Blogging Section of SLA-IT

Facebook and Blackboard

Inside Higher Ed published yesterday an article about a new Facebook application to link the social network with Blackboard, the course management software used in multiple academic institution. The application is called Blackboard Sync and will bring course information and updates to a student's Facebook account:

"Some of Sync’s other features include integration with Blackboard’s message boards, access to grades and a page with announcements and recent course updates — viewable only to the student who’s both logged on to Facebook and enrolled in the given courses"

There is already a Facebook group on the general topic of CMS, Course Management Systems in Facebook, created by librarian Gerry McKiernan.

To note, I looked for the application in Facebook but haven't found it yet. Forthcoming?

Fax via the web

When I started working at home I realized how inconvenient it was to not have a fax machine (we don't have a land line - but our printer can fax...).  I spent ages searching for a fax tool that would let me do everything with PDFs online.  Today I find a link to Drop.io fax on Lifehacker.

Drop.io itself is a pretty neat service:

Drop.io enables you to create simple private exchange points called "drops."

The service has no email signup and no "accounts." Each drop is private, and only as accessible as you choose to deliberately make it. Create multiple drops, add any type of media, and share or subscribe as you want. To make a drop just click the big red button that says 'drop it'

Adding fax, just makes it that much cooler!

You can now fax documents directly into and directly out of your drop, for free.

No more fax machines, or expensive online fax services. Faxing just shouldn’t be that hard - and it should be free. With drop.io it is both easy and free.

Meebo

Many people are using instant messenger (IM) services, often to communicate with other professionals.  Having an IM account on Yahoo and AIM, for example, is nice, but who wants to have to remember to sign into every IM account that you own?  Many people are using services that allow you to use several IM services at once. I use Meebo.  Meebo allows me to use my AIM and Yahoo accounts at the same time (as well as others), and communicate with other people who are using Meebo. 

You can also setup and use Meebo chat rooms.  An informal group called "Library Society of the World" has a Meebo chat room, where information professionals from around the world gather to exchange information about libraries and so problem-solving.

Do you want people to be able to IM you without having an IM account anywhere?  Meebo Me is a widget that you can put on any web page that allows people to communicate with you through Meebo.  Some libraries are using this for IM reference.  I used it this past semester with my students, giving them one more way to communicate with me.  Now I've putting Meebo Me widgets on my web site contact page, giving people a quick way of talking to me.  I've already had two out-of-the-blue professional conversations with people I didn't know previously using Meebo Me.

If you are using several IMs, check out the tools that will allow you to do several at once.  If you don't like Meebo, there are other IM clients that you can check out.

Gathering around the virtual coffee pot

Nearly a year ago, I finally cornered someone at a conference at asked her to explain Twitter to me.  I knew people liked it, but why?  Her explanation, and seeing others use it at the conference, got me to try it...and I got hooked!

Twitter is described as a microblog, but what it really is -- at least to me -- is a gathering around the virtual coffee pot.  When I worked in a corporate environment, useful information was often exchanged at the coffee pot.  Critical discussion would often start with the words "want to get a cup of coffee?" 

Working by myself means that there are no profound conversations around my coffee pot. However, now I have those conversations with many others during random moments in our days.  We...

• Exchange tips and techniques
• Troubleshoot problems
• Offer support
• Pass around things that make us laugh
• Share joys and sorrows
• Offer professional advice
• Coordinate events

All without leaving our desks.  We don't have to wander down the hall and wait for others to arrive.  We only need to open up Twitter and a group is already there.

One thing that was important for me was to find the right Twitter tool.  Using Twitter.com was okay, but I like TwitterFox better.  You might want to check out this list of Twitter tools, if you like Twitter but don't like using it through the web site.  Of course, you could just ask your Twitter buddies for suggestions of useful Twitter tools -- I bet they'd be glad to offer up some suggestions!

BTW if you are using Twitter and want to connect to other SLA members, leave a comment with your Twitter ID.  Mine is jahurst.

Google for Non-Profits

I just learned about a site that will be of interest to many of us special librarians.  Google now has a page with tools for non-profits.

Learn how to use free Google tools to promote your work, raise money, and operate more efficiently.

I learned about this site from CrunchGear, where they say:

his site includes ideas and tutorials on ways Google tools can be used to promote non-profits, raise money and operate more efficiently.

Features include standard Google services such as Gmail (including hosted email), YouTube, Blogger, Gadgets, Earth, Calender and Analytics. The two interesting services are the provision of Google Checkout for free to non-profits who want to take donations on their site, and Google Grants, free advertising for non-profits via Google’s Adwords network.

While it's nothing I couldn't find in other ways, it's pretty handy for those unfamiliar with Google tools.

Flickr Donation Program

Flickr & TechSoup have announced a great program!

The Flickr photo sharing service has teamed up with TechSoup Stock to offer premium “pro” accounts to individuals within eligible organizations. The pro accounts are available in packages of either two or five accounts. Organizations must assign these accounts to individuals over 18 years of age, and the accounts will remain assigned to those individuals even if they leave the organization. For details on eligibility requirements, see the Flickr Restrictions.

Flickr is a Web site for photo storage, sharing, and organization, designed to make photo management an easy, natural, and collaborative process. Flickr stores over two billion photos taken by members all over the world. Communication tools let users get comments, notes, and tags on their photos, post them to any blog, share them, and more. See Flickr’s FAQ for much more information.

Awesome!!!

Technorati Tags: Flickr, TechSoup

500 Million Firefox Downloads

Yesterday Mozilla announced that Firefox has been downloaded 500 million times!!

Firefox just reached  500,000,000 downloads. This is an absolutely phenomenal milestone for Firefox. It is sort of hard to imagine what that number means. For some perspective, that’s roughly the audience size of 10,000 Rome Colosseums combined. It would be the weight, in kilograms, of 8,500 Boeing 747 airplanes. In dollars, for $500 million you and 15 of your friends can fly to the International Space Station.

To celebrate they’re asking that we help people in need:

OR, you can affect change and invite 15 of your friends to play a game and feed 25,000 people. With your help we can break another milestone today with FreeRice.com –500,000,000 grains of donated rice in one day.  Imagine helping to feed the hungry while picking up some new vocabulary too!

This is great news! Now if more libraries would just make Firefox their default browser on patron stations - imagine how many more downloads Mozilla would be able to report??

Technorati Tags: firefox

Great First Job for Special Library Techies

Jenkins Law Library is looking for a Assistant Network Administrator / PC and Database Support Specialist.

This position is responsible for assisting the Network Administrator, troubleshooting computers (PC desktops and servers) when needed and assisting with Website support. The primary focus is to support all users so they can work optimally in a networked environment.

Learn more at jobs.jenkinslaw.org.

Google Apps -- With or Without IT

A colleague pointed me over to this story about Google offering their Apps package without the cooperation of your IT organization (so long as you have admin rights to a server).

Here's the official press release: http://www.google.com/intl/en/press/pressrel/20080207_googleapps_teamedition.html.

Power to the people?

c.

An alternative to Profiles in Facebook

Last year, Facebook deleted profiles created by libraries. Librarians were reduced to using Groups. But now, Facebook has added the Page application which seems just perfect for libraries (as well as businesses, organizations or brands). You create a Page and get Fans. Here is the description from the Help files:

A musical artist, business, or brand can create Facebook Pages to share information, interact with their fans, and create a highly engaging presence plugged into Facebook’s social graph. These Pages are distinct presences, separate from users’ profiles, and optimized for these entities’ needs to communicate, distribute information/content, engage their fans, and capture new audiences virally through their fans’ recommendations to their friends. Facebook Pages are designed to be a media rich, valuable presence solution for any artist, business, or brand that can be integrated seamlessly into the user experience with socially-relevant applications.

To note, the USF Tampa Library already has a Page.

Update: I just created a Page for my own library, the USF Lakeland Library. Easy and quick.

Pandora Radio

I mentioned this to a Division member at the Leadership Summit and he said I should blog about it, so I am.

I have tried several Internet radio stations over the years and last fall got a tip about Pandora Radio from someone on Twitter.  (See...Twitter can be useful!)  Pandora Radio allows you to build your own "stations" and then share those stations with your friends.  You start by telling it the name of your favorite artist or song.  Pandora then uses that information to play a song that it thinks you will like.  If it has access to music from that specific artist (or the specific song you entered), it will play that.  Otherwise, it uses its "intelligence" to pick something similar.  If you like that song, then it will begin playing songs that have similar qualities.  As songs play, you can vote on them (like/dislike) as well as tell Pandora additional artists whose work you like.  As you use Pandora and tell it your likes, the station you have created is able to grow.

Of course, you can create more than one station.  Right now, I have four stations based on the music of:

• James Taylor
• Chicago
• Brian Setzer
• The Brian Setzer Orchestra

At the moment, I'm playing the James Taylor station a lot and I must admit that it now as a wide variety of music in it!

To share a station with a friend, you have to send them an email message from Pandora.  So if anyone wants to hear my James Taylor station, send a message to me at hurst at hurstassociates.com and put Pandora in the subject.

I'm using Pandora for free, but there is a fee-based version.  For $36/year, you can listen to Pandora on Sprint phones or in-home with specific hardware.  And there are no ads.

If you want to think green, consider this...Pandora is using your Internet connection and PC.  It is not drawing any additional power in your office, so using it instead of a radio is saving energy. 

Create your own business card

In addition to the cards provided to me by my company, I have some personal cards that I designed on VistaPrint.  While VistaPrint has been around for ages, there is a new option I just learned about that might be worth poking at (I know I will once I run out of cards).  I learned about this new tool, Deyey via Lifehacker.

Build your own attractive business cards online with free webapp Deyey. The site's built-in templates are attractive, simple to use, and easy to customize (just check out their demo to see how easy), and when you're finished you can save the card at Deyey or download it to your computer to print off there.

Sounds pretty handy.

Facebook Apps for Librarians

There are constantly new apps added to Facebook.  I’m finding it hard to keep my list manageable.  I am constantly turning down zombie and vampire invites (what do I need those for), but there are also some very useful apps in Facebook. 

iLibrarian has three parts listing great apps for librarians:

• Part 1
• Part 2
• Part 3

In addition to these, Worldcat now has a Facebook app that you might be interested in.

Add to all of this that you can now become fans of library pages on Facebook and you now have an amazing social networking tool for librarians!

Article: Thumbs Race as Japan’s Best Sellers Go Cellular

Many of the technology advances we take for granted began overseas.  And some still have not made their way to the North America, like the cellphone novel. The New York Times article talks about the cellphone novels in Japan and how they have gone mainstream. (Free registration may be required in order to read the article.)

Until recently, cellphone novels — composed on phone keypads by young women wielding dexterous thumbs and read by fans on their tiny screens — had been dismissed in Japan. as a subgenre unworthy of the country that gave the world its first novel, “The Tale of Genji,” a millennium ago. Then last month, the year-end best-seller tally showed that cellphone novels, republished in book form, have not only infiltrated the mainstream but have come to dominate it.

I sometimes ask people if they have read a book on their PDA.  Most have not.  I often carry a book on mine so I have something to read while waiting for a meeting to begin.  And -- yes -- I have actually read several books on my PDA.  I wonder how many of us have even thought about reading books on our cellphones?

The California Library Association has a Second Life

Details here.  I'm envious...

Once the individuals are trained in the basics of SL, regularly scheduled meetings of all interested mentors and protégés will take place once or twice a month at an auditorium in SL with a curriculum built around the information needs of our protégés. This will not only allow for more extensive sharing of the expertise of the librarian mentors, but also open the door for protégés to train their mentors in SL!  This venue will also provide the opportunity to bring in other knowledgeable experts and encourage the creation of a strong cohort that can continue their professional relationships after the formal mentorship experience is completed.

New Year’s Resolution: Blog more!

OK, I admit it – I’m blog shy.  While I have a sincere interest in it, performance anxiety bubbles up inside which renders me completely useless as a blogger.  I resolve in 2008 to become a better blogger for the IT Division and for my lesser-known blog known as LibrarySherpa.com.  With so many tech savvy individuals reading and contributing to this blog, it can be a little intimidating (if only to me) to post!

Onward and upward:  The CES is underway!  I’m trying to keep up with news coming out of the show.  I haven’t heard of anything truly earth-shattering yet.  Click HERE for CES Straight Talk, the official blog of the Interational CES.

Lots of psychics like to announce their celebrity predictions at this time of year.  What trends or products will make a debut in the library tech world in 2008?  Many of the political candidates are clamoring for change on the campaign trail.  What changes will we see in our professional lives this year?

Tips for 2008 from eNetworking 101

To start 2008, I wrote five blogs posts (in one of my other blogs) that contain tips that anyone can apply in order to save time and be more efficient in this New Year.  For example:

• Customize the toolbar in your Internet browser with links to those sites you visit frequently.
• Only use those tools that provide a discernable positive impact to you and the work that you do.
• Recognize that you do not need to respond to every message you receive.

To read all of the tips follow these links:

• Tips for 2008 -- #1 -- Budget your time
• Tips for 2008 -- #2 -- Don't answer every communication (and if you must answer, be efficient)
• Tips for 2008 -- #3 -- Use the tools that add value 
• Tips for 2008 -- #4 -- Find ways to work smarter
• Tips for 2008 -- #5 -- Connect and reconnect

Ten Technologies and Ideas to Improve Library Productivity

Michael Stephens (Tame the Web) did a presentation in Hawaii on "Ten Technologies and Ideas to Improve Library Productivity."  It's always good to hear/see what someone else has to say on this topic.  Michael's presentation can be seen here.

Blog post:: Top 10 New and Improved Apps of 2007

Lifehacker has published its list of the top 10 new and improved applications of 2007.  Likely you know some of them, while others might be new to you.  It is a list worth perusing.

Code4Lib Journal - Issue 1 Released

The first issue of the Code4Lib Journal has been released and the TOC looks pretty enticing - now I just have to find time to read some of these articles.

• Editorial Introduction — Issue 1
• Beyond OPAC 2.0: Library Catalog as Versatile Discovery Platform
• Facet-based search and navigation with LCSH: Problems and opportunities
• The Rutgers Workflow Management System: Migrating a Digital Object Management Utility to Open Source
• Communicat: The Next Generation Catalog That Almost Was…
• Connecting the Real to the Representational: Historical Demographic Data in the Town of Pullman, 1880-1940
• BOOK REVIEW: The Success of Open Source by Steven Weber
• COLUMN: 700 Dollars and a Dream : Take a Chance on Koha, There’s Very Little to Lose

Facebook Fridays

iLibrarian writes:

Tech company Serena Software is introducing a unique program called “Facebook Fridays” into their corporate routine. Each Friday, employees are encouraged to take an hour to fix up their Facebook profiles and connect with personal and professional contacts (including co-workers) using the social networking software. Serena President and CEO Jeremy Burton is  hoping that using Facebook as a company intranet will bring a sense of community to their 800+ global employees.

Read more about what Serena Software is doing here.

Blog post: Baby boomers v MySpace generation

Every conference seems to be talking about this.  Here are notes from Online Information 2007 on this topic.

For Professors, 'Friending' Can Be Fraught

Good article about professors/teachers being on Facebook.  If you're in academia, you might want to read it.

Quotes from "Library 2.0" article

In an article published in TC Today (The Magazine of Teachers College, Columbia University, Spring 2007, pp. 18 - 23, 40), I found these great quotes about their library which has been recently remodeled and made 2.0 friendly:

"There was much better knowledge access outside the building than there was inside the building - particularly back when the we didn't have technology and when we had restrictions on what could be brought in and what you could do with it and how you could interact with it.  As a result, people were staying away."

"Somewhere along the way, libraries became scholastic and couldn't breathe.  So rule-bound, nobody wanted to be in them.  Now our library is a living, breathing space for knowledge production."

"...it is a place for everyone to find something of interest."

The Free Library

When Judith Seiss mentioned The Free Library I thought she meant the one here in Philadelphia ... but that's not what she was talking about. 

 

Since 2003, The Free Library has offered free, full-text versions of classic literary works from hundreds of celebrated authors, whose biographies, images, and famous quotations can also be found on the site. Recently, The Free Library has been expanded to include a massive collection of periodicals from hundreds of leading publications covering Business and Industry, Communications, Entertainment, Health, Humanities, Law, Government, Politics, Recreation and Leisure, Science and Technology, and Social Sciences. This collection includes millions of articles dating back to 1984 as well as newly-published articles that are added to the site daily.

The Free Library is an invaluable research tool and the fastest, easiest way to locate useful information on virtually any topic. Explore the site through a keyword search, or simply browse the enormous collection of literary classics and up-to-date periodicals to find exactly what you need.

What a great resource! I had no idea that it was out there.  Hopefully it helps you a bit with your research - or with assisting your patrons.

 

Croquet

I've been using Second Life for more than a year and am now getting very curious about other virtual worlds.   Here is information on Croquet, which seems like a cool world!  The video is definitely worth watching.

Croquet is a powerful new open source software development environment for creating and deploying deeply collaborative multi-user online applications and metaverses on and across multiple operating systems and devices. Derived from Squeak, it features a peer-based network architecture that supports communication, collaboration, resource sharing, and synchronous computation between multiple users on multiple devices.

Amazing idea - Sharing IT Staff

I just have to repeat this post by Joseph Lucia at Villanova on the ngc4lib mailing list:

If we look beyond money to personnel, the option looks even better.  Let me suggest some numbers.  What if, in the U.S., 50 ARL libraries, 20 large public libraries, 20 medium-sized academic libraries, and 20 Oberlin group libraries anted up one full-time technology position for collaborative open source development. That's 110 developers working on library applications with robust, quickly-implemented current Web technology -- not legacy stuff.  There is not a company in the industry that I know of which has put that much technical effort into product development. With such a cohort of developers working in libraries on library technology needs -- and in light of the creativity and thoughtfulness evident on forums like this one -- I think we would quickly see radical change in the library technology arena. Instead of being technology followers, I venture to say that libraries might once again become leaders.  Let's add to the pool some talent from beyond the U.S. -- say ! 20 libraries in Canada, 10 in Australia, and 10 in the U.K. put staff into the pool.  We've now  got 150 developers in this little start-up.  Then we begin pouring our current software support funds into regional collaboratives.  Within a year or two, we could be re-directing 10s of millions of dollars into regional technology development partnerships sponsored by and housed within the regional consortia, supporting and extending the work of libraries.  The potential for innovation and rapid deployment of new tools boggles the mind.  The resources at our disposal in this scenario dwarf what any software vendor in our small application space is ever going to support. And, as is implicit in all I've said, the NGC is just the tip of the iceberg.

While this is does not mention Special Libraries - I think it should!  Special Libraries are more likely to have library-devoted IT staff than an academic library is (at least in my experience).  Also - if you don't include special librarians in the mix, then special libraries are stuck continuing to use the prepackaged products developed by those who don't understand how "special" we really are.

How to follow your friends' Twitters without signing up to Twitter

A useful mini-tutorial for people on Jaiku who want to follow their friends' Tweets but don't want to sign up for Twitter. Note this only works if your friends haven't required people to sign in to view their Tweets.

1. Go to http://jaiku.com/channel/create and sign in.
2. Once you've given your channel a name, add a short description and click Save Changes once you're done.
3. Click the Edit link next to Feeds.
4. Click on Add another Atom or RSS feed.
5. Enter the URL of the Twitter you want to subscribe to, in the form twitter.com/name.
6. Click Find Feeds.
7. Click the button next to whichever feed you want (RSS or Atom, that person's Twitter or the person's Twitters along with those of his or her friends).
8. Click Add Feed.
9. Do the same for other Twitters you want to add.
10. You can add an icon for the channel, create a badge (widget) for your website, modify colors and so on from the URL http://jaiku.com/channel/[channel name]/settings/design at any time.

You're automatically a member of a channel you create, and it will show up under your Contacts. That way, you can follow your friends on Jaiku without fellow Jaikus being annoyed that they're reading stuff from people they don't know (as would be the case if you just added feeds directly.

I see Michael Sauers has created a channel for Internet Librarian 2007, but he hasn't added any content to it.

Preservation of Personal Digital Artifacts

I'm at the ASIS&T annual meeting in Milwaukee this week. They (well, we, I suppose - I am a member) are a very academic group.

One of the posters I saw yesterday was entitled 'Exploration of the Motivation for Knowledge of Preservation Practices for Personal Digital Artifacts and Implications for Libraries'. Check it out here: http://www.asis.org/Conferences/AM07/posters/34.html.

In short, Ms. Japzon is interested in how and why people save their digital stuff. Since we have a small child I spend a lot of time with our digital photos, but I don't think much about my blog posts or other digital artifacts.

How about you?

Pibb

The curiously-named Pibb (which I associate with a semi-obscure brand of soda) offers an interesting amalgam of bulletin board, chat, e-mail and instant messenger features. Highlights for me include private as well as public channels and searchable threads. Admittedly, some of these features are in IRC as well but I don't have a sense for how much IRC is used outside techie circles. So Pibb might be an easier sell to a general audience.

Sign-up is free: you can sign up using your AIM screen name, LiveJournal username or OpenID if you already have one. As you can see, you can embedd Pibb in your website, or add it to Facebook. I've included screenshots, so that you can see what it looks like. Yes, I have a LiveJournal. It's mostly memes and quizzes and silliness.

Anger Drives Innovation

I’m catching up on my podcasts (mostly because I had to take the train into the city today) and I got to listen to a great IT Conversation with Jeff Bonforte from Yahoo!.

Jeff starts out by telling us that anger is the most untapped emotion in start ups and innovation - and that’s unfortunate because he feels that it’s the most important emotion.  How does this apply to libraries?  Well I think that in our case the anger is coming from inside - librarians are becoming angry (look at the ILS market) and are trying to push innovation internally. 

Jeff thinks that rather than think about the application or features or cool technology aspects - we should be thinking about emotion.  He goes on to list 4 types of people:

1. The Lovers - these are the dorks, nerds and geeks - the technology lovers who see something new and say “ooo cool!” - a reaction that Jeff thinks is the wrong one to base a new innovation on
2. The Irrational - these are the angry, the insecure, the people who are looking for another alternative no matter what the cost.  The example of this is Skype.  Skype came along when everyone was out there screaming that they were pissed at their phone companies - so instead of yelling at the support people we’re yelling at our computer screens so people on the other end can hear us.
3. The Efficient - these are the money crunchers, the people who think rationally in terms of money and time.
4. The Comfortable - these are the people who will use the old way because it’s the way they know.  Jeff gave a great example of an aunt of his who is paying $800 for her trip through a travel agent even though it costs $173 online because it’s the way she’s most comfortable with.  These are the people who won’t change until we remove the old way.

I’m not sure where I fall in this spectrum - I’m sure we all have a bit of the comfortable in us - there are some things that we just love to do the way we do them.  I’m certainly among the angry (as I’ve made clear here many of times) but I’m also among the lovers.  I guess that this is a good thing for me because I can see things from different angles - or maybe I have blinders on when it comes to the things that make me comfortable - or angry.

Another great bit I picked up from Jeff’s talk is how to sell your innovation.  Don’t go out and say it’s a “peer to peer blah blah blah”.  Sell it the way you want your customers to tell their friends about it. And educate your consumer through experience with the product.  I think we see a lot of this with 2.0 tools.  The companies are clear on what they’re offering and they give you a way to demo the product.

This was a great (and short) podcast that was fun to listen to - so if you have 20 minutes, I recommend giving it a listen.

Todoist

For people who worry about losing a paper to-do list, aren't GTD cultists, and don't have to-do functionality built into their e-mail or calendaring programs, you might check out Todoist. Sign-up is free - you give your name, e-mail, pick a password and your time zone and your account is created. Premium accounts ($3/month) offer SSL for additional security, reminders via e-mail, Jabber, MSN or SMS and an improved label system.

Anyone else using Todoist? Or other to-do solutions?

Five uses of Flickr (or any photo sharing web site)

We think of sharing ordinary photos on a photo sharing web site, but what else can you do with them?

• Post screen shots of presentations. I can hear you say "why????"  For a conference where participants heavily use tagging and photo sharing, posting screen shots is a way of promoting your talk ahead of time.  You can also then refer to the screen shot in your blog, wiki, etc. and draw people to it that way. 
  

• Post information that you want people to review or comment on.  One person who has done this well is Michael Habib, who posted various version of this graphic in Flickr, with links to his blog post about them.  With the combination of the graphic and blog post, he was able to solicit input from people and refine his thinking.

• Post photos to use for instruction (formally or informally).  These may be screen shots or photos that you want to incorporate in a presentation or maybe you want to use a photo sharing site slide show as your presentation!

  By the way, one area being documented via photos are library signage.  Every sign provides a teachable moment.

• Store photos that you want to use on your organization's web site, then use a widget to display those photos. Flickr has badges that you can place on your web site that will use photos you've stored in Flickr.  (Likely other services has the same feature.)  This is a great way of making a site more dynamic.  [See photos from the SLA Annual Conference in Denver below as an example of what a widget can do.]

www.flickr.com More Flickr photos tagged with sla2007

• Search photos for ideas.  For example, are you considering remodeling your library?  Why not search the photos to see how other libraries are setup and to gather ideas (e.g., The Libraries and Librarians Pool)?  Since you can message people who post photos in the services, you can then ask questions to help clarify your thinking.

Don't have a photo sharing account?  Many are free and they are very easy to use.  Now that you know more about what you can do, why not give them a try?!

BTW -- If you can think of another use, please leave a comment and share it with all of us!

Google's user agreement problem

A few blogs and news sites have noted the hot water Google got itself into this past week when it changed its user agreement for  Google Docs and Spreadsheets.  The part of the user agreement that is causing problems says:

By submitting, posting or displaying Content on or through Google services which are intended to be available to the members of the public, you grant Google a worldwide, nonexclusive, royalty-free license to reproduce, adapt, modify, publish and distribute such content on Google services for the purpose of displaying, distributing and promoting Google services.

Google Australia has responded to concerns by saying:

We don't claim ownership or control over content in Google Docs & Spreadsheets, whether you're using it as an individual or through Google Apps.

Read in their entirety, our terms of service ensure that, for documents you expressly choose to share with others, we have the proper license to display those documents to the selected users and format documents properly for different displays. To be clear, Google will not use your documents beyond the scope that you and you alone control. Australians' work documents and (soccer-oriented spreadsheets) are not going to end up shared with anyone unless the user expressly wants them to be!

So what's the impact on those of us who are using Google Docs?  I think we should believe what Google Australia has said.  However, it is a reminder that we're using a service that we do not control.  With that in mind:

• Remember that you are storing information  on someone else's server/service.  Do not store proprietary or confidential information there, since the service is not under your control.
• Don't store anything there that could cause problems if released.
• Take time to read those user agreements.  If you don't like what it says, don't use the service.
• Find and use other services/methods for collaboration so that you are not totally reliant on Google (e.g., Zoho).

101 Tools to Convert Video, Music, Images, PDF and More

Thanks to Chadwick for sharing this link via Twitter.  These 101 tools will help you convert just about anything!  Definitely a page to bookmark.

31 Flavors - Things to Do With Flickr in Libraries

In the Library 2.0 network on Ning, P. F. Anderson posted briefly that she had written an article entitled "31 Flavors - Things to Do With Flickr in Libraries."  Yup...from Ning to Web Junction to hints about being more productive with Flickr.  And the suggestions are all good! 

Here's one of the tips:

Collect screenshots of error screens with notes for troubleshooting with system staff, and for staff training.

Read the complete article for the other 30 tips.

Top *13* Web 2.0 Tools for Librarians

Infododads has created this list.  Pretty cool!  The list includes  Meebo/Chatango, Zotero, MediaWiki and ten more.  Read about all 13 here.

Facebook -- Are you there?

We've all heard of Facebook, that site begun as an online face-book for college students.  Like its print counterparts (if they still exist), it allowed students to put names of their classmates with their faces.  It also allowed them to form online groups, message each other, and post information.  For some, it became there Internet "interface". 

Facebook describes itself as:

...a social utility that connects people with friends and others who work, study and live around them.People use Facebook to keep up with friends, upload an unlimited number of photos, share links and videos, and learn more about the people they meet.

Although they don't use the word, Facebook is a platform.  Many things can connect into Facebook so it can be like your iGoogle or Yahoo Internet start page.

After captivating college students, Facebook opened itself up to high school students and then to those who are not in school.  The eligibility requirements are:

This Site is intended solely for users who are thirteen (13) years of age or older, and users of the Site under 18 who are currently in high school or college. Any registration by, use of or access to the Site by anyone under 13, or by anyone who is under 18 and not in high school or college, is unauthorized, unlicensed and in violation of these Terms of Use. By using the Service or the Site, you represent and warrant that you are 13 or older and in high school or college, or else that you are 18 or older, and that you agree to and to abide by all of the terms and conditions of this Agreement.

Once "real" adults were allowed to join Facebook, people jumped in "with both feet." Like college students, we've found Facebook to be cool and captivating.  We're networking, playing and -- yes -- learning.  We learning about each other, about social networking tools, about events, and more.

If you haven't tried Facebook, I would encourage you to give it a whirl.  If you can't try it at work, then do it at home.  It is free and setting up an account is easy. 

Concerned about privacy? Only those that you connect to as friends can see your profile in Facebook, and no one outside of Facebook can see your profile.

Concerned about revealing too much of yourself? You control what you say about yourself, so you can say a lot of a little; that is up to you.

Afraid that being in Facebook makes you less professional? Fear not!  Yes, it is a place to network and learn, but it is also a place to have fun...and even professionals need to have fun.  We also learn more if we're enjoying what we're doing.

There is a growing number of SLA members in Facebook and we've formed groups there.  Our groups include:

• Special Libraries Association (SLA) Members on Facebook
• Information Technology Division of SLA
• SLA PAM
• Kentucky Chapter of SLA
• SLA Arizona Chapter
• SLA Toronto
• Upstate New York Special Libraries Association
• SLA Student Chapter (University of Maryland)
• Special Libraries Association (student group)
• Brown SLA (student group)
• SLA@SLAIS (student group)

By the way, there are two images on this page.  The first is of the home page I see when I sign into Facebook.  The second is my profile.  Unfortunately, static photos don't show the power of Facebook, but hopefully they do show that Facebook is not scary.

Perhaps you'll jump into Facebook?  Come on...the water's fine!

Campus Tour of SL

Liz Losh, who writes for Sivacracy.net and teaches at University of California - Irvine posted about the campus tour she took of the U.C. Irvine campus in Second Life, complete with photos.  Sadly, in the first paragraph, she writes:

...one of the first landmarks I encountered was the library's poster presentation that consisted disappointingly of screen shots of the homepage and help pages from their official website.

The lesson?  Our users expect our content to be appropriate for the service/tool/environment.  Don't just reuse what you have, but consider how it can be more useful in that environment.  Even consider creating something new.  Don't think you have the right skills to create what you need?  There are many librarians using the different social networking tools (including Second Life) and they are willing to offer advice and a helping hand.  Just ask...you can even send an email to the IT Division email discussion list.

What is Web 3.0?

Here is a two minute video of Google CEO Eric Schmidt talking about Web 3.0. It is worth listening to more than once.

Video: Social Networking in Plain English