Have you heard about the latest e-reader to enter the market?  There is a detailed comparison of the two at c/net, and Newsweek also offers a comprehensive analysis and a stunning video.

From the Newsweek article:

“E-book devices like the Kindle allow you to change the font size: aging baby boomers will appreciate that every book can instantly be a large-type edition. The handheld device can also hold several shelves’ worth of books: 200 of them onboard, hundreds more on a memory card and a limitless amount in virtual library stacks maintained by Amazon. Also, the Kindle allows you to search within the book for a phrase or name.

Some of those features have been available on previous e-book devices, notably the Sony Reader. The Kindle’s real breakthrough springs from a feature that its predecessors never offered: wireless connectivity, via a system called Whispernet. (It’s based on the EVDO broadband service offered by cell-phone carriers, allowing it to work anywhere, not just Wi-Fi hotspots.) As a result, says Bezos, “This isn’t a device, it’s a service.”

Norma Blake’s “Blue Ribbon Task Force on the Future” is a front-page feature article in the latest issue (November 19, 2007) of LJHotline.  Thanks to Joan Bernstein, Director of the Mount Laurel Public Library, for alerting us!

Five Museums and Five Libraries Receive
Nation’s Highest Honor for Extraordinary Community Service

Institutions will be Honored in Washington, D.C. Ceremony and Receive $10,000 award

WASHINGTON, DC–Five museums and five libraries have been selected for the 2007 National Medal for Museum and Library Service, the nation’s highest honor for the extraordinary public service provided by these institutions, announced Anne-Imelda M. Radice, Director of the federal Institute of Museum and Library Services. In keeping with the 2007 name change to the National Medal for Museum and Library Service (previously known as the National Award), recipient institutions will be awarded a newly-minted medal in recognition of their extraordinary civic, educational, economic, environmental, and social contributions. Each organization will also be honored in a special ceremony in Washington, D.C., and receive a $10,000 award.

The winners of the 2007 National Medal for Museum and Library Service are:

1. Birmingham Civil Rights Institute, Birmingham, Alabama
2. Brookfield Zoo of the Chicago Zoological Society, Brookfield, Illinois
3. Georgetown County Library, Georgetown, South Carolina
4. Kim Yerton Branch of the Humboldt County Library, Hoopa, California
5. Memphis Public Library & Information Center, Memphis, Tennessee
6. National Museum of Women in the Arts, Washington, DC
7. The Newberry Library, Chicago, Illinois
8. Ocean County Library, Toms River, New Jersey
9. Oregon Museum of Science and Industry, Portland, Oregon
10. Vermont Historical Society, Barre, Vermont

“The Institute of Museum and Library Services is awarding the National Medal to these 10 museums and libraries because they provide ground-breaking programs that respond to community challenges, serve as models for the nation’s museums and libraries, and most of all make a difference in people’s lives. I applaud their good work and encourage others to follow their example,� Radice said.

As the primary source of federal funding for museums and libraries, the Institute has a unique vantage point of the vital role these institutions play in American society. The National Medal for Museum and Library Service was created to underscore that role. The winners are as diverse as the nation’s cultural landscape: small and large, urban and rural. They have one thing in common: they have developed innovative ways to serve their communities.