Tag Archives: Amazon

Academic, General, School Media Specialist

Amazon launches OER platform for K-12

photo-1453814279372-783dc5b638aeRecently the School Library Journal shared that Amazon is in the process of launching a new platform that will allow K–12 schools to upload, curate, and share open education resources (OER). SLJ reports that the site, called Amazon Inspire, is currently in beta and is expected to go live in two to three months and will be free of charge.

While exciting and new, the announcment drew many educators/librarians into a discussion about the pros and cons of such a service. Although free, how will Amazon use the information and data it gleans from users is one question. Hack Education’s Audrey Watters’ piece about those issues struck a cord with many who thought that Amazon’s true aim is ultimately about making money.

Regardless, CMLE is excited more OER resources are being made available to educators. How about you? Will you use Amazon Inspire? Why or why not? Are you currently using other OER services? Please share your thoughts in the comments below!

Image credit: https://unsplash.com/photos/R-HXWCbCBGU (Alex Holyoake), licensed under CC0 1.0
Academic, General, Public, School Media Specialist, Special

An inside view of the new Amazon brick and mortar bookstore

Library booksAre you dying to get the scoop on the new Amazon bookstore in Seattle? Well, you are in luck, because Joseph Janes,  Associate Professor at the Information School of the University of Washington, will narrate a tour for you. Demeanor of clerks, neighboring businesses, even labels on shelves including a “If Robots Ruled the World” shelf! You are in for a treat, read the full article here.

Want more? See pictures here!

Image credit: http://tinyurl.com/kbxol2x, licensed under CC BY-ND 2.0
Academic, General, Public, School Media Specialist, Special

Upload more than just books to your Kindle

kindle-itunes-logo-150x148Did you know you can easily send Microsoft Word and PDF documents to your Kindle? Nate Hoffelder of Ink, Bits, and Pixels recently posted a great how-to.

The gist from Amazon:

How to send a document to your Kindle:

Supported File Types:

  • Microsoft Word (.DOC, .DOCX)
  • HTML (.HTML, .HTM)
  • RTF (.RTF)
  • JPEG (.JPEG, .JPG)
  • Kindle Format (.MOBI, .AZW)
  • GIF (.GIF)
  • PNG (.PNG)
  • BMP (.BMP)
  • PDF (.PDF)

Did you also know you can transfer files from a computer to your Kindle via a USB cable? Its as simple as working with a jump drive. Check out Amazon’s how-to to learn more!

Academic, General, Public, School Media Specialist, Special

Amazon launches Kindle Textbook Creator

a.com_logo_RGBMoving beyond just selling textbooks, Amazon recently announced that it will help creating them. Educators can use the Kindle Textbook Creator “to take any PDF and create a richly featured and widely available eTextbook,” said Chuck Kronbach, Director, Kindle Direct Publishing. The announcement states that students can use the textbooks “on a broad range of devices, including Fire tablets, iPad, iPhone, Android smartphones and tablets, Mac, and PC.”

Books created with Kindle Textbook Creator offer features for students and other readers that enhance the learning experience, including:

  • Multi-Color Highlighting—Highlight and categorize key concepts for easy reference.
  • Notebook—Capture key passages, images and bookmarks and automatically add them to the notebook. Students can add their own notes and easily access them from one location.
  • Flashcards—Create flashcards and study important terms, concepts, and definitions in each chapter with a simple, easy-to-use interface.
  • Dictionary—Find definitions and Wikipedia information for difficult terms to improve retention.
  • Buy Once, Read Everywhere—Read eTextbooks on the most popular devices students use, including Fire tablets, iPad, iPhone, Android tablets and smartphones, Mac, and PC.

Check out their KDP-EDU website to get started today!

Academic, General, Public, School Media Specialist, Special

Amazon Unlimited

P2050832This summer’s announcement of Amazon Unlimited caused quite the buzz in libraries and bookstores across the country. The service allows Kindle owners to sign up, for a $9.99 a month charge, to have instant access to more than 600,000 eBooks and audio books.

After the news, people came out on both sides of the fence concerning its possible future. Forbes’ contributing author Tim Worstall wrote an interesting piece wondering if we should Close the Libraries and buy everyone an Amazon Kindle Unlimited Subscription. Needless to say, this raised a lot of objection from libraries and librarians. Barbara Fister, an academic librarian at Gustavus Adolphus College in Minnesota, wrote a wonderfully worded counter-point saying among other things, that compared to Amazon Unlimited, “A library card has a lot more going for it.”

Maybe this the best argument against Amazon Unlimited? We know that libraries offer more than just eBooks or audiobooks, but telling the world this fact is also our responsibility. Perhaps Bloomberg’s steps sum up best how easy eBooks can be:

Step 1: Get thee a library card.
Step 2: Log on.
Step 3: Check out.

Image credit: http://tinyurl.com/kg6dvqa, licensed under CC BY-SA 2.0