Thing #22 -- Welcome to the World of eBooks!

This month at the College of San Mateo Library, we are promoting the college's eBook collection, which seems to be a little known and little utilized resource. The college's eBook collection can be accessed remotely 24/7 IF members of the campus community set up an account from a computer on campus. Peninsula Library System cardholders can access the eBook collection for PLS, which is substantial but does not include some of the academic materials associated with a community college library.

Yesterday I conducted an informational/marketing survey at the CSM Library, using the incoming patrons as my sample pool to select from. Patrons self-selected by indicating if they were willing or not to participate. There were five questions on the survey regarding eBooks in general and the eBook collection at CSM more specifically. The participants who have access to the Internet at home or somewhere off campus could see the convenience of accessing eBooks from home and when the library is closed. A few of the participants indicated that they did not have access to a computer and/or the Internet at home, so for them, accessing eBooks at the library itself would be their best option.

A good place to start looking for eBooks is the World eBook Fair, which serves as a portal to numerous collections of approximately one million eBooks.

There are sidebar ads showing links to more free eBooks as a marketing tool to get Internet users to visit the websites to look at not only the freebies but also the eBooks for sale. Fictionwise.com is one such site.

Project Gutenberg offers 25,000+ free eBooks and even more books through their affiliates. Volunteer opportunities abound.

Project Gutenberg keeps lists of the top 100 eBooks downloaded:

The categories are Top 100 EBooks yesterday — Top 100 Authors yesterday — Top 100 EBooks last 7 days — Top 100 Authors last 7 days — Top 100 EBooks last 30 days — Top 100 Authors last 30 days

And how about gaining access to 500,000+ PDF eBooks and eDocuments for $8.95? Stop by World Public Library to find out more.

Going back to the eBook collection available through the College of San Mateo, here are some of the enticing titles that we have on our display of mock eBooks:

How to Survive and Maybe Even Love Your Life As a Nurse

by Dunham, Kelli S.; Smith, Staci J.
Publication: Philadelphia, PA F.A. Davis Company, 2005.

Flavor of the Month: Why Smart People Fall for Fads

by Best, Joel.
Publication: Berkeley University of California Press, 2006.

Surviving: Coping With a Life Crisis
North American Ed.

by Montgomery, Bob.; Morris, Laurel.
Publication: Tucson, Ariz Perseus Books Group, 2000.

Twilight of the Mammoths: Ice Age Extinctions and the Rewilding of America
Organisms and Environments ; 8

by Martin, Paul S.
Publication: Berkeley University of California Press, 2005.

America's 101 Fastest Growing Jobs: Detailed Information On Major Jobs With the Most Openings and Growth
America's Top Jobs Series

by Farr, J. Michael.
Publication: Indianapolis, IN Jist Publishing, 2005.

Desktop Audio Technology: Digital Audio and MIDI Principles
Music Technology Series

by Rumsey, Francis.
Publication: Amsterdam, Boston Elsevier, 2004.

War & Peace in the Balkans: The Diplomacy of Conflict in the Former Yugoslavia

by Oliver, Ian.
Publication: London, New York I.B. Tauris, 2005.

Homelessness, Citizenship, and Identity: The Uncanniness of Late Modernity
SUNY Series in National Identities

by Arnold, Kathleen R.
Publication: Albany State University of New York Press, 2004.

~ Ms. Mundy ~