Kindle e-Reader and Scouting

[shortridge 184]

Question from a novice ... with any of these e-readers, is there a way to "mark" a page or specific paragraph in a book so you can com back to it later? Like a virtual Post-It or notes in the margins?

 

That strikes me as one of the great advantages of the good ol' print book. Most of my Scouting and outdoors books have Post-Its or little slips of paper protruding from all edges, marking spots I want to come back to. Just wondering if it's possible with the e-readers.

[DeadSkunk 10]

My reader opens any particular book to the page where you left it last. It also allows you to create numerous hard bookmarks for each book, but it does not allow you to create text notes for each bookmark. It just lists the pages bookmarked and lets you jump to them. It also includes a text search feature.

[UCEagle72 10]

You can use Calibre to convert between many of the formats (including PDF to ePub, if the PDF is not scanned):

http://calibre-ebook.com/

 

And this recent article on Mashable has a great list of sources of eBooks:

http://mashable.com/2010/12/25/free-kindle-books/

 

(Although written for Kindle users, most of these sources support multiple formats, or you can use Calibre to do the heavy lifting for you.)

 

There is also an ePub Reader plug-in for Firefox -- and I have used that with a number of Scouting ePub books that have been published here:

http://www.melrosetroop68.org/blog/

 

[tommcclory 10]

re: "... is there a way to "mark" a page or specific paragraph ..."

Yes. Can set/clear unlimited number of book marks. Can highlight a section. A list of bookmarks and highlights let you jump to any. There is a keyboard and you can enter annotations that save and key to the text. All are a tad clunky. Making notes is a lot like taking notes using your cell-phone. The UI for viewing and jumping to bookmarks or highlights is much harder than the "flags" mentioned. On the other hand, I can highlight a term and jump out to wikipedia to lookup more detail, or lookup a term in a dictionary that's built-in. I like this ability to drill down into a concept. For example, I'm reading a book about the Battle of Midway. Hmm, what's a Dauntless look like? Select the term, search wikipedia, you're there. Hmm, could also act as a level bomber as well as a torpedo bomber. Hmm, after Midway, the Navy got rid of them and replaced with the Avenger. Wait, need to get back to the book :-). Its a different experience.

[onejanedoe 10]

I have a Kindle. I love it. I'm reading again!

I have it for scouting. All my BSA related PDFs are on it. When a parents questions about uniforms and badge placement, the information's right there!

I want National to put the scouting handbooks on Kindle! Not for the boys, they aren't supposed to have electronics on campouts, etc. For me, the leader! I'm the one constantly referencing Tiger, Wolf, Bear, Webelos, and Scout Handbooks, the G2SS, etc. I want it for MY reference, my planning, my quoting, for when I have to end a discussion by stating "it says right here, that..."

Someone, somewhere in Irving, listen to us!

Give us our books on Kindle, PLEASE!!!!!

[wilderf353 10]

I put all the monthly mailings from Council in a collection on my Kindle. I just forward the email from council to my Kindle's free email address (i.e. user@free.kindle.com). Amazon converts the MS Word documents to the "Kindle" format and does some cleaning of the PDFs.

 

I also use if for information that I gather for events. I use the free service InstantPaper to convert web pages into Kindle documents: InstantPaper automatically converts them into the Mobi format and sends them to my Kindle.

 

There is also a nice free tool called "Briss" that removes all the borders on PDFs, making the text larger on the Kindle. I used it on the Guide to Safe Scouting...I think it makes it easier to read.

[HICO_Eagle 93]

I have the Barnes & Noble Nook Color myself. It's great to have an entire reference library (G2SS, camp leader's guide, merit badge info, etc.) at hand and the whole thing slips into my thigh pocket. I like the Nook because it reads both PDF and EPUB and the color version means I can open up color pictures as visual aids.

 

I'd love to get Boy's Life and Scouting magazines in PDF or EPUB format and save a few trees ...