Interested in taking the plunge into reading digital-style, but not sure how/what/when? We have a library workshop for you on December 8th all about eReading and the library. Check out the event calendar for details.
And while we're on the subject of reading digitally, check out this review by our guest blogger Jennifer Furuyama, library school student and avid reader of ebooks. Here, she compares Amazon Kindle to the Barnes & Noble Nook:
The basic Nook will run you ninety nine dollars while the basic Kindle comes in at seventy nine. Both product websites boast that their E-Reader is the best on the market. So what sets these two products apart?
Both allow you to download books from your public library. Both are wireless, both are light, both have high resolution and both claim competitive pricing on the purchase of books. The differences are minor but depending on your intended use for the reader the following distinctions may impact your choice.
The Nook’s battery life significantly exceeds that of the Kindle but the Kindle can store four hundred more books than the Nook. On the Nook users can lend books to one another free of charge. Kindle users can borrow books from Amazon’s lending library but to do so they have to purchase an Amazon Prime membership.
If you are purchasing an e-reader for recreational reading alone these two options are comparable. However, if you are purchasing an e-reader for student use there is a clear reason to opt for the Nook over Kindle. Kindle books monitor reader progress via percentage complete. As a result there are no page numbers. Without a page number students cannot correctly cite an excerpt from a novel, a requirement in most middle and high school course work.
--Jennifer Furuyama
