Only ebooks can help us get there. It takes a village to run a portal on all things ebooks and econtent. And this village needs to constantly grow.
NSR is here to educate and inspire all who write, read, buy and sell ebooks to embrace the possibilities afforded by new technologies, and to envision a world where knowledge flows to all, not some. Currently, the portal is managed by Mirela Roncevic, professional editor, writer, and ebook and digital content expert with a long history in publishing and libraries. And a bunch of other individuals
are helping along the way, regularly or on occasion. Many years ago, NSR functioned as a blog managed solely by Sue Polanka, an academic librarian from Wright State University (OH), who was instrumental in transforming the coverage of ebooks in libraries. The blog quickly became THE site on all things ebooks for librarians of all walks of life: public, school, and academic. During this time, Mirela was covering ebooks and econtent for Library Journal. As fate would have it, the two women would meet at an ALA conference (in Anaheim, CA, if memory serves) and the rest would become history. Sue and Mirela would eventually join forces on several initiatives: write/edit a book together on e-reference, co-edit a quarterly journal for ALA, and collaborate on keeping No Shelf Required the source of trusted reporting on all things ebooks and econtent. Sue remains a contributor to NSR, while Mirela continues to expand its coverage in all sorts of directions. What once was a blog ‘housed’ at Wright State University in Ohio is now a portal covering ebook and econtent views and news not just in the United States but around the world and serving as a repository of not just press releases but also reviews, opinion pieces by industry insiders, and promotions of initiatives raising awareness of the benefits of ebooks and digital literacy well beyond the confines of libraries and institutions of learning. As NSR continues to expand its horizons, new contributors and partners come on board, including Michael Rogers, a regular columnist for NSR (see his column This week in Literature and Arts) who also reviews audiobooks and other media; Ari Sigal, who reviews free resources online in his weekly Free Content Alert posts (he is also the resident librarian and helps all other contributors to NSR with their research), and Francisca Goldsmith, an audiobook columnist and advocate for audio literacy who contributes opinion pieces on the importance of “Reading by Ear.” NSR is also in an exclusive partnership with BlueInk Review and highlights reviews of independently published ebooks, selected for NSR by BlueInk editors each Wednesday. In 2016, NSR expanded its mission to inspire professionals inside inside the book and library industry to do more with ebooks and econtent outside libraries and other institutions and embarked on groundbreaking projects (in cooperation with vendors and various partners) that challenge what we think is possible with ebooks. In 2016, NSR sponsored the world’s first attempt to turn an entire country into an open virtual library (see Lessons from Croatia Reads). NSR is also in a long-standing partnership with ALA to host webinars, ebook classes, and publish reports on the present and future of the books and digital content. NSR’s goal is to educate and inspire all who work with books and knowledge. If you are interested in partnering with us by sponsoring NSR’s published content, which reaches ebook and digital content professionals around the world, or join forces with NSR to launch groundbreaking ebook and econtent initiatives, please contact NSR Director at [email protected].
