A Work in Progress

Our "Analyzing Literature" English class has been working on constructing an ebook together. Each of us is writing two chapters on different subjects about digital literacy. Today I was able to go through the ebook so far and check our progress (Thanks to Jenna for all her incredible work).

I think we are moving ahead. I feel like we are going to be able to get the ebook to where it needs to be for publication under Dr. Burton. I was struck when he told us that he has only been able to publish one out of four ebooks he has had classes work on. That was motivation to me to make sure that ours is of high quality.

The strengths of our ebook:

• I think the variety is great
• I love the current layout and organization. It makes total sense and is logical. 
• The range of research is interesting
• The connections to literature add a unique lense through which to view this issues. 

The weaknesses:

• I could see very quickly that my chapters need to be stepped up to match the level that others are writing at. 
• We need to ensure that with the variety there is still a continuety. I feel like this practice of reading each other's chapters will help us to look back at ours and see how we can make our chapters "fit" with the overall vision of the book. 
• Our literary connections need to truly inform our chapters. 
• We are getting very close to the end of the semester and we are still very far away from being ready to publish. 

For me this exercise was great motivation to work hard on my chapters this week. Thanks everyone for the hard work you are doing! 

Inspiration, Where to Go?

So I just finished reading the 3rd eBook rough draft that my English class is co-authoring! I was so impressed by all the chapters and especially by Jenna's compilation of all the chapters and for mastering the table of contents. Thanks so much Jenna, it looks great!
Reading all the other chapters helped me to see what I can change in my chapters. I realized that the personal experiences actually really help me stay interested in the chapter. I was a little scared to use personal stories, but Dr. Burton (our English professor) also said during class that I should use that as my introduction. After reading all the chapters I saw a few examples of other students doing this and I am convinced! I didn't want my chapter to sound too much like a blogpost.
Also, I still love the idea of relating literature to what we encounter in this digiliterary age. I loved all of the comparisons drawn from literature to the Kindle, Amazon, and Goodreads. It was fun to see how creative my fellow classmates are. All of the chapters were pretty diverse and covered different aspects of the digital age of literature. Most of it was clear, but there were a few times when I did not completely understand the relation of the literary text that was being compared to the argument(Mostly because I am unfamiliar with the piece of literature.) However, most of the time I was impressed by the comparisons.
There was also a lot of great research done! I was overall really impressed by the eBook. Obviously it still needs some editing and finishing touches, but reading our eBook has really helped me to envision where I want my chapters to become. I need to change a few things in my own chapters and I am more excited to change things up this weekend! Thanks for the inspiration!

Jenna Is a Genius

First, I want to start by saying that we need to bring in some peach rings or something for Jenna, a gorgeous blonde in our class, on Monday for being a baller editor and putting out the third draft of our eBook.  That clearly took a ton of time and effort, and she is a champ for getting it done.  It looks pretty spiffy and that table of contents!  Art.  Purely a masterpiece.

I read the whole thing tonight and really enjoyed it!   I definitely think that we have explored a lot of avenues and topics as far as the platforms go.  Something that I liked was that the chapters don't really resemble each other.  There's not a repeat of ideas or information that seems overdone.  So yay for that!  Also, the chapters seem pretty well written.  Obviously there is room for improvement, but they kept my interest and NOT EVEN because I am pals with all of the authors.  That was just a bonus.

Of course, there are a few things that we can still work through.  I tried clicking on the links that were included in a few of the chapters and they didn't go anywhere.  That could just be my Wifi or Kindle, but I want to be sure we're aware of that in case it could be a potential problem, you know?  Also, a few of the chapters kind of oppose each other.  Is that ok?  For example, Jenna's second chapter is fantastic, and is all about the benefits of self-publishing and how it's helping authors so much.  Then my chapter comes in and basically refutes all of that by discussing the negative effects of copyright issues.  So what do we want to do about that?  I think they're both valid points, so should we keep them because they show different perspectives in the same eBook?  I mean, I'm not suggesting scrapping either of them, but it's just an interesting predicament and I'd like some other opinions.

Other than that, it's looking pretty so far!  I did like seeing my name there on the Kindle.  Maybe there is something to this whole self-publishing/digiliteracy stuff after all.

Chapter Research

Each of my chapters requires a lot more social and scholarly research, though I'm leaning more towards the scholarly research I've found because it seems to anchor my topics more steadily than bloggers' opinions, though I do find them valuable. Here is some research I conducted for each of my chapters:

Long Tail/ Equal Access Building Literacy 

On the Kindle/Amazon digital platform, more books are available. More people have more access to books that truly interest them, not just the most popular books. This phenomenon is increasing literacy. 

1. Social Graph
1. I want to talk to people who consume books from the niche markets offered on Amazon. People with obscure hobbies, etc. 
2. My roommate N, who buys books on graphic design because they aren’t available in Utah. They’re books from different countries, etc. She says her favorite art books are not sold anywhere in Utah, and she buys them on Amazon. 
3. My friend K just started to learn how to whittle wood, and is buying books from Amazon to do it. 
2. New Media
1. This blog is for authors and talks about how to market your niche market books.
1. http://www.writersdigest.com/editor-blogs/there-are-no-rules/buzz-your-book-niche-marketing-techniques-for-every-author
2. This is an interesting article in Forbes about how niche marketing is helping authors. 
1. http://www.forbes.com/sites/booked/2010/07/29/the-magic-of-niche-marketing-for-authors/
3. This is a YouTube video about how to find an Amazon niche market. It’s almost two hours long! 
1. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4VjeMFx3zdA
3. Social Networks
1. Erica Bauermeister is an author of niche-market novels who I found out about through Forbes. I am going to try to contact her through email.  
2. “Dave C.” started a group on LinkedIn called “Flea Circus Books,” which is described as “A new royalties-based professional media interchange which allows authors to link up with Content Callaborators, editors, etc.” I joined the group and became the second member, but I am going to message Dave and see what got him so interested in book niche markets and ask about his opinion. 
3. LinkedIn Group called “Ebooks, Ebook Readers, Digital Books and Digital Content Publishing.” 
4. There are TONS of people connected to this LinkedIn Group whom I will be messaging. 
4. Traditional Scholarly Sources 
1. Amazon Top Seller Secrets: Inside Tips from Amazon's Most Successful Sellers by Schepp, Brad, Schepp, Debra, and Richardson, Gary
2. Long Tail: Why the Future of Business Is Selling Less of More by Anderson, Chris

Isolated Reading (this one has been more difficult, especially because I'm not sure how Nathan's chapter and my chapter fit together... I've tweeked my tweethis but remember that we discussed changing my responsibilities in class, so that might be best. But here is some research.) 

1. Social Graph 
1. I really want to talk to people who are avid readers. I want to talk to people who use goodreads regularly, and others who don’t. I want to interview them about their experiences. 
2. My roommate M, who was a literary criticism major and an avid goodreads user.
3. My friend H, who was a philosophy major and is an avid goodreads user as well as fan fiction reader. She has a lot of online friends who she’s ended up meeting at different conventions, etc, but not through goodreads... 
4. A girl in my ENG 295 who runs an active twitter account where she talks about eBooks, etc. 
5. Mrs. D, my AP Literature teacher, has a lot of opinions about the way students should read and share with one another. I would love to get her opinions 
2. New Media
1. This is a blog entry called “Women Who Travel Alone: A Reading List” 
1. http://blog.longreads.com/2014/10/12/women-who-travel-alone-a-reading-list/
2. This is a blog called “Reader’s Connections,” and I think I can connect with the author to find out her opinion on how Goodreads is affecting literacy or attitude toward reading, etc. 
1. http://www.imcpl.org/readersconnection/
3. Social Networks
1. The authors of the blog “Reader’s Connections” is a group of librarians. I am going to email them and ask their opinion on isolated reading, etc. 
2. There are lots of blogs about how authors can better connect to their readers, like this one: http://bookmarketingtools.com/blog/four-keys-to-connecting-with-your-readers/, but this might be better for another chapter. 
4. Traditional Scholarly Sources
1. This book talks about fluency in the classroom. Very interesting. It would provide wide context. 
1. Essential Readings on Fluency by Rasinski, Timothy V. 
2. This book also discusses literacy on a general level. 
1. Secret of Literacy: Making the Implicit Explicit by Didau, David
3. This book has a chapter on how technology encourages adult literacy. SO interesting. 
1. Improving Adult Literacy Instruction : Options for Practice and Research by Committee on Learning Sciences: Foundations and Applications to Adolescent and Adult Literacy, Lesgold, Alan M., Welch-Ross, Melissa

Publishing E-Books For Dummies by Luke, Ali

(I just add this because I think I need to read it. Ha!) 

How to Publish

This post is specifically for our project managers, designers, and anyone who is going to work directly with the layout of the book.  For our e-book project, we are specifically going to focus on three platforms: Kindle, Feedbooks, and Internet Archive.  All three platforms have slightly different requirements for publishing books, and I've tried to summarize the requirements below.

Amazon Kindle Direct Publishing

Specific Formatting: To upload a book to Kindle, it needs to be formatted correctly.  Kindle says that uploading a book in .doc/.docx or in html format is the most preferred.  However, it does say that complex formatting in Word is not always supported.

I know that we talked specifically in class about ePub format and Mobi format, so most of the following information is going to concern those two formats. Kindle doesn't support Mobi formats anymore.  To get around that, they recommend using Kindle's KindleGen to create the book, but because we are already creating the book in another medium, I don't think this is going to be the best option.

Best Option for Formatting: As far as I can tell, the best format to create our book in would be an ePub format.  After that, we would need to download the free KindleGen tool, and validate the file.  Our book should upload correctly to KDP if we follow those steps.

Then, we will simply have to enter information about our book such as the title, authors, etc.

There is an option to enable Digital Rights Management on the Kindle Publishing site, which would make it harder for people to distribute our book.  I am assuming that we will not want that enabled considering we are offering our ebook for free anyway.

Then, we have to set our list price and take care of things like that.

The Amazon Kindle Direct Publishing website is pretty extensive, so there is no use in me trying to rehash everything here.  I tried to cover the most important things that will be especially pertinent to our builds of the ebook.


Feedbooks
Uploading to Relatively easy.  As I've said before, we probably need to work with our book in ePub formatting.  Feedbooks supports that type of file, and it also supports Kindle files.  We have to fill out some title and licensing information just as we have to do with Kindle.

Internet Archive
Publishing on Internet Archive is even easier.  You just drag and drop the file.  I am assuming you have to fill out metadata as well, but I can't see how to do that considering I don't have a file to upload.

In any case, I hope this information will help us in writing our ebook!

More Research!

Research is so important in any academic field, and it is going to be extremely important for our literary reading in the digital age project.  I am excited that we are going to start incorporating our research findings into our chapters.  In order to do this effectively, Dr. Burton asked us to create an annotated bibliography to keep track of our research.

Digitizing Classic Literature: A New Love Via Reconsumption

New media adaptions of classic literature are changing peoples’ views, and encouraging people to reconsume classic literature in its original form.  Online Platforms such as Goodreads are facilitating this bridge between new media and classic literary representations.

Social Graph: I am particularly interested to see how representations of classic literature in new media affect reconsumption of classic literature in different age groups.  I am assuming that different age groups will have different exposure to classic lit new media representations because different age groups tend to use different social networks and tend to use the internet for different amounts of time.  I have two teenage brothers in high school, and both have different interests.  I am thinking it would be an awesome idea to ask them about specific new media representations of classic lit, and how that has or hasn’t affected their desire to read more classic literature.  I also plan on asking my college roommates similar questions.  It also might be an excellent idea to post similar questions on my Facebook to attract adults who might be interested in the topic.

New Media: I think that classic lit representations in media are particularly important.  I don’t really think that many people can say that they’ve never watched a movie based off of classic literature.

Click here, here, here, and here to see some examples of what I am talking about!

Social Networks: Of course I am going to use Goodreads, but I also think that using Twitter is going to be super helpful.  Just browsing through Twitter with a search of "classic lit" has turned up with tons of results of people talking about new film adaptions of classic lit.  Click here to see what I am talking about. 

Traditional Scholarly Sources: Like I said above, I think that discussing literature in the realm of film is super important.  Click here to find an article that discusses that very subject.  

Dispelling Old Prejudices: The New Face of Libraries

The face of libraries are changing, and digital libraries allow for the user to become the “librarian.”

Social Graph: We’ve talked about this in class a lot, and I am planning on contacting some librarians at BYU and potentially at other colleges/universities.  I am also going to contact some “librarians” on Goodreads and ask them about what they do.  I can also pull on my own experience with Goodreads and libraries. 

New Media: I found a couple of great articles that talk about traditional libraries and digital libraries.  Click here, here, and here, to see what I am talking about. 

Social Networks: I am also planning on using Twitter as well for this chapter.  I've never been the biggest user of Twitter so I think now might be an awesome time to start! I typed in the two keywords "digital" and "librarians" and I found out that a lot of people are talking about these two subjects!

Traditional Scholarly Sources: This link here leads to an article that discusses digital librarians vs. traditional (print) librarians.  This article is obviously completely applicable to my chapter. 

Put on the science glasses, it's Research time!

So, I will be typing up this post as I find sources, to keep things fresh in my mind. I've decided to start with my second chapter, as it is the one that I am currently spending the most time working on.

"It's Us. Only Us": The Movement of Reading from a Solitary Hobby to a Social Activity

So, for this chapter I'm using the changes made to the traditional comic book formula in the graphic novel Watchmen to highlight some of our changes in the way that reading is becoming a more and more social activity.

For my Social Graph, I will be talking with two people who I know through social networks. The first is a personal friend named Johnathan Grover. He is a major comic book nerd, has attended and even worked at Comic Cons in the past, and has pretty big opinions on such matters. The second is a user on Imgur who goes by the username Deadpoolsupplier. Spending more than a few minutes looking at his comments should indicate why I find him to be a good source.

For the New Media section, I have found a treasure trove in a single video: Watchmen - The Phenomenon: The Comic That Changed Comics 30 minutes of discussion about what Watchmen is and how it changed comic books? Count me in.

For my social networks, I will be using two. The first will be the reviews section of Watchmen on Goodreads. The other is a forum discussing Watchmen over at Comic Vine.

As for my traditional sources, I will be focusing on one in particular that covers this issue very explicitly: Hughes, Jamie "Who Watches the Watchmen: Ideology and 'Real World' Superheroes"

Unstuck in Time: An Analysis of the Nonlinear Consumption of Literature

For my Social Graph, I will be setting up a facebook group among my friends and discussing with them in a style similar to a facebook "focus group." I have no made the group yet due to time constraints, but I think it will be an interesting way of gathering opinions. 

For my New Media, I will be using something interesting, but which demonstrates my idea wonderfully. It is a video called Slaughterhouse Five Kurt Vonnegut reads War backwards HD.

In the video, it has music playing and a voiceover reading the portion of the story when Billy Pilgrim becomes unstuck in time and watches a movie backwards, which changes the entire meaning of the movie. 

I had a hard time finding discussion forums for Slaughterhouse Five outside of Goodreads, so I will use a somewhat combined source between Social Networks and New Media by way of a podcast that features a book club having a discussion about Slaughterhouse Five that was put on by Slate Audiobooks. 

For my Traditional source, I'll be working with an article titled Slaughterhouse Five: Time out of Joint by Arnold Edelstein. 

eResearch for the eBook

When something is constantly on my mind, I constantly talk it through with friends and family. This eBook has been on my mind a lot the past few weeks. I talk to several people about it because it helps me get my ideas more firm. Where I struggle the most is through research, but as I did this assignment of creating an eBibliography I found that I haven't done as badly at researching as I thought. 

Escaping the Cinderella Complex through Self-Publishing

Amazon and Goodreads provide the ideal vehicle for a reader to become an author by giving the online users freedom to self-publish and advertise using the features that these digital platforms contain.

Social Graph:

I’ve actually talked to several of my friends about my chapter to see what they thought. A lot of my friends had never heard that authors could self-publish on Amazon. Before this project, I think I knew that you could, but not how. I think that makes this chapter especially important because people should be informed. I also talked to some friends that actually write on the side. A few of them had heard that they could self-publish and were really considering it.

As I’ve been writing this chapter and putting the class book into eBook format, I’ve had to learn even more about what goes into self-publishing. I think the experience I’m gaining by exploring how to put a book in eBook format gives me an advantage and a sort of authority on writing this chapter.

New Media:

There are a lot of sites that will put your book in eBook format for you. Unfortunately, most of them say “free to start” which basically means that “you can download your documents into our site, but to actually get it from us you must pay.”

There are also several eBooks on how to self-publish. I’ve used one that Amazon published called How to Self-Publish a Book on Amazon.com: Writing, Editing, Designing, Publishing, and Marketing.

Social Networks:

My mom uses Twitter a lot for her work so when I told her what I was writing about she immediately searched self-publishing articles on Twitter. She gave me quite a few. I actually used a quote for my chapter from this one. There are a lot of discussions out there about self-publishing.

Traditional Scholarly Sources:

I’m working on finding books about the history of self-publishing. I found an article somewhere about how self-publishing is the way it used to be done in the 19th century..I just need to find that article.

The Guardian: Winner of the Pulitzer prize

“America's Cinderella” by Jane Yolen

No Need to Cut Off Toes and Heels When You Have a Kindle Touch 

Unlike SparkNotes, the X-Ray feature creates an arsenal of contextual information about a story without damaging a reader’s ability to read and analyze a literary work on his or her own. This increases a reader’s desire to join the enriching world of the novel on the Kindle device.

Social Graph:

I have never met a single person that has not heard of SparkNotes. Even if they’ve never used it, I think it’s safe to assume that the majority of people that took high school English have heard of SparkNotes. The XRay feature is not as widespread. I’ve asked a few friends that have Kindles if they knew about the XRay feature and several have never known what that link lead to on the Kindle.

New Media:

There are android apps for SparkNotes now. This is worrisome in that students don’t even need to go out of their way to look up a book. They can easily access the cheat sheets on SparkNotes in the classroom for class discussions on their phones.

There are even more sites than SparkNotes too: Cliffs Notes, Schmoop, etc.

Social Networks:

Spark Notes’ tag line that it is the “Most Popular Study Guide” proves true as you can follow them on Facebook, Twitter and even Vine. #SparkNotes, everybody.

There are several forums discussing the XRay feature on the Kindle.

Traditional Scholarly Sources:

“The Right Understanding: Teaching Literature in the Age of SparkNotes” by Alison Bach

Still working on finding more information here. I'm looking to find more books about the necessity of reading and analyzing literature. 

Social Bibliography

For the chapters in my class' ebook that I'm working on, I've been missing one key element: research. Because of this, our professor ran us through a few different ways of gathering research for this particular project, and that includes a whole lot more than just traditional scholarly sources! So here's my working bibliography for some of the digging I've done. For the sake of my research and not wanting to totally overwhelm myself, I decided that on the social networks area I would focus my research through Twitter. Obviously there's much more out there in the realm of social networking, but sometimes it's best to focus on one thing at a time!

Harry Potter and the Magic of the Internet

Tweethis: “It’s difficult to navigate literature through digital platforms, but it’s possible to feel at home in this new world.”

Social Graph:
Talking to my mom: It's goes in spurts, she used Goodreads it more in the beginning, but not so much now. She forgets she's on it, and usually just checks it when she gets a notification of someone joining or specific activity on there. If there was a link to it in her sight more she would use it more. Maybe more frequent notifications in her email, or being connected more with the social media she already uses would help her remember it.
This seems to be a general thing that needs to be addressed. I've also sent out a few messages to some family and friends about their usage of Goodreads, but people are kind of a pain sometimes and don't always respond when I actually need them to respond. So naturally I threatened to kill them if they don't answer.

New Media: In light of new media, I went to youtube which is blessed with a plethora of tutorials on how to use Goodreads! One of the most helpful was this one that really outlined the basics. There was also this one that is interviewing the Director of Author Marketing and Community Manager for Goodreads on the use of Goodreads for authors.

Social Networks: In this realm, I think the most helpful resource on Twitter is Goodread's own personal twitter: https://twitter.com/goodreads
When people have questions for them, they respond with answers or links to help people out. This makes it much more personable for the user and is a good way for people to not feel so disconnected from the fact that Goodreads is digital.

Traditional Scholarly Sources:
http://www.emeraldinsight.com/doi/full/10.1108/07419050810949986



The Language of Reviews

Tweethis: How to use book reviews on different Ebook platforms, and why they're important.

Social Graph: I reached out to an author that I've known for a few years, Julie Wright, and asked her of the importance of online reviews. This is what she told me: "I believe online reviews are important because they allow people to make educated decisions on their reading material. If a person has a friend they trust to lead them well in their literature choices, being able to follow that friend on goodreads and see their reviews might steer them toward books they might otherwise have never noticed. As an author, reviews are a blessing and a curse. A good constructive critique of a book can help an author grow in their craft. But sometimes reviewers use the review process to snark on novels in an effort to entertain their own followers, instead of informing their followers. For an author reading such a review, nothing positive is gained. A bad review can make it hard for an author to get into the emotional headspace they need to create their new book because the author is so depressed. A good review can make it hard for an author to get into the emotional headspace they need to create their new book because they are so elated. In other words: Reviews are important and good for readers and *can* be good for authors because they can gain them new readers. But authors have no business reading reviews of their books. They need to be writing new ones instead of obsessing over works no longer in their control. (it would be nice if I took my own advice and never read my reviews)"

New Media: Interestingly enough, I've discovered that the main topic with online reviews right now revolves around self publishing and the way that reviews help it move forward. I can you some of that information in lieu of why reviews are important, but I also need more than that. It's been a little frustrating, because almost all I can find on reviews are about getting more reviews for books, even on youtube all I could find were tutorials for either how to post a review on Goodreads or Amazon, or how to get more reviews. I also found some videos of people reenacting reviews they found interesting which did provide for some entertainment.. I searched for podcasts on this, but all I found were reviews for specific books. I did find this thread on Goodreads, but it is a bit outdated as the last posts were in 2012. However, I also found this bloggish thing about reviews that I really liked from last year. I'm going to keep looking.. there has to be relevant new media somewhere.

Social Networks: When searching Twitter in respect of Amazon and Goodreads reviews, there's most obviously the personal Twitters for Amazon and Goodreads, and then there's author's promoting their books with reviews, as well as people connecting the reviews they've done through these platforms on different books. Not necessarily through Twitter, but on Goodreads I found a Goodreads group that links both together for all people, as well as there's a conversation thread on there for people to link their own personal Twitters together. It's advertised as a place for indie authors and readers, to help both out, as well as discussing problems people have had with reviews on Amazon as well.
https://www.goodreads.com/group/show/100482-genre-specific-review-groups


Traditional Scholarly Sources:
http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0167923608000754

A Different Way to Research

So I'm excited for this assignment to make an e-bibliography; I honestly have never don research like this before. I feel like it's going to help me put all my thoughts together and help me to make sense of my chapters that I am writing for our class ebook "Becoming Digiliterary."
So here is what I've found!

E-bibliography:

Don't Judge a Device by its Cover

Tweethis: Although Amazon's Kindle appearance is basic, the simplicity of the device revives the reader's reading experience.

Social Graph:

I spoke to my friends mom that I met last night at dinner. I explained our ebook project and her husband piped in real quick "Oh my wife is an avid reader we both have Kindles." She is an ASL teacher and has helped ASL students complete an associates about 16 times. So she does have some credentials. However, she remarked that she recognized that she stopped reading for a while and it was because of her Kindle. She said that the Kindle is just not the same thing as books.

New Media: 

Kindle Vs. Kindle App on Android

http://www.makeuseof.com/tag/buy-kindle-kindle-app-android/

Kids and the Best Tablets

http://heavy.com/tech/2015/03/top-best-tablets-for-kids-children-with-wifi-reviews/

Kindle Singles: A New Form of Writing/Reading 

http://www.tylershores.com/2012/03/08/kindle-singles-a-new-genre/

The Science of Sharing 

http://authornews.penguinrandomhouse.com/the-science-of-sharing/

Kindle PaperWhite Vs. Nook

http://goodereader.com/blog/electronic-readers/amazon-kindle-paperwhite-vs-nook-simple-touch-with-glowlight

Social Networks: 

Twitter hashtag search for #kindlevsipad

https://twitter.com/search?q=%23kindlevsipad&src=typd

Traditional Scholarly Sources: 

Reading Books in the Dark

http://www.tylershores.com/tag/ebooks/

Amazon Kindle App and the Blind

http://search.proquest.com.erl.lib.byu.edu/docview/1348728211

Children's Books on Kindle App

http://web.b.ebscohost.com.erl.lib.byu.edu/ehost/detail/detail?sid=0c01dc63-9b3d-47e5-9363-c570a5ef80b0%40sessionmgr112&vid=0&hid=110&bdata=JnNpdGU9ZWhvc3QtbGl2ZSZzY29wZT1zaXRl#db=aph&AN=82107618

Preserving the Mockingbirds of Ebooks

The sample option available on Amazon's massive digital library that can be transferred directly to our Kindle from the comfort of our own homes will change the way writers write and how readers read. 

Social Graph:

No Samples in Some Countries

https://kdp.amazon.com/community/thread.jspa?messageID=827184&#827184

Customer Discussions: Kindle Samples

http://www.amazon.com/forum/kindle_encoding=UTF8&cdForum=Fx1D7SY3BVSESG&cdThread=TxZ07WXZE7LWEX

New Media:

Kindle Book Samples

http://www.theregister.co.uk/2010/09/28/kindle_for_the_web/

Book Vs. Ebook (talks a little about sampling towards end)

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rlp_K0ww2FQ

Kindle Fire vs. Ipod

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ryat012X8Qc

Social Networks:

So i posted on my Facebook in regards of Kindle sampling, but until now I haven't received more than a few likes... I will edit this post as soon as I get some responses. 

Blog Post on Kindle Samples Save Money

http://www.jamierubin.net/2010/09/24/kindle-samples-save-money/

Traditional Scholarly Sources: 

Amazon Kindle Direct Publishing: Sampling 

https://kdp.amazon.com/help?topicId=A25WS075EUM6NF

Reading and Attention Spans

http://www.tylershores.com/2013/10/30/attention-spans/

So these are a few of the sources I have found. I still need to head to the library and check out some printed text, but we are focusing more on the digital aspect of literature,  so why not focus the research more on a digital platforms? 

From Print to People

The way we have been taught (whether intentionally or not)  to conduct research essentially boils down to one technique...

But there are limitations to this technique and there might be better ways to become informed on our topics for the ebook our class is writing. The following documents my efforts in conducting "socially optimized research on my chapter topics. I feel like I have such a different take on these subjects than I would have if I had stuck with my traditional ways. And I actually had more fun doing research this way!

Goodreads or Gulag?

Online privacy concerns on Goodreads and Amazon can prove to be a roadblock to individuals. These concerns can be quieted as awareness and individual responsibility increase.


Social Graph: I started with the easiest person in the world to talk to, my mother.

"Meghan, I am probably the wrong person to as because I never give it a second thought."

This actually was valuable, it highlights a truth about many individuals. Many people who use Amazon or other online resources regularly don't even give it a second thought. It doesn't concern them one bit. On the flipside, there are many who are very concerned as shown by my New Media resources.

"When it comes to social networks people put everything out there for others to read and know about.. I guess that is somewhat the point."

I loved this quote. It shows the paradox between desiring privacy, but how putting yourself out there is the function of sites such as Goodreads.

New Media: The following images (comics) inform me about the public's view of online privacy and their concerns. The amount of material like this was plentiful, indicating that these feelings are widespread. Check out these images here, here, here, and here. 

Social Networks: I struck gold when I found these two profiles on Twitter, School of Privacy and Privacy Go. They each cover online privacy issues. They tweet articles and updates with the mission of teaching people "How To be Safe and secure online."

Traditional Scholarly Sources: Using traditional research methods I found this article from The Indiana Law Journal. This source will be incredibly valuable because it is specifically on privacy for digital readers. I will also explore the sources cited in the article to find further research. 

“Mandy’s Magical Book and the Magic of Renting eBooks”

eLending is quickly becoming more available to readers which brings a host of benefits. However, there are critical issues that must be resolved in order for eLending to reach its potential in the future. 

Social Graph:I reached out to librarians with the simple questions of "What have been issues you have encountered in eLending?" and "What are some of the successes have you seen in regards to eLending?" I am currently in correspondence with two librarians, both of which are responsible for the ebook purchasing for the library. I will keep the blog posted with updates as they come. 

New Media: Infographics are a form of new media. This infographic discusses the trend of eReading. From it I can draw the inference that currently eBook users purchase more books than non-electronic readers. Traditional readers tend to rent books more. I could make predictions about how this could shift if eLending was increased. 

Social Networks: I scored on this one. Provo Library has a Pinterest page dedicated to the new books they add to their electronic library. This would be a great discussion point on how libraries are trying to increase readers knowledge on eLending. This also informs me about what sort of titles libraries are searching out for their electronic resources. 

Traditional Scholarly Sources:This article deals with the current issues surrounding electronic book lending. It will help me to write with authority on this topic. 

An In-Depth Approach

Ok, to be honest, the chapters I've been working on for our eBook, "Becoming Digiliterary," definitely needed some fleshing out.   Finding sources was not easy though!  However, with some new tactics, I was able to find a lot more than I thought on my topics.  Here are my results.

eBibliography:

Un-Limiting Our Generation

Tweethis:  The generations to come have a different take on the uses and opportunities afforded by online scholarship as a source of knowledge, as well as the use of devices in the classroom, than do the generations before them.

Social Graph:

• ·         Conversation b/w Shelby and Rachel Newell:  I asked my roommate, who heads over to the Provo Library at least 3 times a week, why she didn’t consider using a Kindle or eReader of some sort and an app like Amazon or Overdrive to save her time.  I explained that if she used one of those, she could have endless books available without being put on a waiting list for them.  She told me that reading was her way of disconnecting.  She said that she spent so much time in front of a screen that she just wanted to feel the book and see the pages of the right side grow less and less.  It gave her a feeling of accomplishment.  We then discussed how learning is affected by digital reading and if people retain information better from a printed page or online.
• ·         Conversation b/w Shelby and Cooper Dana, a sophomore at Westwood Highschool in Mesa, AZ (Mesa Public Schools have recently switched over to iPads instead of textbooks in the classroom):  My brother told me that in his classes, they only use iPads instead of real books in their classrooms.  He said that he loves it, because he doesn’t have to carry around books anymore...and it’s really easy to download games onto the iPads.  He is sixteen, so this really didn’t shock me.  This was interesting to me because the eBooks they use are incredibly useful, but aren’t dedicated to purely learning.
• ·         Yahoo! Answers: Can I use a kindle for college textbooks instead of actual books? (https://answers.yahoo.com/question/index?qid=20121128163620AAqEweS )

New Media:

·         Youtube: iTools: Kindles in the Classroom (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aV6XOozvtLk )

·         THE EVERYTHING BOOK: READING IN THE AGE OF AMAZON (http://www.theverge.com/2014/12/17/7396525/amazon-kindle-design-lab-audible-hachette )

·         Amazon Store: Engaging Students (http://www.amazon.com/gp/feature.html?docId=1000412651 )

Social Networks:

·         Google+: https://plus.google.com/u/0/communities/102841710354937354215

Traditional Scholarly Sources:

·         “Words with Friends:”  Socially Networked Reading on Goodreads (http://www.mlajournals.org/doi/pdf/10.1632/pmla.2013.128.1.238 )

Get Off My Property:

Tweethis:  Increased online access has upped the readership of eBooks, but at the cost of much copyright infringement. 

Social Graph: 

·         Chat between Shelby and Jason Ray:

S:  Hi Jason.  Can I ask you a question for my English class?

I'm going to say yes.  Do you think that the rise of eBook popularity has created an increase in illegal downloading for authors?

J: It's not something I've ever thought of before, but I would say yes--it's a lot easier to illegally download a book than to steal a hard copy of it, so I would assume it's done more now.

And no, you may not ask me a question

S:  Have you ever done this, and if not, what would be something about it that would tempt you?

J:  I haven't. I'm personally against illegal downloading of any type of media and will not do so.

The biggest pull to download something illegally for me would be if I can't get something through regular channels--for example, a book that I really want to read that isn't in the US or in any stores or libraries I have access to.

But I still wouldn't do it.

S:  You're a champ.  Thank you!

·         Chat between Shelby and Celeste Dana: 

S:  hey maaaam.  Can I ask you a question for my english class?

C:  Of course.  Talking or facebook chat

S:  Chat...so I can copy and paste!  Do you think that eBooks have created a greater risk of illegal downloading for authors?

C:  Probably.  But I think that's the risk of working in a digital world.  But, because there's a lot more chance to get their books published and in front of the public, it's a trade off.

S:  Have you ever done this, and if not, what would be something about it that would tempt you?

C:  Have I ever done what?

S:  downloaded a book illegally?

C:  No

S:  Is there any aspect of it that would tempt you to do so?

C:  NO.

S:  Sweet.  Thank you! 

C:  That was simple

New Media:

• ·         Kindle e-book piracy accelerates
• (http://www.cnet.com/news/kindle-e-book-piracy-accelerates/ )

• ·         Digital piracy hits the e-book industry (http://www.cnn.com/2010/TECH/01/01/ebook.piracy/index.html )
• ·         Youtube: Illegal downloads make Kindle vulnerable [ Zoomin.TV Tech and Gadgets ] (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7U9yg9MYVz8 )

Social Networks:

• ·         Pointing Users to DRM-Stripping Software Isn't Copyright Infringement, Judge Rules  (https://bookclubs.barnesandnoble.com/thread/27644 )
• ·         Rise of illegal eBook downloads (Forum) (http://www.kuforum.co.uk/kindleusersforum/thread-6305.html )
• ·         Google+: https://plus.google.com/u/0/communities/111687849164110924461/stream/ac789a62-c20c-4b76-be0b-ebd2de6e33dc

Traditional Scholarly Sources:

• ·         Digital Piracy: Factors That Influence Attitude toward Behavior

http://www.jstor.org/stable/25123707?Search=yes&resultItemClick=true&searchText=online&searchText=book&searchText=piracy&searchUri=%2Faction%2FdoBasicSearch%3FQuery%3Donline%2Bbook%2Bpiracy%26amp%3Bprq%3Donline%2Bpiracy%26amp%3Bgroup%3Dnone%26amp%3Bhp%3D25%26amp%3Bacc%3Don%26amp%3Bfc%3Doff%26amp%3Bso%3Drel%26amp%3Bwc%3Don&seq=11#page_scan_tab_contents

This exercise made me search for a lot more sources than I had thought of before.  I'll be sure to look for others as I continue to work on the chapters in our book!  

Assignment: eBibliography

As my students give some weight and currency to their developing chapters about ebook platforms and literary studies, I'm going to have them create an annotated bibliography to aid themselves, one another, and future readers of our ebook.

Not all the sources we will seek out will be used within the chapters we are writing, but we might just include our annotated bibliography in some form or another, since our ebook can serve as a general resource for those interested in the topic.

I want them to follow the directions in this assignment, with adaptations as listed below. In that assignment (for prior Shakespeare courses I've taught), I list four types of sources:

1. Social Graph
2. New Media
3. Social Networks
4. Traditional Scholarly Sources

The first three set this apart from traditional bibliographies. Among those first three, I make important distinctions among one's personal connections (one's "social graph" which goes beyond electronically mediated relationships); various diverse media (by which I do not mean various social networks, but different audio and visual genres); and social networks (which are both a source in themselves and a route to any of the other sources). They should follow a socially optimized research strategy in doing this.

Heading this bibliography will be two different working thesis (or "tweethis") statements, one for each of the student's two book chapters.

Under each of those four major categories, there will be named sources with links or citations as appropriate.

The focus should be on how each of these varieties of sources can actually help refine the ideas for a given chapter; this is not a purely academic exercise. One category of sources may be of more value than another given a specific topic or chapter. One should wisely weight the number of sources and their type, while at the same time going beyond the traditional scholarly approach (and beyond a superficial search of social media without taking such searches further).

This is due on Friday, March 20, with a revision to one or both chapters ( in light of research done) due on Monday, March 23.

Peer Reviewed and Social Sources

On Monday, the class talked about various research methods that go outside of the traditional sources that we are used to.

In my searches for sources, I have come across some interesting places to look. One of the most interesting is an "index of indexes." Essentially, journals and other sources for more academic works are stored in various indexes. In an index of indexes, you can find out what indexes a certain journal is kept in, and then go on to find similar journals that might contain something you're looking for. Very cool stuff.

Mosy recently, I have taken to speaking with other readers of both Slaughterhouse Five and Watchmen on forums and facebook groups, and have been combing through Goodreads reviews for evidence of socialization through these books and interaction in opinions. Goodreads also serves to give me insights into popular opinion of those books.

My biggest concern is finding that delicate balance between credible sources and social sources. What do you all think is the sweet spot for Peer Reviewed sources vs Social sources?

Pinterest Has Done It Again.

If you flip on through the recent posts on this blog you will quickly learn that as a class we are working on an ebook and we are currently branching out into social research to inform our topic of digital literacy.

I decided to search through Pinterest because I could see from my classmate's posts that no one had found anything there yet. I was pleasantly surprised with what I found.

Pinterest is user generated. Individuals create pins that link somewhere else, like a blog or an article. The pins can be collected and curated onto a board. The reason that this site proved to be helpful in my research is that I found that there were SO many pins that linked to resources that could be helpful for our project. These resources proved to be neat because they were a combination of more scholarly articles and some less formal commentary on our subjects.

Here's an example of the cover for a pin I found that relates to my subject of online privacy. I love infographs and something like this could be a neat image in my chapter.

I also found pins to help with my subject of eLending (renting ebooks). There were copious amounts of pins to help users know how to rent ebooks and what books are available.

In my research I found that there is a ton of dialogue on Pinterest about online reading as it relates to Education. I believe this is because many Pinterest users are teachers, students, or home-teaching mothers. It reinforced my opinion that we need to make sure that we focus on this adequately. I found a wide variety of pins on this subject, from links to sites that legal free ebook links to step by step guides to using Kindle as a educational resource.  Here are some links to resources that I found that related to this. Here and here and here.

This experiment helped me to see just how many people out there really do have a stake in our project. With each pin I found there were pages and pages of "related pins" that were created by users. I think Pinterest will be a valuable resource for us to find both information and stakeholders.

Sampling and Experimenting Research

So this is my family minus my dad. 5 sisters and we couldn't be more different! 

My Own Mini-Experiment

Last weekend I spent the weekend with my family, and I was talking about our semester project that my English class is doing together. I explained that we would be collectively writing and ebook based on the Kindle, Goodreads, and Amazon.
I thought they would have some interest because my family is a pretty avid user of Amazon, but more for materialistic purchases. However, we all love to read and I became curious as to if my family would be interested in owning their own personal Kindle. So my curiosity took over and I just asked simply, "Hey would you like to own a Kindle? and why or why not?"
Only one of my sisters said an affirmative YES! She responded that she loves reading, and would love to have a device just to devote to reading. The rest with the exception of one were undecided. They simply stated that they would not mind having a Kindle. My sister that responded that she would never want a Kindle had no reason at all.
Although this isn't exactly a well planned experiment, I think it proves the point that the Kindle doesn't get the credit it deserves. It reminded me of my initial reaction to buying a Kindle; I definitely wasn't completely opposed but I wasn't all for it either. With the exception of one sister they weren't really able to explain why or why not a Kindle would be a good purchase. The Kindle is often overlooked by its simplicity.

Facebook Status

As a class we are trying to diversify our research, and an interesting social research would to have a discussion on Facebook. For example to write a post with a somewhat specific question. One of the chapters I am writing for the ebook is just about the Kindle, what it is, features of it, and so on. So I could write a Facebook status like: "If you own a Kindle and iPad which do you use more to read why?" Or something like that... let me know if you have something better in mind before I post my status.

Google Alerts

I have also enjoyed reading blog posts. I found a few blog posts using the Google alerts that I JUST learned about today! So you have to sift through a bunch of useless material but there are some good finds just as Google normally is, that should be no surprise. I have not found any scholarly sources yet... but I have found some appealing arguments, and opinions I had not thought of myself.

So it's been a fun process. I still need to work on the scholarly sources, but the social sources are so fun and surprisingly useful!