Book Scanner--I think I need one of these!

I wonder if Google is using one these book scanners (see post just prior to this one) from Kirtas Technologies.

Digitizing the World--or at least books

I have been following Google's quest to digitize books, with great interest. I'm not ready to give up the printed page, but I have benefitted from the reading that I can do on both my tablet PC (HP TC4200) and my Sony ebook reader. In addition, "knowledge management" and what it takes to create a true "learning organization" are interest areas for me.

I have served in the college/university enrollment area for almost 2 decades. It used to be that we talked about how many volumes were available in our library--and what wasn't in our library could be sought through inter-library loan services. But, inter-library loan takes time and the "just out of high school" student that we serve doesn't strike me as having inordinate amounts of patience. This initiative by Google will likely have important ramifications for students everywhere.

Inside Google Book Search: A consortium joins the Library Project

New HP Tablet PC—2710P

Diigo (social bookmarking with annotation capabilities), Mindjet Mindmanager (idea mapping software), and Biblegateway (with Diigo) all make more sense when you are a tablet PC user. I have had my HP branded TC4200 for almost three years now and I still give it high marks for durability and usability. But, here's the interesting news—HP Compaq is going to ship their newest version of the tablet PC in Q3 2007. The following video does a great job of showing some of the features in the HP 2710P.

http://www.brightcove.com/title.jsp?title=823361919