Libraries and Transliteracy…08.07.10

“Libraries and Transliteracy Information on all literacies for all types of libraries and librarians…”

Social Networking Map for 2010…08.07.10

Social Networking Map for 2010

This Week in Libraries – twitter.com/followalibrary…08.07.10

Arlington Public Library – Life Through Literacy…08.06.10

Amazing visualization of the 2,053 nuclear tests and explosions that took place between 1945 and 1998…08.06.10

Vook Update…08.05.10

From TechCrunch:

“At a time when print book sellers like Barnes & Noble are in retreat, digital books on the iPad and Kindle hold a lot of hope for keeping books alive in the digital age. But so far most of the titles are just digital versions of printed books, with maybe a video or two thrown in. Slowly, however, as new capabilities are added to these digital books and they are linked to the living Web, some books will become more than just books.

One company experimenting with the form is Vook. Started by Brad Inman, who previously founded TurnHere and HomeGain, Vooks are electronic books sold in versions for the iPad, iPhone/iPod Touch, and the browser. They generally incorporate video, sometimes produced by one of the TurnHere network’s 10,000 freelance videographers, but up until now they didn’t go much beyond that in terms of presenting a new experience.

Vook is in the process of updating all of its titles on the iPad…”

Smart Phone Use Other Than Telephone Calls…08.05.10

From Pew Research

21st Century Digital Information Fluency Model…08.05.10

21st Century Digital Information Fluency Model

Building the Digital Library Branch…08.05.10

Library Jounal eBook Use in Libraries, Survey and Summit…08.04.10

From LISNews:

“…LJ/SLJ is taking a survey and wants your participation. It is designed to measure current and projected ebook availability in libraries, user preferences in terms of access and subjects, and library purchasing terms and influences. This survey is open to all types of libraries, and high level results will presented during LJ/SLJ’s first ever virtual summit, ebooks: Libraries at the Tipping Point to be held on September 29, 2010. Detailed results will also be reported in LJ and SLJ later in the fall…”

NEW – The Smart Swarm…08.04.10

No Shelf Required: E-Books in Libraries…08.04.10

No Shelf Required: E-Books in Libraries

The History of Search – 2 Interesting Infographics…08.04.10

And something similar:

The History of Search

WordStream History of Search

Librarian Personal Learning Networks…08.04.10

Since a recent LIS class asked me how I keep up with the profession, I thought the following  excerpt from the “Librarian in Black“, a cutting-edge 21st century librarian and how she attempts to “stay current” daily with the library profession and technology.

“…I get asked a lot about how I stay caught up with what’s going on with the world.  It takes a lot of time, maybe three hours a day, 90% of which is on my own time.  I have a six-pronged approach:

1. 200 Twitter feeds (increasing)
2. 60 blog & other RSS feeds (cut down from 400+)
3. 20 email newsletters and listservs (ever-decreasing)
4. 10 “old school” periodicals online (also down)
5. 10 open access journals (increasing slowly)
6. and 31 podcasts (increasing quickly)

Yes, I am insane. And no, I do not suggest this many different sources for normal people wanting to stay current on technology and library stuff.  Kate Sheehan wrote a really good post today on the ALA TechSource blog, about the high stress of staying current: “Keeping Up with Keeping Up.”…”

Intelligence, Intuition and Information…08.04.10

Being a “special” librarian, I found the following posted by Stephen Abram interesting:

Intelligence, Intuition and Information A Thomson Reuters White Paper

Bottom Line: “Better Information, Better Decisions”

QR Codes Becoming More Widespread with ATT and Others…08.03.10

Excerpted from Mashable!:

“We’ve talked a lot about how QR codes are poised to take off in the mainstream and now AT&T is jumping on the bandwagon with a new set of tools for Android and BlackBerry phones.

The company has just announced its AT&T Code Scanner application and its AT&T Create-a-Code service. Code Scanner is a free app for BlackBerry and Android devices that scans both 2D (QR and datamatrix) and 1D (UPC and EAN) barcodes. You can get it from the BlackBerry App World or the Android Market or by going tohttp://scan.mobi/ on your mobile device.

The app works similarly to other barcode scanning apps likeShopSavvy or RedLaser, letting you focus in and scan a code at will.

However, the more interesting part of the app comes via the menu options, which includes a direct link to AT&T’s Create-a-Code site (accessible via desktop or mobile), where you can create a QR code for contacts or for a web page. You can sign up for a free account with AT&T and create up to five codes that will be set to last for one year. You can then download the QR codes in PNG or EPS formats…”

The Future of Libraries and Technology…08.03.10

Digitization in the Real World…08.03.10

Digitization in the Real World

Practical Open Source for Libraries…08.03.10

Augmented Reality for Libraries…08.03.10

EPUB Straight to the Point…08.03.10

“…EPUB Straight to the Point starts by looking at tools you may already be familiar with: Microsoft Word and Adobe InDesign, and how to use either one (not to mention the documents you may already have in those formats) to generate the files necessary for creating an EPUB ebook. But because neither of those programs creates a fully valid EPUB file, the book also takes a closer look at the inner workings of an EPUB file, and shows you how to use a text editor to complete the EPUB file, including the creation of a cover and navigational table of contents.

In the last chapter, the book explains how to take full advantage of the formatting strengths of EPUB, while taking into account the quirks of the iBooks ereader app on the iPad. You’ll learn how to specify fonts and text-alignment, wrap text around images, add drop caps to the beginning of a paragraph, format short lines like poetry, and much more…”

So You Need a Typeface Infographic…08.03.10

Click on image for larger version of So You Need A Typeface infographic

Mobile Library Services On a Shoestring…08.03.10

Google vs Facebook and More Social Search…08.02.10

Food for thought excerpted from Search Engine Watch:

“…Right now, Facebook as a search provider is barely a blip, behind the likes of Ask and eBay, according tocomScore. One obvious difference is that Facebook isn’t a search destination — people go to Google to search, people go to Facebook to be social. This number will stay low as long as Facebook isn’t a toolbar option and doesn’t allow searches from users who aren’t logged in.

Another considerable difference between Facebook and a traditional search engine is that links are used in judging credibility as opposed to the possibility of “Likes.” Many sites will never have Like buttons, which is a concern.

Additionally, relying on only “Likes” would leave Facebook with considerably less information about the types of pages unlikely to draw likes. For example, I might read an article about CSS3, but will I Like it? I’m not likely to Like pages that my friends wouldn’t care about. However, I might add a link to the article from a web design blog.

Will sites eventually need to consider “Likebait” as they do linkbait? Perhaps Likebait will include plastering pictures of puppies next to the Like button on all your pages — because who doesn’t like puppies?

However, there’s nothing to stop Facebook from crawling the web and building their own link graphs. The catch, of course, is that it’s easier said than done.

Google has a decade head start on the technical advances it takes to build a search engine. We’ve seen how Microsoft, with tons of cash and software experience, has struggled to turn into a competitor. For now, Bing serves the “web results” for Facebook, which keeps Facebook focused on their strengths.

What may drive more searches for Facebook are the opportunities with their level of personalization. While Google keeps attempting to break into social search and personalized search through a number of efforts, Facebook is squarely in the middle of what you care about, who your friends are, and what your friends like. Why search in Google for events happening this weekend, when Facebook can tell you not only the events, but which people are attending (although event search is pretty disappointing right now).

While Facebook may want their search to become more Google-like, Google may want their search to be more Facebook-like…”

eLearning Tips…08.02.10

How the Internet Works Infographic…08.01.10

New Kindle 3 (2010) 3G + Wi-Fi 6″ Graphite…08.01.10

iPad eReader UX Review: iBooks, Kindle, Kobo…08.01.10