If you haven't seen playlist.io, check it out. It's a place to drop music files and playlists and then access them from anywhere, using the website itself or a number of its applications. They even have a premium account you can upgrade to in order to get more space to drop your audio. This could be useful as a hosting platform for audio conferences, podcasts, anything you can think of.
A couple of months ago Jason Perlow wrote an interesting article on ZDnet on the future of computing, including the trend toward cloud computing and toward more visual and even touch-screen interfaces. Two things I found interesting enough about this article to bother blogging about it two months later:
WebAIM conducted a survey over the past year or so to determine the usability preferences of people who use screen readers to view the web. In other words, how do they like pages to be laid out? What works and what doesn't? What functionality works best? What sites are really horrible and which ones work great? The basic conclusion is that there is no general trend among users with screen readers, and a good response from screen-reader-users can only be achieved by following good usability practices and giving people options.
I found it interesting that some very popular sites received poor marks from our screen-reader-users, including Amazon, YouTube, Facebook, and MySpace. The other trend that I noticed was a consistent bashing of the use of Flash on websites. I agree wholeheartedly, though for different reasons. So many people don't realize how hard it is to use Flash effectively on a website and still make it accessible. Most people don't even try, which results in frustration and irritation on the part of anyone using an alternative device (including mobile devices) to access the website in question. Sarah's conclusion? Same as theirs. Use good usability practices…always.
I am still working on a comprehensive write-up on our library's filtering experience to post here, but in the meantime I thought I'd link everyone to an interesting article I ran across in my research: "FCC: More Content-Blocking Gizmos Needed" by Matthew Lasar on ars technica. The FCC took public comments through April 16th on ways to effectively create "advanced blocking technologies" across all digital media (inc. television, DVDs, etc.) and the web. This is being done in response to implementation of the "Child Safe Viewing Act of 2007" which mandated that the FCC gather information on filters and blockers on the market and how to best implement them. The FCC has to review all of the feedback submitted and submit a summary report to Congress by August 29th, 2009. It will be interesting to see what comes out of this process. Will it be filters on video sites online? More implementation of the v-chip or similar devices? In any case, any universal solution can only serve to hamper our Constitutional rights to freedom of information so I can guarantee that many members of the library community will be watching closely.
The Copyright Clearance Center (CCC) created a short video explaining how copyright works.
CCC is making the video available for free for anyone who wants to use it for educational purposes. The video is available for viewing online and anyone who is using it for educational purposes (e.g. to teach the library staff in your institution) can request a downloadable file by filling out this online form. The video is quite clever and probably the most digestable explanation of copyright I've seen/heard. Take a look!
Hello all. I am jubilant to report that last night, near midnight after 4 hours of debate, the San Jose City Council voted 8-3 against implementing filters in the public libraries. In addition, the proposal voted for requires that before filters should be considered in the libraries, other child safety budget priorities must be met first (such as fully funding crossing guards as well as police sexual exploitation and crimes units, and restoring the libraries' open hours to their 2000 levels). I will write more on this later, with some links to news coverage, our library's report, the filtering study I headed up, etc.
Last Thursday I spoke at the Texas Library Association's Annual Conference in Houston. I spoke about information overload, methods for staying current, and sites/resources to use to stay current in various aspects of librarianship. You can find my presentation on Slideshare: Methods for Staying Current and Dealing with Information Overload, or use the embedded version below to view the slides. I hope that this presentation helps others as much as it seemed to help the Texas audience (who was great by the way!).
Mobile Library Apps
Sheryl Bai, Benjamin Smith, Chris Tonjes, Bill McLendon, and Aaron Schmidt
This session started with a presentation about the use of Handheld devices at the UCHC School of Medicine. Sheryl Bai said that the School has been supporting mobile devices since 2001. Back them, PDAs were the newest tool. A lot of medical resources were only available in mobile formats, which helped to move the School to move toward mobile devices. There was also a grant that the school received to give PDAs to the residents (students) at the School. Then selected faculty members were given PDAs with per-loaded databases of information and named "Faculty Champions." Some faculty took to the technology right away but others did not. In 2003, the library started loaning PDAs to student volunteers through something they called the "Student Champion Program." They started having a PDA Clinic and PDA Tune-Ups where students and faculty can receive training and technical support for their devices. They also created a website dedicated to the PDA services that helped support the services.
Benjamin continued the sessioin by discussing the current PDA initiative of the program. The first step is to require that second year medical students use the PDAs. They then check with the faculty to find out what databases they want the students to use on the devices. They then test some of the handhelds with the various databases. They create instructions for how to do the simpler tasks and send letter to the students about the program. They then meet with the small group of students and help them learn how to use the PDAs and afterward act as a resource for the other students. They also hold a "handheld orientation" where they demo the databases for them. Some of the considerations they've had to consider have been which devices to use and which OS to use (Wiindows Mobile 2003 or Mobile 5). They have had to caution students that when they purchase their own handhelds or smartphones, that they are not just buying the device but an ongoing data plan. The screen resolution on smartphones is lower than on normal screens/PDAs.*** Sometimes that wreaks havoc with the data and makes it hard to read. Windows Mobile 5 vs. Windows Mobile 6 cause problems. On PDAs and smartphones there are different versions and therefore they work differently, much less the differences between the two versions. Some of the Pocket PC Utilities they use include dotPocket, DeepFreeze from Faronics, ActiveSync, Microsoft Remote Display Control, My Mobiler, and the Windows Mobile Device Center.
Next, Chris Tonjes spoke about the Washington D.C. Public Library's iPhone Application. The goals for their iPhone application included working toward horizontal integration of their ILS, providing an alternative delivery of the catalog, giving them the library's first foray into the mobile world, leveraging the power of the iTunes app store (which they believe is the delivery method of the future), and providing tangible, near-term ROI and extended library use and awareness. The iPhone release road map started months ago, but they plan to improve the user interface, add RSS feeds of library info, add more account features, and release that in the 2nd quarter of 2009. In the 4th quarter of 2009 they plan to provide "full" account features, links to library multimedia, and allow for direct downloads. In the 2nd quarter of 2010 the plan is to offer eCommerce using iTunes and offer even easier and more direct downloads. From 12/21/2008-3/1/2009, there have been 2199 downloads in 17 countries. About 100 programming hours went into the creation of the app. The code for their app is available for download at http://dclibrarylabs.org. Hurrah for sharing code!
Bill then talked about the SMS Text messaging from their catalog for My Account features (overdue and hold notices, etc.). This was desirable to cover smartphone users who don't use the iPhone. They also felt that in their community many people of different ages use SMS. The SMS message includes a link to their account so that right from their notice they can renew, etc. It is an opt-in service on the website registration page. They are also attempting to increase library event participation via same day notification to the SMS users. He did note that you do have to tailor the messages to SMS length and message size requirements. If you have a system that supports categorization of your patrons, you can have them receive targeted messages to their interests. For their ILS, Sirsi Dynix, there was no library cost to extend notices and announcements to going out via SMS instead of email. They schedule the messages to go out in the middle of the day so they are not disturbing users in off-hours and give them time to pick up items or come to an event. They send out an average of 100 SMS notices daily.
Aaron finished off the session by discussing his work on the look and feel of the iPhone app. Aaron sketched design options on paper before presenting the final recommended design to the library. He showed the different designs to regular people to get feedback before starting. He says the design is very simple, which it is. There is a .psd file that has all of the different elements of iPhones, so Aaron used Photoshop to mock-up the final design. The first page offers two options: searching the catalog or looking at hours and locations. Clicking on the phone number of a location will call the library and clicking on the address launches a map. In the catalog you can click on the library location, place a hold (which requires entry of your username and PIN, which can be saved). And just like on the regular catalog you can choose a pick-up location. Next, they want to make the design different. Aaron would like to use the barcode reader applications of iPhones (taking photos of a book's barcode, which would immediately place a hold on that item at your library).
Audience questions included #1: whether there were restrictions on who was allowed to download the app. The answer is no, everyone can use it. #2: Was it difficult to work through the iTunes app process? Yes, their first version was rejected, they needed to add an error message for the flight mode, and it cost $100 to join the iPhone app developers' group. #3: On the back-end, how does the SMS work? The OPAC works with email already, so they used email-to-SMS tools to provide access. (I'd like to learn more about how they did that in SirsiDynix…) #4: Clarifying question about the number of development hours. The 100 hours included the self-training and learning process. #5: What made them devide on an iPhone app and not a web app. The introduction of the iPhone app store was revolutionary, says Chris, so there was no question that it would be done via an iPhone app. #6: Did they have problems when contacting the local service providers about the application since it comes from one email address and others have had problems with then being blocked because they were considered to be spamming.
***Clarification from Benjamin Smith, emailed to me after this was posted: The clarification I’d like to make is that not all Smartphones have a lower screen resolution, in fact most have the same resolution with only a few having a lower resolution. We mainly point it out to students so that they are aware to look out for devices that may have a lower resolution. To extend that thought another issue with display is that a lot of Smartphones have a smaller screen size than regular PDAs which also contributes to making the information harder to read.
Enhancing Learning Anytime, Anywhere: Spread Your Reach
Chad Boeninger, Joe Murphy, and Madeline Kriescher
Chad started the presentation by talking about how libraries typically teach. He's a business librarian and most training in his library happens through one-shot sessions which have no follow-up. Learning and Outreach, says Chad, is a way to reach out to and extend to our users. Chad encourages us to look beyond library learning trends, perhaps looking at busineses for how they train and teach and what tools they are using. Major Nelson is a manager for the X-box system – he has a blog, he Twitters about work and life stuff both, and a one-minute segment on new games that can stream through your X-box. His face is all over the place – real photos of him, not posed. Chad gave another example of a bike company mananger who does similar social networking. Chad gave some examples how he social networks with his learners. He has a business blog he's had for 4 years to reach out to business students, including posts about classes he's teaching. He also takes photos during classes and puts them up on the blog. He does small polls on the site to see what the learners are interested in. The library also has a blog promoting a large program they are holding later in the year. He also has "The Biz Wiki" which points students to subject-based resources. Chad talked about assessing learners through small quizzes. A tool called phpESP which is a server applicatioin and has more functions than SurveyMonkey for the same price. You can also connect to users via IM. Chat also talked about a Skype kiosk on the 4th floor of his library that lets people talk to libraries through the Skype connection instead of traveling to a different floor to find the librarian. They have also offered several tours of the library, in different languages. Interestingly people that speak the non-English langauges don't use them so much but people trying to learn the language do (fun!). He mentioned some good software: Wink, Audacity, Odeo Studio, and Captivate. He really plugged Wink as a screencasting tool; the output is a Flash file. He used CamStudio to do screen video capture, used a DV camcorder to record the in-person stuff, edited with a Windows tool which he does not recommend. He recommends the Flip Camera – record a video, pop out the USB, and upload automatically to YouTube, Blip.tv, etc. Chad says – don't demand perfection. He recommends not trying for perfection in videos – if you do that, it will take you forever to do the work and you'll likely never get it perfect. Settle for "good enough" as long as the video is serving its purpose for teaching your users. Chad also records himself giving some of his classes so that the students can go back and see it again, or other students can see the material. He also recommends QuickMediaConverter – which lets you compress the video, change file formats, etc. He mentioned "12 Seconds" which works with WebCams and Twitter and you get literally 12 seconds to say what you need to. Vyew and Dim Dim is a tool that could be used for online office hours. Try to find tools with an eye for potential library use and see how you could potentially use that to help your learners learn!
Madeline continued the session and discussed the problem with her library, the Kline Library (law), and the security and privacy issues that exist in the overall Court system. The IT department that supports her library also supports the judges, law clerks, etc. She wanted to use Flickr as a way to create tutorials online. She starts by converting her PowerPoint slides to .jpgs, uploading them individually in reverse order, entering metadata for each slide and batch-editing if possible, saving slides as labeled sets, and creating a collection to house the sets. The benfits of using Flickr for presentations is that it is easy to sign up and use, you can add notes to your slides, share it via a link or send out to Friends/Family on Flickr. Some of the weaknesses are that the links are difficult to work with, creating metadata is cumbersome, the slideshow can look cluttered, you dont' get information about who is looking at your tutorials, and for some people the uploader tool doesn't work. Flickr tracks the number of views, but you don't know who is looking.
Joe finished the session by talking about using Flickr to enhance asynchronous library instruction. Flickr offers the possibility of image-based instruction, including still images and video. Best practices for using Flickr instruction include: adapting the images to maximize their impact (text clarity, using outlines on the slide); never upload anything without titles, descriptions and tags; Every field can support links except title and description, but you can use notes to link. It's a good idea to create a badge for sets on the web so that people get pointed to your training resources from other sites. Market yourself by joining the appropriate groups, and adding friends/contacts. On the profile page, show that it's official, a disclaimer that you don't necessarily promote Flickr, include contact information, etc. He recommmends getting a Pro account in order to use all of the available features (and it's super cheap so why not). The management of the Flickr presentations is essential – ensure that the metadata is correct, hold people accountable for what they post, and figure out staffing (who is responsible for posting or for responding to messages). They also limited the tags to 75 set tags, but he's found that that's not enough for their needs. They do have to deal with questionable content from users – e.g. requests to join a group that is inappropriate. Friending people in Flickr is harder than it is in other social networks, so it doesn't happen as much. He emphasized that it's core to always link back to your library webpages and resources.
Learning Solutions Through Technology
Lori Reed and me!
Lori and I were presenting together in one session. My topic was a program, Tech2Know, that I tried to get implemented at my library (tried). Lori's subject matter was the eLearning tools she has been using at her library, and she presented first.
Lori started by by talking about Public Library of Charlotte and Mecklenberg County's Learning 2.0 Program. She told the back-story about why it was created. They have 23 locations with over 500 employees and Lori is the sole trainer for all of the employees. They didn't know how to provide the needed training with the resources they had, so Helene Blowers came up with the 23 Things idea to solve their crisis. Lori is presenting later this month to her local business community about Library 2.0 and how they can use it in their libraries. This is the first time in history that we will have four generations of people in the workplace simultaneously. Technology is literally part of the newer generations – they have grown up with it and they expect technology-based services from us. She talked about the possibility of losing our learners to other organizations because of our lack of response to their needs. Another consideration is time and money. At our library they have a 5% budget cut this year, so need to measure the efficiency of everything they do. From the southernmost to the northernmost location, it is 44 miles. Since the library pays mileage and for travel time for their employees, there is as huge cost savings by using eLearning instead of face-to-face classes. Just for mileage, that comes out to $9,680 per year in costs for training. Travel time to and from classes comes out to an additional annual loss of $20,204 of staff time. [Sarah's note: I really like this idea as a way to plug eLearning.] Their 7 1/2 habits program was the first eLearning program that Lori offered to her staff. There are 3 types of eLearning solutions: asynchronous, synchronous, and blended training. Synchronous learning can be done on several different platforms: Horizon Wimba, OPAL, WebEx, GoToMeeting, Adobe Connect, and Dim Dim (a free one!). You need to have bandwidth to be able to provide eLearning using these tools. She showed a Blackboard screenshot from one of the classes she is taking as a student. In a few days, there have been almost 200 new posts. She pointed out some of the difficulties in a platform like Blackboard. "Blackboard is not eLearning," says Lori, "it's a correspondence course." Her library is now using Horizon Wimba, which costs the library $2,000 a year. They use it for staff meetings as well as trainings. Compare that to the nearly $30,000 a year they were wasting on travel time and mileage costs. She really likes Horizon Wimba. She showed some exxamples of blended learning – Twitter, email, IM, face to face discussions, virtual social spaces like Facebook or MySpace, etc. Lori talked about putting the Learning back into eLearning. The best learning is informal and blended. The information that people need to have to do their jobs is what training should include, but that's not the case with most trainings. One of the most common mistakes that people make when they start with eLearning is that they use way too many 2.0 technologies, and focus on those instead of on what their actual information needs are. Who is your audience? All staff? Circ staff? The public? Who? Guide the training to exactly who they are and what they need. T is for Training done through a free tool called TalkChute (?). This would be a great way to have manager meetings. It's recorded, podcasted, etc. It's free. Awesome! WebJunction offers webinars to library staff all across the country. The State Library of North Carolina's Master Trainers have a Facebook group and have used that as a way to communicate. If all of your staff are on Facebook, connect to them there. She did note that people have said they don't feel like this is invading people's personal space. Twitter can also be used to train. There are people following the conference Twitter feeds and learning through the short posts being shared by people who are here. Lori then gave us some final tips on implementing eLearning. She recommends getting support from the top and from IT as well, including them in discussions early on. Trainers need to train themselves on the eLearning tools first. Don't put speed over quality. Have an actual plan. Be prepared to demonstrate ROI to stakeholders. Enlist the help of tech-savvy staff to help with the process. And fnally, look for support from local businesses.
I can't live blog my own session (awww) but you can see my slides on Slideshare (see below too for an embedded version).
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