CDs, going, going….

Did you see this article in today’s USAToday?

What is Augmented Reality?

Social Media Examiner has an excellent article on Augmented Reality: 5 Ways it Can Your World. Using an iPad2 or smartphone with a camera you can turn a virtual world into a 3D world. Be sure to view the videos as they show you how it all works.

Any ideas on how the Library could use this technology to enhance the user’s experience?

ALA Top Tech Trends Recapped

Today I attended a webinar from ALA recapping the top tech trends found at the ALA conference.

The archive of the session is available on the ALA TechSource blog.

Here’s a few high points:

• Will the mouse die?  Most likely eventually but not right away.  The  Touch interface is the future.  MAC’s new OSX 10.7 will reverse the scrolling and act the same way as a touch screen – push up to scroll down.
• 3D Printing aka Fabbing – printer cost is now down to $1,000.This is very cool!  Gives the ability to print your own 3-d action figure or models.  Endless possibilities.
• OverDrive WIN platform – we purchase x number of books but don’t specifiy the format.  The patron gets to choose the format they want.  Also include patron driven acquisitions based on either we pay for the entire cost of the book and ‘own it’ or pay 10% of the cost for the one patron.  More details will be coming.  Also, it appears Kindle eBooks will be available by the end of the year.  New OverDrive help coming – MyHelp! will still be available.
• 3M Cloud Library will have 100,000 titles by the end of the year.  Discovery Station (kiosk for a library) where patrons can browes the cloud and checkout and download ebooks – cost $2500.  They will also be selling eReaders to libraries for $149, we can loan out and the patron can load ebooks from the cloud onto them.  7 Beta sites coming in August.
• ILS systems are in an upheaval becoming more of a “Library Services Platform’ providing webservices and APIs.
• RFID Technologies changing – Envisionware will be using new ISO 28560-2.  Not clear of current tags will work or not.
• Question asked – What’s going to happen to call numbers with eBooks?  Answer: going away.  Subject heading tags will replace them.

Trends in Library Training and Learning Webinar

Here’s free programs for Library staff on August 10th and 11th.

WebJunction  Conference – Trends in Library Training and Learning (click to see the list of programs).

If you wish to attend any session and need the Virtual Library to host any of these sessions, please let me know which sessions.

 

QR Codes

Lexi McEwen, Enterprise Library provided the following how to create and use QR codes in library.

They use this link:  http://qrcode.kaywa.com/ to create the codes.

There you can either type in a URL and hit generate or Sal and I decided that we wanted just text that was specific to the are the QR codes were being placed in. Here’s an example of our script:

Can’t find the Literary Criticism you need? Check out our online databases for criticisms and character summaries. See Adult Services for more details.

We made them for auto repair, test books, learn a language, etc. We wanted them to point to our electronic resources as we would in person with a patron asking about one of these subjects.

After you put in the URL or text you hit generate, we recommend the medium size since the large was a little too big and then just right click and save as a picture. I then imported all of ours into a word file – qr codes. I did laminate them before Iput them out on the floor, the QR codes attached could be printed out and used in any branch as they are not branch specific. Also, if you have a smart phone you will need a QR app to read the QR code and see the message, which is free no matter the platform (iphone, android). Enjoy, let me know if you have any questions, I would be happy to help out.

Jenn Schember also provided this information:

Here’s some information that will help if you’re interested in trying this:  http://blog.libraryjournal.com/bubbleroom/2011/02/14/qr-codes-how-easy-is-this/.  There are several free apps but I recommend and use RedLaser.  This app allows you to scan QR codes as well as create your own codes that can include URLs, text, etc.  I created one below (as an example) that will take you to the District’s homepage, if you scan it:

 

Lauren: How about a QR Code to direct patrons to eBooks, eAudio Books and Freegal music?

OverDrive to provide DRM-free eBook titles from O’Reilly Media

Today OverDrive announced it will offer 1500 DRM free eBook titles from O’Reilly is in relation to the new WIN platform.  Great news!

More from the press release:  OverDrive announced today that booksellers, libraries, and schools in its global network will soon have access to DRM-free eBook titles from O’Reilly Media. The publisher’s entire eBook catalog will be available to OverDrive’s channel partners, including those in the US, UK, Canada, Australia, New Zealand and dozens of other territories worldwide. Bestselling eBooks on computer technologies available through the distribution agreement will include: “iPad 2: The Missing Manual, Second Edition,” “Head First Java, Second Edition,” and “Windows 7:Up & Running,” as well as O’Reilly’s legendary ‘animal books’ like “Learning PHP, MySQL, and JavaScript.”

O’Reilly’s catalog of 1,500 eBooks features titles from popular technology writers, such as David Pogue, J.D. Biersdorfer, and Robin Nixon. Bestselling series provide developers, administrators, and users with information on topics, including JavaScript™, iPad®, iPhone®, Perl, jQuery, PHP, HTML5 & CSS, Windows 7, Mac® OS X, and more.The launch of premium DRM-free eBooks in OverDrive’s library channel is part of ‘OverDrive WIN,’ a series of platform enhancements to streamline user experience and provide access to more content.

Sharing Links on Event Details

Over a week ago we added the ‘share’ buttons to the detail page of each event.  This is the same share button which can be found in the Library Catalog.  It allows patrons to share an event to email addresses, tweet it, add it to their Facebook page, etc.

The idea, is to provide a way patrons can  remind themselves of an upcoming event.  It’s not as good as sending out email reminders within a day of the event but it’s a good start. Also, the potential is there for you to promote your library programs if the library district elects to have a Twitter and/or Facebook page.

Next Generation of eBooks

Software developer Mike Matas demos the first full-length interactive book for the iPad — with clever, swipeable video and graphics and some very cool data visualizations to play with. The book is “Our Choice,” Al Gore’s sequel to “An Inconvenient Truth.”

About Mike Matas

While at Apple, Mike Matas helped write the user interface for the iPhone and iPad. Now with Push Pop Press, he’s helping to rewrite the electronic book. Full bio and more links

iPad 2 Review

In an ever changing and evolving technology-hungry world, the iPad 2 hit the market about a month ago and there has been a lot of talk whether Apple has raised the bar for tablets…again. In many cases, Apple has done it again by releasing a solid product that is user friendly. I showcased the iPad 2 to my 60-something year old mom (who is a technophobe) and was pleasantly surprised to watch her figure out the interface with very limited direction from me.

The iPad 2’s strength and upgrades are in the hardware, which inevitably make the device run faster than its predecessor. Internally, it’s running a 1GHz Dual Core processor, happily dubbed A5, a step up from last year’s A4. It also boasts an 800 MHz CPU with 512 MB of RAM. Although that should seem impressive, it’s not quite as big of a change as many were anticipating.

Of course it isn’t just the hardware that’s had changes. In pure Apple fashion, the OS has also been given a slight upgrade to iOS 4.3, which included a few minor changes. The iOS upgrade is also available for the original iPad, iPhone, and 3rd and 4th generation iPod touch. Couple both the new hardware and iOS together and the iPad 2’s performance speed is pretty stellar.  I rocketed through a few levels of Angry Birds and, more importantly, easily read through a couple chapters of Heat Wave by Richard Castle, based off the awesome TV series, in OverDrive Media Console for iPad.

In regards to the iPad 2 being an eBook reading device, there are two other positives worth mentioning. It’s super thin and fairly light weight, which makes reading for extended periods of time still enjoyable. You don’t feel as though you are straining to hold it up. The device feels great in your hands whether you’re reading a book, playing a game, or just surfing the web. The second positive is in the battery life. The average user can expect more than 10 hours of battery life with continuous use, which is amazing for a tablet.

Believe it or not, the iPad 2 is not the perfect tablet (I really don’t know if that currently exists or will exist in the near future). There were a few things that surprised me that Apple did or didn’t do with the new version.

To start, the speaker was placed on the back of the device. It does not make it a great experience for listening to audiobooks or watching movies in your Netflix app. Although the speaker was improved and the sound is clearer, it still isn’t quite up to snuff. If you are in a room with a lot of ambient noise or your husband is watching Sports Center in the living room with the volume on high, you may want to use your headphones.

I expected Apple to improve the screen resolution for this version.  Although it is already high quality, I think I was just expecting more compared to what was released on the original version. Basically the screen resolution is exactly the same as the first iPad.

Lastly, the cameras are disappointing. Don’t get me wrong, it’s a step in the right direction to even have cameras on the iPad; however, Apple could have at least met some expectations in the camera department. The front facing camera is fine for Face Time and video messaging, which is all you would use that camera for. It’s the camera on the backside of the device that is disappointing. I don’t expect the quality of a lens on a high powered DSLR handheld but still, it would be appreciated to have something a little better.

Overall, the iPad 2 is a great product that could still use some tweaks in certain areas. Starting at $499, it’s pretty pricy and is considered a luxury item for most people. As I have mentioned before, the iPad 2 should not be used for only reading eBooks, especially because of the price.  I would never suggest purchasing an iPad 2 to be used only as an eBook reader. That would be like suggesting for someone to buy a new 10 piece cookware set for only the small frying pan – it’s just silly. There are many more pieces and parts to explore and utilize. The iPad 2 can do so much more than just read eBooks and should really be used for all it’s made to do to thoroughly enjoy the product.

Provided by Megan Greer who is a retail project manager for OverDrive.

Tablets, Compared

Looking at buying a tablet? check out this New York Times article – Tablets, Compared.

“This interactive guide can help sort through the latest offerings. Use the checkbox at the top of each listing to select it for comparison. And check back frequently — this page will be updated as new information or models are released.”

Airpac for Smartphones

Do you have a smartphone?  If so, please give our new version of Airpac a try and let me know what you like and don’t like about.  Do we need to change anything?

http://smartphone.lvccld.org/

Libraries at the Tipping Point?

There has been some discussion about what is scary about ebooks?

Here is an excellent presentation that, in my opinion, explains the issue pretty well. It’s from the

“ebooks: Libraries @ the tipping point” was an interesting online conference that occurred on September 29, 2010.

Eli Neiberger (Ann Arbor Public Library) gave a brilliant 20-minute presentation outlining the uncomfortable position ebooks puts libraries and offering several solutions.  I encourage you to listen to this presentation.

Part 1 (12 minutes): http://tinyurl.com/62rq6nm Part 2 (8 minutes): http://tinyurl.com/6l2u2or

Do you agree with what he is saying?

Tech Trends for Non-Techies

Today I listened to a webinar  on technology trends which discussed not gadgets but general technologies and what to watch for in the near future.

The archive of the program is available at Archived Webcasts & Webinars later today.

Here are some high points:

• All library jobs are touched by technology so it’s important to stay current on what’s new.
• You need to follow consumer technology not library technology.  What consumers are buying or using is what is going to impact your job. For a quick update follow Businessweek’s Technology and You column
• Look at Google Goggles an app where you can take a picture with your cell phone and use it to do a search on Google to find information about it.  It translate the image into text and searches for the text.
• Opinions are important to people as are facts.  Allow people to make comments on your website, catalog and social media.
• Streaming is going to be big.  Soon DVDs and CDs will no longer be needed in libraries.  They are a dying format.  Look at boxee.tv – you can buy a boxee or create one with a computer to hook up to your TV to get streaming video.
• Print will not die but may be used to obtain a digital copy.  Patrons will come into the library and browse the print version but instead of checking it out they will snap the QR tag and checkout online and download it to their device.   This is already being done in the Apple Store for apps. They provide a card with code to access it online.  You buy the card and go online to download.
• OPAC is history.  There will be an App for it.
• Subscription databases are on the way out.  Pay for what you use will be the new model.  Gale is testing the model in Wyoming.  They provide access to everything they offer and the State Library pays for what is accessed. Database use will be through search engines.  Patron finds information they want and prompted to buy or authenicate with their library card.
• Focus on:
  • Social Media – not just have a site but join local groups and be ready to provide information as needed.
  • Podcasts are popular – create an iTune channel
  • Capture patrons cell phone numbers so you can text them
  • Staff needs to keep current with consumer products being used
  • Listen to what patrons are asking
  • Provide download stations in the library

iPad App for eBooks

Recently received an email about a free app for the iPad which allows one to read eBooks from OverDrive.

The Bluefire Reader has just been released and should allow you to download to your iPAD from Overdrive via Adobe Digital Reader.  I’ve used it with my Touch, but it is supposed to support iPAD also.

Here are some useful blog posts. If you look in the PUBLIB archives, you’ll find additional posts.

http://ebooksinlibraries.blogspot.com/2010/11/bluefire-ebook-reader-app-for-ipads.html

http://dl.dropbox.com/u/1572127/bf2.pdf (Directions for installing the app and using it)

 

If anyone has an iPad and you try this out please let us know if it works!

eBook Reader – Pandigital Review

Here’s a new term to add to your ever growing tech-related vocabulary: ‘multimedia device’.

The Pandigital Novel is not just an eBook Reader. It is, in fact, a multimedia device allowing access to Facebook, email, games, photos, and eBooks (let’s not forget the reason I’m reviewing this device).

You’re probably more familiar with Pandigital from the popular digital photo frames they manufacture and distribute. Pandigital took a step into the competitive market of eBook reading devices and designed the Novel.

Here are some of the specs:

• 7” Color touch screen (600×800 pixels)
• Android operating system
• Weight: 19 oz
• Wi-Fi connectivity
• Compatible with Adobe EPUB, PDF (other formats listed here)

*Special Note: You need to complete a firmware update before using the Novel with free Library from OverDrive-supplied eBooks.

The interface is easy enough to figure out without reading the manual. However, there is one slightly complicated part: purchased eBooks and library borrowed materials are separated. Purchased eBooks can be found in the ‘main library’ on the device. eBooks checked out from an OverDrive-powered website are stored under a special Adobe eBooks option in the bottom pop up tab. Once you find your library eBooks, you need to check one and select ‘view’ to open. Although the Novel has Wi-Fi, you still have to download your library eBooks to a computer and transfer them using Adobe Digital Editions.

The touch screen takes some getting used to and isn’t very responsive to the tip of a finger. I found myself using a pen (not the business end) to scroll through menu options and pages of an eBook. A stylus would be a better option. One cool screen capability is to adjust the screen from the typical white background with black text to ‘night time’ mode which has a black background and white text. It’s very easy on the eyes while reading in bed.

It’s convenient to pick up the Novel online or while you are out doing your holiday shopping. I’ve spotted it at Bed Bath & Beyond, Kohl’s, Macy’s, and many other retailers. (This probably goes without saying, but retailers will depend on your area).

The Novel runs anywhere from $199.99 on their website to $169 in a store. If you are looking for a cheap iPad replacement though, you will find yourself wishing you had coughed up a few hundred dollars more. However if you are interested in reading eBooks and also having the ability to use other multimedia functions, it’s not a bad choice.

Megan Greer is a partner services associate for OverDrive.

Cool Website – Vintage Technology

Vintage Technology – is a site that seeks to showcase the evolution of devices in our lives through the archiving of old advertisements from the 1950s.”…

A fun component of the site is a game called “hit or miss” in which the reader has to determine whether a product survived the marketplace or fell into the dustbin of history. (A binocular radio from 1961? Apparently, a hit. A mushroom iron from 1951? It’s a miss.) The site has many different links and interesting paths to the history of technology, although it has a definite British tone that indicates the site’s origins.

Sign-a-Palooza

There is a great article in the October 2010 issue of Computers in Libraries on how New City Library is using 10 inch digital photo frames at their service points to promote their events and services instead of paper signs.

If you need a copy of the article go to Academic Search Premier and search for sign-a-palooza.

Blackberry Announces Playbook

This morning Blackberry announced a new tablet device (Playbook) which will challenge iPad. At early looks of specifications on the device it appears it will support eAudio (WMA) and eVideo (WMV) overdrive formats. Kindle is making an app for it so not yet sure if the Adobe Digital Editions will be supported as well. Adobe is supported by the device.

When I hear from OverDrive on compatibility I’ll pass the information on.

It appears, they may try to launch the product in time for the holidays or early next year.

Read more at engadget – RIM introduces Playbook.

New Sony eBook Reader

PC Pro reviews the new Sony eReader.  Below is a few of the highlights of the review:

..big improvement and nearly as good the new Amazon Kindle’s screen!

Sony has hatched a deal with Google to place a custom search of Google books on the Sony website, opening an estimated 500,000 titles up for quick and easy download. Google’s standard book search doesn’t let you filter results in this way, so finding titles you can take away on an eBook has, up until now, been a hit and miss affair.

This sounds really cool as we have the books in the catalog linked to Google Books.

.. and more interesting development, is support for free eBook loans from local authority libraries (Overdrive), a feature the Amazon Kindle doesn’t support.

Has a great side by side comparison picture of the new Sony and the Amazon Kindle.
Read more: Sony’s new eBook readers: first-look review | PC Pro blog http://www.pcpro.co.uk/blogs/2010/09/09/sonys-new-ebook-readers-first-look-review/#ixzz0zQWsZujm

On the Road – Virtually

We have launched our podcast/videocast website – On the Road – Virtually.  The link can be found on the Book, Movies and More page.

This  was a LSTA grant project and I would appreciate it very much if you and your patrons  would leave some comments on the Updates page.  This is one of the sites where I will be posting articles about new content added to the site.

In the future, we hope to use the site to also promote major library events which will be recorded.