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!