the impact of touch screens

Touch screen technology is a huge part of our daily lives. Many of you may have realized this trying to decide between the basic Kindle and the Kindle Touch. The technology itself is no longer the novelty and businesses are looking for new ways to put it to use. NPR just did a story about iPads in the classroom and hospitals. It also took a look at the psychology of touch screens, especially in relation to children. They are connecting to their devices in a way that older generations may not understand. It wasn't necessarily possible with the analog technologies of the past but now it is commonplace across the board. The story concludes with a look forward at a touch screen that can both give and receive information. It could change again the way we interact with tablets, cell phones, mp3 players and other devices.


http://www.npr.org/2011/12/26/144146395/the-touchy-feely-future-of-technology

Could be useful for you.

When sharing big files and especially lots of photos with others as you might following a vacation or holiday, a really good way to do that is to use sendspace.com. It lets you zip your files. It is free and very simple to use. Doesn't take long either. Great to know about when you need it.

Staff Picks

I was writing about some Staff Picks about Spanish items (movies, books for adults and children, etc.) in Spanish language and I noticed that when I finished writing them and saved them, then I could not come back to them to fix some grammar or vocabulary errors in those paragraphs I wrote.

For your information in regards to editing Staff Picks reviews: only accounts designated as staff accounts have the ability to edit or delete reviews and because I started writing Staff Picks as a library patron, my account has not been set up as a staff account. Since I already have an account, I will need to establish a separate one that is designated with ALD as the prefix. Once I have created the staff account, I should submit a web site ticket to ask that this account be designated as a staff account.

Once the ticket is closed I would have the ability to edit and delete reviews. I could do this by 1) logging into my account and then 2) go to http://arapahoelibraries.org/dashboard. From this view, I should see all of the reviews I have submitted.

Also it is very difficult to transfer the existing reviews to the new staff account I can get, but I can cut and paste those reviews I wrote until this moment.

Moreover if I would like to delete my old patron account, I could submit that request and put it in a ticket.

Of course all this information I have provided by this NL Tech Talk, you can also use it for Staff Picks in English language.

Thanks and ALWAYS ENJOY LIFE IN ALL WAYS!.

Happy Holidays!.

I LOVE MY NEW COLOR NOOK

I did quite a bit of research before deciding on the Nook. I found some really good review articles on ALD's Professional Development Blog, as well as the Internet. Once I made this decision, I went back to ALD's Professional Development Blog(found on Staffbook under Collaboration Tools - Blogs) and did a keyword search for Nook. Nick Taylor had posted a wonderful article in July 23, 2011, entitled "How to Put Library Books from Overdrive on Your Nook - A visual Tutorial." The language used is simple and the visual "screen shots" make the step by step process easy to understand. I found this article very helpful to me, as a new Nook user, and it would also be useful to share with our patrons who are just getting started with this process.
Check out this link: http://beingruth.com/tutorial-library-books-nook-overdrive/ I also learned a lot from those who posted comments on Nick's blog, including some great troubleshooting techniques.

 Experiencing discoveries during my e-reader training and finding ways to better serve our customers with these e-readers.

 I have discovered that "My Help!" on the on demand screen is a wonderful sight to have patrons go to when they want to familiarized themselves with the process of getting themselves set up to utilize e-readers.  This sight gives you step by step instructions and best of all it is user friendly and even customers who are not comfortable with technology are able to feel confident on what they are trying to achieve.
I have also encounter that sometimes patrons are having difficulty signing in with their email address and password when authorzing computer and sometimes other windows open up during this process.  This seems to happen when internet access is very slow.  This can be very confusing to first time users. I had a case when this kept happening and we tried to see if patron was already sign in by going to the on demand screen and seeing if she could checkout an item.  Sure enough she was already signed in.  What have you all experience?

Tell us about your ereader!

Hi NL Techies!
Many, many of you are taking advantage of ALD's great deal to help fund a portion of your ereader purchase. I am enjoying seeing the variety of devices being chosen by NL's staff. Tell us about what you bought! Why did you choose that make and model? What are your challenges and successes with your new device? What do you love about it? What do you wish were different? Share your learning with us.

Rebootable CD

As nobody answered my question I had to call DS help desk and find out the info myself. I talked to Josh and what I learned is: The patron can do anything on our computers as long as it does not require its rebooting. As we purchase licences for all softwares, all our softwares are registered. So he may not copy our programs. If he works on his own computer and wants to make a rebootable CD he needs a program (like Nero) to do this, to copy his own programs on the discs and keep them as a back up. Thank you Josh!

Sticker Shock for E-Book Readers cont'd

(please see the article below first) The article goes on to explain that the digital price increases are the result of a decision made by six of the largest pubishers who banded together to set their own concsumer e-book prices. Because e books are instantaneous, portable, searchable and take minimal storage space, their value has increased - thus justifying the price increase. To read the full article, visit http://www.chicagotribune.com
Article appeared December 15, 2011, and can be found under business/technology

Sticker Shock for E Book Readers

Sticker Shock For E-Book Readers
According to a recent Wall St Journal and Chicago Tribune article, one of the hottest gifts under the Christmas tree this year will be some type of e-reader. This is no surprise, but what might surprise these new e-reader owners is that the price gap between the print and e versions of some of the best sellers have narrowed to within a few dollars. In some cases, the e version may even cost more. In November, 2007, Amazon introduced its first Kindle e-reader (remember that price tag of $399.00??)and a key selling point was the $9.99 digital best seller. Today, you can buy a Kindle for less than $100 - but e book prices for some popular titles have soared. Industry executives predict this new development may already be hurting e book sales (which currently amount to 15- 20 percent of major publishers' revenues). Some customers who were recently interviewed commented that they are purchasing fewer e-books due to the rising prices. They stated it's hard to justify purchasing an e-book for $10 - $15 when the real print book can be purchased on Amazon used for $2 or $3.

Creating Space for Entrepreneurs

Did anybody else see this? We have a webinar available on ALD-U about new use of space in libraries and the concept of co-working. Then I read this in the Post and was so excited to see this huge co-working opportunity opening up in our very own backyard. Would love to hear what you think and how it might apply in libraries. http://www.denverpost.com/search/ci_19513723

PDF to Word Document

I sure did not know I was able to convert for free a PDF file to a Word document. I assumed I had to download some pricey software. Gracias a Jorge I now know how to convert a PDF easily...so just in case you were wondering how to do the same use this website next time you or a patron needs to convert a PDF file to a Word document.

http://www.pdftoword.com/

November Challenge - And the winner is...

Kathy Carter of KE! We had some excellent posts this month demonstrating people's learning and applying their learning either at home or on the job. Kathy's post showed intellectual curiosity in terms of a question that started in her home life that inpsired her to look into what kind of technology was available to solve this problem. She investigated Lexile.com, found how it links (literally) to ALD and then shared how it could be usefully applied at work. A $20 gift card to Amazon is winging its way to Kathy as I type.

Thanks to all of you who participated in this challenge and in sharing your learning with all of us this past month. Keep these great posts and comments coming!

iPad connectivity at ALD locations

Recently I have had some hard time figuring out problems with patrons trying to connect to our Hotspot. I thought I did everything right - cleared out cache/history/cookies and enabling the iPad to accept cookies. BUT! I still had a problem. I was able to navigate to any page, but once there I could do nothing on the page itself: I could not use links, I could not even zoom in/out onto the page. I even published this question on the ALD tech liasion page, but I still got the same suggestions about cache and cookies.

And finally today with Jay's help I figured out what I was doing wrong! After doing all the right things I did not restart the iPad proprely! I just turned it off and on instead of holding onto the off button on the top of the device till the screen prompts you to slide the device to "slide to power off".

So for the colleagues who are not very familiar with iPad and who come across a patron who cannot connect to our Hotspot I suggest doing the following:

1. On the main screen choose icon Settings > Safari (iPad's default browser)> on the right choose and touch Clear History/Clear Cookies/ Clear Cache


2. On the same screen find the option Accept Cookies, touch it and in the menu that appears touch Always


3. Restart you iPad by holding onto the off button on the top of the device till the screen prompts you to slide the device to "slide to power off"

Apple Store

If you read the blog I just posted, then you might be interested to know that I met the author, Kitty Migaki, at the Apple Store when I was seated next to her for a "Projects" session. I am totally impressed with the store, which I had not set foot in until I got a lovely new laptop and entered the world of Mac computing. I have now taken about 8 one-to-one sessions with my own personal instructor. They are knowledgeable and approachable. I haven't met a bad one yet. For these sessions I had to pay $100/yr., an incredible value when you realize that you can work in several sessions a week if you want them. The projects sessions are like a study hall, with an instructor cicrculating. These are free, I believe, for anyone with a Mac. What is interesting about these sessions too, is that you meet some wonderful people sometimes, like the author I just met. It has some aspects of a community gathering, an added bonus I hadn't expected.

Innovative Children's Book

I met an interesting woman who has just published a unique children's book, entitled Alphabet Denver. It is a very unusual book, offering a GPS hunt for locations in the Denver area that are shaped like letters of the alphabet. It's color-coded with places within walking distance grouped under the same color. It uses different poetry types to describe each letter, with references in the back for teachers, parents, etc. explaining the poetry types. It even has QR codes linked to map locations. The latitude & longitude are listed on the page with the letter. The Denver Art Museum, Tattered Cover, Barnes & Noble, & The Bookies carry the book. Bookies sold 60 copies in 2 weeks. What a great book to have when you want to lure kids away from the t.v. or computer & get them out exploring the city with you. I loved the graphics and the combination of technology with our old favorite, BOOKS!.

Virtual Laser Keyboard: One Step Closer to Rocket Cars?

When it comes to keyboards, I really prefer the old thick, heavy, clunky-chunky keyboards. I like knowing I've actually struck a key, so the more biofeedback I get, the better. Having said that, I thought this was pretty amazing. Not so much that I'd want one, but it changes a paradigm for me about what else might be possible. What could this allow us to do, in a library setting, that wasn't possible before?

Avatar and Terra Nova in particular are Sci-Fi titles that have used virtual keyboards, and I always thought 'Nah, that'll never happen'. Well, I guess I should make room in my garage for a rocket car.

This model is put out by Celluon http://celluon.com/ but I 'borrowed' the image from here (it was better). http://www.thinkgeek.com/gadgets/cellphone/e722/?itm=celluon&rkgid=328562980&cpg=oggdgt1&source=google_gadgets&creative=9124005525&adpos=1t1&gclid=CPyXxI7646wCFYTsKgodkUsRRQ

telecaregivers

The Christian Science Monitor had a great article about the emergence of "telecaregivers". Using devices such as video cameras and motion detectors, caregivers can monitor safety and social activities from a distance for, for example, seniors living unassisted at home. This could also provide a measure of safety for persons with disabilities. This may sound like something from the future, but there are senior home care companies using these technologies now.
One of the developers of these technologies is AgeLab at MIT's School of Engineering. Engineers adapt technology used by NASA, including infrared sensors and tiny radio frequency tags. This can even help with driving safety, keeping track of lost eyeglasses, taking proper medication. Properly used, technology may provide additional independence for seniors and people with disabilities, while giving some peace of mind to those concerned with their well-being.

How to make a bootable CD?

This is exactly how the question sounds which I got from one of our patrons at May.
As I didn't know the answer, I offered the first step to do (kind of a saving belt): Let's google it! He was working on one of our newest 3-hour laptops. I found out that with this CD in hand, you don't have to worry about crash any more! It is recommended to fix errors and optimize system performance. Spotmau (A Computer Service Company) offers such software (Super Data Rescue Package) but it is rather expensive. My patron did not want to pay, he wanted it for free.
The second step offered was: Let's Book a Librarian. The district provides this wonderful service, you can get help from a qualified librarian. He didn't want it either.
My question is: Is it allowed to download this software on our public computers?

Tatyana

My November...Well, December...Challenge

All right! Donna issued a challenge for us to tackle a tech topic that would present a real personal learning curve, and I spent most of the month trying to come up with a good idea. I wanted something that really would make me work, and would also really be relevant to my job. It wasn't till I was having lunch with friends from outside the library world last week and asking them what their tech challenges were that my friend Tim asked me, "Well, do you know how to create an ePub document?"

Um, no!

It turns out that creating an ePub document isn't a coding process, but instead a markup process. It's more like getting content ready for a website than writing a computer program. So that was something good to learn, right there. I know a little--just a little--HTML from working on my personal websites and blogs, so I'm going to see if I know enough to give it a try. It may turn out that I don't know enough to finish!

My thought is to take some of the literacy content I've been writing for our monthly storytime handouts for parents and see if I can turn them into a very, very short ePub "book." I'm only just getting started with reading background material and choosing a tutorial, and will let you know how it goes!

Playing with Prezi

Well, in order to try out this new technology I wouldn't have known about if it weren't for this blog, I decided to play around with Prezi. I made a quick fun little prezi just to get to know what it is like. Click here to view my prezi.

less paper /read later or save

In Readers Digest I read an article about a web page where you can save web articles (online reading) to read at another time or save articles so you don't have to print it off (I tried by saving a few recipes). It seem quite user friendly and can be read from your computer,i pad, iphone or Kindle). Log into http://www.instapaper.com/, make an account and you are ready to go. go back to your web Surfing. When you find something you want to save Highlight the URL and right click and copy. Go to http://www.instapaper/ and click on ADD (just to the right of the Browse, Unread etc.) it will then let you paste the URL and you can title and add notes. It then saves this for you. You can also make folders if you want to organize or save articles. I don't know if there is a time limit on how long it saves articles but the concept is interesting and useful if you don't want to hunt around for articles you want to read.

Open Source and Ubuntu

I've long been really interested in the idea of open source technology. It seems to have so much potential for leveling the playing field and bringing the power of computing into the hands of the individual. For those of you unfamiliar with the concept, check out opensource.org. They have an excellent definition and a lot of other great info. The really short definition is that open source software's code is developed by the community. The code is open to anybody and anybody who can program can improve upon that code and software. Open source software is free to the user and covers just about any area of computing you can imagine. Some major examples are the Firefox internet browser, Drupal website content management system (used for ALD's website) and Open Office, which is basically the free and open source equivalent of Microsoft Office.

One intriguing open source program is Ubuntu. It's a whole operating system like Windows 7 but of course, it's free. I'm planning on experimenting by using it on my outdated (2 years old) and totally uncool netbook, which currently runs the Windows 7 starter edition. Once I finally download Ubuntu and start using it I'll try to send updates on how it works and if it's worth the hassle.

I also really like the potential of open source as a tool for library patrons who have computers and that might not be able to afford the latest edition of Microsoft Office or Windows 7. These programs' open source equivalents are often comparable in quality, they're continually being improved by the community and they're free!

Helping Out

A good friend of mine recently switched from PCs to Macs and was having trouble figuring out her new photo tools. She asked if I could come over and give her a quick tour so she could send photos of her new baby out to friends and family. I said I'd be happy to go over and hold her baby help her out!

When we sat down, I realized that because she was working with a new Mac laptop, everything from her operating system to her iPhoto was a newer version than I use. It turned out to be a blessing in disguise, though, because whenever I wasn't sure about how to do a task, she got to see how I went about figuring it out. (Looking through different menus, pulling up the help area, and searching on Google.) Plus I got to learn some of the new features myself!

It reminded me that the best way to really learn something is not only try it out yourself, but to teach it or share it with someone else. It also reminded me that some tasks become almost invisible. She had told me before I went over that she couldn't cut and paste in a basic Word doc or email, and I had no idea what might be causing such a basic problem--until I got there and we realized that she was using the keyboard shortcut Control-V, Control-X when on Mac computers the shortcut starts with the Command key. So simple, but it didn't occur to me until I saw it in action. It's one of the things that makes answering tech reference questions on the phone so tricky!

Oh, and I did hold her baby the whole time I was there. She didn't need any technical assistance, though. :)

Learning Prezi

I took my own challenge and spent some of my holiday time learning a new technology tool: Prezi, a program for creating presentations. A few weeks ago I spent time looking at the website, watching the tutorials and also watching the "best of" Prezi. When I went back to it again, I found I had to watch the tutorials all over again. I know that the best way for me to learn is to apply what I'm learning to something I will really use. Since Richard and I will be presenting at PLA, I took our ppt and prezified it. One of my challenges with this approach was that turning a ppt into a Prezi is done by making the slides pdf's. This limits what I can do with the info on each slide. It was a good way to practice with the various editing features, but I found that it still was a pretty linear slide show because of how I started.

I struggled with this tool quite a bit and found that I wished for someone to tell me how to do and fix things. I kind of wished I could be in a classroom with a teacher so I could lean on the teacher to tell me how to do things I couldn't easily figure out myself. Learning alone online is harder for me. I really had to push myself to learn on my own. The tools are there, it just takes extra effort.

The other thing I learned is that to make our presentation really pop in Prezi, we will need to start over and think about what information needs to be grouped together visually in frames rather than on slides and what our overall image should be. I would share my Prezi with you but because of some mistakes I couldn't figure out how to fix, I think it would be more confusing than helpful.

I'll keep you posted on my progress. I'm trying not to lean on Richard to teach me how to be good at this!

Should CLFS investigate programming like this?

In an article from Newsday http://long-island.newsday.com/kids/ipadding-toddlers-when-is-it-too-soon-1.3338586 you can read about ipadding toddlers and decide for yourself if there is good reason to hand over your device to your toddler. You can also read about what may be a future library program.
Jennifer Cunningham-Lozano of Patchogue plans to launch "The Book Nook Center" on the North Shore in the spring, offering "Mommy and Me"-type classes that incorporate the iPad into the 45-minute experience. Participants will first read a book together, then play with an app related to the book topic, and then make a craft. She'll offer classes for ages 8 months to 18 months, 18 months to 21/2 years, and 21/2 years to 4. "I think if you make it an interactive, educational screen time, it doesn't make them into couch potatoes," Cunningham-Lozano says.
What do you think? Should the library bring this kind of program to our patrons?

New El Día de los Niños Website

Through REFORMA Colorado, I received information about new El Día de los Niños/El Día de los Libros (Children’s Day/Book Day) site.  Association for Library Service to Children (ALSC), an ALA division responsible for the site, provides excellent resources for libraries who wish to participate in celebrating the Día. Even though El Día de los Niños is observed on April 30, libraries can build Dia programs year-around. Please check out the new website at http://dia.ala.org.

TUTORIAL

Buenas! For any of you that are looking to enhance your knowledge of technology, I was given an exceptional website, lynda.com, that will allow you to learn everything you need to know about Excel, Microsoft and many others.

Degrees of Separation Down to 4

"How many people are you connected to through your Facebook account?"

Researchers at the University of Milan conducted a study using the 721 million members of Facebookto lessen the degrees of separation down to 4. This is mostly possible because of social media and networking, which has become a huge force in changing the way people interact. In the information world, sharing ideas has never been easier or far-reaching.

Augmented Reality and Touch Screen Phones

My present phone is not touch screen, but this information about Augmented Reality (AR) apps leads me want one. None of us wants to walk through our environment with eyes on the phone and arms outstretched, but I would definitely like to try Augmented Car Finder, identify the stars and constellations over my head (Star Walk, Star Chart) and the names and details of the mountains in front of me (Panoramascope, Peaks).
Your phone can become a magic looking glass identifying physical objects in the environment. How Cool! If you would like to find out more about these AR apps and some that don't exist yet but should, try www.ScientificAmerican.com/dec2011/pogue or the most recent issue of Scientific American magazine.

photo scrapbooking online

I have created two photo albums using mixbook.com. I had a lot of fun working with this site, which allows you to upload your photos, choose backgrounds, layouts (some of which let you use a lot of text), and even stickers. You do not have to download any software. You do everything online, and then you can order your book. They are archival and look very professional. I liked this site better than some of the others I looked at because I could add a lot of text. Since I keep a travel diary on my long trips, I am able to incorporate what happened each day, along with my photos. I also liked Mixbook because on our recent trip to the British Isles, my husband took photos with his camera, and I took photos with mine. Between us we had 1300 photos and I was wondering how I would ever integrate both sets. Mixbook lets you arrange your pictures in chronological order, which meant that both sets appeared together. I could choose whether I wanted my husband's shot of an event, or mine. Another feature of Mixbook is that family and friends can contribute to the book. You can use your photos from Facebook, Flicker, etc. If you have an event like a high school reunion, family reunion or other group event, everyone can have their own copy of the album. Best of all, it's pretty intuitive, and the learning curve is not too great. Ask me questions, or let me show you my book. I loved this.

Targeted technology

So often I learn about some "cool" new technology tool that I could use but, upon reflection, realize that it would not help me do my job any better (think "Angry Birds" or a twitter account that has few followers). So I was very excited when our tech liaison, Melissa, helped me narrow down some target areas and I was able to set up a couple of tools that were immediately useful. First, I set up a pinterest account to collect literacy activity ideas. I already found one there that I shared at a storytime practicum. Being able to scan through photos of literacy ideas will be a lot faster than trying to remember where I might have filed that great suggestion from last year. Next, I set up some RSS feeds from early literacy and library organizations. I considered using a third party reader like Google Reader for this, but decided that having the information come directly into my Outlook mailbox would make it easier/more likely that I will check in. So far, this has been a good call.

Google Music

I just found out about Google Music and how it wants to compete with the new iTunes Match. Here's an article with some very good basic information about Google Music. One nice thing about it is the FREE music!

http://www.pcmag.com/article2/0,2817,2396598,00.asp

Printing directions and maps from www.mapquest.com

Lots of patrons are using www.mapquest.com to look for directions to get their final destinies at May Library. Not only at this library they have asked me about how they could print the directions they would need, but also at the libraries I have been subbing.

When they get the directions to go from one place to other, also they want to print them, it means written directions and the plan. But they always try to use the following processes which do not work:

1) "File, Print Preview or Print" (located in the left and upper side of the screen): which do not work well because this process prints the first page, not getting the complete written directions and the plan.

2) Printer drawing between "Read mail" (envelope drawing) and "Page" (word) (located in the right and upper part of the screen): which do not work well either because it prints the first page and it does not print the plan either.

3) Do not right click with the mouse on the directions and choose "Print" or "Print preview": it will not work work again cause it prints the first page only, not getting the complete written directions and the plan.

Solution: you should suggest the patron to click in the printer drawing/icon which has also the "Print" word on the button and also it is located on the plan (right and upper part of it), next to "Send".

Thanks and ALWAYS ENJOY LIFE IN ALL WAYS!.

A Quick and Easy Website to Find Books for Specific Reading Levels

My grandson's second grade teacher recommended Lexile.com to find books for him to read at his grade level. It's very easy to use. At Lexile.com select a grade level and choose their overall comfort with the material at that grade level. If the patron knows their lexile number it can be entered instead of grade level. Select the area of interest and it generates a list of books that fall within that grade level. It has a link to WorldCat and our library to see if ALD has the book. After the list of books are generated, under Search Options the search can be adjusted to a different age range, lexile range or interest category. You can also search for Spanish books.

After looking into this site I found that lexile is a measure for reading levels, similar to accelerated reading levels. Many schools are now using this as their reading measure. It will be a quick and useful way for me to find books when a parent or student asks for books at a particular grade level. I can't wait to use it when asked "What would be a good book for my third grader to read?"

5 Sites That Will Help You Travel Well

I was browsing through PC Magazine and came across an article that may be useful to those looking to travel this holiday season.

google.com/flights - This airfare finder is a source if you have exact dates for your trip. This tool instantaneously offers the lowest prices it can find and even gives you a link to the airline's website to book your flight.
airfarewatchdog.com - This site has an advantage over other airfare finding services: It hires REAL people to dig up the lowest prices for plane tickets, including prices that are not listed on the internet.
room77.com - You can review rooms in select hotels in 32 cities. You can even book rooms from the site according to which floor you'd prefer, how good the view is and how far the room is located from the elevator.
gadling.com - It has a blend of news, planning advice, and adventure stories for everyone.
airbnb.com- Through this site, travelers rent spare rooms in local homes, saving money on hotel fees. After the stay the host and guest can review each other, so future hosts an guests will know what to expect.
Happy and safe travels!

It's a joke and a game all in one.

Read in Scientific American November 2011, that for many years software engineers have been known to take pride in embedding jokes in their code that can yield surprises and show their unique sense of fun. One I tried is a secret game of Snake that you can get to by pausing any YouTube video and holding down the up and left arrow keys. As soon as you see the Snake appear, you must quickly try to guide the increasingly long snake's body around the screen with your arrow keys. It's fun! Give it a try and see if you can keep from tripping over yourself!
If you like that, more elaborate surprises or "Easter eggs" as they are called by programmers, can be found at ScientificAmerican.com/nov2011/pogue

You Tube Audio

When we decided to use a powerpoint for the All-Staff Day presentation, I knew which song I wanted to use. However, it was a YouTube video and I could not find the same song, same version, same length of time, anywhere else. Jenny P. suggested I try www.Listentoyoutube.com. At that site, I was able to put in my YouTube URL to “Bellavia”, their software transferred the video to their server, extracted the MP3 and gave me a link to use to download the audiofile. I followed the steps and was able to download the soundtrack alone into the powerpoint. Worked great. This experience was a good reminder that most of my tech problems are probably not new; someone else has probably already come up with a solution and I just need to look for it.

Live and learn! - Meetup

I have just learned about Meetup - an online social networking portal that facilitates offline group meetings in various localities around the world. Meetup allows members to find and join groups unified by a common interest, such as politics, books, games, movies, health, pets, careers or hobbies. Users enter their zip code and the topic they want to meet about, and the website helps them arrange a place and time to meet. Topic listings are also available for users who only enter a location.

A group of English speakers interested in Russian language and culture has formed a Denver Russian Language Meetup Group . I joined this group online and we met at MA where I provided a library and a Russian collection tour to these people. NONE of them knew of our Russian collection before!

This is another proof of the great role that social networks play in our lives and work in our age.

One Take on Core Digital Skills

You guys know I spend a lot of my time thinking about the core early literacy skills that children need to have in place in order to become successful readers. I have some fun conversations with my husband about core digital skills as well! Bill teaches at the University of Denver in the Digital Media Studies department. DMS has just joined with the Art department to offer a new degree called Emergent Digital Practices.

“It’s about big ideas and hands-on practice,” says Trace Reddell, director of digital media studies. “Think of a program that builds on the energy and inspiration of recent TEDxDU events. People are beginning to realize that we don’t just need new technology to solve our problems. We need creative, knowledgeable and engaged problem solvers.”

Students will start with foundational courses that explore the "digital environment." These courses cover the skills the DMS faculty have determined to be essential to working with digital tools...a basic digital literacy. The skill areas are:

• critical thinking & analysis
• coding (programming)
• working with digital images (creating, understanding, & manipulating 2D images)
• working with time-based media (creating, understanding, & manipulating sound and video)
• understanding digital platforms (understanding hardware, software, networks, electronic systems, and interfaces)

I keep bugging Bill to tell me this list again and again, so I am hoping now that I've written it out it will all finally stick! I'm sure there are other core digital skill lists out there, but I love how on this list critical thinking is placed as a "tech skill." As for me, I don't know ANY programming! I know I could use more time working with sound and video, though making the Milkshake Video for Staff Day was a fun start. Which of these categories sounds most interesting to you?

Disappointment with pdf filler

Hello everyone,
I remember how we all got excited about the pdffiller.com website allowing people to electronically fill out their pdf documents. I personally assisted a patron with it too(I would say more than two months back)
Last evening, I went to the pdffiller.com website to fill out a conference aid form and after I filled it all out, including my signature(it was so cool to see that tool that transforms your typing into signature) and clicked, "done", it took me to the page, where it gives you the option to pay for one time use($12.99/- for a day or one-time use) and had other info on monthly use fee etc. etc.

It was disappointing to see that the site is now charging for its tools. I wanted to share this, so when we recommend this site to patrons we're aware that it wants you to pay a charge too. I did not pay for the service and exited out of it.

Padma

Loving ALD Mobile (Boopsie)

Ok, I know I just posted, but I am loving the new ALD Mobile catalog through Boopsie!

During today's school lunch rush a patron in the non-fiction stacks was looking for a book on Algebra. At that moment our PAC was in use by students registering for a program. I was about to go to the front desk when I realized all I really needed was my phone and the ALD Mobile app.

I was able to search for books on Algebra, verify the call number, and I would've been able to place a hold for the patron, but they didn't want to wait. Woot!

Useful WiFi Analyzer for Smart Phones

If you have a smart phone, then you're probably familiar with the initial excitement of downloading apps to your phone. When I get a new phone, or device that will run apps, I usually go through an app binge phase; "Oh, that looks interesting!" *push* "And that!" *push*, etc. However, as cool as the sky chart is, I really never use it (except to show someone how cool it is!), and unfortunately, most of my friends aren't gullible enough to bite repeatedly on the "My phone is a shaver" routine (an app that makes the phone's buzzer activate whenever you push the on-screen button).

After the rush wears off, I'm left with a bunch of apps that only take up space, and just a few that I actually use.

Besides the obvious features (email, calendar synching, camera, and using my phone as a phone) one of the few remaining apps that I actually use is WiFi Analyzer.

We often hear from a patron that their wireless internet isn't working. Of course we can always check in with the other patrons as well, but that can be somewhat inaccurate. Instead, I prefer to use the WiFi Analyer to get a more accurate picture of what is really going on with the WiFi.

WiFi Analyzer shows a graphic representation of the signal strength for all of the wireless connections available. If ALD Hotspot doesn't show up, then I know the wireless is probably down. If I see a strong signal, then it is more likely a problem with the Airport or WiFi connection on the individual computer. If I see a weak signal, then the computer is probably in a dead zone, and I can move around to find a location with a stronger signal.

My phone runs Android, so I use WiFi Analyzer, which is available for free on the Android Market. I haven't been able to find an equivalent on the iPadd App Store, but WiPry is close. Althought WiPry looks technically amazing, it lumps all signals togethers without naming them, so it's less precise for identifying which signal you're actually seeing (at SH we have 4 networks, but only ALD Hotspot is a good choice for patrons). However in fairness, I'm too miserly to actualy pay for the full app, which might make it more helpful.

One note about WiFi Analyzer, it does require that you have WiFi active on your phone. Most of the time I only leave the 4g connection active, as using the WiFi at the same time is redundant, and drains the batteries more quickly. If you have the phone's WiFi set to 'off' WiFi Analyzer will give you the option to turn it on right from the app.

IPads to Outpace Computers in Schools by 2016?

I read this Article in School Library Journal posted on November 3, 2011, that made me think that the way kids are learning is totally different and it is important that we are ready for all this new way of education system and be willing to accept the changes on the integration of technology in the classroom. It is amazing just to think about it.

According to the Article iPads are on their way to replacing computers in K-12 schools. A recent survey of district tech directors found that all were testing or deploying tablet devices, and they expect them to outnumber computers by 2016. The survey, "Tablets in the Classroom,"reveals that all were using Apple's iPad in schools, while none were testing or deploying Adroid-based tablets. The IT directors polled indicated that within the next five years, they expect to have more tablets per student than they currently have computers.

The Article also mentions that earlier this year, Apple Chief Executive Tim Cook indicated that demand for the iPad is strong among education customers. In February, Georgia Senate President Tommie Williams proposed a plan to replace conventional books in middle schools with the iPad.
Apple already has a program where they come in and their recommending to middle schools for $500 per child per year, they will furnish every child with an iPad, wifi the system, provide all the books on the system, all the upgrades, all the teacher training and they report that the results they are getting from these students is phenomenal."

Where Good Ideas Come From

Check out an intriguing video describing Steven Johnson's theory and ingredients for creating the best of the best ideas at work and in life.
Hint: Time and our hunches mingling with others' hunches is the secret. I want to read the book and keep connecting..

http://www.youtube.com/watch?NR=1&v=NugRZGDbPFU

NL Tech Talk November Holiday Challenge

Hi NL Tech Talk Techies! I have a challenge for you! November has three holiday days: Veterans' Day, Thanksgiving, and the day after Thanksgiving. I realize you may have some activities already planned for these days like eating and shopping, but I want to challenge you to use a few hours of this time - or any time in November - to do some extra personal professional development in the technology arena. Take a stab at something tech oriented that has been intriguing you or plaguing you - and then share your struggles and successes with us. You've read recently about Prezi, Google+, data visualization, Pinterest, Emodo, Spotify, the list goes on. Maybe you want to create a personal website. Maybe you want to become the Twitter-expert. Maybe you want to start a Pinterest board.

Do something that impresses YOURSELF and then share it with the rest of us. Entries will be judged on how hard something was for YOU, how persistent you were with figuring out something new for you, and how well you present your finding on the blog.

As extra incentive, the prize for November will be DOUBLED! Instead of a $10 gift card, the winner gets a $20 gift card just in time for holiday shopping or just plain spoiling yourself.

Keep up the tech talk. We're learning a ton from each other.

October Techie of the Month

Hi NL Techies, thanks to all of you for your posts this month. We had a flurry of interesting posts at the very end of the month, making choosing a winner a little harder. The winner of the prestigous honor of NL Techie of the Month for October goes to Richard Lyda for his post on Prezi. Why does Richard win? Well, for one, I am interested in this software so I like that Richard reminded us of its existence. He also mentioned where he saw it used and how it can be more useful than other presentation modes we've become accustomed to. Congratulations, Richard. A $10 Amazon gift card is winging its way to you through the courier.

Why Kids Can't Search

Reposting a very interesting article from Wired Magazine's Clive Thompson. The argument is that even digital natives struggle with search strategies. And it of course begs the question: are we much better?

Why Kids Can't Search

We’re often told that young people tend to be the most tech-savvy among us. But just how savvy are they? A group of researchers led by College of Charleston business professor Bing Pan tried to find out. Specifically, Pan wanted to know how skillful young folks are at online search. His team gathered a group of college students and asked them to look up the answers to a handful of questions. Perhaps not surprisingly, the students generally relied on the web pages at the top of Google’s results list.

But Pan pulled a trick: He changed the order of the results for some students. More often than not, those kids went for the bait and also used the (falsely) top-ranked pages. Pan grimly concluded that students aren’t assessing information sources on their own merit—they’re putting too much trust in the machine.

Other studies have found the same thing: High school and college students may be “digital natives,” but they’re wretched at searching. In a recent experiment at Northwestern, when 102 undergraduates were asked to do some research online, none went to the trouble of checking the authors’ credentials. In 1955, we wondered why Johnny can’t read. Today the question is, why can’t Johnny search?

Who’s to blame? Not the students. If they’re naive at Googling, it’s because the ability to judge information is almost never taught in school. Under 2001’s No Child Left Behind Act, elementary and high schools focus on prepping their pupils for reading and math exams. And by the time kids get to college, professors assume they already have this skill. The buck stops nowhere. This situation is surpassingly ironic, because not only is intelligent search a key to everyday problem-solving, it also offers a golden opportunity to train kids in critical thinking.

Consider the efforts of Frances Harris, librarian at the magnet University Laboratory High School in Urbana, Illinois. (Librarians are our national leaders in this fight; they’re the main ones trying to teach search skills to kids today.) Harris educates eighth and ninth graders in how to format nuanced queries using Boolean logic and advanced settings. She steers them away from raw Google searches and has them use academic and news databases, too.

But, crucially, she also trains students to assess the credibility of what they find online. For example, she teaches them to analyze the tone of a web page to judge whether it was created by an academic, an advocacy group, or a hobbyist. Students quickly gain the ability to detect if a top-ranked page about Martin Luther King Jr. was actually posted by white supremacists.

“I see them start to get really paranoid,” Harris says. “The big thing in assessing search results is authorship—who put it there and why have they put it there?” Or, as pioneering librarian Buffy Hamilton at Creekview High School near Atlanta says, “This is learning how to learn.”

One can imagine even more entertaining ways to help kids grok the intricacies of the search world. Why not let students start a class blog on a subject and see how long it takes for it to show up in search results?

Mind you, mastering “crap detection 101,” as digital guru Howard Rheingold dubs it, isn’t easy. One prerequisite is that you already know a lot about the world. For instance, Harris found that students had difficulty distinguishing a left-wing parody of the World Trade Organization’s website from the real WTO site. Why? Because you need to understand why someone would want to parody it in the first place—knowledge the average eighth grader does not yet possess.

In other words, Google makes broad-based knowledge more important, not less. A good education is the true key to effective search. But until our kids have that, let’s make sure they don’t always take PageRank at its word.

-Clive Thompson

http://www.wired.com/magazine/2011/11/st_thompson_searchresults/

Happy Halloween Everyone!

Would you like to show off your Halloween costume? Snap a picture of yourself and upload it to Costume DB, a no-frills database for costumes. :)))

Linkedin vs Google+

Those of us who still do not have a Google+ account may change our minds! As William J. Ward, social media professor at Syracuse University, puts it: "The professional functionality of G+ combined with search and the new features being added could allow it to surpass LinkedIn as a professional social networking platform and tool in the future."
See the full article here http://www.technewsworld.com/story/Google-Starts-Breathing-Down-LinkedIns-Neck-73620.html

Interesting Presentation Software

Here is a link to the website of a new-ish presentation software called "Prezi".

I attended a session at the REFORMA conference in September and the presenter was using this. It's definitely a fresh look at graphical presentation. Prezi's angle is that "slide" shows like PowerPoint are relying upon a dated format and technology...we don't have actual slides anymore and we don't use slide projectors. Therefore we shouldn't be stuck viewing one slide at a time and in strictly chronological, first-to-last order.

Prezi lets you zoom in and out and scan your presentation from a macro and a micro viewpoint. So far I've just messed around with the website and looked at some of their demo presentations. I know that it was visually engaging during the presentation at REFORMA. The basic version of this is web-based and free.

I'm guessing that soon everybody will be using this until a newer, cooler presentation software comes along...

Data visualization - its power and potential

Sorry that I'm on this info-sharing binge which comes out of the delirious joy that the floor coverage on Saturday afternoon is looking so good :-) :-)

I feel compelled to share this(last one for now)

How wonderful would it be for libraries to role-model cutting edge ways of presenting information as we have students, businessmen, and all sorts of patrons using our spaces, resources, website etc. etc.

Wouldn't it be cool if libraries moved away from the standard methods of print/text/tables/graphs to convey information?

How cool would it be for populations that find it difficult to navigate through text-heavy information when their primary language is not English.

Take a look at the exiciting data visualization methods that are out there today from this link -
http://www.smashingmagazine.com/2007/08/02/data-visualization-modern-approaches/

How can you use social media to market yourself?

As much as I love using social media to stay connected to friends and family, I'm always curious to see its impact on people looking for jobs and people looking to hire people.

Here's an interesting article I found regarding why it is important to tap social media for job search - marketing yourself via social media - this might be the next thing you can share with patrons when they come asking you for the resume section in your library. Don't just give them books or classes on resume prep - tell them to Google info on how to market themselves via social media....here's an interesting link and considering the article is not as updated, you know there's more out there now on how social media can help people market themselves - http://mashable.com/2009/01/05/job-search-secrets/

What makes a really good public library

http://www.quora.com/Libraries-Librarianship/What-makes-a-really-good-public-libraryThis was an interesting link passed on to me by my son and there's some good stuff posted about what makes a good public library.

Here's one example-

Rich Online Resources - did I mention the high-tech knowledge center? Databases are some of the best, most useful sources of knowledge. Instead of searching through backlists, you have everything at your fingertips.
Kindle/iPad Lending - e-books help, not hurt, libraries. If libraries offer a wide variety of popular e-books, more people will benefit. Also, it's hard to steal or lose an electronic book.
Open, yet Secure Space - libraries are still a communal place, open and friendly to the public. Libraries should be modern, clean and well-designed. Modernity shouldn't mean skimpy security. I live in Boulder, Colorado, which has a beautiful, open library, but book theft runs rampant.
Strong Children's Section - why children? Children benefit the most from public libraries. A love of reading begins early; a library is a perfect place to incubate future bookworms. Having a wide selection of children and Young Adult books isn't enough -- there should be fun and exciting knowledge-related children-oriented programs.

I also checked out the credenitals of "quora" , and they seem to be a similar service like Yahoo answers started by two former Facebook employees - here's the Wikipedia link to learn more about "quora" - http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Quora and here's the direct link to quora - www.quora.com

Only 8 hours!!

Apparently the longevity of the battery for the new iPhone 4s is only 8 hours. According to some testimonials that I read this is frustrating for a lot of users simply because they were not aware of the issue. So if you are thinking of purchasing one cuidado-beware!!!

Twitter mystery

I wanted to check back in to our #aldspark conversation from Staff Development day to see if anything new has been posted. I can't find the conversation anywhere. I first did a search on my mobile phone ap. No tweets under this hashtag. Then I search from my computer - I knew it shouldn't make a difference, but I tried it anyway. Still no tweets. I also tried #ALDspark in case it was case sensitive. Still no luck. Any ideas about what else I might try?

Help! Pictures have me puzzled

I need help! I have tried what I can think of, googled and read the instruction book for my phone and can’t get the answers I want. So rather than admit defeat, I decided to bring my issue here. Here we go….

I have a pretty basic Samsung phone, with sliding keyboard from T-Mobile. It’s 3G and about a year old. I take pictures on it when I don’t have a camera on me. I send pictures via text to friends and family. Here is my problem: I want to get the pictures off my phone.

Here is what I have tried and/or know:
· I used the cable to connect my phone to my pc. When I did this, I got two options. One was PC and one was USB Mass Storage. I choose PC but was unable to get my pc to recognize it and my phone didn’t really do anything other than charge. It also had a lovely picture of a computer above near the date - other than that, not sure what it was doing! Then I choose Mass Storage and that was clearly not the right choice. It was allowing me to download from my pc but not vice versa.
· My camera (on the phone) has the capability of having a memory card in it for pictures when you take off the back cover. This card didn’t automatically come with my phone and I would rather not buy one specifically for it. My camera card does not fit in it.
· I have data connections available but would prefer not to use it. I know I have the option to drop them in Snapfish, Flickr, Facebook, etc.

So that’s my dilemma…I feel like I am missing something with the cable connection probably from the phone side, but I don’t know what. I feel like the answer is here in the connection piece though because it’s essentially the same way I would transfer pictures from my camera to my pc. Does anyone else do this without a droid or iphone? Helped a patron who has? I would love to hear from you.

For Audio book fans and learning

I was just reading the AudioFiles magazine (for audio books lovers) and they have a new web page to connect Audio Listeners to each other (a social network) where listeners, narrators, authors and fans of audio books can go to get information or discuss books. The web site is called ABC or Audiobook Community http://www.audiobookcommunity.com/ . There are many options, but one I thought might be helpful to some patrons (I just started to look at the sight so don't know the full depth of what it can offer) is one called "Learn Out Loud". It is listed on the Right hand side if you scroll down in a list of audio related items. When I looked at the sight it lists all kinds of information from Bio to Science etc. Some materials are free to listen to and some are paid so you do have to be a bit careful.
Besides that web page you can also look at Audio File magazine for new and upcoming Audio Books. Haven't had a chance to explore all aspects but this it looks promising.

Windows 8 and Office 365 Microsoft

Do you know that some Windows 8 tablets will be unable to run Microsoft Office?
Office 365 will be widely used by the time Windows 8 comes along and offers everything that the iPad and Android tablets don't. As an example: Word, Excel and Power Point.
Office 365, the new cloud based version of Microsoft Office designed for corporate users, and Windows 8, the tablet optimized release of Microsoft's operating system set for launch in 2012.

Writer and Illustrator Benjamin Lacombe

I know this is not a post about technology but I want to share with you some of the books that I fell in love with while at the Book Fair in Madrid. Benjamin Lacombe is a great illustrator. Here's a little peek preview of some of his books we will add to our Spanish Collection.

Click the following link:
http://ifitshipitshere.blogspot.com/2010/09/benjamin-lacombes-beautifully.html

Blue birds singing a song. Nothing but blue birds all day long: being an exhaustively brief treatise on WHO tweets?

Like a songbird with no song, is the twitter user with no tweets a useless anomaly too?

After my own pathetic showing during the twitter session at Staff Day, it occurred to me to re-examine my use of Twitter especially as it compared to others' use of the social networking site. In the spirit of full disclosure, I don't tweet. I have a twitter account, and will, on occasion, derive a few chuckles from following the likes of Stephen Colbert (@StephenAtHome) and Neil Patrick Harris (@ActuallyNPH) (LOVE!), or pretend like I am keeping up with news by following my favorite (and some not-so-favorite) news outlets.  Write a tweet myself?  Never crossed my mind.  In my admittedly smaller social circle, I know very few people that tweet.  I have often participated in communal bewilderment with my peers about the purpose of Twitter, and why it is so darn popular.  It seems that the few people I have met that actively tweet generally fall into two categories:  They either LOVE the sound of their own voices or are promoting themselves (artists, actors, musicians), their companies, or their pet projects.  Legit.

Am I wrong to view Twitter as some superfluous entity that appears to be very important, if not pivotal, to 'others', but not myself?  Is my tweeting reticence reactionary?  If I'M not tweeting and my tens of friends aren't tweeting, then WHO TWEETS?

Luckily, the Pew Research Institute has asked this very question, and here are a few of the highlights from their 2011 update to their original query of Twitter adoption from November 2010:

• 13% of online adults use Twitter
• Twitter adoption is particularly high among non-whites
• Twitter usage by those ages 25-44 has grown significantly since late 2010

And now for some visuals:
(right-click on the charts and open them in another window/tab to be able to see them better)

Okay...to be honest, 13% is not a huge percentage, which would explain the lack of tweeters I personally know. 

The Neighborhood Libraries of ALD serve a diverse community, which, according to the numbers, are increasingly using Twitter.  Maybe I need to get over my Twitter hang-ups? 

Or... (thanks to Lab42)

So, let's say I'm sold.  I now want to venture into the world of being an active Twitter participant.  I am ready to Tweet.  How can I make sure it is valuable and not just more of the meaningless blather that initially turned me off from Twitter?  

Check out this article from PCWorld on how to 'Twitter Like a Pro':
The best take-away for me? To 'tweet' Twitter like a conversation, and to provide value.  Single line slogans come across as false.

Is that the sweet song of bluebirds on a blue sky day I hear?  Ah, yes.  Twitter.

NL Techie of the Month for September

Hi all! It's already October 11th and I haven't named a Techie of the Month for September yet. Fall is flying by! My pick for September is Laura Knox of Eloise May Library for her post on how to get a disc unstuck. She helped us solve a problem, referred to two different expert sources, one from ALD and another from the web, and entertained us with her playful writing style. She also got some good comments from others on our team. So thanks for this helpful tip, Laura. You are officially the NL Techie of the Month for September. A $10 Amazon gift card is making its way to your mailbox.

Facebook Changes

I guess it's been awhile since I checked out my Facebook page, because when I logged on last week, I had trouble recognizing the formatting of the screens, and also realized that the Navigation Bar moved!!! I started googling some articles and have learned that Facebook is going head to head with Google+ and these changes took place within hours of the time Google+ went live. I went on the Facebook blog : https://blog.facebook.com/ to see what else had changed. I found that Post size has expanded from 500 characters to 5,000, pictures posted are now larger and download in twice the time(even your previously uploaded profile pictures will be displayed at this higher resolution.) The Navigation Bar is now anchored to the top of your page. Facebook has also combined "Top Stories" and the old "Most Recent" features. A new"ticker" has been added on the upper right hand corner of the news feed section, providing a "snapshot" of what your friends are doing right now. Also, seems like you can now share music with your friends using Spotify www.spotify.com on Facebook.
(Spotify is a digital music service that gives you access to millions of songs) Stay tuned for more changes to come by checking back frequently with this Blog.

Is This the Solution?

I just read this article, "Why I Dumped my iPhone--and I'm Not Going Back," and it kind of irritated me! This writer claims that his iPhone was keeping him from living life in the present moment -- he spent too much time checking on networks and news online. So he traded it in for a plain, calls-and-texts-only Nokia.

But is the iPhone the problem, or is it his lack of self-control? If he can't keep from checking his Facebook during dinner with his wife, is the device really the issue?

Oh Mark Zuckerberg, you Facebook fiend!

Sorry to bombard the NL Tech Talk Blogosphere with Facebook related entries, I hope this will complement Barb's excellent post.

Mr. Zuckerberg is at it again (and yes, I know THAT is not a picture of Mark Zuckerberg, but of the actor who portrayed him in 'that Facebook movie'.), so brace yourself for a revamping of Facebook once again.

Mashable.com has a pretty great recap of the changes, but I am going to recap the recap.

1. Facebook wants to be your life's scrapbook. Facebook will help you share your past, present, and future by means of a Timeline which will dominate the top part of your profile page, and constantly scroll through your pictures, status updates, apps, places you've been, etc. seemingly until birth, or your facebook 'rebirth', whichever came sooner. For now the Timeline will be 'opt-in', but it will eventually replace the standard profile page. Not to worry! The further back you go (or the more oversharing you partake in) Facebook will compress the seemingly worthless information, and you will still look cool.

2. They say that negative emotions are stronger than positive emotions, and I can attest that I rarely have a desire to 'like' something on Facebook, but many a day I would vehemently like to 'dislike' something (usually I end up unfriending those people instead...). But wait! I no longer have to swallow the bile my newsfeed creates, because now I can "[verb] any [noun]" on Facebook. Huzzah! Wait... does this mean people will be oversharing more of the banal details of their daily lives? Oh Facebook, you double-edged sword, you!

3. Play a little farm-ville? Now the Facebook apps you love will ask you only once if they can share your personal information, instead of every time they want to share your personal information. This change must be for the facebook app-adventurers. I'm personally too scared of the viruses that could be lurking in any colorful pop-up box to try them.

4. Like Barb said, 'lightweight' (think all those quizzes and game related status updates) information will be banished to a ticker in the top right corner, but more stalk-worthy information (pictures, relationship status, 'is that what his new girlfriend looks like?', etc.) will still be in your newsfeed.

5. Oh happy day! Oh happy day! Your entire entertainment consumption experience can now be mediated through Facebook and shared with all your 'friends'! You can watch Hulu via facebook, read Yahoo News with your ever faithful f-book, listen to music, and share! Share! Share! Why do anything if you can't inform the world of it instantly?

In summation, Zuckerberg, you sly dog, is keeping it classy while his leviathan company continues to revolutionize the 'human experience'; growing past 800 million users (most active), and insinuating itself deeper into our daily lives. (resist if you can)

Sharon

I wanted to copy Padma's excellent advice about problems connecting to the wireless network, but when I tried to copy it into a Word document, the white print did not show up. Christina showed me how to highlight the invisible words, choose the black default font, and like magic, they appeared.

How to get your kid to be a fanatic reader

"How to get your kid to be a fanatic reader"
by James Patterson

"Sorry, moms and dads, but it's your job--not the schools'--to find books to get the kids reading and to make sure they read them."
Great programs started by schools to get books into kids' hands because the more they read, the better readers they become!
And don't forget, the role models at home should be reading, too!

http://www.cnn.com/2011/09/28/opinion/patterson-kids-reading/index.html

Easy way to format student references in APA/MLA styles

bibme.org
Try this site as it is a free site and allows anyone wanting to organize their references in APA or MLA format if they have all the reference info.
It's a quick, nifty tool to recommend to high schoolers, college students and researchers.

Padma

Why can't I connect to the library wireless network

I know we all encounter this when our patrons are not able to connect to the wireless connection even after we check their network settings and "ald public", shows up.
We have to right click on wireless and find, "enable", and click on it so it enables the computer's wireless function.
Here's what I found on the web-

Click Start.
Click Control Panel.
Double-click Network Connections.
Right-click Wireless Network Connection.
Click Enable.

If a patron recently returned from a trip, check to see if their wireless is in flight mode and follow similar steps-
To do this, click the network menu on the top panel and uncheck Enable Wireless. This will turn off your wireless connection until you switch it back on again.
To turn wireless back on, click the network menu on the top panel and select Enable Wireless so that it has a checkmark in front of it.

Inserting a hyperlink into a post?

Recently, I have had a lot of coworkers ask me how to insert a hyperlink into a post. It's actually very similar to inserting one into email with the same paperclip with world icon. Perhaps this is the universal sign of hyperlink? Up at the top of the post screen, in between the title and the message are many little icons. When you need to insert a hyperlink, highlight the word or words you are linking and then click on the paperclip with the world icon. Then insert the link as directed either by typing it in or copying & pasting from your browser. There are also many other fun icons and buttons in this strip; hover over them with your mouse and it will give a brief description of what they are. I personally enjoy spell check. Feel free to give them a try!

Stuck disk got'cha down?

I wonder if I am the only one that dreads the inevitable, "I was watching a DVD on your computer and now I can't get it out", especially when it is 2 minutes to close, and you are six patrons deep in queries, complaints, concerns, and a crying child on top. I am often tempted to recommend that they give the computer a swift kick in the... , well no, I don't ever suggest that...

But, oh! Salvation! For those really persistently stuck DVDs, CDs, etc., there are some tricks. Thanks to our resident techie (or at least he's at MA enough to be considered resident), Josh, I am proud to share with you some additional tricks. His favorite? Reboot the computer and hold both sides of the mouse down while it powers up! It works, I promise.

I was curious what the collective mind commonly known as the inter-web might have to say about the topic, and found this helpful guide:

The ultimate guide to ejecting a stuck disk from Mac SuperDrive

So, put that paper clip away! No duct tape or Swiss army knife necessary, MacGyver! Good Luck!

Android Apps for IT

In reading Network World an article by Mark Giggs (who loves gadgets) listed a couple of fun looking apps. 1) If you need a flashlight try your phone. He like the free app "Mag Flashlight" and he says it works on screen just like a flashlight with an on/ off selection and you can also dim or brighten. 2) He also liked the free Color Flashlight which he says can control the camera flash 3) He mentioned "Ulysse Gizmos" a free multifunction app that includes a compass, a speedometer, GPS status report, a bubble level etc. More fun stuff.

e books with soundtracks

I just finished reading this article about e book with soundtracks. I thought this was an interesting concept, not a regular e book but not a audio book either.

Smell of Books

www.smellofbooks.com



Now you can finally enjoy reading e-books without giving up the smell you love so much. With Smell of Books™ you can have the best of both worlds, the convenience of an e-book and the smell of your favorite paper book.

Smell of Books™ is compatible with a wide range of e-reading devices and e-book formats and is 100% DRM-compatible. Whether you read your e-books on a Kindle or an iPhone using Stanza, Smell of Books™ will bring back that real book smell you miss so much.

Smell of Books™ is available in five designer aromas. There’s a Smell of Books™ scent for every type of book lover.
• New Book Smell
• Classic Musty Smell
• Scent of Sensibility
• Eau You Have Cats
• Crunchy Bacon Scent

Warnings and Legal Disclaimers
Please use in well ventilated area. May cause dizziness and hallucinations. May cause itching and runny nose. If symptoms persist for longer than eight weeks please consult your physician. Not for use on “real” books. Do not use while riding public transportation. Discard empty container with hazardous waste. Not for use as a room deodorizer. Not for use on burning books. Do not use on a Zune.

Our Young Techies

Do you wonder about our young kids and the use of technology?? I sure do..

This is a lengthy but really interesting draft paper disussing the impact, appropriate choices and uses for technology in early childhood settings. I like it because the authors are really careful to note that though technology is not going away, it should be carefully selected and evaluated for each individual age level, and not ever considered a replacement for creative play, conversations, social interactions and other critical aspects of child development and learning. I'm curious about what you think.


It is the position of NAEYC and the Fred Rogers Center that technology and interactive media are learning tools that, when used in intentional and developmentally appropriate ways and in conjunction with other traditional tools and materials, can support the development and learning of young children.

http://www.naeyc.org/files/naeyc/file/positions/PSTECH98.PDF

(NAEYC is the National Association for the Education of Young Children)

NL Techie of the Month for August

Hi all, Sorry for the delay in naming the NL Techie of the Month for August. I was in denial that August was over! We had some good conversations in August on the blog, and I hope you learned as much as I did. Based on her good particiption and particularly for trying some next step things with Freegal, I've chosen Sarah Wories of SH as this month's NL Techie of the Month. I love to hear about how people try out what they learn on our blog. A $10 Amazon gift certificate will be headed Sarah's way through the courier. Congratulations, Sarah. Keep on blogging everyone. There could be gem of tech knowledge or a $10 gift card in your future.

What If We Had Facebook and Twitter on 9/11?

Here's an interesting blogpost from GOOD: "I'm Glad We Didn't Have Facebook or Twitter on 9/11." One of the GOOD editors writes about how lucky we were to escape all the misinformation that would have been inevitable, and likely, very dangerous, because we weren't online the way we are today. But the very first comment is from a Norwegian, who claims to be grateful for Facebook and Twitter in the wake of the recent Oslo bombings. What do you think?

Imprimir documentos con Google Docs

I used google docs from my home last night to see if I could print this information on the Bookmobile using a different computer and true to form it works. In fact, the print function I used has to be enabled throught the browser Firefox (it tells you what printer is being used), since I could not use the one from Google Docs (far upper left corner), because you can only preview the document. All in all, as with anything technological, at least for me, I had to try this procedure myself before I even attempted to explain this process to a patron. Suerte!

Interestng article on "Improved Mouse control for users with disabilities

I had read an article by Mark Gibbs in the magazine " Network World" about Improved Mouse control for users with disabilities. AIM Research Group at the University of Washington came up with the free release of two different control systems for the disabled for Windows. Thought it was an interesting idea that some of our disabled patrons might be interested in using on their computers at home if they have a hard time with fine motor skills.

http://www.washington.edu/news/articles/free-software-makes-computer-mouse-easier-for-people-with-disabilities

9/11 Encyclopedia

As 9/11 approaches it gives us cause for remembrance. This is a feature of the New York Guides magazine. It is an interesting site to click through.
http://nymag.com/news/articles/wtc/

Do you use it?

Do you use it?

Kobo - eReading Made Easy
Millions of bestsellers and free eBooks. Read on almost any device!
www.kobobooks.com
http://www.kobobooks.com/desktop
Kobo Desktop
Kobo Desktop lets you read, shop for eBooks, and transfer them easily to your eReader from your computer or laptop. All you have to do is download the Kobo Desktop software and install it on your computer — we support both Windows and Macintosh.

parsed resume?

I learned about a new feature on job application websites while working with a patron recently. There is an option called "parsed resume" on some websites. If the applicant chooses this option, the software will break their resume into different fields such as job history, references, etc. It is recommended that the user check to make sure the software worked as desired.
This worked well for the patron I was assisting and we were both interested to learn about this!

Why do some pages print blank even when content shows up on the screen?

So often, patrons approach us and tell us that the attachment they opened and printed resulted in printing a blank page or a grey block covering the white page.
This may result out of the patron opening the attachment in "view" mode.
This happens with Word attachments as well as Picture attachments.

If the patron has clicked on "view", button, the document comes up on the screen for the patron to view it as a regular word document or a regular picture
But, when the patron goes to print it, the print preview might show a blank document
Closing the current document/view on the screen and reopening the attachment via the "download", option will then open the attachment in a manner in which print option can be selected.

iLibrarian Blog

I want to share this blog with all of you. There are many useful (and fun) technology talk links. I found some very useful add-ons that may make work easier and time saving. Look at the left of the page under "Most Popular." You will find some good stuff.

Enjoy!

http://oedb.org/blogs/ilibrarian/2007/40-useful-firefox-add-ons-for-librarians-%E2%80%93-part-one/

New Sony E-Reader Wi-Fi

Sony unveiled its latest ereader device today, Reader Wi-Fi, which will be the first dedicated ereader—though not the first device—to offer wireless borrowing of OverDrive library ebook titles. The Reader Wi-Fi, which the company calls "the lightest touch screen 6" eReader device ever" in the announcement, will be available for purchase in October.

For more details, please click on the following link:

http://www.pcworld.com/article/239221/hands_on_with_sonys_lightweight_lowcost_reader_wifi_prst1.html

Pinterest

Pinterest is yet another new social bookmarking site on the web. Its hook is that instead of bookmarking sites into lists of links as on Delicious or Google Bookmarks, you can “pin” images from webpages onto different “boards.” So you can quickly glance at a set of images to find what you're looking for, instead of reading through a list of links. You can decide how many boards you want, and what to name them.

The "social" part is that you can follow other accounts and see what other people are pinning onto their boards. You can follow all of someone's boards, or just a few, and "repin" images that they've posted, and pin them onto your own boards.

My children's library blogger colleagues and I started a Pinterest account to collect our "Flannel Friday" flannelboard ideas. Because it is visual, it is so easy to scan and see which ideas you might want to use yourself.

You don't need a Pinterest account to go look! Here's the Flannel Friday boards. You'll see a page with thumbnail images of each board. Click in the middle of a board you're interested in to see the images in a larger size.

A great thing about Pinterest is that when you "repin" someone else's image, the image maintains its link to the original website or post. So not matter how many times an image has been passed along, you can always go all the way back to the primary source.

Cool Kids Website

This website is too cool not to share http://www.kidsclick.org/ . Some may already be familiar but for those unfamiliar, happy exploring! There are a ton of links to homework sites and content is all selected by children's librarians and created by the Library and Information Science school at Kent State University. My favorite thing about the website is organization.

Check out the Dewey Decimal search option where kids can learn what is under each number category.

*Translate the page to Spanish, Russian, Chinese, etc. by right clicking and selecting Translate Page. Works in Google Chrome and Internet Explorer.

Google Search Tips

Here are some tips on how to make your Google search more precise.

-          Limit your search by the top level domain (TLD). Together with your keywords, put “site: top level domain.” For example, search “diabetes site:edu” will retrieve only sites from educational institutions with the TLD .edu. “Site:gov” will retrieve only government sites; “site:ru” – Russian sites; “site:mx” – Mexican sites. Be careful not to put a space between colon and your TLD.

-          You can use a part of or an entire domain to further limit your search. For example, search “site:arapahoelibraries.org policy” will retrieve everything related to policies on the http://arapahoelibraries.org/ website. Search “site:gob.mx libraries” will retrieve Mexican government sites about libraries.

-          Searches for “file:doc” and “file:ppt” will retrieve only results in Microsoft Word and Power Point Presentations.

-          After you start typing your keywords into Google search box, a link to the Advanced Google search appears on the right to the box. Even though the basic search box is the best way to search Google, you can use the Advanced Search to practice various search methods. After the results of your Advanced Search are displayed, you can see how the search string is formulated in the basic search window.

Create a Home Inventory Now for Insurance Later

Do you have a home inventory? With earthquakes, hurricanes, and other disasters happening, here is a good site for help making a home inventory. http://www.techlicious.com/tip/creating-a-home-inventory-for-insurance/

Love words ??

This is something just for fun.... www.savethewords.org make sure your volume is on!

Observing children and technology

Here at May we have an installation for children called Spin A Story which includes a large set of spinnable cubes on the wall which have different bright pictures, and a screen which can show the user on a video camera in front of the cubes telling a story with them. I keep observing that often what the children want to do is use the screen as a touch screen. There's no mouse, so they touch the screen and want things to happen! They want pictures to zoom around at their finger's command! It reminds me of theories I've read that members of this young generation are not passive observers of technology but expect to participate and make new things happen. And this starts at a very young age now. What a world these children are taking part in!