bookmarklet that will look up a word for me in W. either by my highlighting it or by giving me a prompt box tp type it into. Phew! Now, how that's so much shorter than just having a bookmark (excuse me, "Favorite" for Wikipedia) is beyond me. They had me put it under the "Links" folder in Favorites which means I have to click on that and then on my bookmarklet. If I had Wikipedia itself on Favorites, I'd be there in one click.
Of course, then I would have to type in the word ... how long will that take? Oh, soooo useful. I think I'll go use it for a while and see if I get excited. I really need the knowledge of how to make my own ... after I get the inspiration for an idea of what I'd like a bookmarklet to do.
Maybe there's a bookmarklet that will suddenly make the page look like I'm working.
Wednesday, December 27, 2006
Hmmmmmm
Well, that was annoying. Netlibrary said dial up would take almost 6 hours and cable was 11 minutes. It took over 40 minutes to download to the computer. Then it took 30 seconds to transfer it to the mp3 player.
Now, I don't know if it's the mp3 player or the audiobook itself, but there are only two settings: play and pause. If you stop it for any reason, you have to go back to the beginning and start over.
This is not the way they work on cd! On a cd player, you will have sections you can forward or reverse to. And the one in my car remembers where you were when you turned the car off. That can be pretty annoying. It was happening with the children's book I did earlier, but that was so short it didn't really need such a feature. Oh, a full-length book does.
It is therefore my considered opinion that you should not bother to try to listen to an audiobook on an mp3 player. I know people who do this, however, strange people. It always boils down to this: there just ain't anything like a book.
Now, I don't know if it's the mp3 player or the audiobook itself, but there are only two settings: play and pause. If you stop it for any reason, you have to go back to the beginning and start over.
This is not the way they work on cd! On a cd player, you will have sections you can forward or reverse to. And the one in my car remembers where you were when you turned the car off. That can be pretty annoying. It was happening with the children's book I did earlier, but that was so short it didn't really need such a feature. Oh, a full-length book does.
It is therefore my considered opinion that you should not bother to try to listen to an audiobook on an mp3 player. I know people who do this, however, strange people. It always boils down to this: there just ain't anything like a book.
More Audio-Biz
This really is sloggin' along to the end. I recommend everyone take a peak at eDonkey. I think everyone should get the threatening note left at that site. It is no longer in "bidness" and our isp address is now logged as having visited and various yowlings about illegal downloads, etc., etc. iTunes and LimeRickey, or whatever it is, require downloading more programming and although these new computers have like, what, 90 gigs or something ridiculous, I still worry about adding to the mix like that. So, I'm doing this on the one in the back (while Mozilla is on the CR desk computer - I still like Mozilla and am tempted to download it at home).
I downloaded iTunes and it took the 90gig version of forever. Do-dee-do-dee-do. It wants to organize my music, allow me to upload from a cd, and transfer it to an mp3. I just think it wants to do too much. Maybe later, you know? We have a book on the iPod which I was perusing a while back, and it was written in a, like, totally rad style, like, it was your best friend, y'know, talkin' to you? Except, of course, my friends don't speak gibberish. Anyway, I gave up on iTunes and went to visit my friend, John Coulton (see previous post somewhere down there), because he has some free songs to listen to. I can't recommend this guy strongly enough. He says he might be available for weddings, etc. It would be worth marrying again. I mean, you know, marrying Bob again.
I listened to "My Millionaire Girlfriend." But I think I'd rather put some audiobooks on the mp3. In fact, I think I'll toodle off and just do that.
I downloaded iTunes and it took the 90gig version of forever. Do-dee-do-dee-do. It wants to organize my music, allow me to upload from a cd, and transfer it to an mp3. I just think it wants to do too much. Maybe later, you know? We have a book on the iPod which I was perusing a while back, and it was written in a, like, totally rad style, like, it was your best friend, y'know, talkin' to you? Except, of course, my friends don't speak gibberish. Anyway, I gave up on iTunes and went to visit my friend, John Coulton (see previous post somewhere down there), because he has some free songs to listen to. I can't recommend this guy strongly enough. He says he might be available for weddings, etc. It would be worth marrying again. I mean, you know, marrying Bob again.
I listened to "My Millionaire Girlfriend." But I think I'd rather put some audiobooks on the mp3. In fact, I think I'll toodle off and just do that.
Phew! I did it!
This mp3 was heck. Why, it has taken almost a half an hour to figure out how to use it, download an audiobook from our collection, and get it playing. Okay, maybe that doesn't seem like that long a time to go from soup to nuts ... but it doesn't take into account the general frustration.
Sooooo, here are some hints for those who come after me. Read the page on NetLibrary before starting. That would have simplified the process for me.
Okay, you have your mp3 player. So, you hook it up to the USB port. It was on. I think. I had to find something to listen to, and I wanted something short to make sure I could download it. So I searched for "juvenile" on audiobook. Then I scrolled down until I found one that looked short.
Checking out is easy. You press a button and you're checked out. But, you have to click to actually download it and you need to remember to save it somewhere you can find it again. Before you can move it to the mp3 player you have to open it in your media player. This is what gives the license, the permission to send it to the mp3 player. It won't let you otherwise, no matter how much you yell at the computer.
So this is the drill:
1. check out
2. download/save where you can find it
3. open it in the media player (and then stop it from playing)
4. move it to the mp3 player.
Sooooo, here are some hints for those who come after me. Read the page on NetLibrary before starting. That would have simplified the process for me.
Okay, you have your mp3 player. So, you hook it up to the USB port. It was on. I think. I had to find something to listen to, and I wanted something short to make sure I could download it. So I searched for "juvenile" on audiobook. Then I scrolled down until I found one that looked short.
Checking out is easy. You press a button and you're checked out. But, you have to click to actually download it and you need to remember to save it somewhere you can find it again. Before you can move it to the mp3 player you have to open it in your media player. This is what gives the license, the permission to send it to the mp3 player. It won't let you otherwise, no matter how much you yell at the computer.
So this is the drill:
1. check out
2. download/save where you can find it
3. open it in the media player (and then stop it from playing)
4. move it to the mp3 player.
Wednesday, December 20, 2006
Windows Messenger
I'd been looking at that little thing that pops up every now and then in the lower right hand corner of the screen in the CR and tells me when the Greenwood Reference Dept. had logged on. It's instant messaging. So, Pam and I have been IM'ing each other this morning (as it is realllllllly slow). But I can see actually using it instead of the phone to let each other know when a "question" is headed their way. "Word processor open? Sending someone over." "Sending over a reference question on lemurs - not enough info here." That sort of thing. Or, "I brought in cookies," which is what I actually sent.
Who else has this? GRD is the only thing I've ever seen logging on. I remember reading about IM'ing in Bridget Jones's Diary, which means it's been around for ages, at least internally. I don't use it on the internet at home. Does anyone do that? I mean, if I want to talk to someone in real time, I'll talk to them. I'll get the cordless phone and wander around the house, getting a snack, etc.
Does anyone here do the internet phone? They use the internet video-phone at Piedmont Tec, but other than that I don't know anyone who has it.
Who else has this? GRD is the only thing I've ever seen logging on. I remember reading about IM'ing in Bridget Jones's Diary, which means it's been around for ages, at least internally. I don't use it on the internet at home. Does anyone do that? I mean, if I want to talk to someone in real time, I'll talk to them. I'll get the cordless phone and wander around the house, getting a snack, etc.
Does anyone here do the internet phone? They use the internet video-phone at Piedmont Tec, but other than that I don't know anyone who has it.
Saturday, December 16, 2006
Friday, December 15, 2006
Kill Two Birds ...
Well, I don't know who has the mp3 player at the moment, but I can download and listen to an audiobook on the computer here. Well, I thought I could, anyway.
The hardest part is finding a book I'd want to download. Not sure why. I get all picky about something I'm only going to listen to for a few minutes, then shut down and try to find again! So I picked The sign of four by Conan-Doyle (must be jonesin' for that seven percent solution) and ... oh, hell, I don't know what I'm doing. I didn't really want to have it floating around on the harddrive, even though we've got about a 90+GB memory. (Remember when people wondered what they would do with 70KB? Me neither. Anyway ...) So I tried to just check it out ... which I supposed was streaming. Nothing happened, although the screen said it was now checked out to me. Hmmm. So I went up a notch and clicked on the radio quality (I checked on the FAQ to see what the difference was, other than a fraction of the downloading time and it turns out that you need CD quality if you want to download it further onto a listening device. Fine. I haven't got the listening device in front of me, so this is just right for me).
Apparently, I then chose the wrong option on the pop-up menu. I went for "open" and I should have picked "saved." Because now The sign of four is lost to me forever. I had intended to stop it and see what it was like to start up again. I think there is a four-letter answer to that.
What happened was that Media Player became suddenly insistant that I upgrade. I wasted about 10 minutes on this (well, maybe it was shorter than that) and then was, of course, unable to find the audiobook again.
sigh.
Back to square one. I logged on again and chose a different book (a shorter one - children's book) and clicked on radio quality again. I chose "save" this time and was able to put it somewhere that I would find it again. In fact, I can go right into Media Player and do a search on the words in the title and it comes up. And it started playing again while I was looking for it. Cheeky thing.
So, here's my recommendation: choose "save" and put it where you can find it again.
There's a fastforward function for zippying ahead, but I haven't found that it will skip to the next "cut," as most audiobooks on cd do. Maybe the book is too small.
The hardest part is finding a book I'd want to download. Not sure why. I get all picky about something I'm only going to listen to for a few minutes, then shut down and try to find again! So I picked The sign of four by Conan-Doyle (must be jonesin' for that seven percent solution) and ... oh, hell, I don't know what I'm doing. I didn't really want to have it floating around on the harddrive, even though we've got about a 90+GB memory. (Remember when people wondered what they would do with 70KB? Me neither. Anyway ...) So I tried to just check it out ... which I supposed was streaming. Nothing happened, although the screen said it was now checked out to me. Hmmm. So I went up a notch and clicked on the radio quality (I checked on the FAQ to see what the difference was, other than a fraction of the downloading time and it turns out that you need CD quality if you want to download it further onto a listening device. Fine. I haven't got the listening device in front of me, so this is just right for me).
Apparently, I then chose the wrong option on the pop-up menu. I went for "open" and I should have picked "saved." Because now The sign of four is lost to me forever. I had intended to stop it and see what it was like to start up again. I think there is a four-letter answer to that.
What happened was that Media Player became suddenly insistant that I upgrade. I wasted about 10 minutes on this (well, maybe it was shorter than that) and then was, of course, unable to find the audiobook again.
sigh.
Back to square one. I logged on again and chose a different book (a shorter one - children's book) and clicked on radio quality again. I chose "save" this time and was able to put it somewhere that I would find it again. In fact, I can go right into Media Player and do a search on the words in the title and it comes up. And it started playing again while I was looking for it. Cheeky thing.
So, here's my recommendation: choose "save" and put it where you can find it again.
There's a fastforward function for zippying ahead, but I haven't found that it will skip to the next "cut," as most audiobooks on cd do. Maybe the book is too small.
Thursday, December 14, 2006
Sloggin' to the finish line
Pant, pant, pant! I only have a little bit to go! Well, it seems like more than a little bit, and I can't do much where I am (and without the mp3 player), but I can look at another library's website. I chose Anderson County, out of the blue, but it seemed reasonable because I had been there and perhaps could match up what I know about the library with the website. I might try a totally unknown library later.
Ahem. Okay, ours is prettier. I like the greens and the orderliness of it, but the attractiveness of our main page isn't all about my sensibilities, is it?
Their page is white, with two, count'em, two moving marquees (going over holiday closings and hours). I hate that. My old eyes get distracted by these things. That's what makes those news channels sooooo annoying. What do you do? Listen to them or read the spate of news orts that waves relentlessly at the bottom of the screen?
Also, while our main page is our catalog/search page, theirs is used mostly for advertising/highlighting their programming, such as their live homework help (which we also have), the Foundation Center (a collection of materials/websites for grant writing), their expansion program (with a link to pictures - now, there's an idea for us later!), audiobook downloads (where will our info be when we're ready?), and something called Heritage Quest ... which I discovered we have as well. That must have been discussed at a meeting on a day I overslept. Or else it just fell out the other ear.
Here's something interesting, they put a button with a link to information about their Friends. There's a whole page about what the Friends do and how to become one ($5 and up). They also list their periodicals. Nice feature. They still have the Gates configurations on the Children's Room computers, or else they've forgotten to take that info down. When was the last time we checked all our info to make sure it was up to date?
The CR at Anderson has an after school program called "Library Bookworms" to enhance reading skills, or put even more pressure on kids. It doesn't really explain what is involved. I might be interested in that - when we have more room at the library.
I don't see a blog, but they have a site map where all the pages are visible (which is handy when you are doing what I am, which is investigating the site itself).
I think we have a very good site. The difference seems to be that we let patrons attack the catalog right off and they use their main page for advertising their features/programming. I think our website is restrained and dignified, while theirs is a bit busier. I don't think I would want our site to be so busy, but we have so much available to the public (besides books) that they might not know about. Perhaps we could highlight a feature a month on the main page.
Oh, look! There's an "Employment" button! Hey! They have a job opening for a branch manager! Oh, never mind. Only $22,000/yr. Not worth the hassle.
Ahem. Okay, ours is prettier. I like the greens and the orderliness of it, but the attractiveness of our main page isn't all about my sensibilities, is it?
Their page is white, with two, count'em, two moving marquees (going over holiday closings and hours). I hate that. My old eyes get distracted by these things. That's what makes those news channels sooooo annoying. What do you do? Listen to them or read the spate of news orts that waves relentlessly at the bottom of the screen?
Also, while our main page is our catalog/search page, theirs is used mostly for advertising/highlighting their programming, such as their live homework help (which we also have), the Foundation Center (a collection of materials/websites for grant writing), their expansion program (with a link to pictures - now, there's an idea for us later!), audiobook downloads (where will our info be when we're ready?), and something called Heritage Quest ... which I discovered we have as well. That must have been discussed at a meeting on a day I overslept. Or else it just fell out the other ear.
Here's something interesting, they put a button with a link to information about their Friends. There's a whole page about what the Friends do and how to become one ($5 and up). They also list their periodicals. Nice feature. They still have the Gates configurations on the Children's Room computers, or else they've forgotten to take that info down. When was the last time we checked all our info to make sure it was up to date?
The CR at Anderson has an after school program called "Library Bookworms" to enhance reading skills, or put even more pressure on kids. It doesn't really explain what is involved. I might be interested in that - when we have more room at the library.
I don't see a blog, but they have a site map where all the pages are visible (which is handy when you are doing what I am, which is investigating the site itself).
I think we have a very good site. The difference seems to be that we let patrons attack the catalog right off and they use their main page for advertising their features/programming. I think our website is restrained and dignified, while theirs is a bit busier. I don't think I would want our site to be so busy, but we have so much available to the public (besides books) that they might not know about. Perhaps we could highlight a feature a month on the main page.
Oh, look! There's an "Employment" button! Hey! They have a job opening for a branch manager! Oh, never mind. Only $22,000/yr. Not worth the hassle.
Wednesday, December 13, 2006
shelfmonkeys
I've decided that the reason I'm so stressed out is because I'm not cartooning. It got me through the 20,000,000 document review at the law firm! (Click on cartoon to see it larger.)
Thanks to Nicole for the idea.
Okay, this isn't on the List: BookMooch!
After fiddling about on LibraryThing for a while, I learned about a site called BookMooch, which enables people to get rid ... uhhh ... share books from their collections that they're tired of. I haven't loaded all my books onto LibraryThing yet (it takes a while, but it's the journey, you know), but looking at the ones I put up, I couldn't imagine which ones anyone would want to mooch.
I went to the site, though and looked it over. You can't just exchange books willy-nilly. You need to create a list (which is easy to do from LibraryThing, they said). For each book you list for possible mooching, you get 1/10 of a point. You earn a full point for sending someone a book. You "spend" a point getting a book from someone else. On top of that, you need to send out at least one book for every five you receive, no matter how many points you've got.
Extra points are involved in international mooching, but you can opt out of that.
As I said, my biggest worry was not having books anyone wanted to mooch. Also, they get annoyed if you list books to mooch and then renege.
Whilst doing my LT fiddling one evening, I noticed that there was a function that connected LT and BM (sorry). I enabled it and, presto!, I could see what books were being sought by moochers. They were books in my collection! And all I had to do was click and it would be added to the moochlist on my account (which I had set up the week before but had not done anything with). I would not have to bear the rejection of my books!
I added eight books I could part with (mostly from book group reading). Monday I sent off two of them. I still had to face some rejection when one of my books wasn't pretty enough for a gift. (Some cheek to "gift" a used book!) I had two more last night.
Now my only problem is finding a book I would like to mooch. I can't think of anything off hand. I'll have to read more postings on LT, where I now get most of my book suggestions. Fortunately, we've had many of these books in the library. I'm reading A song for Nero at the moment, on an LT recommendation. It was something I would never have picked up otherwise. Perhaps we need a book-buzz thread on our website to let the patrons make their own recommendations. I bet kids/YAs would enjoy that.
I went to the site, though and looked it over. You can't just exchange books willy-nilly. You need to create a list (which is easy to do from LibraryThing, they said). For each book you list for possible mooching, you get 1/10 of a point. You earn a full point for sending someone a book. You "spend" a point getting a book from someone else. On top of that, you need to send out at least one book for every five you receive, no matter how many points you've got.
Extra points are involved in international mooching, but you can opt out of that.
As I said, my biggest worry was not having books anyone wanted to mooch. Also, they get annoyed if you list books to mooch and then renege.
Whilst doing my LT fiddling one evening, I noticed that there was a function that connected LT and BM (sorry). I enabled it and, presto!, I could see what books were being sought by moochers. They were books in my collection! And all I had to do was click and it would be added to the moochlist on my account (which I had set up the week before but had not done anything with). I would not have to bear the rejection of my books!
I added eight books I could part with (mostly from book group reading). Monday I sent off two of them. I still had to face some rejection when one of my books wasn't pretty enough for a gift. (Some cheek to "gift" a used book!) I had two more last night.
Now my only problem is finding a book I would like to mooch. I can't think of anything off hand. I'll have to read more postings on LT, where I now get most of my book suggestions. Fortunately, we've had many of these books in the library. I'm reading A song for Nero at the moment, on an LT recommendation. It was something I would never have picked up otherwise. Perhaps we need a book-buzz thread on our website to let the patrons make their own recommendations. I bet kids/YAs would enjoy that.
Wednesday, December 06, 2006
Podscope/ShelfMonkey
I looked briefly at podscope.com today. Man, I don't even know where to start with that! I was totally unprepared to play with it. It would never occur to me to make podcasts searchable! (Hmm, Mozilla no like "searchable.") I subscribe to two podcasts. It seems to search individual podcasts (their notes anyway). I might like to find other podcasts (I can't spell podcast without starting with "pos-") on topics that interested me. Right now I'm just subscribing to podcasts by people I know and like. I suppose I could do that with this.
By the way, if you haven't heard John Coulton's songs, "Code Monkey" and the one about the zombies, I have attached a link to the NPR site. He does a cover of "Baby Got Back," as a ballad, which is an hysterical concept, but I don't need to listen to the whole thing again. From the NPR site there is a link to YouTube where people have posted videos they've made to "Code Monkey." The one that looks like a girl in her dorm room is the best. I know you can probably fit "The Matrix" and "A Clockwork Orange" to any song if you edit it well, so I'm not that impressed. The one with the nerdy guy is endearing and he should be able to get his leg over (is that one word?) on the strength of it, but I still go for the first one which claims to be a dance, but is more a mime.
God, I love NPR. I'd be totally out of the loop otherwise.
By the way, if you haven't heard John Coulton's songs, "Code Monkey" and the one about the zombies, I have attached a link to the NPR site. He does a cover of "Baby Got Back," as a ballad, which is an hysterical concept, but I don't need to listen to the whole thing again. From the NPR site there is a link to YouTube where people have posted videos they've made to "Code Monkey." The one that looks like a girl in her dorm room is the best. I know you can probably fit "The Matrix" and "A Clockwork Orange" to any song if you edit it well, so I'm not that impressed. The one with the nerdy guy is endearing and he should be able to get his leg over (is that one word?) on the strength of it, but I still go for the first one which claims to be a dance, but is more a mime.
God, I love NPR. I'd be totally out of the loop otherwise.
Friday, December 01, 2006
New On-Line Thingies
I haven't been this excited since they introduced e-mail. Kidding. I am looking forward to the audio-books, though. Reading off a computer screen makes my head ache after a while, so while I'm not that interested in doing it, I did look at ... okay ... all the titles (less than 800). I also looked at the audiobook titles as well (a mere 1,700-ish) and am fairly rubbing my mitts together and wondering when I will find the time to listen to some of these. (Plus I can learn some language called "Twi"! I have no idea what it is, but I want it.)
Something that I found annoying was the bit under "details." Some details have reviews (reasonably helpful), and some have this ... other thing. It's described thusly:
"Short summary of the eContent item on the Details page. The summary is selected by the search engine and represents the main concepts of the eContent item. If coming from a search, summaries relate to the search query display. If coming from your affiliated library's online catalog, summaries represent the main concepts of the entire item." The end result is that it makes no sense at all.
Here's an example:
"Mike has such a friendly, easy style that makes this topic seem not so threatening. —Barbara Spade, Parent, International VP of Community Relations, Parents Without Partners, Inc. But go easy on this. You’re trying to build your kid up, not tear her down. Because you’ve got to be there to keep your kid on track, this would be a good time to do a little decluttering of your own! Not-cluttering is more conceptual." And this was one of the more coherent ones I read.
So, if we have a choice, I'd go for the review. We may not have a choice, though.
All in all, it's pretty exciting. It would be nice if we could have those books that every kid has to read over the summer, such as Roll of thunder, hear my cry. We have Frankenstein in both e-audio and ebook and I can see telling kids, "Oh, if you have a computer at home, you can download that in print or audio format from our website!"
Something that I found annoying was the bit under "details." Some details have reviews (reasonably helpful), and some have this ... other thing. It's described thusly:
"Short summary of the eContent item on the Details page. The summary is selected by the search engine and represents the main concepts of the eContent item. If coming from a search, summaries relate to the search query display. If coming from your affiliated library's online catalog, summaries represent the main concepts of the entire item." The end result is that it makes no sense at all.
Here's an example:
"Mike has such a friendly, easy style that makes this topic seem not so threatening. —Barbara Spade, Parent, International VP of Community Relations, Parents Without Partners, Inc. But go easy on this. You’re trying to build your kid up, not tear her down. Because you’ve got to be there to keep your kid on track, this would be a good time to do a little decluttering of your own! Not-cluttering is more conceptual." And this was one of the more coherent ones I read.
So, if we have a choice, I'd go for the review. We may not have a choice, though.
All in all, it's pretty exciting. It would be nice if we could have those books that every kid has to read over the summer, such as Roll of thunder, hear my cry. We have Frankenstein in both e-audio and ebook and I can see telling kids, "Oh, if you have a computer at home, you can download that in print or audio format from our website!"
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