Managing Print and Digital Assets
One of the difficulties that people have with mobile devices is that idea of managing the resources. Speaking just of books right now, its pretty easy to manage a print library. You see colors and text and then organize how you feel. On an electronic device, its a bit harder because they all are in the same place and the organization is usually the department of the developer towards what ways would work best.
But I'm mobile and like to give books away, so that presents yet another issue. Some ways I am thinking about better managing my print and digital assets actually include using bar codes (or QR codes) and a bit of fun with the digital camera.
First I would take a picture of all of my books as they sit on their shelf. Ideally, taking a picture of the binding in this way would also give me a view of the bar code or QR code that is on the book. My camera would then read that information and ask if I want to save it into my digital library (think bookmarks in the browser). Depending on the license, that digital library would indicate if there is an electronic version of that book for download (free or reduced purchase).
For those books that are completely digital, these also appear in that digital library, incdicated with an icon that it is digital only. Like the print books, there would be a link to the physical version, purchasable at a reduced price as well.
After that I would manage thing via that digital picture that I took. Physical assets would sit on that bookshelf, and the digital ones would be shown overlayed on an additional "shelf." By moving the device up/down/in/out I would be able to view books zoomed in on a level that makes it easy to see what I want to read next, or what was lent out. Finally, I would be given a prompt every time a new book is added digitally to update my bookcase picture.
Given the breadth of books that many have, and most will not go completely digital for a while, this would seem an idea means to not only keep track of books, but also integrate our mobile devices for a more organic book experience. For all of you who are teachers and pastors, with shelves and shelves of books (some of which not seeing an eye in years), how does a solution for managing your collections in a manner like this work for you? And to others, how could you see solutions like Logos, Laridian, Olive Tree, etc. working in something like this to make it easier to read more and share what you've read?
Labels: Bible, camera, Laridian, Logos, mobiles, Olivetree, print, reading, tech
posted by Antoine @ 9/05/2008 10:00:00 AM
2 comments
2 Comments:
I like to leverage http://books.google.com/ for managing print and / or digital libraries. YOu can create your own library of books you own by title, isbn, etc. The library is now safe & secure on google for sharing and is also exportable for importing into your favorite db. for me, problemo solvedo.
I can see something like that being helpful; but it takes the control of the content away from the user and puts it on Google's servers. It's a solid solution though and one that should be mentioned.
I'd like to see a better integration though of those things that are already ours: camera photos, the ability to tag and categorize in our own fashion, and then utilize services like Google's for furthering the reach of what we've done. Especially in the case of books, leaving someone else with a digital library of what we own could one day be a privacy concern.
Its all worth thinking about and stretching out current and new models of organization to see what can happen.
Post a Comment
<< Home