“I still canít get over how cool this is. Jon Udellís little wizard lets you generate a bookmarklet for requesting a library bookóbased on the Amazon page youíre currently viewing. Itís clearly a flawless lifehack. You just need to know your libraryís URL and which system your own city uses (which Jon makes simple by providing preview links to see which style your system seems to follow).”

“Foreword is a community in the service of books and book design, with authors in the US and UK.”

Well, it took long enough, but I finally grabbed the book closest to me, opened to page 23, typed out the fifth sentence and posted it here on xBlog: “It means cultivating a sense of the inadequacy of words ó†imagine, for instance, trying to write what (23A) shows us ó and then enthusing the photographer.” From Pictures On A Page by Harold Evans. Now it’s your turn.

1. Grab the nearest book.
2. Open the book to page 23.
3. Find the fifth sentence.
4. Post the text of the sentence in your journal along with these instructions.

“Miniature books, most of which are less than three inches tall and some of which are smaller than a penny, have delighted readers for centuries. Popular because they were easily carried or concealed, these historic books range from tiny ‘Thumb Bibles’ to illustrated nursery rhymes. The earliest piece of block printing to which an accurate date can be ascribed — a Japanese wooden block print from about 770 AD — is a miniature scroll and part of the Lilly Library’s collections.”

“How to use everyday ingenuity to solve problems big and small… Ever been in line at the grocery store, sitting in a meeting, refinancing your mortgage, programming your VCR, waiting on hold, choosing an HMO — and thought to yourself: ‘There must be a better way to do this!?’ This book challenges us to stop accepting the status quo and, in the words of Robert F. Kennedy, ‘to dream of things that never were and ask ‘why not?””

“Questia is the first online library that provides 24/7 access to the world’s largest online collection of books and journal articles in the humanities and social sciences, plus magazine and newspaper articles.”

“Why do we care about other people’s books? What’s it to us what somebody else is reading? It’s a matter of taste, one that doesn’t impact or infringe on us in any way — not like the tinny beats escaping nearby headphones, for example, or a neighbor’s appalling choice of window trim color. Still, we strain our eyes to make out the title of a stranger’s paperback, staring and not-staring as if it were a pretty girl or a one-armed man.”

“Information Architecture For Designers is low on theory, high on practice. It contains practical examples, how-to’s, do’s and don’ts and ready-to-use templates, illustrating concepts, tools and deliverables that can be used immediately in real-life by anyone responsible for designing web sites. Practical explanations and tips are illustrated with case studies from industry leaders like IBM and Microsoft, and clear explanations of the latest cutting-edge research from the academic world.”

“In Make it Bigger, [Paula] Scher candidly reveals her thoughts on design practice, drawing on her own experiences as one of the leading designers in the United States, and possibly the most famous female graphic designer in the world. Pointed and funny, it is an instructive guide for all those who navigate the difficult path between clients, employees, corporate structures, artists, and design professionals. Make it Bigger provides a survey of Scher’s groundbreaking work…”

“Selling To the VP of No” is the new book by XPLANE founder Dave Gray. Whether you’re an entrepreneur, a manager or a salesperson in the trenches, this visual learning book is for you. View sample pages and order online

“This section displays images sorted by known dust jacket designers for titles printed in the years 1928 through 1970. It includes pictorial, design, and non-boilerplate text styles found on flexie’s and hardbacks, plus illustrated acetates and box images.”

“Singlefile is an easy-to-use web-based service that helps you organize the books you own, the books you are reading, the books you’ve read and the books you want to read… Because Singlefile is web-based, and your data is stored in a central location, you can view your book collection from home, work, school, an Internet cafe, the public library, a friend’s house or any other computer in the world with an Internet connection and a web browser.”

“References of interest for visual thinking and visual skills for Information Design / Instructional Design.”

“TOP is a new publishing venture by Richard Saul Wurman. TOP’s book series covers the topics that matter in our lives. The key to TOP’s formula is the design of understanding. What makes TOP special is the attention of Wurman’s skilled family of writers, designers and researchers. Understanding comes from asking questions, not just listening to answers. Based on the questions most asked by consumers, the books’ answers are clear and informative.”

“[Steven] Johnson’s first book, 1997’s ‘Interface Culture,’ proposed the ambitious argument that the human-computer interface might be ‘the art form of the 21st century.’ ‘Emergence’ aims at even headier game: Johnson combines elements of complexity and chaos theory to look at how decentralized, adaptive, self-organizing systems flourish in the world today.”