Audiobooks & Social Networks

Social Networks that connect book lovers - Shelfari, LibraryThing, Facebook's iRead (soon to be WeRead), & GoodReads - have been in the news recently. Tim O'Reilly had a great post on the topic this week: Social Networking for Books: One Ring, or Loosely Joined? I completely agree with his remarks that we all tend to stick to the network that we first use. But I had to leave a comment on his post about the fact that all of the book social networks have very active audiobook aficionados posting their recommendations. Just search for the tag "audiobook" and see what other listeners are recommending! Wouldn't it be great if audiobook publishers would add their titles to the networks, so that we wouldn't have to use & edit the print title covers & information? And the ability to add or link to a sample clip of the audiobook would be awesome!

I try to keep my LibraryThing audiobook list current - and am usually way behind, especially at the start of the school year! And although I've set up accounts at the other networks, I can't say I've been back more than a handful of times. Sort of like me & the whole Twitter thing. I did once look at FriendFeed, and was boggled by the possibilities. I'd be able to keep up with all the great Web 2.0 connections, if only I didn't have to sleep & work ;-) Any audiobook social network libraries out there that you'd like to recommend?

Image from www.librarything.com

Audiobooks a chapter at a time for cell phones

I'd love to see this type of marketing here in the U.S.! This title from Geri Halliwell (Ginger Spice) is the perfect match for tweens who shop at Claire's. Interesting comments in this article from the U.K.'s theBookseller.com - especially the view that current phone technology is great for audiobooks, but not quite ready for eBooks. Here's the whole article:

Mobile services provider ICUE has launched a marketing campaign to offer Claire's Accessories customers a free chapter download of a Macmillan title: Ugenia Lavender and the Lovely Illness by Geri Halliwell.

The campaign marks a change in strategy for the company, away from downloading whole books on mobile phones in favour of chapter sample downloads. ICUE is now working with both adult and children's publishers to develop marketing campaigns including chapter downloads, mobile web advertising and tagging for outdoor marketing.

Managing director Jane Tappuni said: "We found that the English-speaking market was not ready to read books on mobile phones and that the mobile phone technology also needs to develop, so we have put book downloads on ice for now."

For the latest campaign, ICUE has partnered with mobile phone provider ROK. A "mobile magazine" is sent to opted-in Claire's Accessories customers, who are asked if they want a chapter download of Halliwell's book. This is offered in 16 Claire's Accessories branches and is expected to go nationwide to all 320.

Image from http://www.amazon.co.uk

Britain's Booker Prize on your phone

More on audiobooks in England from theBookseller.com:

For the first time, UK mobile phone users will be able to download free extracts from titles selected for this year’s Man Booker prize when the shortlist is announced on 9th September.

The Man Booker Prize has exclusively partnered with mobile site GoSpoken.com; it is the first time that any book prize has used mobile technology to promote its shortlist. Jonathan Taylor, chairman of the Booker Prize Foundation, said: "After 40 years making the headlines in the literary world, it is good that the Man Booker Prize is now taking a lead in the world of new technology."

As soon as the shortlist is revealed, the public will immediately be able to text MBP to 60300 to download a free extract of their chosen title to read as text or listen to as audio. They can then order a hard copy of the book to be delivered directly to their door, or download the full audio version. The cost will be added to their mobile phone bill.

Here's a link to the original article by Katie Allen.

Image from http://www.themanbookerprize.com/

The Times Audiobook Festival

Audiobook fans will want to listen in to the podcasts of The Times of London Online Audiobook Festival. You'll hear a fascinating behind-the-scenes look at the British audiobook world, where abridgments are common. Interviews with top audiobook actors, including Andrew Sachs (best known as Manuel in Fawlty Towers), Lorelei King, and Neville Jason, are included. You'll also hear producers, abridgers, and representatives from download services such as Go Spoken. Great stuff! Here is the line up:

The online audio festivat: Panel 1 - Audio Abridgment

• The online audio festival: Panel 2 – Audio Acting

• The online audio festival: Panel 3 – Audio in Education

• The online audio festival: Panel 4 – Audio Downloads

Image from http://www.timesonline.co.uk

Recommended MP3 players for downloading audiobooks from public library

Wondering about which MP3 player to purchase to make the best use of the FREE downloadable audiobooks, videos, and eBooks from your public library's website? Check out a great article by Jasmine France on CNET. I'd add two more player to the recommended list: the Creative MuVo T200 - a great little player you can throw against a wall or punish with a trip through the washer & dryer, and it will still work. Perfect for teachers or school libraries to buy & circulate to students! And I keep a low-cost SanDisk Sansa m250 in my gym bag. Check online for some great deals on the Sansa. I agree with France's recommendations - we have a Creative Zen V Plus, and it's my current favorite player for library downloads, as most public library download services require a Windows-based player. But think of it this way: for the cost of a single audiobook on CD from your local bookstore, you can buy a player that will enable you to download hundreds of favorites for free. I am looking forward to downloading titles to one of my iPods from my local library's OverDrive service soon, as more public libraries add titles without Digital Rights Management to the collection. Read this Library Journal article for more details.

Image from www.creative.com

Brisingr: Listen to the language

Getting ready for the release of newest title in the Inheritance Cycle by Christopher Paolini on September 20th? Here's a great way to promote the amazing performance by Gerard Doyle, who will continue his readings on the audiobook of Brisingr. Random House has created an Inheritance audio quiz - take a look at Ancient Language Quiz #1 and Quiz #2 The answers to the the quizzes are in the rest of the materials included in a batch of great Release Day events which include iron-ons and even a Brisingr tattoo! There's also a recorded message from Paolini for fans. Great way to include the audiobook series fans who prefered Doyle's tour-de-force narration of Eragon & Eldest in the release date excitment!

The Kindle and audiobooks: resource roundup

Kindles & audiobooks – I’ve been searching for information, as I am trying to justify the purchase of a new shiny toy and am trying to decide between devices that can double as both audiobook players and eBook readers. Here’s a random round-up of items that I found interesting:

Kindle User's Guide

Audible’s Kindle User’s Guide

Scott Hansen’s ComputerZen.com on Amazon Kindle

Amazon’s Listening to Audio Books on Your Kindle

Dear Jeff, Please fix Audible.com and, oh yeah, make the Kindle stop hating Mac users

MacWorld’s Why Amazon’s Kindle is Revolutionary (includes what you don’t know)

Audiobooks Easier Than Ever - Amazon Kindle

MP3s on the Kindle

How to Listen to Audiobooks on Kindle

How to Listen to Background Music While Reading on the Kindle - This tells how to listen to an MP3 audiobook while reading on the Kindle – which answers my question about the Tantor Unabridged Classics on a Kindle.

Library Journal Editorial: To Kindle or Not – Must reading for anyone interested in taking advantage of the free loan of audiobooks through the public library

Could iPhone smoke the Kindle? Hmm.. another shiny toy

And here is a great quote from Tom Peters on the ALA TechSource blog about the need for the Kindle to be able to Toggle from print to audio:

The Kindle seems like a nice device, but there's always more that could be included in the next iteration. I like to read both visually and aurally, but usually not at the same time. I did spot a headphones jack on one side of the Kindle in one of the videos, but I cannot find mention of the possibilities for any type of aural reading experience. An immersive listening experience with a good downloadable digital audio book is a wonderful thing. Can the Kindle handle audio books? Better yet, is there good text-to-speech software included so that I can switch from visual reading to aural reading in the middle of a book, as I get up from my easy chair (and watch Max my dog quickly jump into that warm spot) and head off in my car to take my older son to piano practice?

Feel free to add any resources I missed as a comment!

Image from www.amazon.com

Nabaztag: Adorable bunny reads a book

Ok - it may be the grandma-to-be in me, but this is really cute: Nabaztag, the multipurpose Internet-connected rabbit. Take a look at how he can read a Ladybird book aloud. As my sister lives in England (where Ladybird books are the equivalent of the US Little Golden Books), my own kids had plenty of these short retold fairy tales & original stories around the house. What kid could resist a read-aloud from a cute little rabbit? And I must admit, I kinda want one for myself!

Post literate culture: a return to a more natural way of communication?

If you are a school librarian, you are probably a fan of the wonderful Doug Johnson & his Blue Skunk blog. His post today has a great comment about the postliterate culture, personified by Net Gen students. Here is how he describes the postliterate: those who can read, but chose to meet their primary information and recreational needs through audio, video, graphics and gaming.

And here is that great comment:

But I would argue that postliteracy may be a return to more natural forms of communication - speaking, storytelling, dialogue, debate, and dramatization. It is just now that these modes can be captured and stored digitally as (or more) easily as writing. And information, emotion and persuasion may be even more powerfully conveyed in multi-media formats.

All the more reason for those of us who work with the Net Gen to incorporate audiobooks and other multi-modal literacy into the brand new school year! Want a great title that will bring all of the communication modes mentioned by Johnson into the classroom? Get your hands on Recorded Book's excellent production of Newbery Award-winning Good Masters! Sweet Ladies! Voices from a Medieval Village. It is a wonderful multi-voiced presentation that models for listeners the reader's theater performance - how author Laura Amy Schlitz originally wrote the work. A must-have audiobook for school libraries!

Image from www.bn.com

Pronunciation guides for personal, commercial, and place names

I had a request for resources to check the pronunciation of names, with a focus on online sources with sound files - from one of my favorite audiobook narrators, Kate Reading, whose recent title The Host is fantastic. Here are some quick tools to use when checking the accuracy of an audiobook narrator's work - or for your own use! And don't forget the accent and dialect resources from this post: Authentic accents in audiobooks.

Pronunciation Guides for personal & commercial names:

Voice of America’s name pronunciation, with quick & easy sound file search: http://names.voa.gov/

From Inogolo: English pronunciation of the names of people, places, and stuff. This site has sound files, which take awhile to load: http://inogolo.com/index

Name web search: http://inogolo.com/websearch

From the National Library Service for the Blind and Physically Handicapped (NLS). These are not sound files, but have easy-to-follow phonetic guides:

The ABC Book, a pronunciation guide to commercial names: http://www.loc.gov/nls/other/ABC.html

Say How? A Pronunciation Guide to Names of Public Figures:

http://www.loc.gov/nls/other/sayhow.html

How to pronounce children’s & YA author names (sound files recorded by the author!) from Teaching Books:

http://www.teachingbooks.net/pronunciations.cgi

Place name pronunciation guides:

Merriam-Webster Geographic Dictionary print edition is a great resource: http://www.merriam-webster.com/cgi-bin/book.pl?geog.htm&9

Or try the place name at Merriam-Webster online to see if there is a sound file: http://www.merriam-webster.com/

Columbia Gazetteer of the World Online: a subscription database with sound files, which may be available through your public or academic library: http://cup.columbia.edu/static/gazonline

Oxford Dictionaries Online’s “Ask an Expert” – send your question via this link!

http://www.askoxford.com/asktheexperts/faq/?view=uk

Sometimes the best option for a place name is to call the area’s public library and ask for the pronunciation!

Try this site to find a local library in the US: http://nces.ed.gov/surveys/libraries/librarysearch/

Or this one for library websites from around the world:

http://lists.webjunction.org/libweb/