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Monday, February 28, 2011
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Amazon Raises the Stakes in Your Reading Experience: The Platform War Continues
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by Jill O'Neill
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In the first half of February 2011, Amazon announced an upgrade to the Kindle software, consisting of four elements. The first was the enabling of share-able public notes; Kindle owners may now choose to reveal annotations made in a Kindle edition to others in the same way users had previously been able to share highlighted passages made on a Kindle. The second item was the availability of pagination that would correlate with a specific print edition of the same work. The upgrade would also encourage star ratings of a title as soon as the reader had finished reading it and the possibility of posting both the completion status and star rating to either one's Twitter or Facebook followers. Finally, a new graphical layout for magazines and newspapers on the Kindle better displays a single issue's contents. The upgrade was applicable to third-generation Kindles devices, and the same set of capabilities was subsequently added within the week to the broad range of Kindle apps for other devices.
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Evanced Solutions Announces Summer Reader 2011 Release
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Evanced Solutions announced that the newest version of its Summer Reader software will be available March 1, 2011. Summer Reader is used by more than 1,500 libraries in 49 states. The software enables library staff members to easily build online reading programs, manage reading logs and prizes, and run statistical reports. Library users interact with Summer Reader to register for reading programs, log reading time, read and write book reviews, see prizes they have earned, and even opt to post their latest reading activity on Facebook.
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New Functionality for Cambridge Journals Online
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Cambridge Journals Online (CJO), the online publishing service for academic journals at Cambridge University Press, launched a series of new developments. These enhancements include a suite of tailored features for publishers and societies, while readers will benefit from greater convenience, more powerful tools, and faster access to the latest research.
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ResourceShelf Founders Establish New Sites: INFOdocket.com and FullTextReports
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Gary Price and Shirl Kennedy, the well-known and respected librarian bloggers who began ResourceShelf a decade ago and DocuTicker 2 years later, announced that they are no longer affiliated with those sites. The two say it was time to move on and have more autonomy. So, they have started two new sites that will continue to scour the internet for interesting resources.
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Update on Gale—Mobile, Global, and In Context
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by Paula J. Hane
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At the recent ALA Midwinter meeting, I caught up with Nader Qaimari, senior vice president of marketing at Cengage Learning, to talk about recent developments at Gale and get a peek at some forthcoming products. Gale continues to be excited about the streamlined company structure implemented last summer—the integration of Gale and Cengage. Qaimari says it lets the company make content connections and help libraries serve as the conduit to information and textbooks. Other news he was eager to discuss included the company's mobile initiatives, its new Gale World Scholar product line, enhancements to PowerSearch, new administrative tools, and ongoing work on the In Context products.
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If you regularly read blogs, add these to your reader:
ITI Books Blog – booksblog.infotoday.com – news, observations, and commentary from the authors, editors, and publishers of Information Today, Inc.'s many book offerings.
ITI Conference Blog – libconf.com – covering ITI's library conferences worldwide.
Library Stuff – librarystuff.net – the library blog dedicated to resources for keeping current and professional development, written by Steven M. Cohen.
InfoToday Europe Blog – infotodayeurope.com – The latest news, analysis and opinion on the information industry in Europe and the UK.
Business of Video blog – blog.streamingmedia.com – Daily posts about the online video industry, business trends and analysis, market data, and research as well as the online video business models in the media and entertainment, broadcast, publishing, advertising and enterprise industries.
destinationCRM Blog – destinationcrmblog.com – a blog from the editors of CRM magazine, dedicated to providing Customer Relationship Management information in a timely manner to connect decision makers and providers.
SpeechTech Blog – speechtechblog.com – updates on speech technology and its applications in daily life. Covers everything from ASR to VUI, with lots of links, threads, and even a few pictures thrown in for good measure.
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