ePosters for Library Summer Program: Pedagogical Support on Research

 

BA Library Online: Where to Find Ebooks (and more) for Free

This week, I compiled and curated links, websites and sources of free ebooks, ejournals and audio books for BA Library Online. Now that we are in full swing of online classes, there is a need for teachers and community members to access selected and well chosen materials both for instructional or personal purposes. So, I am sharing the list I made. This is developing news, as they say in social media so there will be updates

Here is an initial list of free ebooks, ejournals and audiobooks selected and trawled from the web and in social media. We will develop this as we go. We encourage that you share what you find online. Together, we can build an online library of resources that specifically address our needs. Thank you!

Audible - Stories can be streamed via laptop, phone, tablet or desktop computer at stories.audible.com. The audiobooks are divided into categories: littlest listeners, elementary, tween, teen, literary classics and folk & fairy tales.

Bartleby

This is a personal favorite because of the anthologies of essays and short stories in the collection.

BookBub

This is another good source for ebooks, especially if you are looking for more contemporary titles. Sign up in BookBub and it will send you recommendations of current books available in Amazon. When you sign up, you will be asked to check different book genres. Make sure your device has the Kindle reader app. BookBub is pretty loyal to Amazon.

DailyLit

DailyLit sends ebooks to your inbox on an installment basis. The subscription is free for now and ebooks are streamed online.

Follet-LightBox – 1,000 ebooks streaming for free upon registration

JSTOR Open Access Books - click this link to view the list of publishers who opened access to their ebook collection through JSTOR

[Project Muse](https://muse.jhu.edu/ https://about.muse.jhu.edu/resources/freeresourcescovid19/) –See the list of publishers who opened access to their ebook collection through Muse

Participating Publishers

• Johns Hopkins University Press (all books and journals, through 31 May 2020)
• Ohio State University Press (all books and journals, through 30 June 2020)
• University of Georgia Press (all books, through 30 June 2020)
• University of Nebraska Press (all books and journals, through 31 May 2020)
• University of North Carolina Press (all books, through 30 June 2020)
• University Press of Colorado (all books, through 30 June 2020)
• Temple University Press (all books, through 30 June 2020)
• Utah State University Press (all books, through 30 June 2020)
• Vanderbilt University Press (selected books, through 31 May 2020)

Prize Winning Books Online -

The list has selected titles of Newberry, Pulitzer and Nobel Prize winners. Don’t expect your favorite titles to turn up. It has links to videos of authors reading aloud a chapter of their books which you can use as a priming activity.

Scholastic - you may need to sign up for an account before you can stream the ebooks/emagazines.

And, last but not the least, for those who have young kids at home check Buri Books for digital versions of Adarna House's selected children's books.

Illustrator Interview: Ms. Jia Rubio-Montserrat

Back in May 2016, the blog featured Ma. Teresa Gumap-as Dumadag as its author of the month. Her book, Mommy Loves You Just the Same, was launched and was reviewed on the blog that same month. And now, the illustrator of Mommy Loves You Just Same, Ms. Jia Rubio Montserrat, shares with us her experience of illustrating  a children's book in digital format.

1. Where did you get the inspiration to draw the little boy in the story? He looks, smart, makulit and cute at the same time. Typical kid!

One of my inspirations for the little boy is actually Teresa's 2 older sons. They do look smart, makulit and cute. I don't know them personally though, and I don't have a little boy of my own yet, but I do have a sweet little girl. I am also inspired by her who loves music, who is always playful, curious and as much as she could, she would try to give a helping hand. She is going to be a big sister soon at the age of 2. 

2. Mommy Loves You Just the Same is your first illustrated story book for kids. How did you approach the visual narrative of the story as a whole? Was there a meeting with Ms. Dumadag before and after production? You can describe your process, your medium and the experience of working with the author.

Teresa and I met in South PiNanay's anniversary celebration on October 2015. She was promoting her book and she delivered a talk about Hands-On-Parenting. I was there because my commissioned paintings about breastfeeding were on display. I was able to chat with her because I find her inspiring in the way she is juggling her career on the side of taking care of her kids. And she asked me for the possibility for us to collaborate and told me about the story that she wrote. That made me excited because I've always wanted to illustrate a book. And I even shared with her that my husband and I were praying for baby number 2 and it would be more meaningful for me to do it if ever I get pregnant again.

Months came, God answered my prayer. I found out I was pregnant on New Year's eve and gladly announced it on Facebook. Teresa immediately sent me the story of Mommy Loves You Just the Same and asked me if I could do the illustrations. Though I have lots of things at hand, I couldn't say no because it was really timely for me. 

I made a few sketches. Teresa and I agreed right away on how we want the illustrations to be. It has to be warm and full of love. And that is how it came to be. We agreed right away because I guess that is what mothers feel in general when they're expecting another child. 

It was a fun learning experience. I hope we can have more projects like it soon. And I hope we'll be able to see each other again soon. We haven't met again since the time we first met. We're busy work-at-home-moms.  

3. Being a mother too, what can you share with other mom's that will help them be more confident and adept at parenting?

Coming from a very career-driven singlehood, I can be very impatient with myself in accomplishing things and it often reflects on my little one. She tends to be fussy, clingy, and she even gets sick when I am too overwhelmed & preoccupied with my to-do-list. When she is like that, I know that she needs her mother. And because of that, I am trying to learn the art of being patient with myself, to accept that I am not perfect, but I am trying my best to be perfect, to let go, and take just one step at a time. Because I am mother above all else. Like they said, our children are the most important work. And it is very important for all parents to know that. They're only little once.

4. After Mommy Loves You Just the Same, where do you see yourself heading to? Any projects you want to pursue or current works you wish to promote?

I am currently helping in setting up our family's food businesses, Bertie's Artisan Bakeshop (which was established since 1998 but we just relocated starting this year. It is located at Bucal Bypass Road, Calamba) and DataBites (A Gaming Lounge Cafe opening this July in UP Los Banos). I am also helping with LATCH Los Banos activities as a LATCH peer counselor.

For now, I am trying to slow down because I'll be giving birth soon. It would be my season to welcome and nurture our newest family member. And when I already can, I hope to launch my mommy artist website/blogsite soon to further establish my art career. I am currently trying to build-up a collection of artworks on parenting entitled "Gintong Pag-ibig" for a possible solo exhibit.

23 Mobile Things PH SG: Things 15 ,16 & Catching Up on Things 13 & 14

I'm a returning mentor for Thing #16: Ebooks & Ebook Apps this week on 23 Mobile Things PH SG. It's a fun week since there are two things going on in 23 Mobile Things apart from mine. Thing # 15 Adobe ID is also up for reading and discussion.

It's a smart move for Joan Wee and Karryl Sagun to put these two things together in the same week as these two things are connected. Mentor Persues Rex Molina provides a thorough and practical use of Adobe ID to access Adobe Ebooks, while I lend insight and strategies on using ebook apps and setting up an ebook collection in the library. I come from the school library background, while Mr. Molina brings forth his experience in an academic library setting. It's going to be an exciting convo this coming Saturday, May 17 at 10.30AM Manila time, I predict!

To make Thing 16 more exciting and engaging (I hope), I'm giving away copies of my books for the first five librarians who will do and submit any of the three activities I designed.

As for the past Things, particularly 13 and 14, I updated the links in About Me and added apps like Facebook, Twitter, Tumbler and Blogger in my account there. I'm relearning Tumblr all over again. I discovered I have a microblog in Tumblr: In Between Shelves. Now I'm thinking of using it to tell the back stories on my published books, or share success stories on reading, books and my library advocacy. We'll see. I've really no intent in using Tumblr for specific library work, so I suppose I'll optimize it for developing my personal and professional learning network (PLNs).

The Future of Publishing

Here is a video on The Future of Publishing by Dorling Kindersley and Penguin Group. It was very popular back in 2010 when ebooks were having a resurrection.

I'm posting this on the blog to prompt readers, and myself, to think about the ebook boom of this age and time.

<iframe width="560" height="315" src="//www.youtube.com/embed/Weq_sHxghcg" frameborder="0" allowfullscreen></iframe>

Filipino Friday (4): This is Still Reading Right?

This Filipino Friday, the questions that must be answered are:

Do you read (or have at least tried to read) books in other formats aside from print? How was your experience with these different book formats?

Yes, I do read books in electronic format. In fact, my decision to buy an iPhone was prompted by reading on mobility. I just have to read to while away the time at the doctor's clinic; in the FX terminal; in long lines at the grocery store; or when I'm stuck in traffic going to work and back home. I find these gaps as precious reading time. Books come in handy, but, the iPhone is, handier.

In the library where I work, I have set up an e-reader and e-book collection. We have four Kindles for circulation. Each Kindle  has an assigned Dewey Decimal Classification group or division. 800 (Literature) and 900 (History) are both grouped with Fiction. I like the ease of book acquisition in a Kindle. Amazon sure knows what good service is all about. It even has a way of knowing what I order so it recommends titles very so often. I spend time, a lot of time, analyzing the content of Amazon's recommendations. So this means, I read a lot online too! I check reviews of recommended e-books not only in Amazon but also in blogs of book reviewers. With my knowledge of the library's readers' profile, preference and the school's curriculum, I decide which ones to buy. The budget for e-books has been prepared over the summer.

So, if you think librarians simply sit behind the desk all day, think again. There's a lot of cognitive activity going on behind a librarian's desk. I hope to set up a digital library collection soon but studying on a suitable app is an investment on time and money.

This year, I've read The Boy Who Harnessed the Wind, The Magicians, Peaches for Father Francis, Mr. Penumbra's 24 Hour Bookstore, The Fault in Our Stars and a host of paranormal, erotic romance on my iPhone's and Mac's Kindle. Nothing changed for me, as far as the reading experience is concerned, except that, the sensory experience of smelling paper and feeling its texture was diminished. For deep reading that require analysis and synthesis, like non-fiction reads I do for my paper presentations, I still go for the printed format. I need to take notes, physically and manually to remember important sentences, phrases and paragraphs. Such writing from these non-fiction reads I go back to when I prepare my citations and when I actually compose a conference paper or an academic article.

I think what the digital age require of us, readers and book lovers all, is the knowledge of how to read and why we read. Purpose and function. Reading from a variety of formats can be taught and  learned but the reason for reading and the application of reading in real life is a wisdom that grows and develop over time.