Testing the tech talk site for other staff members to post

This is just test I'm running from a staff member's computer

PLA workshops

I attended the Public Library Assn Virtual Spring Symposium workshops held at KO on Wednesday, March 30 and one of the workshops was called, "A Mobile Feast: Reaching Library Customers via Mobile Technology. One of the postings in the chat by the attendees talked about how much they liked "Boopsie" which I had not heard of before. Here's the info on Boopsie per their website: http://www.boopsie2.com/libraries.html Boopsie for Libraries is a robust, multi-platform mobile library application designed for public and academic libraries. Already in use by many libraries and universities worldwide, Boopsie’s one-stop solution mobilizes catalog and non-catalog services at a disruptively affordable price. Boopsie is the only mobile application developer that can deliver customized world-class mobile applications in a matter of weeks and at a fraction of the cost of comparable solutions. Boopsie’s proprietary AccessILS system integrates directly with any ILS database, and makes it easy for patrons to see their account information and update it by putting items on hold and renewing books or other materials. Additionally, only Boopsie applications include MobileFind™ search technology that enables fast catalog search with minimal keystrokes. Library patrons want to do more than search for books via their mobile phone. In fact, Boopsie customers have found that more than 60% of their patrons use their mobile application to access non-catalog services such as locating the nearest branch, checking hours and event schedules and keeping up on the latest library news via the library blog or Twitter feed. Cindy McFadden

Bookless Library article

http://today.msnbc.msn.com/id/42339223/ns/today-books/?GT1=43001 Here's the highlight from this link that will get you all curious..... Newport Beach is mulling a plan to strip its original library, the Balboa Branch, of many if not all of 35,000 books DVDs and stacks of research material. The 50-year-old library would become a kind of de facto community center — a place where citizens could gather, chat without fear of being shushed by a stern librarian, and surf the web. But if they really wanted a book, they could still get one: All they’d have to do is march up to a voice-activated electronic kiosk; speak with a librarian at one of the city’s three other branches; order it, a la Netflix; and wait by the library’s traditional fireplace for it to be dropped off at a locker on site, according to the Los Angeles Times The voice-activated electronic kiosk is what caught my interest to read the rest of the article and looks like Nicolle's questions to us about the future of library spaces seems to be a larger discussion happening at a broader spectrum....Padma

A new cloud

Have you noticed that Amazon is the latest to offer online storage in the cloud? Today their website introduces Amazon Cloud Drive, with 5 GB of free online storage for music, documents, video, etc. (For more storage there is a fee.) Check it out at www.amazon.com/clouddrive/learnmore

Pandora Radio

Pandora Radio is a USA only, automated music recommendation service and custodian of the Music Genome Project. Users enter a song or artist that they enjoy, and the service responds by playing selections that are musically similar. Users provide feedback on approval or disapproval of individual songs, which Pandora takes into account for future selections.
The Pandora media player is based on OpenLaszlo. Pandora can also be accessed through many stand-alone players On July 11, 2008, Pandora launched a mobile version of their software for the Apple iPhone, iPad, and iPod Touch through the iTunes App Store. Pandora is also available for Android phones[2] (such as the Motorola Droid), BlackBerry platforms, WebOS (used on the Palm Pre and Pixi), and Windows Mobile devices.
URL http://www.pandora.com/

NOOK-News from the Forward Edge of the Technological Area

The OS Department had an interesting meeting yesterday in regards to the compatibility of NOOK. Katya, our Russian librarian, mentioned that the only reason she chose this mobile device was due to long battery life, approximately 8 hours, and most importantly its compatibility with Russian font. This is information was refreshing for me since I will consider these aspects for my native language Spanish, although the font is not an issue, accents marks and other letters are.

Children's Technology Review

I recently reminded myself (by stumbling across again it by accident) of the Children's Technology Review. They are a no-advertising review journal for interactive media (games, products, etc.) for children. Their blog is here, but if you have a little extra time, you might want to read through the CTR ratings instrument, which will give you an idea of what their reviewers look for when evaluating interactive media for kids. We don't buy games or apps for the ALD collection, so if you are talking with parents who want to know what to buy, these are questions that might be helpful to them!

Astounding possiblities of technology

Feast on the images and possibilites in this link-
http://www.youtube.com/watch_popup?v=6Cf7IL_eZ38&vq=medium

What you see in this link is called, "ubiquitous computing", and here's the Wikipedia explanation for that term-

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ubiquitous_computing

Handheld Librarians Conference

One of the sessions I attended during the Handheld Librarian's Conference in late February was the 40 Best Apps presented by Scott Brown of Sun Microsystems. Since then, I've been finding out more about some of his choices. www.SoundHound.com
is good for identifying tunes as they play from a speaker in just a few seconds. Since this "identification thing" has been a passtime and competition for many in my family for years, I told them about it and it has been fun for all of us. Try it! You might like it too!

Damage to Libraries in Japan

http://togetter.com/li/110567

Facebook pilots renting movies

As some of you know I am quite the movie buff and now Facebook is piloting offering a movie for rent on Facebook.

The film "The Dark Knight", sorry, not in my viewing list, will be the first movie to rent on Facebook and one will be able to pay for it using Credits, Facebooks virtual currency. (March 14, 2010 Denver Post)

The Power of the Wiki

This came across my Twitter yesterday! I do use and recommend Wikipedia as a reference and resource tool, so I appreciated this point: one of the strengths of Wikipedia is the sheer amount of information that can be crowdsourced and made available in an extremely short amount of time.

RT @dawnrnelson: When talking with someone who resists Wikipedia, I point out entries like the Sendai earthqua… (cont) http://deck.ly/~TATmgless than a minute ago via TweetDeckBuffy Hamilton
buffyjhamilton

Here's the link to the Wikipedia article (notice the note at the top of the page which indicates that the information on the page is likely to change rapidly and may not be current), and a blog post from the Washington Post about other immediate responses to the disaster on the Internet. This type of response is something we are starting to take for granted, but it is still really a new phenomenon.

Figuring It Out

A patron asked for help printing her resume which was saved as an attachment in her email, usually a routine procedure. This time, when she clicked on her attachment, the document appeared, but print preview showed a blank page, and the document printed as a blank.
The options on the screen were "Download" and "View as web document".
We figured out by working with it that it was necessary to download her resume before it would print. When viewed as a web document--out in "the cloud"!"--it would not print as viewed.
So even those email resumes can provide some changes sometimes.

Free music

I was reading a computer news letter the other day and it mentioned that "Freegal" has free music downloads. You can have 3 per week to download to your MP3 player or Ipod to keep. I haven't tried it yet but sounded interesting.

Information R/evolution

Here's a great video that "explores the changes in the way we find, store, create, critique, and share information." It's a few years old, so parts *already* look dated, but I found it powerful. We have to spend so much of our day reacting to immediate patron needs, yet it is so critical for us to take a step back and look at the big picture from time to time. Identifying patterns and tracing paths can help us create new directions for library services!

Information R/evolution by Dr. Michael Wesch

Not just teen volunteers, but teen interns

This is a lengthy piece - but the youtube video and the content were both highly inspiring and I felt compelled to post-

March 2011 Project Profile: Multicultural Internship Program Mentors and Inspires Teens to Seek Library Careers Pictured: Photo of the Multicultural Internship Program (MIP) coordinator and a MIP intern. Photograph by Gregg Richards.“When you give teens opportunities, and especially meaningful opportunities, they will exceed your expectations. It's part of that larger youth development project.”-Shelia Schofer, Coordinator of Young Adult Services at the Brooklyn Public LibraryA Commitment to Serving the Needs of the Diverse People of BrooklynOne of the goals of the Laura Bush 21st Century Librarian Program is to attract a new generation of diverse and creative people to librarianship. With 37% of its community foreign born and 47% speaking a language other than English at home, the Brooklyn Public Library serves one of the most diverse areas of the U.S. The BPL's innovative Multicultural Intern Program (MIP) was designed with this diversity in mind. The three year program's goal was to expose teens from a range of ethnic, cultural and linguistic backgrounds to library careers through structured paid internships. Thanks to the interns' range of backgrounds—year two's group of 60 speaks 19 languages fluently—interns and staff were able to work together to reach out to lower-income new Americans and recent immigrant communities. Teens worked on a variety of projects ranging from work as translators to designing library programming like weekly Chinese language story hours. Click on image to access video (YouTube) The Multicultural Internship Program Opening Forum – Highlights Mentoring, Open Communication and Community InvolvementKerwin Pilgrim, Coordinator of Business and Workforce Development, feels that much of the success of the project rests in “paying attention to communication and trying to change things as we go along to make the program better.” Dialogue between the library and teens started with information sessions on the program prior to the application process. Staff made sure that students knew the library was looking for real community involvement—this wasn't just a job. Once selected, students were paired with a staff mentor at their branch. “The whole program is set up to encourage that positive feedback loop of sharing ideas and keeping in touch,” says Elizabeth Lewis, Director of Literacy Program & Volunteer Resources. Both students and mentors expressed interest in sharing day-to-day experiences with the group, but coordinating the schedules of 50 students and their mentors proved to be a challenge. Instead, program coordinator Jennifer Thompson relied on variety of tools for communication including email, a blog and an internal wiki. The wiki, with its ability to be updated by all program participants, quickly became an online “social gathering place.” Teens Aspire to Careers in Library Science and Become Community LeadersThe program has inspired the entire library staff. "It pushes other librarians to embrace the concept of listening to what teens want even if they don't have interns at that branch," remarks Elizabeth. The biggest impact, however, has been on the students themselves. “We have a handful that are definitely going to be librarians. The other day I heard one of our first years joking with a friend saying, ‘Well, when I become a librarian I'm going to show you how to do that.’” says Jennifer. For those students who aren't considering LIS careers, the internship has still meant a new dedication to their community through the library. “They want to be a go-to-group,” Jennifer explains, noting that many students continue to participate in library advocacy events and book drives after completing their internships. Interns have also spread the word about the library to other teens in the community, bringing them to classes on college application writing and financial management. For some, the program has created lasting friendships with students from other backgrounds. At the Education and Job Information Center, the program purposefully paired Portia, a very outgoing and savvy student with Ali, a student who, as a recent immigrant, is still learning the ins and outs of the community. “On the surface, if you were to look at them and their interview applications, you would think 'they would never be friends outside of this program’”, says Jennifer, but at the library they are, “two peas in a pod.” Mentor-to-Intern Relationships and Full-time Participation Facilitate Success For institutions hoping to create a similar program in their communities, the staff at the BPL have a number of suggestions. Most importantly, the project needs a dedicated coordinator. “It will not survive if someone is doing this part-time,” says Thompson, “I couldn't imagine working a reference desk and trying to run this program.”Mentor-intern relationships are key to keeping interns supported and motivated. Evaluations from year one showed that the students were happiest when they felt they had a say in the projects they were undertaking. As for marketing the program to teens, Kerwin advises, “Deliver a quality program and you will not have problems filling the slots. In the second year we had more applications than we anticipated because of word of mouth...You don't have to spend a huge amount of money on marketing.”Measuring Impact BPL hired an outside evaluator to conduct evaluations and surveys throughout the course of the project. “Anything the students had comments about or suggestions for, we gave it a shot,” said Jennifer. In year two, these comments have meant a greater emphasis on social gatherings and bonding experiences for interns and mentors alike. Whereas year one only had two meetings for the whole MIP group, this year the program team is making an effort to get the group together multiple times throughout the course of the internship.Planning for the Program's Future. Reaching More Communities through Experience and Best PracticesBPL has already begun considering ways to continue the program beyond the three years funded by the IMLS grant. Additionally, efforts have been made to broaden the program's impact by presenting its success to the public. At the 2010 National Diversity in Libraries Conference, Jennifer's presentation of a poster created by the teens sparked a great deal of interest from other librarians. She was invited to take part in a panel discussion on multicultural issues at the 2010 New York Librarian Association Conference. Thanks to this publicity, the library has received calls from communities across the country hoping to replicate the program. Currently, the team is exploring the possibility of bringing the third year of teens to the Public Library Association Conference in 2012, allowing them the chance to speak to a wider audience about the program's impact on their lives. Tips for Teen Programming• Develop methods to get feedback from participants throughout the program and apply what you learn right away. • Be clear about program requirements. • Make it fun, opportunities for face to face socializing are as important as online networks. • Provide staff time for project management and build in communications loops. • Teen social networks will help market your program. • Empower teens with knowledge so that they can be resources for others. • Deliver a quality program and you will reap the benefits.
Go to youtube.com and type in - The Multicultural Internship Program Opening Forum – Highlights, Brooklyn Library

Who to follow on Twitter

For anyone who has started using Twitter and is still looking for people to follow, Jason Hiner over at ZDNet just compiled a fantastic list of tech commentators on Twitter. The article also includes some links to helpful information for beginners.

Free on-line webpage editors

Check out these two websites. If you need to print a webpage without images or ads use:
http//www.printfriendly.com/

If you want to select what to print from a webpage use:
http//www.printwhatyoulike.com/home/index3

You can change the font size, remove images and background of a webpage, and save your job as a PDF. These webpage editors can help us to save paper and ink too!

Not Knowing Is OK, Trying Is Better

I loved this recent post on the ALA Tech Source blog, about helping library staff feel more comfortable with tech troubleshooting.

My favorite quote: "We are a profession devoted to the idea that not knowing something isn't a problem."

Read through the comments too, especially Jessamyn's...I'm really looking forward to her book!

What happened?

Patron is working on a WORD document and when she prints, her print is double-spaced and not margined correctly. She tries and tries and prints and prints again. Finally, she asks staff for help, but no one seems to understand why this page is not printing in the correct format.

Staff ask each other and one trys to "Select All" and change spacing settings. She thinks to herself, "This page looks weird. I can't see any margins and it doesn't look like a document."

Finally after 5 mins. have passed by....EUREKA! The dark clouds separate and there is LIGHT and realization that patron has accidently, somehow hit the WEB LAYOUT icon on the lower right hand corner (she probably didn't realize this) and it was in web format making her print format different. As soon as staff realized this and hit the PRINT LAYOUT icon the problem was resolved.

All staff and patron breath sigh of relief....we didn't have to tell her to start all over.

The little things do count!

Relevance

I attended the Spotlight on Your Career 2011 workshop this weekend which focused on technology and the necessary skillset for a digital world. Megan Kinney, one of the presenters, made a really good point about relevance. There's something very artificial and almost futile about trying to adopt technology that is not relevant to you. The interesting thing about the library setting is that sometimes we get patrons that think they don't need to learn how to use a keyboard, or a mouse or how to navigate the internet. They just need to get this online application done, and can you please just help them do it. However, the workplace nowadays is saturated with technology no matter what you're doing. At some places, janitors have to use computers to "punch" in and out, and are even required to check work email. Helping patrons to see that these skills really are important to them might help them adopt them more easily.
In terms of my own use of technology, I felt like I had an epiphany about Twitter. I've had an account for about 3 years that I never check, and I never use. Twitter and I just never clicked, and part of that is because at this point in time I don't have a need for it... or even a like for it.

I Love Google Maps

Hi everyone!

I'm sure many of you are familiar with Google Maps or other map websites. I realized that Google maps is a tool I use very often. For those who haven't used it, here's an example of how helpful it can be:

Let's say I don't know where there is a library nearby. I type in "library loc: Sheridan, CO" and it shows me some libraries nearby.
I want to go get a pizza on my way home from work, so I click on the Sheridan library balloon, and click on "search nearby" and type "pizza." It shows me different pizza places near the library.
I choose a pizza place and click on its balloon, then click "directions." Google Maps then tells me exactly how to get there.

Google maps also has other great features, like terrain, bike paths, satellite view, and street view.

Advice from a guy who's way too new to Twitter to be giving advice

I haven't delved too much into Twitter before, but I think I'm starting to get hooked. For anyone who's having trouble "getting it," it's basically a more elegant version of Facebook's status updates feed. But you won't get much out of it until you're following enough people to see new content every time you visit the site.

By default the "search" field will show you recent tweets containing the keyword you entered, but if you're looking for users to follow you should click over from "Tweets" to "People." (Of course, if you see a tweet that interests you, you can always click on the name of the person who posted it and see their other recent tweets -- you'll probably find yourself following complete strangers, but there's nothing wrong with that as long as they're providing interesting content).

If you're having trouble figuring out who you might be interested in following, I'd suggest the following:

1) Try searching for Authors, Directors, Musicians, Publishers, etc. that interest you.

2) Look at the profiles of coworkers/friends/etc. and see who they're following. Looking at Donna's list, I was able to add a half-dozen right away.

3) Search for generic terms that fit your professional development goals. Things like "books," "libraries," "technology," etc. Then look through both the "Tweets" and "People" results, and see what might be worthwhile.

Most major content providers (newspapers, blogs, websites, etc.) will use a Twitter account to announce updates, so Twitter is a wonderful way to supplement/replace an RSS feed.

Hope this helps! Follow me @mark_mullis.

My Twitter accont is @samoyed1or2. I'm Sharon Chinn, and if you're wondering about the samoyed, it was the kind of dog I had, a beautiful, sweet dog named Sheba.