Do you want to read in an Asian language but do not have time for a novel? Well, the Library has tons of Asian magazines available for you. They are completely free and just one click away.
In this blog, I will give you an overview of our current Asian magazine collections. They are available via three different platforms -- Kono Libraries, PressReader and Overdive/Libby.
Kono Libraries
"Kono is the largest Asian magazine article database in the world." Stanley Chien, Kono's Founder and CEO, told the Library in a presentation in August 2021.
Currently, Kono has about 600,000 articles in their database. The articles are from most popular magazines in Taiwan, Japan, HongKong, Mainland China, and Europe.
Here is a little fun fact. Kono is a local company, started in Mountain View about 10 years ago and expanded its business world wide. The company has two models of business and the Library is using its to-business product Kono Libraries.
With Kono Libraries, you will be able to browse and read more than 300 Asian premium magazines, including but not limited to:
- 財訊
- 今周刊
- 新假期
- 國家地理雜誌
- PCM
- VOGUE
- ELLE 她
- GQ
- 英語島雜誌
- 家庭画報
- MEN'S EX
- MODERN LIVING モダンリビング*
- 野菜だより*
- ELLE gourmet エル・グルメ*
As a parent, I enjoyed many parenting and family magazines on the platform, especially 親子天下 and 幼獅少年.
The interface of Kono Libraries is user friendly. It provides an EZ read mode aside from the standard PDF mode for many articles. EZ read mode will allow you to read the text of an article without advertisements or images.
Here is a screenshot of a regular PDF view of a magazine article with advertisement on the left (Screenshot from Kono's website).
Here is the same article in EZ read mode.
You can easily switch between the PDF mode and EZ read mode with the bottom glass button and PDF button.
PressReader
I always view PressReader as a hidden gem in the Library's online resources. Kudos to all that have been using this service.
With PressReader, you can have Full-text access to today's national and international newspapers and magazines. Yes, that of course means a wide range of Asian publications.
In the PressReader interface, scroll down to the "Publications" section, click the "All languages" button (it is next to the "All countries" button), it will open a drop down of 65 languages for you to choose from. You can easily discover all publications in:
Best of all, it also includes many other Asian languages, including:
OverDrive / Libby
You may not be aware of this, but our popular ebook platform OverDrive / Libby also have an Asian magazine collection, including:
OverDrive is sunsetting its OverDrive App, and the Library encourages our users to switch over to the Libby App or the Libby website. Sadly, theres are no direct Libby links for Asian magazines yet, but you can search these titles individually in Libby and read them from there.
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