The Book Saver offers a new way to digitize your library (if you have the time and patience)

Ion Audio is releasing the Book Saver, an e-reader conversion system for printed materials. According to the company, it's the "fastest and most convenient system for transferring novels, textbooks and periodicals to the digital realm."

As you can see in the video below, Book Saver has two cameras that take separate images in rapid succession of each page within an open book. Book Saver works very fast - it takes only one second per two pages according to the company, which means that to copy a 200-page book will take you about 15 minutes.

The Book Saver, which will be offered in a price of $149, is indeed a great way to digitize your library, but will readers have the time and energy to really use it, when they can digitize almost any book in their library by purchasing and downloading it in no effort and no time?

Let's take for example a beloved book on my shelf - Catch 22 by Joseph Heller. It has 464 pages, which means that using the Book Saver it will take me about 35 minutes to digitize the whole book, if I won't get tired and keep doing it at the same pace. On the other hand, I can go to Amazon Kindle store, pay $12.99 (for some reason the e-book cost more than the paperback..) and have it on my Kindle in one minute. In this case, I would say I would go for the second option and maybe spend an half hour reading it instead of storing it.

What would you do? Do you see yourself using the Book Saver or you rather just digitize your library by downloading it? We'll be happy to hear your thoughts.




Yours,
Raz @ Eco-Libris

Eco-Libris: Promoting sustainable reading!

Celebrating the National Library Week: An interview with a librarian (and my mother)

This week (April 11-17) we're celebrating the National Library Week, an annual celebration of the contributions of our nation's libraries and librarians.

I wrote here many times how much love libraries and definitely a big part of it is due to the fact that my mother is a librarian. I interviewed her two years ago in celebration of this occasion, and I thought it would be appropriate to repost it in honor of this week and all of the librarians around the globe, including my mother who is doing it with a lot of love for the last 29 years!

Hi mom - how many years do you work as a librarian?

29 Years [updated to 2010, r.g.]

How much have libraries changed during these 29 years? when did you enjoy it more - now or back then?

The work of a librarian today is more technocratic because of the greater availability of information and also because computers takes a bigger part of the librarian's work. Personally, I enjoyed more the kind of work we did back then in the old days..

What do you think is the most important part in the work of librarians?

Good contact with the people who come to the library, which I think encourages reading, knowledge - you have to stay up to date with the latest books, and of course to read, read and read.

What do you like most and what do you like less in your work?

like to read books and recommend those that I liked. I don't like to lending DVDs and see that they get more and more popular at the expense of books.

What's more fun - working with grown ups or children?

Both - with the nice ones in both groups :-)

Do children really read more because of the Harry Potter series?

I don't feel that the series made a significant change. It also looks to me that kids are much less enthusiastic about the last book comparing with the first one.

How libraries fit in the 21st century digital world?

We will see more computerization of libraries that will influence many processes - registration, ordering books, the online connection between libraries that allows to 'import' a book from another library when you don't have it in your own, etc.

We already see more and more libraries with their own websites and online catalogs, which for example enable readers to check out at home what new books arrived to the library.

When you look 29 years backwards, if you could have choose again what would you like to do back then, would it be to work as a librarian?

Probably yes.

And finally, what do you think of Eco-Libris?
I think it's a great combination between the world of books and ecology, which emphasize the value of conservation of trees, which are disappearing from our globe at an alarming rate.

Thanks mom! and greetings to all the librarians that will celebrate the National Library Week.

And one last recommendation - check out the the most amazing libraries in America on Huffington Post. It's indeed amazing!

Yours,
Raz @ Eco-Libris

Eco-Libris: Promoting sustainable reading!