ConsumerReports – Choosing a eReader…10.10.10

Librarians Must Focus on Connection Management Instead of Collection Management…10.10.10

Veebeam – connect a computer or iPad to a big screen TV wirelessly…10.08.10

Mobile Lawsuits Infographic…10.08.10

The Customer-Centric Library…10.07.10

The Customer-Centric Library

View more presentations from mlx.

Instapaper Pro for iPad, iPhone, iPod Touch – Offline Web reader…10.07.10

Where Good Ideas Come From: The Natural History of Innovation…10.06.10

Where Good Ideas Come From: The Natural History of Innovation

oneSearch Bookmarklet…10.06.10

Online Communities Map #2…10.06.10

Online Communities Map

Librarians – How to Read QR Codes on Your PC…10.05.10

This is a useful post titled How to Read QR Codes on Your PC

“If you are reading this, it’s likely that you already have some idea what a QR Code (or tag) is. If not, you can find out more about  QR Codes on Wikipedia.

Here’s my QR tag – what does it say?

Below, you can find out how to decode it.

People with smart phones and an internet connection, can take a snapshot of the code and find out what it says. I don’t have a smart phone, so I was feeling a little jealous every time I saw one of the tags posted somewhere. I decided to look for a way to decode these tags using my PC.

After many false turns, I finally found some freeware QR decoders that run on a PC. First I’ll tell you about bcTester, which allows you to decode QR tags in images and PDF files.

Download bcTester

After downloading, extract the bctester_en.zip file to a folder and run the setup file. Once installed, you’ll find the app in your Programs menu and you can launch it from there. Here’s what the main interface looks like.

You can open an image or PDF from the the ‘Open’ icon (looks like a folder), or you can drag and drop images or PDFs onto it. Once you’ve got something to decode, you can hit the QR icon to decode it. There are several other tools to help if you run into a tag that doesn’t want to spill it’s secrets, and they offer plenty of help if you need it.

Next, I’ll show you bcWebCam. This application takes advantage of your webcam to grab images from the real world and decode the tags for you. You’ll need to install it after extracting the setup files from a zip, just like the bcTester app I mentioned above.

Download bcWebCam

When launched, it shows you a basic ‘how-to’ for capturing and decoding tags and bar codes.

I gave it a try and didn’t have much luck with it. That’s mainly because I didn’t have any good examples of codes or tags to take a picture of. I have no reason to doubt that it works like it’s supposed to, with a little practice.

Techie Buzz Verdict:

You won’t find many free applications like these. The bcTester app is a definite winner, because it’s simple to use and it works well. I’ll withhold an opinion on the bcWebCam at this time.”

Some resources about QR codes in libraries from Teresa Ashley:

Walsh, Andrew (2010) QR Codes – using mobile phones to deliver library instruction and help at the point of need. Journal of information literacy, 3 (1). pp. 55-65. http://eprints.hud.ac.uk/7759/

—————–. “QR codes, text a librarian and more…” [Presentation: Extreme makeover: Transforming the face of your Library Service conference in Leeds, U.K.] 26 Oct. 2009.

…search the University of Huddersfield Library catalog to see the QR code. You have to look at the detailed record for an item to find it at the bottom of the page.

Andy Ramsden, University of Bath, UK, explores educational uses of QR codes:

Ramsden, Andy. “ Exploring the use of QR Codes as a Learning Technology.” Plymouth e-learning Conference.

——————. “The potential of QR Codes in Education.” JISC Emerge Users & Innovation Programme Meeting. 29 Jan. 2009.

——————-.  QR codes at Bath. [blog] 30 Mar. 2010 and earlier posts discuss the use of QR codes to manage and record student assignments.

The University of Bath library catalog also provides QR codes for books which are available on the shelves, but apparently not for those checked out or otherwise unavailable.

Trends, Transformations & Change in Libraries…10.04.10

NEW – PubIt! from Barnes and Noble…10.04.10

“…Barnes & Noble has finally launched its digital publishing platform called PubIt!. The new software, which B&N announced back in May, will let authors and publishers publish their work as eBooks directly to BN.com…”

Around the world twice on a library degree…10.04.10

The Future of Transmedia…10.03.10

Semantic Web and Libraries…10.03.10

Participatory Librarianship…10.02.10

Killing the User and Other Necessary Acts…10.02.10

Vint Cerf a.k.a. “The Father of the Internet” on the Future…10.01.10

The Future of Augmented Reality…10.01.10

Providing Services to our Remote Users: Open Source Solutions…10.01.10

Today is Follow a Library on Twitter Day…010.01.10

Follow a Library on Twitter