Random House soon may not be the only major English-language publisher selling books written with tiny cellphone displays in mind. Simon and Schuster has been testing cellphone books, and Oxford University Press may follow, according to Slashphone.Related: Wikipedia for mobile access (MobileRead via Pocket PC eBook Watch)....

To intall and use the Librie toolbar, one way to pick up Web pages for transfer to the Librie later on, follow the just-given links to Word files in plain English-not plain or unplain Japanese. Sony's toolbar method will work only with HTML and Adobe formats. Major thanks to Yann Antonioli, a new Librie owner.He says: "I could not find how to clear the contents of an eBook from the toolbar." Anyone have a solution?I have a speck in my eyes right now and have not tested the instructions, but at first glance they look pretty well done. Feel...

"The transatlantic slave trade has created an enduring image of black men and women as transported commodities, and is usually considered the most defining element in the construction of the African Diaspora, but it is centuries of additional movements that have given shape to the nation we know today. This is the story that has not been told." - The African-American Migration Experience, a multimedia exhibit now online from the New York Public Library....

"Palo Alto library users can now read the latest best-seller on their laptop or listen to the audio version on their MP3 player.Palo Alto and six other library systems last week launched a free service, which will let library patrons download hundreds of titles in an online digital library." - Library patrons can download digital literature, in the San Jose Mercury News.The TeleRead take: OverDrive is powers the site, and the spiffy looks are somewhat like the company's other efforts such as at the New York Public Library. Smaller publishers, public domain sites and libraries in general would do...

What's better for public domain literature--many e-book cranked out for recreational readers, or perhaps fewer books prepared with more care?That's part of the debate raging on the eBook Community list over Project Gutenberg. One poster says Gutenberg books are fun, and he enjoys ice cream with cherries. I'd side with the "Eat your veggies" side, however. Over the long run there isn't that much difference in effort between doing things badly and well--it's just a matter of refining proofing techniques. And as library fodder, typo-ridden works often just won't cut it. Gutenberg has benefited from the professional, accuracy-oriented approach...

Check out the mSpace Classial Music Browser. Now imagine the same for e-books, especially with standards to help make this a reality sooner and in a more useful form. Go here for more background on the browser....

Good-bye, Hunter. I never knew you, but oh what a master you'd have been at hyperlinking if only you'd been born later, or less set in your Gonzo ways.From Blogcritics: "We all knew Hunter could go any day. What I expected was a headline like this: 'Gonzo journalist shot by police after consuming hundreds of hits of LSD and attempting to paint murals on Aspen police cars'...."The Wikipedia at work: Within a few hours of the self-inflicted gunshot wound, the Thompson entry already had an update. Now to see the blog posts that follow, especially John Perry Barlow's....

Both TeleRead and the ePubishing blog have noted the usefulness of e-books for aging people with bad eyesight. You can blow up the print as large as you want--and even change the font style, if the software is right. This is quite timely. Suddenly some U.S. publishers are thinking they can pump up mediocre sales by enlarging the print. (The Guaridan, via LISNews.)...

Paul Topping helps audio book-readers get the pronunciation right. - Audiobooks Have Their Henry Higgers, in the New York Times....

One argument for a TeleRead-style approach is that content-providers actually might be better off with a library model. Just how many separate subscriptions to newspapers and the rest will you be able to afford if pay-to-read really catches on--especially with all the cable and telecom charges? Among the "skips" in the case of younger users: The paper edition of the daily newspaper. (Via TechDirt and Steve Outing.)...

Jon Noring has explained why the $50 e-book-reading computer with a high-res screen and other fancy trimmings won't be with us soon. But what about a $50 stripped-down device? The ePublishing blog has its own perspective. Excerpt: "A dedicated ebook reader does not even need PDA functions. So all of that can bring the costs down. At some point you need economies of scale to kick in, which I think will happen if the Chinese government proceeds with its plan to put an ebook reader in the hands of all school children in China and eliminate paper textbooks."Also of...

The Librie's screen contrast doesn't live up to media hype, but it's still a fine machine for enjoying The Souls of Black Folk, the W.E.B. Du Bois classic, for which my fonts are now just right.A genuine paper-white background would be better, of course. However, the grayish one at least makes me feel as if I'm reading off an old first edition. More helpfully, I can see 350 words on the screen at once in Helvetica because the characters are so sharp. The Librie is just the ticket for reading Du Bois's long, poetic paragraphs.Even more, however, the copyright...