In keeping with our theme of "there is no such thing as a free lunch", Bookshare is a great idea, but it is not free. As I recall, each book cost about $10 to download. This is a wonderful service for impaired readers everywhere, but it is not a service I could use in my library. I could, however, start something like this by recording books and making them available as an audio file, or a podcast (definitely the technological flavor of the month).
As with catalog shopping, I find that as I review different web based services, I may not be able to afford them, but they give me an idea for a new program or service I could offer with some ingenuity and adaptation.
Similarly, I have been hungry to produce a "reading rainbow" type program with my students reviewing the books. It's so easy to do ---- has anyone else tried?
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4 comments:
Hi Julie,
My understanding was that you have to pay an initial registration fee of $25 and then a annual subscription rate of $50 for bookshare and then you could access all books for free as you would in a library. Is it really $10 a book? That doesn't make it very affordable!
I've also thought about creating podcasts of books that I read aloud, since my audiobook collection is sparse and uncataloged. I haven't quite figured out how to host the mp3 file online and provide an RSS feed to it. I will have to re-watch that CNET video a couple of more times before I get it. Having iPods would really make these audio recorded read-alouds popular. I don't think I could convince my school to pay for these though. I think I'll have to find a grant for that. Does anyone know if there are any copyright issues surrounding this type of recording?
I also like your idea of having students revie books. I had thought about starting a blog or wiki for kids to do this. Again, I wasn't so familiar with the technology and never found the time to figure it out. I like the idea, however, of having them record their reviews.
Another idea would be to have the students record themselves reading aloud. These files could then be "checked out" by other students. There are a lot of things to think about though when implementing this technology" For example, who will load and erase the files on the iPods. I barely have a minute in the day as is.
Hi Julie-
I found the price to be an issue as well. I would have thought it to be more affordable, expecially if geared to some extent to the public school sector.
But, with a little creativity, good ideas (as you touched upon) can be adapted. Julie, you strike me as someone who can do this with ease! I know how you're always one to come prepared with markers, glue, scissors and the like...ha ha!
-Kate
I almost feel like we have to split ourselves into many different people in the library. One handling the technology, one handling the books, etc. As more and more materials are introduced our job becomes larger with less time to do it. There's so much great stuff out there to use and do, and so little time!
**Beatrice**
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