Due to the google-ification of the world's collection of books, we are going to find ourselves in a very different space in terms of books and reading some time in the not so distant future. No, I don't advocate getting rid of books – there is something very portable, tactile, personal and relevant about an actual copy of a book. But we do need to think beyond book too.

Changes in the book-landscape come together in a series of recent posts and messages that are related to books.

Will Richardson's post about his book Blogs, Wikis, Podcasts and Other Powerful Web Tools for Classrooms (love that book!) is worth reading just to see what he is cogitating. What will he do about his next book?

Then we have Michael Stephen's message about the iPod program at St Joseph County Public Library.

" The library will begin offering downloadable audiobooks on iPods beginning Fall 2006! Bring in your own iPod or check out one of the library-owned iPods. We’ll download bestselling audiobook titles from the iTunes Music Store for use on your MP3 player, laptop, or in your car."

Last but not least from InfoBlog we have Michael Cart talking about the future of books. The 15-minute podcast looks at the New York Times Magazine article from May 14 entitled, "What Will Happen to Books?"

His unique perspective as an author and librarian brings an even-handed perspective to the controversy surrounding the "google-ification" of books and what impact this may (will) have on our current ideas of intellectual property.

Some food for thought!