Comments on: Lit links: BookCrossing, an e-BookCrossing, the book trade in ancient Rome, plus ‘artful codger’ writers and other fun http://www.teleread.org/2009/04/19/lit-links-bookcrossing-an-e-bookcrossing-the-book-trade-in-ancient-rome-plus-artful-codger-writers-and-other-fun/ News & views on e-books, libraries, publishing and related topics Sun, 22 Nov 2009 19:55:06 -0500 http://wordpress.org/?v=2.8.4 hourly 1 By: Joseph Gray http://www.teleread.org/2009/04/19/lit-links-bookcrossing-an-e-bookcrossing-the-book-trade-in-ancient-rome-plus-artful-codger-writers-and-other-fun/comment-page-1/#comment-1040489 Joseph Gray Sun, 19 Apr 2009 20:33:20 +0000 http://www.teleread.org/2009/04/19/lit-links-bookcrossing-an-e-bookcrossing-the-book-trade-in-ancient-rome-plus-artful-codger-writers-and-other-fun/#comment-1040489 Like Chris said, my local library sells donated books, as well as old library books. At the last sale I went to, a guy from the local used book store was there, literally grabbing huge stacks of books off the tables before the other customers could look at them. He bought them for .50/$1 each. I'm sure they sold at his store for much more. I haven't been to a library sale since. Like Chris said, my local library sells donated books, as well as old library books. At the last sale I went to, a guy from the local used book store was there, literally grabbing huge stacks of books off the tables before the other customers could look at them. He bought them for .50/$1 each. I’m sure they sold at his store for much more. I haven’t been to a library sale since.

]]> By: Chris Meadows http://www.teleread.org/2009/04/19/lit-links-bookcrossing-an-e-bookcrossing-the-book-trade-in-ancient-rome-plus-artful-codger-writers-and-other-fun/comment-page-1/#comment-1040481 Chris Meadows Sun, 19 Apr 2009 20:15:16 +0000 http://www.teleread.org/2009/04/19/lit-links-bookcrossing-an-e-bookcrossing-the-book-trade-in-ancient-rome-plus-artful-codger-writers-and-other-fun/#comment-1040481 Libraries these days don't tend to put donated books into circulation; they save them up for a friends-of-the-library sale. Might just as well leave them somewhere for someone to pick up instead; at least that way they'll be more likely to get nabbed than if someone had to specifically go looking for purchasable books and then pay for them. Libraries these days don’t tend to put donated books into circulation; they save them up for a friends-of-the-library sale. Might just as well leave them somewhere for someone to pick up instead; at least that way they’ll be more likely to get nabbed than if someone had to specifically go looking for purchasable books and then pay for them.

]]> By: Steve Jordan http://www.teleread.org/2009/04/19/lit-links-bookcrossing-an-e-bookcrossing-the-book-trade-in-ancient-rome-plus-artful-codger-writers-and-other-fun/comment-page-1/#comment-1040478 Steve Jordan Sun, 19 Apr 2009 20:10:44 +0000 http://www.teleread.org/2009/04/19/lit-links-bookcrossing-an-e-bookcrossing-the-book-trade-in-ancient-rome-plus-artful-codger-writers-and-other-fun/#comment-1040478 Bookcrossing is an interesting idea... but other than the satisfaction of (possibly) being able to track the travels of your donated book, wouldn't it be a better idea to donate said book to your local library? On the question posed, maybe if there was still cheap electronic storage, something akin to the floppy disk in sharability, you could leave a hard-copy about for someone to pick up. Any other method would seem a bit involved compared to the handling of physical books, possibly more trouble than the average person would want to go through... but that an already-registered user might enjoy. Or... possibly leave a URL to download the e-book. The URL would be changed upon downloading, and the new URL would be passed along to the next person. Bookcrossing is an interesting idea… but other than the satisfaction of (possibly) being able to track the travels of your donated book, wouldn’t it be a better idea to donate said book to your local library?

On the question posed, maybe if there was still cheap electronic storage, something akin to the floppy disk in sharability, you could leave a hard-copy about for someone to pick up. Any other method would seem a bit involved compared to the handling of physical books, possibly more trouble than the average person would want to go through… but that an already-registered user might enjoy.

Or… possibly leave a URL to download the e-book. The URL would be changed upon downloading, and the new URL would be passed along to the next person.

]]> By: Chris Meadows http://www.teleread.org/2009/04/19/lit-links-bookcrossing-an-e-bookcrossing-the-book-trade-in-ancient-rome-plus-artful-codger-writers-and-other-fun/comment-page-1/#comment-1040442 Chris Meadows Sun, 19 Apr 2009 18:24:45 +0000 http://www.teleread.org/2009/04/19/lit-links-bookcrossing-an-e-bookcrossing-the-book-trade-in-ancient-rome-plus-artful-codger-writers-and-other-fun/#comment-1040442 Weird that you should bring up BookCrossing now. I was actually considering posting something about them; after several years idle, I got back into Bookcrossing a couple of weeks ago. (Got a bunch of paper books I no longer need now that I have them in E, and there's a space in the hospital for leaving books for people to take.) And in another coincidence, I got a notice this morning that someone was passing on one of the books I crossed several <i>years</i> ago. Wow. And I actually did try Bookcrossing some e-books a while back—or at least, assigning Bookcrossing numbers to some copies of Baen CDROMs I burned. I never ended up getting responses on them though. :P Weird that you should bring up BookCrossing now. I was actually considering posting something about them; after several years idle, I got back into Bookcrossing a couple of weeks ago. (Got a bunch of paper books I no longer need now that I have them in E, and there’s a space in the hospital for leaving books for people to take.)

And in another coincidence, I got a notice this morning that someone was passing on one of the books I crossed several years ago. Wow.

And I actually did try Bookcrossing some e-books a while back—or at least, assigning Bookcrossing numbers to some copies of Baen CDROMs I burned. I never ended up getting responses on them though. :P

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