Stormbirds computer generated animation…11.08.09

“And now for something completely different…”

Web 2.0, Marketing and Libraries…11.08.09

Online Library Services for Online Users…11.08.09

Alexa eBook Reader…11.06.09

From CNET news:

 

“Spring Design announced its Alex e-book reader just a day before Barnes & Noble introduced its Nook device, but until now, the Google Android-based device hasn’t been seen in public.

That’s no longer the case.

The folks at Maximum PC have taken photos of the dual-screen, 6-inch electronic-paper-display gadget in the flesh, and it’s just as strangely proportioned as the original mockup promised…”

How to Find a Job on LinkedIn, Facebook, Twitter , MySpace and Other Social Networks…11.07.09

 

 Mmmmmmmmmmm…. maybe I should read this book after hearing today’s official unemployment stats which doesn’t record everyone.

Here is my Linked-In profile, your reading one of my blogs on WordPress, my Twitter account is for library-related tweets, my Facebook account is kept private adn only for family and close friends…

Dallas Public Library’s use of the NYT Times Best Sellers API…11.07.09

The New York Times reported today on the use of its best sellers list api on the Dallas Public Library Website in A Web Service Becomes a Library Service:

“Have you visited a library Web site lately? Maybe you think you have no reason to, especially if you’re not a regular patron of your local library. But on most library sites, you can do much more than look for a book: public branches offer everything from digital photo archives to podcasts to holiday cards. With so many services available, you might even forget to search the catalog.

Library services and Web services often go hand in hand. For example, theDallas Public Library now uses the Times Best Sellers API to display best-seller lists…”

The Future of the Internet…11.06.09

QR Codes and Other Mobile Technology in Libraries…11.06.09

Upcoming FREE SirsiDynix Institute Webinar – “…Challenges in assessing ROI [Return on Investment] from information services.”..11.06.09

From Stephen’s Lighthouse and SirsiDynix:

We can count ‘em…but do they count? Challenges in assessing ROI from information services

Date : Nov 17, 2009
Start Time : 1 p.m. Eastern
Length : 01:00:00

Register Now!

Attributed to Einstein and Drucker, variations on ‘not everything we measure is significant, and what is significant may be impossible to measure’ apply to assessing the return on investment of funds and time – in the latter case both on the part of information center staff and knowledge workers using the information center. The pressure to demonstrate ROI and ROTI has produced a sizeable body of literature, yet it seems library and information centre managers still struggle to measure the ‘right’ activity indicators and assess the contribution those activities and associated investments are making to the organization’s strategic goals. Ulla de Stricker shares observations and caveats from her experience with strategic assessments and planning for knowledge centric entities and suggests basic guidelines for presenting ROI-type information to organization managers…” 

 

Web 2.0 and Libraries…11.06.09

Library ROI (Return on Investment) Calculator…11.06.09

Although not new, in these difficult times it might be worth pointing out again the ROI calculator from the Library Research Service :

Peer-Based Return on Investment Calculator

WordPress Experiences Log In Problems Using Google Chrome…11.06.09

Those who use WordPress on the Chrome browser have been experiencing problems logging in to their accounts.  You can gain access to your account if you switch to Firefox or Internet Explorer until the bug is fixed at WordPress.  WordPress support was helpful in determining the cause of the problem.

Learning Resources…11.06.09

New Librarianship…11.06.09

If You Use Google, Try Google Dashboard…11.05.09

Librarians and the Future of Work…11.05.09

Librarians: Unlearn to Learn…11.05.09

Here is an excerpt from Helene Blower’s post The Secret to Learning is Unlearning:

“…Here are a few unlearning tips and techniques to help open your mind and get you started:

Seek out the unfamiliar – Our natural tendency when confronted with a new technology or learning opportunity is to seek the familiar and build upon concepts that we already know. This is a good step for transitioning to new technologies, but it can also be limiting if this is only as far as you go. With every new breakthrough technology there is often a new concept or functionality to wrap your head around. To grasp learning in these areas, you need to consciously seek out the unfamiliar in order to explore and discover new things…

Change your learning location – There’s nothing like changing your physical environment to help heighten your senses when you’re learning something new. Like traveling to a foreign country, new surroundings can help you take notice of small things that might otherwise go unnoticed because they blend into the familiar of your conscious.

There is, of course, a flip side to this tip — unfamiliar environments can also sometimes create attention distractions. Therefore, in seeking out new locations to help you open up to new learning possibilities (and unlearn old habits), it’s important to make sure the environment that you select is physically comfortable, but psychologically unfamiliar.

Engage in learning with professional opposites – …Whenever possible, it’s helpful to engage in learning experiences with professionals from different backgrounds (marketing, architecture, hospitality, etc.) and especially those that you might consider your polar opposites (for librarians that specialize in selecting and finding quality information, one polar opposite might be marketing, whose specialization is creating emotional attachments to brands)…

Pair your learning with a child – …Not only is their perspective much different when it comes to technology, the way they are being taught to learn through today’s education system is much, much different from the educational philosophy of twenty or thirty years ago.

…Pairing up with a child (or any member of a younger generation) is great way to not only discover new approaches to learning and rethink practices from your educational past, but a wonderful way to discover those obvious/not-so-obvious questions that adults can overlook

Act like a toddler: get deeply curious – …Try and engage as many of your five senses that you can in your learning and constantly investigate things through trial and error. In essence, simply get back to the pure roots of curiosity and “play.” Curiosity is a natural aptitude that we all are born with. But it can also be a trait that that diminishes with education and age…

Overall the concept of unlearning is to simply and continuously to challenge yourself to think and learn about things from different perspectives and different angles…”

Connecticut State Library Flow of Information Through Web & Web 2.0…11.05.09

From Library Webhead

New E-Reader Release Dates…11.05.09

Here is an excerpt from eReader Release Dates – Upcoming eReader Releases which may be helpful for potential eReader buyers/users:

“…November 2009 eReader Release Dates

1. iRex DR800 eReader Release Date – end of October, early November. Now listed at Best Buy for $399.
2. Barnes and Noble Nook Release Date – end of November (preorders arealready available). Announced October 19th, 2009.
3. Kindle for PC will release in November.
4. [Unconfirmed Rumors] Kindle 3 Release Date - November 21st, 2009. That would be 2 years after the Kindle 1 release.

December 2009 eReader Release Dates

1. Sony Reader Daily Edition Release Date – early December.
2. Spring Design Alex eReader Release Date – December 2009. Announced October 19th, 2009. Note: Spring Design are suing B&N for stealing the Alex’s Design.
3. Txtr eReader release date – Available in Germany December 15th, 2009. Preorders from December 1st at Txtr.com. It may or may not be available in US and Europe by end December or early 2010.
4. Toshia’s 7″ JournE touch tablet is slated to be released by end of this year.

January 2010 eReader Release Dates

1. Plastic Logic Que eReader Release Date – January 7th, 2010 at CES 2010.
2. Samsung SNE-50K eReader will also be shown at CES 2010. It’s not clear whether a US release will also take place. It’s already available in Korea.
3. [Unconfirmed] Asus eReader Release Date – January 2010. This got pushed out of 2009 so January 2010 seems probable.
4. Cool-er have said they’ll have a color touchscreen eReader early in 2010.

February 2010 eReader Release Dates

1. [Unconfirmed] Apple iReader release date - February 2010.
2. [Unconfirmed Rumors] Kindle 3 Release Date – Feb 24th, 2009. It would be exactly a year after Kindle 2 was released.
3. Entourage Edge eReader Release Date – February 2010. Available for preorder. Announced end October 2009.

March 2010 eReader Release Dates

1. [Unconfirmed] Dell eReader release date – March 2010. Dell has a reading tablet in the works that will be subsidized by carriers.
2. Netronix EB900 Release Date – Q1, 2010. This is a 9.7″ eReader from Netronix that will have handwriting, 3G, WiFi, and include pdf and epub support.
3. [Unconfirmed] Fujitsu FLEPia Color eReader Release Date – March 2010. Given that the color FLEPia has been available in Japan since March 2009 it’s probable they’ll release it worldwide in Q1, 2010.
4. [Unconfirmed] Createive MediaBook Release Date – March 2010. Creative have shown a working model of the MediaBook already and they are in talks with Publishers (international and Singapore based).

April 2010 eReader Release Dates

1. [Rumors] Kindle DX 2 – Kindle DX is getting killed in the university trials because of the lack of proper annotations and limited PDF support. Look for Amazon to release Kindle DX 2 sooner rather than later.
2. [Unconfirmed] MSI have an eReader they will release in 2010. It may or may not be as early as April 2010. Perhaps in the summer of 2010.
3. Google Editions will come out….”

FREE WEBCAST – Blended Librarians: Digital Literacy, Digital Storytelling…11.05.09

From Beyond the Job:

“Steven Bell and John Shank, co-founders of the Blended Librarians Online Learning Community and their guests, Ellysa Stern Cahoy and Anu Vedantham, invite you to join them for the live webcast, “Digital Literacy, Digital Storytelling and The Role of The Academic Librarian” which will take place on Tuesday, November 10, 2009 at 3 pm. EDT. Event Description: An emergent trend in higher education today is the ever-increasing number of faculty who are allowing students to create video and multimedia projects as an alternative to the traditional research paper. This session will explore the current and future roles academic libraries and librarians should play in this environment. The topics covered in this session are: digital literacy and the librarian’s role, working effectively with faculty on assignment design, and digital storytelling & video assignments and the academic library’s support role… Although this event is free, advance registration is required to reserve a virtual seat. If you are already a member of the Blended Librarians Online Learning Community here is a link into the Learning Times Network that will get you to our Community and the registration page…”

 

Librarians – Seattle Public Library…11.05.09

Libraries – Surviving In The New Information Ecology…11.04.09

Participatory Librarianship…11.04.09

Blogging Suspended Temporarily Due to Tech Problems…11.04.09

I’ve spent the better part of the afternoon trying to get this WordPress blog working again… I think I’ve finally got it up and running now so postings will resume later tonight or tomorrow… BTW, WordPress support was actually helpful!

Purdue University Introduces Social Media Back Channel “Hotseat”…11.04.09

“Ultimate Guide to Twitter Tools”…11.04.09

“Make sure you have these Twitter library resources…” The Software Developer’s Ultimate Guide to Twitter Tools

 

Visiting the Birthplace of the Republic of Texas…11.03.09

Marketing Your Library on the Web – OPAL Webinar…11.02.09

Tuesday, November 10, 2009 at 7:00 p.m. Eastern Time, 6:00 Central, 5:00 Mountain, 4:00 Pacific, and 11 p.m. GMT:

ALSC Student Session: “Marketing Your Library on the Web” Presented by Jill Bickford, West Bloomfield Township Public Library

Where is the first place you go when you want information? The internet of course! Join us for an enlightening discussion about how to market your library programs electronically, getting parents and caregivers the information they need through a medium they are already comfortable with. Learn about cool new tools on the Web, as well as how to use these tools to their fullest.

About the ALSC Student Session Series: ALSC invites student members to interact, network, and learn virtually through this free online series of presentations and discussions. Each one hour session gives students the opportunity to discuss hot library topics with ALSC members across the country without having to leave home. Everyone is welcome to attend.

Host: ALSC: Association for Library Service to Children

Location: ALA OPAL 100-Seat Online Room

FROM: Online Programming for All Libraries (OPAL)

How to Run an Unconference at Your Library…11.02.09

Personal Cloud Computing With iCloud…11.02.09