2CoolTools

"70 Interesting Ways to Use an iPad in the Classroom"

2012-01-16T18:09:00.000-08:00

This slideshow collection "70 Interesting Ways to Use an iPad in the Classroom" is a real "keeper". Share it with all fellow iPad users. Thanks go to educator Tom Barrett of the United Kingdom -- He sure looks like he enjoys his work!

2012 NMC Horizon Report - Tech Trends

2012-01-01T22:03:00.000-08:00

The annual NMC Horizon Report will be released in February 13-15 at the EduCause Conference in Austin, Tx and online. A shortlist of applications, trends and issues is posted on its wiki. This is a good time to review and think about what higher education thinkers are thinking, and to share with K-12 educators so they can better prepare students and themselves. NOTE: The issue of digital literacy is identified as a "key skill in every discipline and profession", yet training is rare in teacher education and faculty preparation.

Time-to-Adoption Horizon: One Year or Less

 Cloud Computing

 Mobile Apps

 Social Reading

 Tablet Computing

Time-to-Adoption Horizon: Two to Three Years

 Adaptive Learning Environments

 Augmented Reality

 Game-Based Learning

 Learning Analytics

Time-to-Adoption Horizon: Four to Five Years

 Digital Identity

 Gesture-Based Computing

 Haptic Interfaces

 Internet of Things

Top trends and issues:

The abundance of resources and relationships made easily accessible via the Internet is increasingly challenging us to revisit our roles as educators.
Computers as we know them are in the process of a massive reinvention because we increasingly expect media to be touchable and interactive.
Education paradigms are shifting to include online learning, hybrid learning and collaborative models. [about time!]
Increasingly, students want to use their own technology for learning.
Institutions are increasingly exploring technologies that allow teachers and students to better collaborate.

Lecture capture, podcasting, and cheap personal video recorders increasingly make it much easier to prepare lecture-style content for students to see/hear before coming to class.
People expect to be able to work, learn, and study whenever and wherever they want to.
The technologies we use are increasingly cloud-based, and our notions of IT support are decentralized.
There is a new emphasis in the classroom on more challenge-based and active learning.
The world of work is increasingly collaborative, driving changes in the way student projects are structured.

Appropriate metrics of evaluation lag the emergence of new scholarly forms of authoring, publishing, and researching.
The demand for personalized learning is not adequately supported by current technology or practices.
Digital media literacy continues its rise in importance as a key skill in every discipline and profession. This challenge, driven by a related trend, appears here because despite the widespread agreement on the importance of digital media literacy, training in the supporting skills and techniques is rare in teacher education and non-existent in the preparation of faculty. As lecturers and professors begin to realize that they are limiting their students by not helping them to develop and use digital media literacy skills across the curriculum, the lack of formal training is being offset through professional development or informal learning, but we are far from seeing digital media literacy as a norm. This challenge is exacerbated by the fact that digital literacy is less about tools and more about thinking, and thus skills and standards based on tools and platforms have proven to be somewhat ephemeral.
Dividing learning into fixed units such as credit hours limits innovation across the board.
Economic pressures and new models of education are bringing unprecedented competition to the traditional models of tertiary education.

Institutional barriers present formidable challenges to moving forward in a constructive way with emerging technologies.
The global drive to increase the number of students participating in undergraduate education is placing pressure across the system.
Most academics are not using new and compelling technologies for learning and teaching, nor for organizing their own research.
New modes of scholarship are presenting significant challenges for libraries and university collections, how scholarship is documented, and the business models to support these activities.
Simply staying organized and current presents a challenge in a world where information, software tools, and devices proliferate at the rate they do today.

WordStash

2011-10-27T11:43:00.000-07:00

A comment on my 2CoolTools blog alerted me to a flashcard game, WordStash [subheading: Half flashcard, half dictionary, and full awesome!]

I asked teacher librarians if this is popular with students or a useful study help and only heard messages like "thanks for alerting us to this cool new tool." WordStash is a cool tool for students who need to occupy their time after turning in their assignment or test -- or for after school. For that matter, this might have appeal for new iPad users and senior citizens who want to stay sharp.

Examples of favorite lists:

Top 250 most difficult SAT vocabulary words
Words to impress your friends
Biology vocabulary
U.S. State Capitals
about 200 lists in all

So, enjoy! I see there is a teacher version. And there's more!

Teacher librarians also recommend:

Quizlet - free. 4 study modes: flashcards, spelling, learn, tests. Audio in many languages. Very large collection!
Memorize.com - create pages, memorize, share with others

Internet Librarian 2011

2011-10-02T10:51:00.000-07:00

Love the annual Internet Librarian conference in beautiful Monterey, California. Wish it was held in August, not October at the beginning of the academic year. Once again, I can only attend one day -- the day I'm presenting on behalf of the California Campaign for Strong School Libraries. The session is a part of the Schools@Internet Librarian conference-within-a-conference. Here is the promo:

E101 – Changing the Story: The California Campaign for Strong School Libraries
10:15 AM – 11:00 AM
Jackie Siminitus, VP, Communication, California School Library Association
Connie Williams, Chair, California Campaign for Strong School Libraries, California School Library Association

The California Campaign for Strong School Libraries is a public awareness campaign that seeks to inform the public and policymakers on the importance of a strong school library in increasing student academic achievement. The campaign promotes the new Model School Library Standards and works to “change the story” of what a school is. California School Library Association’s Siminitus and Williams showcase a number of major outreach efforts including an audio journal; bus ads; Illustrators Galore @ LIBRARY STORE; leveraging library vendors as advocates; plus how to design and offer their free, online tutorial for teens, “Tools2Create: Summer 2.0 Fun.”

Curriki for Open (free) Content for Educators

2011-08-05T21:07:00.000-07:00

This week, Scott McNealy, co-founder of Sun Microsystems, was the keynote speaker at Silicon Valley Education Fund's ShiftED Conference at Foothill College. Scott is a great presenter and loves to throw zingers at his audience. He kept his audience spellbound and essentially put forth the case for why America's educational system is broken, that there is not just a learning gap but a canyon. We need to make dramatic changes immediately.

Scott sold his company to Oracle in 2010 and is now free to do as he pleases. One of his passions is the concept of making it easy for educators to access free online lesson plans and other resources rather than spending precious money on new textbooks each year. As he frequently points out, math has not changed so why keep evaluating and adopting and buying new math textbooks when resources could be better spent? One of his top projects is Curriki, an online system created to support the development and free distribution of educational materials to anyone who needs them. Curriki was first established in 2004, then became a tax exempt 501C3 non profit in 2006.

Curriki has lots of supporters from business and educational organizations. According to Scott, the key is to compel teachers to take the TIME to upload their best work. Seems to me there needs to be more incentives than just the desire to share. What will that incentive be? Recognition? A fun game? A way to win points of some sort? How about the option of special templates or branding/marketing tools?

Also, how can an educator or content contributor know if or how their lesson plans are being used? Are analytics available to the content providers? I love the idea of open and free content available in the cloud, and the large number and quality of supporting organizations, but in a teacher's busy daily life, something other than yet another email is needed to remind them to visit Curriki. How about something fun?

I'd like to find time to sit in a workshop with elementary, middle and high school teachers and teacher librarian who can compare Curriki to Shmoop and California's Brokers of Expertise.

Scribbitt - Kids Create Books

2011-08-02T10:09:00.000-07:00

Here's a cool tool for teens who want to draw or make their own book.: Scribblitt. The site's subtitle is "Sparking Creativity". This is a good site to send kids after they complete a California School Library Association's tutorial, "Tools2Create" or "TeenLearning 2.0".

Google Alerts - Cool Tool to Monitor Your Top Topics

2011-07-06T10:45:00.000-07:00

Are you eager to learn what's new on a special topic, person, or place?

Do you wonder who is writing about you, your family, friends or favorite book?

Have you started a new project and wonder how or if your news release or other publicity is getting covered by the media?

Google has yet another new tool in Beta test called Google Alerts.

Test it out by setting up an alert for a topic like "school libraries" or your name. Google Alerts give you a bunch of examples. Check it out.

Librarians could use this as a quick reference tool.
Students could use this as a way to see what's new on their research topic.
The California School Library Foundation could get alerts on its new LIBRARY STORE by setting up an alert for "cafepress.com/csla"

Riding the Digital Trail: Creating Book Trailers - by Naomi Bates

2011-06-30T07:49:00.000-07:00

Texas Library Media Specialist of the Year Naomi Bates created an online presentation (Presi) on best practices for creating book trailers (promotions, like movie trailers). Naomi's presentation is "Book Trailers: Making Students Want to Read." Well done! See below.

Book trailers - Making students want to read created by Naomi Bates, Northwest High School on Prezi

PREZI is a popular presentation tool -- try it and you'll see it is more engaging than the traditional Powerpoint, and so much more accessible!

Pew Internet and American Life: E-reader Ownership Doubles in Six Months

2011-06-28T21:16:00.000-07:00

Rush Brandis of the California State Library alerted librarians of a new Pew Internet and American Life Report on E-Reader Ownership. Here is an overview taken from the report:

Overview:

The share of adults in the United States who own an e-book reader doubled to 12% in May, 2011 from 6% in November 2010. E-readers, such as a Kindle or Nook, are portable devices designed to allow readers to download and read books and periodicals. This is the first time since the Pew Internet Project began measuring e-reader use in April 2009 that ownership of this device has reached double digits among U.S. adults.

Tablet computers—portable devices similar to e-readers but designed for more interactive web functions—have not seen the same level of growth in recent months. In May 2011, 8% of adults report owning a tablet computer such as an iPad, Samsung Galaxy or Motorola Xoom. This is roughly the same percentage of adults who reported owning this kind of device in January 2011 (7%), and represents just a 3 percentage-point increase in ownership since November 2010. Prior to that, tablet ownership had been climbing relatively quickly.

The full report is at

http://www.pewinternet.org/~/media//Files/Reports/2011/PIP_eReader_Tablet.pdf

ALA Annual 2011: AASL Unveils the Top 25 Websites for Teaching, Learning

2011-06-28T14:57:00.000-07:00

ALA Annual 2011: AASL Unveils the Top 25 Websites for Teaching, Learning

Here are a few fun sites to explore, thanks to the American Association of School Librarians. Lots of new sites. Good to see that the Khan Academy is listed. These and other good sites are what librarians need to have handy to recommend or demonstrate to teachers, teens, and parents. They are amazing.

Online "Filter Bubbles" - TedTalk by Eli Pariser

2011-06-28T08:06:00.000-07:00

California Teacher Librarian Susie Goodin alerted California librarians to a TedTalk by Eli Pariser on the dangers of online "filter bubbles". The description states that as web companies tailor their services and search results to our personal tastes, there is a dangerous yet unintended consequence -- we get trapped in a "Filter bubble" and don't get exposed to information that could challenge or broaden our worldview. Pariser argues that this will ultimately prove to be bad for us and for democracy.

This is particularly interesting for educators, given the high degree of Internet filtering in schools, thanks in large part to federal funding requirements under the E-Rate (Education Rate) program.

MediaFly

2011-04-11T17:05:00.000-07:00

MEDIAFLY On Air is a free site that connects viewers to recent news of all sorts of topics. In addition to online radio and podcasts, Mediafly lets consumers listen to their favorite podcast and radio shows from the major networks. Go to MEDIAFLY.com and explore!

You can search by community picks, source or topic. Here are two topics.

Education has a variety of sites, but they do not appear to be provided by the education community. TedTalks and GrammarGirl are options, for example.
Technology has many popular technology shows, including GeekBeat.tv

Skype for Teachers: "Skype in the Classroom"

2011-03-30T19:59:00.000-07:00

Skype is that free voice and video site purchased by eBay several years ago. It is my preferred way to have a live discussion while sitting at my computer. With or without the video, the audio is fine when you have a good computer, broadband, and a quiet office. Even if the room is noisy and somewhat chaotic (like a classroom of antsy students), the audio with video is powerful. Given most school libraries have wireless Internet, thanks to annual Federal E-Rate funding, Skype is an ideal way to bring authors, scientists, college admissions officers, and other guests to the schools.

Skype's special site for teachers is worth checking out, even if it is mis-named. Skype in the Classroom should be "Skype in the School Library".

CUE 2011 Opening Keynote - Michael Horn on Disrupting Class

2011-03-26T09:07:00.000-07:00

Here is a fascinating presentation by Michael Horn at the 2011 Computer-Using Educators conference in Palm Springs. It is well-worth viewing, taking notes, and sharing.

Think especially about high school libraries and how they could be positioned to provide the space and the instructors/guides-on-side for online resources (online tutorials). CSLA members who have already taken the CSLA online courses and have been teaching/coaching colleagues and teens are well-positioned to introduce Michael Horn's presentation and book. [Those who have not yet gotten their feet wet with social media tools and other CSLA online tutorials... now is the time to hurry and catch up.]

Tech "Care Package" for Kids to Send Parents and Grandparents

2011-03-05T12:42:00.000-08:00

Google has created more than 50 short (2-minute) videos with step-by-step instructions on all sorts of technology topics, ranging from how to "cut and paste" to how to create a blog.

The site is set up so children can e-mail a specific tech "care package" to their parents or grandparents. See TeachParentsTech.org

Library Technology Trends: Big Shift, Wifi Saturation, Laptops

2011-02-20T15:03:00.000-08:00

Florida-based Free Range Librarian Karen Schneider wrote a summary of library technology trends when she returned from ALA Mid-winter conference in San Diego. Karen's trends refer mostly to academic and public libraries.

The Big Shift: ebooks and streaming (rather than DVDs) is catching on faster than anticipated; moving seldom-used materials to off-site facilities. Regional repositories are a far better investment than compact shelving.
Wifi saturation: more and more people carry multiple wifi-enabled devices and increasingly depend on access to the Internet.
Laptops: most college Freshmen now have laptop computers and need wifi, power, and security. There is a reduced need for desktop computers in academic (and public libraries in affluent communities).

Horizon Report 2011 - Top Technology Trends in Higher Education

2011-02-12T07:37:00.000-08:00

The 2011 Horizons Report is out. Each year, the Horizon Report introduces six emerging technologies or practices that are likely to enter mainstream use within the next five years.

It is 40 pages. Once you've read the report -- or the 6-page summary-- share it with friends and discuss these technology trends.

Executive Summary (key trends, critical challenges, technology to watch, and the Horizon Project)
Electronic books, mobiles: Time-to-Adoption: <1 year
Augmented reality, game-based learning: Time-to-Adoption: 2-3 years
Gesture-based computing, learning analytics: Time-to-Adoption: 4-5 years

The report is produced by the New Media Consortium and EDUCAUSE.

Slideshare presentation of Horizons Report:

http://www.slideshare.net/dreig/2011-horizonreport

Who to share with? School leadership, library and technology teams, science teachers and students. Share the link, but also print a few copies to hand to colleagues, students, board members, book and computer clubs. This report focuses on higher education trends, so consider developing your organization's own set of trends.

Horizons Report 2011 - Higher Education Technology Trends

2011-01-23T11:14:00.000-08:00

February 1, 2011 is a soft launch of the New Media Consortium's 2011 Horizon Report on Higher Ed Tech Trends. Consider following the news on twitter and alert your ed tech teams. This is always good reading and discussing.

Google DemoSlams

2011-01-06T15:50:00.000-08:00

After spending a few hours at the Googleplex being interviewed about my search strategy (what a scary thought...), I was asked if I could have anything more to help me search, what would it be. I said "voice", the abilty to state what I wanted rather than type it in. Then I said that there must already be an app for that on mobile devices.

As it turns out, Google Voice does just that on mobile phones. See "Chubby Bunny", one of the best demos featuring Google Voice. Better yet, spend your lunchtime with DemoSlam by Google. If you have a large screen monitor, it would be fun for a bunch of teachers or students to watch and vote for their favorite demos.

Here's an idea: Challenge middle and high school students to create demos and submit them -- use the school library as a backdrop! Learn how to submit a demo to Google. Have a blast.

Virtual Classrooms

2011-01-03T09:11:00.000-08:00

Mashable started the year with a reasoned article on The Case for The Virtual Classroom. The article is focused on higher education, but could easily apply to high schools in terms of preparing students. Here are the six points in the case for online learning:

Online education "doesn't have to suck". The U.S. Department of Education says that research shows that students who studied in online learning environments performed modestly better than peers who were receiving face-to-face instruction.
Universities have limited physical space.
Education can change the world.
Global understanding is more important than ever.
The Internet empowers self-motivated learners.
The virtual classroom can make the physical classroom more effective.

K-12 educators who get their feet wet with free, online tutorials such as Classroom Learning 2.0 or School Library Learning 2.0 will appreciate the power of learning online with peers across the globe or within a district. Those who introduce teens to the new media through online tutorials like Teen Learning 2.0 are doing a great service in preparing students for college and careers.

Backing Up Your Blog

2010-12-24T15:06:00.000-08:00

Here's how and why to back up your blog, just in case...according to an item in Free Technology for Teachers. The article provides a "how-to" for Blogger, edublogs, and Wordpress. For example, with Blogger, go to "settings" and "export blog" by downloading to your computer.

QR Symbols - How to Create Them and Why

2010-12-19T09:54:00.000-08:00

Keep hearing about or seeing QR symbols? Here is a RocketBoomTech video that gives background and how to create your own. At the end, it shows how to create one using Google (Goo.gl). Another way to create one is Bit.ly

The Daring Librarian uses QR. Middle School Teacher Librarian asks students to dring their cell phones to the library, form small teams, and hunt for QR codes posted around the library -- along the lines of a treasure hunt. Some QRs lead to wiki or web pages that have students do certain tasks. Prizes include iTune gift cards.

Try the QR to the right and see where it takes you!

Five Web-based Alternatives to PowerPoint

2010-12-19T08:12:00.000-08:00

Five years ago, I learned of Zoho as an alternative for an office suite. Now there is a wider selection of options.

ReadWrite BIZ writer John Paul Titlow says: “For years, Microsoft PowerPoint has been the standard bearer of slide presentation applications, but several web-based alternatives have emerged. For the most part, the alternatives offer similar functionality to PowerPoint, sometimes more, sometimes less. One obvious advantage to web-based presentations is that they’re stored in the cloud, eliminating the potential for nightmare scenarios involving lost or corrupted thumb drives.”...ReadWriteBiz, Nov. 27

Prezi - See the demo and great examples of Prezi for presentations.
SlideRocket - It is a collaborative presentation tool. It allows for users to comment and answer polls in real time, interact with Flickr and GoogleDocs.
280 Slides - Easy to create, easy to share. Take a tour!
GoogleDocs - Essentially a web-based version of MS PowerPoint. Nice.
Zoho Show - The presentation application of Zoho offers the standard functionality, but also includes live audio chat with the audience.

Bit.ly Bundles - a short URL for a bunch of long URLs

2010-12-18T19:41:00.000-08:00

Mashable/Social Media reporter Jolie O’Dell writes: “Link-sharing service bit.ly has just launched a new tool for people who really, really love sharing links. Bit.ly Bundles allow you to package multiple long links in a single shortened URL. This is a highly useful feature with an almost endless string of use cases. You can tweet a string of YouTube videos or post a collection of study materials to Facebook—all with just one short URL.”...

Here is an example of a Bit.ly Bundle for a number of online technology tutorials for teachers and teens, http://bit.ly/bundles/4libraries/1

Try it! URLS: Shorten and share.

Google eBooks

2010-12-18T15:23:00.000-08:00

Google eBooks are here! On December 6, 2010, Google eBooks opened. The online book store idea is good, and at some point most of us will have a variety of mobile devices. I still prefer real books for great stories. But I could see reading fast reads like mysteries and thrillers as eBooks so they won't go in the bags of books that eventually go to library and YMCA book sales.

Momento - Diary Ap for iPhone

2010-12-18T15:13:00.000-08:00

Going on a journey or just want to keep a diary? Momento might be a good solution: Capture, import, browse, read, protect (lock your diary). In moments, it can add all the facebook, Flickr and tweets you ever posted. See the YALSA blog for more ways teens and teen librarians can use the application.

Web 2.0 Tools -- Top Tools Recommended by CSLA Members

2010-12-18T11:26:00.000-08:00

Placentia (CA) Teacher Librarian Joy Millam asked California school library colleagues for their top web 2.0 tools. Below is the "hit" list from Joy. Now to look and play with any of the new tools.

Here’s is the compilation of current Web 2.0 Favorites: (I will post the document on my wiki later http://booktalksandmore.pbworks.com) By far the most popular of those mentioned were Glogster, Animoto, wikis, Voicethread, and xtranormal.

Thanks everyone for sending me your 5 Fave Web 2.0 tools/toys! J

Wordle- word cloud generator http://www.wordle.net/ or tagxedo.com

The following sites show how word clouds are used in teaching/learning.

http://azk12.org/blog/2010/11/critical-thinking-with-word-clouds/

https://docs.google.com/present/view?id=dhn2vcv5_157dpbsg9c5

http://www.web2teachingtools.com/wordle.html

Bookmarking- tracking it all:

· diigo.com (keep and organize bookmarks online for access from any connected computer)

· Delicious (social bookmarking)

· evernote (save webpages)

Digital flashcards

http://memorize.com

http://www.studyblue.com/

Discussion board sites:

ProBoards or other discussion board sites (class discussions)

File Storage and Sharing:

Dropbox – use anywhere in the world to access your files.

4Shared: for hosting videos that I’ve captured using Firefox Downloader

Images:

Flickr, Flickr Creative Commons and Flickr Toys like Pim Pam Pum: http://www.pimpampum.net/bubblr/?id=25880

Picture Trail: image tool that brings interest and engagement

Picnic.com (also love imagechef.com)

Bighugelabs.com

Examples of schools/teachers using Web 2.0 tools to learn

http://www.mpsomaha.org/willow/index.html

http://www.thematzats.com/itselementary/index.html

http://www.thematzats.com/itselementary/studenttools.html

http://sunrise651.edu.glogster.com/what-do-they-need/ 21^st Century learners glog

This article shows kindergartner’s using web 2.0 tools

http://www.schoollibraryjournal.com/article/CA6561014.html?q=web+2.0

Lesson Plan storage and sharing:

LiveBinder

Suggestions for using various tools:

Use Voki to record students describing something they’ve learned, using just 60 seconds of recording time. These can be presented to class fulfilling technology standards and presentations.

Use a blog or wiki to post a student avatar or picture creation and have students post comments about the avatar or picture. (Voki)

Some of the teachers at my school used voicethread with K classes. Really cute although the teacher could be heard prompting them. I think younger kids could use it for info on famous people. In small groups they could find the important info and then record it one at a time on voicethread: one tells where and where born, another tells about education, another tells about family and another tells about what they did and why we remember them.

http://www.teacherled.com/resources/bingo/bingoload.html

http://exchange.smarttech.com/forum.html

http://www.allmyfaves.com/

Go to readability.com- to remove all visual distractions/ads from websites

Teachers at my school really like ReadThinkWrite.org. We’ve used their comic creator and acrostic poem maker

http://www.readwritethink.org/classroom-resources/student-interactives/acrostic-poems-30045.html

xtranormal.com (students create cartoons to tell a story, teach a skill, discuss a topic, and more!)

Big Huge Labs- great for a variety of uses. Motivational posters, trading cards, magazine covers, etc.

This has a great list of applications-

http://langwitches.org/blog/2007/12/22/best-web-20-applications-for-elementary-school/

Recommended for staff-- Jog the Web, Jing, and Youblisher

Making Video or audio projects/digital storytelling:

· Glogster.com- multi-dimensional learning! So fun and and easy tool to use. (interactive posters)

· Animoto- Good for all ages.

o Here’s one example for younger children- take pictures of kids in the library and create an animoto video for them to see. Can they find their picture?

o I have used Animoto with first and second graders and they loved it. I have also used Bookr.

· Voicethread, GarageBand, or Audacity – use for story re-tellings, podcasts, book reports,

· Blabberize.com – so cool! Example using Blabberize.com to show learning

http://5daled2010.wikispaces.com/Photosynthesis+Raps

· Xtranormal

· Zooburst is my new fave for digital storytelling: http://www.zooburst.com/book/zb0_4ce4230ec59e4

Using Wikis or Blogs:

Wikispaces- The students use wikis mainly to publish their work and peer review.

wordpress.com-for blogging (good for monitored peer review)

Blogger.com- good blog site.

Ning.com – good for building community within a classroom.

Gaggle.net – safe (filtered), online learning tools.

Examples of blogs and wikis in practice-

http://ktoponce.wikispaces.com/ - this one is a great example of a class wiki/blog.

http://fuhsag.wikispaces.com/ - another great example of a wiki in use.

Great examples: My main blogsite address is- http://newresearchprocess.blogspot.com

And the main site for my middle schoolers is: http://centralmslibrary.blogspot.com

From these sites, the right menu has the blogs I create for each collaborative unit.

Example of using a wiki to communicate and engage students

http://5daled2010.wikispaces.com/message/view/Photosynthesis+Raps/21616825

Powerpoint Alternatives:

· prezi.com (alternative to "just another PowerPoint")

· Google Docs

Social networks for teachers using 2.0 tools

http://www.classroom20.com/

http://teacherlibrarian.ning.com/group/web20inthelibraryworld/forum/topics/web-20-in-k2-environment

http://www.classroom20.com/forum/topics/any-k2-teachers-out-there

Another article:

http://blogs.preknow.org/insideprek/2008/02/web-2what.html

Web 2.0 and Related Bloom’s Taxonomy sites:

http://edorigami.wikispaces.com/#Bloom's http://edorigami.wikispaces.com/Bloom%27s+Digital+Taxonomy http://edorigami.wikispaces.com/file/view/bloom%27s+Digital+taxonomy+v3.01.p

http://www.usi.edu/distance/bdt.htm

Credibility: Truth & Trust on the Web

2010-12-15T09:13:00.000-08:00

Google Education Evangelist and Search Researcher Daniel Russell invited California educators to an evening class on "Credibility: Truth & Trust on the Web". Daniel walked a mix of teachers and librarians through the presentation below. Curriculum Fellows Natasha Bergson-Michelson and Trent Maverick acted as TAs - teaching assistants for the evening. [Loved seeing the TAs because in high school and middle school they can play an important role in engaging students in online learning exercises while classroom teachers and teacher librarians manage other pressing activities. CSLA encourages use of TAs with the Teen Learning 2.0 tutorial.]

Public Domain Mark

2010-12-11T11:27:00.000-08:00

Press Release from Creative Commons:

San Francisco, California, USA; The Hague, Netherlands — 11 October 2010
Today, Creative Commons announces the release of the Public Domain Mark, a tool that enables works free of known copyright restrictions to be labeled in a way that clearly communicates that status to the public, and allows the works to be easily discovered over the Internet. The Public Domain Mark effectively increases the value of the public domain by making works that are already free of copyright readily accessible to the public. The Mark makes it clear to teachers and students, artists and scientists, that they are free to re-use material. Its release benefits everyone who wishes to build upon the rich and vast resources that are part of the shared public domain.

Europeana – Europe’s digital library, museum and archive – is the first major adopter of the Public Domain Mark. The tool will become the standard mark for works free of known copyright that are shared via the Europeana portal, playing an important infrastructural role in the EU’s efforts to ensure that all works shared online are marked with rights information. Europeana, whose partners include the Rijksmuseum in Amsterdam, the Bibliothèque nationale de France and Germany’s Bundesarchiv (Federal archives), estimates that the millions of out-of-copyright works made accessible via its searchable database will be labelled with the Public Domain Mark by mid-2011. Europeana will announce the adoption of the Public Domain Mark at the upcoming Europeana Open Culture 2010 Conference, to be held 14-15 October in Amsterdam.
“The Public Domain Mark is a further step on the path towards making the promise of a digital public domain a reality,” said Michael Carroll, a founding board member of Creative Commons and a law professor at American University. “Marking and tagging works with information about their copyright status is essential. Computers must be able to parse the public domain status of works to communicate its usefulness to the public. The metadata standard underpinning the Public Domain Mark and all of CC’s licensing and legal tools are what makes this possible.”

“An important part of our mandate is to ensure that digitized works made available through Europeana are properly labelled with rights information, including when a work is free of known copyright restrictions so that teachers, students and others can freely use it in their work, changing it and remixing it as they wish,” noted Jill Cousins, Executive Director of Europeana. “The legal and technical rigour applied by Creative Commons throughout the development process makes the Public Domain Mark the natural choice for Europeana’s infrastructure. We have also worked with Creative Commons and our content providers to develop a Usage Guide for public domain works to help users of cultural content use it responsibly – by crediting the provider, among other things.”

The Public Domain Mark in its current form is intended for use with works that are free of known copyright around the world, primarily old works that are beyond the reach of copyright in all jurisdictions. Creative Commons is mapping the next phases of its public domain work, which will look at ways to identify and mark works that are in the public domain in a limited number of countries.

Creative Commons worked closely with Europeana and several of its members throughout the development of the Public Domain Mark. That process also included a public consultation period and review by CC’s worldwide affiliate network comprised of legal experts from more than 70 jurisdictions. The Public Domain Mark, to be used for marking works already free of copyright, complements Creative Commons’ CC0 public domain dedication, which provides an easy and reliable way for adding new works to the public domain prior to the expiry of copyright.

More information about the Public Domain Mark can be found on the Creative Commons website.

Web 2.0 for Student Achievement

2010-12-11T11:08:00.001-08:00

Check out this SlideShare Presentation:

Web 2.0 for Student Achievement

View more presentations from dachterman.

ZigZag Mullti-Dimensional Web Browser

2010-12-08T11:02:00.000-08:00

The Internet Archives featured a discussion with Ted Nelson, who describes how ZigZag works. The goal of the Internet Archives team was to see what could be done in one month to move the ZigZag project forward.

A demo of how to use ZigZag with the Internet Archives' Open Library is shown about 12 minutes into the 28 minute video.

Below is a 2008, more polished video with Ted Nelson on introducing ZigZag data structure. Ted has worked on the project for 20 years.

Bart Weetjens: How I taught rats to sniff out land mines

2010-12-07T12:10:00.000-08:00

Bart Weetjens: How I taught rats to sniff out land mines | Video on TED.com

Here's a story to share with young people before they are introduced to the annual science fair or inventors' fair. Or, for that matter, it could be an excellent introduction to science in general.

Bart Weetjens

This is an amazing story about how rats can be trained to save lives by sniffing out land mines, detecting people who have TB, and more. It is also about empowerment of native people to make their country a better, safer, healthier place to live. What a wonderful example of how one person can make a difference! Bart Weetjens is making a huge contribution, thanks to his early fascination with rats and where he has taken his passion.

DigiDesiderata - video and posters

2010-11-28T16:38:00.000-08:00

Petaluma HS teacher librarian Connie Williams alerted CSLA members to this video that was created by Nancy Willard, Director of the Center for Safe and Responsible Internet Use.

Nancy Willard says that DigiDesiderata is a version of Max Erhmann's Desiderata that encouraged digital civility. Posters are available at http://www.zazzle.com/digidesiderata*. The original Desiderata was published by Max Ehrmann in 1927.

Instructional materials are available at the Center for Safe and Responsible Internet Use - http://csriu.org.

School Library Learning 2.0 -- online Continuring Education Credit Course

2010-10-29T11:45:00.000-07:00

	School Library Learning 2.0 Classroom Learning 2.0 “23 Things” ...An online professional learning opportunity for educators Play for free to learn on your own or pay for units at: http://schoollibrarylearning2.csla.net

Join School Library Learning 2.0:
"23 Things"

Experience the latest Web 2.0 tools that can be used in your library and throughout your school or classroom…a self paced program.
Develop your own blog or wiki and find out about what the blogosphere is all about for education
Have you wanted to find out all about this Web 2.0 stuff? Now is your chance!
23 fun, new “Things” that will help you to better use online tools for education.

Do it for your own enjoyment and personal growth or you can earn two units of continuing education credit.

How to Start/Register:

When? Start now on your own… then apply for units beginning Dec 1, 2010. Info: http://schoollibrarylearning2.csla.net/2007/02/about.html

Continuing Education/Professional Development Credit:

Fresno Pacific University

Course # is IND 1150. Cost is $220 for two (2) units.

Registration can occur any time and is completed online. Transcripts can be issued within a month of the completion of the course. http://schoollibrarylearning2.csla.net/2007/02/about.html

To Sign Up for Credits

Please send an email to Robdarrow@cusd.com with “School Library Learning” in the subject line to activate Fresno Pacific credits for this program. (Rob will be your primary “online instructor” to verify work completed and help you to register for the units.)

For more info, contact Rob Darrow (robdarrow@cusd.com)

60second Recap - Book Trailers

2010-10-24T09:46:00.000-07:00

Recommendation from Teacher Librarian Rebecca Johnston:

(CALIBK12 listserv)

"Here [60Second Recap] is a great site for your English teachers. The host, Jenny Sawyer, gives 1 minute video summaries of topics on many literary classics. There are 10 videos for each title including the plot, cast of characters, themes, context, motifs, a trailer, and a conclusion. She also has several videos on literary terms and how to write a paper. The style is fresh, entertaining, and innovative and very connected to the standards for English literature. Most of our required reading is covered including Of Mice and Men, The Great Gatsby, Oedipus Rex, Romeo and Juliet, 1984, Fahrenheit 451 and many more. Jenny also has her "Pick of the Week" which is a video trailer on current YA titles."

"The only negative is the videos are hosted on YouTube so if YouTube is blocked at school you will not be able to stream them. I had to download them for the teachers :-( "

Here is an article about Jenny, the host of 60 Second Recap http://www.usatoday.com/news/education/2009-09-07-jenny-sawyer-60-second-recap-classics_N.htm

Rebecca Johnston

Teacher Librarian

Redlands East Valley High School

"If we knew what it was we were doing, it would not be
called research, would it?" - Albert Einstein

Memorize -- a new, cool tool

2010-10-21T20:22:00.000-07:00

Here's a new tool that lets you create and share flashcards and other tools for memorizing and learning things.

What would be good to create? Weekly vocabulary/spelling tests? Topics that help prepare for SAT and other tests?

When I was in high school Spanish, we had weekly vocabulary lists and I got my mother to help quiz me. Poor mom! Memorize.com would be a good tool for Spanish OR English teachers (Remember weekly Word Wealth Words?).

Check out the Typography in the logo, too.

2010-09-27T08:46:00.000-07:00


Connie's suitcase @ airport

Petaluma (CA) High School Librarian Connie Williams now writes a monthly article for Follett Software's Library Connections blog. Connie tells a story or two about using a technology, and then connects them to the school library. "The Suitcase Strategy and the Power of Search" is a good example: two technology stories on the power of "search".

Connie's is the kind of column that should appear in the general news media, such as local newspapers. How does a column get syndicated? Educators and librarians spend too much time preaching to the choir and not enough time reaching out to the public, public policymakers, and TV/movie producers.

BlogBooker

2010-09-19T13:27:00.000-07:00

Interesting -- I don't have time now to experiment with BlogBooker, but this might be a good way to capture this and other blogs for historical purposes...in book format!

Compare USA to Other Countries

2010-09-19T10:46:00.000-07:00

World travelers and students of world affairs should like this Google mashup, "If It Were My Home". Compare country size and statistics for USA vs Afghanistan, Argentina, or any country in the world. If you love visuals, this is a good way to look at comparison statistics.

The site also helps you visualize disasters like the 2010 Pakistan flood or the BP oil spill.

The site was designed by Annette Calabrese and developed by Andy Lintner.

Photoshop Tutorials - recommended by Mashable

2010-09-19T10:18:00.000-07:00

Many people are going gangbusters with digital photography, so correcting and organizing digital photos is a big deal. This year, Adobe Creative Suite 5 promotes use of Adobe BRIDGE as an organizer, and it is better than iPhoto. In addition to the Photoshop textbook or class, Mashable recommends a number of beginner tutorials for Adobe Photoshop.

LITA Annual Library Technology Trends - July 2010

2010-09-09T17:51:00.000-07:00

Each year at the American Library Association conference, the LITA Division -- Library Information Technology Association, sponsors a program called Top Ten Library Technology Trends. The list is longer than ten trends, but includes short term and longer term trends.

CardStar iPhone App for Your Library Card Barcode

2010-08-26T19:53:00.000-07:00

Some libraries are now using a mobile app, CardStar, to include your library card barcode. This allows you to keep your library and other cards at home. See this video explanation by Hinsdale Public Library in Illinois.

Back-to-School iPhone Apps

2010-08-26T08:01:00.000-07:00

Here is a list of mobile apps for young adults headed back to school or college, according to Mashable .

Open Culture. Access to mobile education audio and videos.
Mental Case. Flashcards for Medical Students
Rate My Professor -- self explanatory
My Homework and iStudiez Pro
Free Translator
Chegg - textbook search and rental
Blackboard Mobile Learn
Quick Graph
Formulas Free -- Formulas for Calculus
Free Books -- Last but not least!!!

iPhone Touch was given out free to students and educators who bought a new computer this summer. Most campuses and high schools have campuswide wireless Internet access, so there should be a lot more traffic/bandwidth use this fall. Enjoy!

Now to collect a top ten mobile apps for school and academic libraries.

Social Media Revoution -- New YouTube

2010-08-16T08:55:00.000-07:00

The future is here. Don't get left behind! Why it is so important for educators to learn web 2.0 tools:

See newest version of Social Media Revolution (below)
Sign up immediately for Classroom Learning 2.0 or School Library Learning 2.0

Share widely!
Help your friends get comfortable with social media.
If you work with young people, try the new Teen Learning 2.0 tutorial by the California School Library Association.

Make Beliefs Comix - comic strip creator

2010-08-09T20:03:00.000-07:00

Comic creator Bill Zimmerman has a fun comic strip creator, MakeBeliefsComix. It gives you 20 characters, 25 objects (like flowers, books, phones, hats), talk and thought balloons -- all of which can be re-sized, flipped, moved, or an object brought to front. Once you create a 2,3,or 4-panel comic strip you can print it or email it.

It is a cool tool that can be used to bring humor, yet communicate rules (like this is a "Quiet Zone": Readers at Work), issues, or other bits of necessary information. It could also be a way for students to be challenged to tell a 3-4 panel story -- including who, what, when, where, and why. Enjoy.

Digital Futures Project: Who Trusts Digital Information?

2010-08-07T15:35:00.000-07:00

The Center for the Digital Future at the USC Annenberg School for Communication & Journalism created the World Internet Project, which includes the Digital Future Project and similar studies across the globe.

The recently released 2010 Digital Futures Project looks at a variety of trends, including the public's lack of "trust" in information online. Maybe that is the angle librarians need to take -- how they can teach students how to evaluate information so they can determine which sources of info they can trust. Here are highlights from "Media Use and Trust" section of the report:

Views about Sources of Information and Entertainment:In the current Digital Future Project, a large majority of respondents age 17 and older said that the Internet was an important or very important source of information for them -- higher than the figure reported for television, newspapers, or radio. Comparing the views of users about the importance of entertainment sources, television ranks highest, with 79% of users saying it is an important or very important entertainment source for them, compared to the Internet, radio, and newspapers. (Page 67)

Reliability of Information Online: Views of Internet Users: For the third year in a row, a declining percentage of Internet users said that most or all of the information online is reliable. (Page 71)

Online Information: Reliability and Accuracy of Frequently-Visited Web Sites: Internet users have much more faith in the Web sites they visit regularly than they do in information online overall, but that faith continues to decline. (Page 73)

Web Sites: Which Are Reliable and Accurate, and Which Are Not?:The percentage of Internet users who said that most or all of the information posted by individuals, governments, and established media is reliable and accurate rose slightly in the current Digital Future Study. (Page 75)

Social Networking Sites: Reliability and Accuracy: A new question for the Digital Future Project found that only 15% of users said that most or all of the information on social networking sites is reliable and accurate. (Page 81)

Search Engines: Reliability and Accuracy: A majority of Internet users said that most or all of the information provided by search engines such as Google is reliable and accurate. However, 12% of users said that only a small portion or none of the information provided by search engines is reliable and accurate, up slightly from 10% in 2008.(Page 82)

Trust in the Internet: Forty-two percent of respondents said they have some trust or a lot of trust in the Internet. Fourteen percent of respondents said they have no trust in the Internet. (Page 84)

TV Viewing and Time-Shifting:Time-shifting of video viewing is increasing, but only marginally. (Page 86)

Trends in Online Media Use:Internet users continue to report considerable time each week using a variety of online media, but in the current study, use of the two most popular online media declined. (Page 88)

Twitter, E-books, Internet Video, and Audio Podcasts:In several new questions for this year’s Digital Future Study, Internet users were asked about their use of media that have been growing in popularity, including Twitter, e-books, and audio podcasts. Among other responses, the study found that 1/2 of those who go online have used free micro-blogs such as Twitter or Facebook. (Page 89)

Would You Miss The Print Edition of Your Newspaper? While Internet users report that they devote significant amounts of time to reading online newspapers, 62% of users who read newspapers offline said they would miss the print edition of their newspaper if it ceased to exist -- an increase for the second year in a row. However, 22% of users who read newspapers said they would not miss the print edition of their newspaper, down from 24% in 2008. Page 91)

Does Online Content Lead to Canceled Print Subscriptions? Even though large percentages of users who read newspapers would miss the print edition of the publication if it was no longer available (see the previous question), a notable percentage of Internet users – 18% -- said they stopped a subscription for a newspaper or magazine because they now get the same or related content online, a decline from 22% in 2008. (Page 91)

Cell Phones and Text Messages:Text messaging by cell phone users has more than doubled in only two years; overall, cell phone users who send text messages average 38 messages per day, compared to 16 in 2007. More specifically, text messaging is almost exclusively a medium for young cell phone users; the number of messages sent per day is by far the highest among those under 18 -- 81 per day in the current study, up from 33 per day in 2007. (Page 99)

Posting Information Online: Blogs, Photos, and Maintaining Personal Web Pages:Content creation and distribution by Internet users on a blog, through a display of photos, or on a personal Web page, continues to increase substantially, while the percentage of respondents maintaining a personal Web site has remained generally stable for three years. (Page 100)

Read on -- the report covers all sorts of trends.

California School Library Association Sweet Tweets

2010-08-05T11:57:00.000-07:00

The California School Library Association (CSLA) has a new social networking task force consisting of two techie teacher librarians, one representing Northern California (NorCal) and one representing Southern California (SoCal). They have set up a wiki Twitter page for CSLA members to add their twitter addresses so members can get their "web feet" wet by following friends and learning how to effectively use the social networking tool.

Thanks go to CSLA social networking stars Anna Koval (NorCal) and Marie Slim (SoCal). Anna and Marie say: "Try Tweeting! Follow your fellow CSLA members and add your name to the list! Use a #CSLA hashtag for general school library tweets and #calibconf for Annual Conference tweets!"

Teen Learning 2.0 - updated for 2010-2011

2010-08-03T18:53:00.000-07:00

Petaluma High School Teacher Librarian Connie Williams, co-lead of the California School Library Association 2.0 Team, announced that there is a new version of Teen Learning 2.0 available for teachers to offer students.

Special thanks for the new and revised version go to CSLA members Jane Lofton and Sheryl Grabow-Weiss, who are Teacher Librarians who are also now Classroom Teachers. They have been teaching their students key web 2.0 tools, leading the way for other teachers to do the same. Kudos to Jane and Sheryl.

Cognitive Surplus - by Clay Shirky

2010-07-24T09:04:00.000-07:00

AL Direct alerted me to a book and video presentation on the concept of cognitive surplus. See and listen to Clay Shirky, author of "Cognitive Surplus: Creativity and Generosity in a Connected Age". Given how many individuals in the developed world have time and talent, mixed with the new social networking/web 2.0 tools, humans can make a big difference in making civic changes. He gives several excellent examples. Worth listening to.

Chris Croissant writes: “We were thrilled and privileged to have Clay Shirky come into the Penguin offices in London June 29 to give a fascinating insight into his new book Cognitive Surplus. Explaining how for decades, technology encouraged us to squander our time as passive consumers, Shirky argues that technology has finally caught up with human potential and examines the changes we will all enjoy as our untapped resources of talent and good will are put to use at last.”...
Penguin Blog, June 30

RESEARCH: Pew Study on the Internet

2010-07-12T18:43:00.000-07:00

According to the newest Pew Internet & American Life Project, the biggest consumer broadband users are young people and households with four or more Internet-connected devices. Here is an introduction from Mary Madden's ALA LITA presentation on "Four or More: The New Demographic". Slideshow (36 slides).

"Trends in social media and cloud computing are often examined through the lens of younger users and broadband users, who have consistently been more actively engaged online when compared with other groups. This presentation highlights new research on teens, young adults and social media use while also identifying a new leading edge group that deserves the same attention: those who own four or more internet-connected devices."

Library Vendor Trends (4)

2010-07-05T08:08:00.000-07:00

Here is an overview of the top 4 Library Vendor Trends from the June 2010 annual American Library Conference. Top trends: mass customization, mobile, front-end interface, and shared data. Report is by Sean Fitzpatrick:

"I feel like I spent most of my time at Annual meeting up with techie vendors discussing their product plans and strategies. I believe the ideas they share play an important part in shaping trends in librarianship, for those trends almost always have an antecedent technology component, and the technology the vendors provide must always fill some need if it’s going to be viable in the marketplace. In short, looking at what the vendors are talking about is a lens through which to consider upcoming trends in our profession."

Here are some major concepts that came up again and again:

1. Mass customization

It’s clear to me that we’ve entered an era where libraries are leveraging technology to create highly individualized experiences for an ever-growing scope of users. ProQuest CIO Bipin Patel explained it to me in terms of “cracking the code of mass customization.” ProQuest demoed a new platform whose goal at the outset was to cater to every user’s individual needs. To do so, they underwent extensive user research and created about eight different “personas” against which to test their development. Researchers, who Patel referred to as “anthropologists,” defined the look and feel of the interface to the technologists. Researchers conducted about 6,000 surveys worldwide to capture nuances of a global customer base—all so that interface can have a customized feel to each user.

At SirsiDynix, Director of Product Strategy Jared Oates told me that SirsiDynix is looking at ways to be “local all over the world.” CTO Talin Bingham described a technology platform that makes possible “radical differences between user interfaces.” Looking far ahead into the future, Bingham imagined a time when neural network technology would produce relevant information to would-be searchers before they even begin searching. When I mentioned how libraries already have the data to provide Amazon-like recommendation engines, Bingham replied that he doesn’t want the data to be tied to the library; he wants to see data tied to the individual. This kind of individualization obviously exceeds the capability of any individual library, realistically requiring a large-scale, platform-neutral collaboration.

2. Mobile

Mobile was still a hot topic at Annual, after making a huge impact on Midwinter earlier this year.

Mango Languages marketing rep Beverly Cornell told me about a mobile product in the works there that will provide offline mobile access to language-learning tools. This mobile app is part of a suite of new products for the ever-expanding Mango, all of which are attempts to make language-learning easy on the go.

I also caught up with Innovative Interfaces Vice President of Product Management Betsy Graham, who described Innovative’s mobile strategy as a cross-platform, web-based (not app-based) search platform. Innovative doesn’t seem to mind being just a tad bit behind the cutting edge of, well, innovation in mobile technologies. That is, it seems everyone wants an “app,” but Graham is convinced that the cross-platform mobile-web approach will win out in the end.

I believe Graham is probably right. Nonetheless, for today’s audience products like SirsiDynix’s BookMyne app provide the best user experience, even at the cost of being platform-dependent. In truth, though, BookMyne was far from the center of SD’s excitement this conference. Instead, by pouring resources into back-end technology that can maximize handling of online and digital assets, search and discovery, and OCR for full-text searching of digitized materials, and then by creating a wide variety of API calls to utilize that data in a number of ways, SD claims it can create user interfaces “on the fly” for any device—not just iPhone or Droid or even strictly just “mobile,” but everything.

Boopsie is breaking into the mobile marketplace for libraries in a real way this year. Most ALAers are familiar with the company’s conference app, and many WorldCat users know that Boopsie runs the WorldCat for iPhone app, but now the company is working with dozens of individual libraries to offer mobile solutions. Within a couple weeks, CEO Greg Carpenter told me, Boopsie can create a customized mobile app for any library, regardless of what ILS the library is using. They can tap into the ILS in real time (so that mobile search results and availability are always up-to-date) and then, depending on what degree of access the library and ILS provide, Boopsie’s apps can even let users place holds, request renewals, and so forth. Boopsie can also aggregate data from other sources, such as programming events, library news announcements, amd branch hours from RSS feeds.

In addition to patron-centered mobile products, I think we can assume the next big buzz will be about mobile apps for back-end library work. More and more, librarians will realize that their small, lightweight mobile devices can do everything from circulation and inventory to stats and acquisitions. This trend will grow as more libraries move their systems into the cloud and as mobile devices become better and faster.

3. Front-end interface

“Everybody’s back end is similar,” SD’s Bingham told me. “Front end is the differentiator.” Oates showed an example of a front-end interface SD developed for the Wyoming State Library: an MS Surface discovery layer that sits on top of a Bing map of Wyoming to present highly interactive, location-specific, media-rich data about Wyoming. If you didn’t get to play with this interface at the SD booth, you really missed out.

I caught up with OCLC Web Scale Management Services masterminds Andrew Pace and Jill Fluvog for a long-awaited demo of WSM. This cloud-based product, entering “early-adopter” phase soon to provide access to 30 or 40 libraries worldwide, provides a front-end interface into library management tools that rivals (hands down) any dedicated ILS software environment I’ve ever seen. The platform is super-fast (even with notoriously slow exhibit hall Wi-Fi), and gives both patrons and librarians a highly intuitive interface for everything from search and acquisition to cataloging, holds, checkout, fines, and renewals.

4. Shared data

Vendors will continue to share data and utilize open data sets to improve services to end users. The most direct example of this comes from Serials Solutions and its Summon product. Although not new, Summon continues to gain strength among university and public libraries. Summon offers access to databases across the publishing industry all in one search box. The relationships Summon builds is a win for libraries, patrons, and publishers alike, as it improves every point in what Serials Solutions VP of Product Management and Marketing Stan Sorensen called the “ecosystem of information.” The ecosystem starts with a scholarly researcher seeking a publisher, to a publisher getting its content to a library, to a library disseminating that content back to students and scholars. “Our role,” Sorensen told me, “has always been lubricating that ecosystem.”

OCLC’s WSM utilizes shared data in a lot of major ways. Of course, OCLC has always been a collaborative effort to share bibliographic data. Now its WMS product takes that further. One example of this is the way WMS centralizes vendor data to provide universal information about vendors. WMS’s Pace stressed that people have been talking about centralizing vendor data for 15 years, and that maintaining vendor data institution-by-institution takes about .25 FTE per library.

ProQuest has begun aggregating content from publications on the open web into its search. Time Magazine is the first example for ProQuest of this trend toward increased collaboration among multiple data-set stakeholders. We can expect to see more and more of this in the coming months. OCLC’s Lorcan Dempsey stressed the importance of this type of collaboration. As library discovery layers put more and more resources into a single search, users will begin to perceive the discovery layers as the totality of the library itself. The more information a discovery layer can provide, the more effective it will be among patrons.

LITA Top Technology Trends - 2010

2010-07-05T07:42:00.000-07:00

Each year at the American Library Association annual conference, Library Information Technology Association (LITA) sponsors a wildly popular program on Technology Trends. It is hard to capture all the rapidly stated ideas, especially without images or more background, but here are June 2010 highlights by Mike Diaz:

OPENING: Gregg Sylvis, Chair for the LITA Top Trends Committee kicked off the session. Six panelists were each to address current trends, imminent trends and long term trends (3-5 years out).

John Blyberg, Darien Library (CT), Assistant Director for Innovation and User Experience
Lorcan Dempsey, Vice President OCLC Research and Chief Strategist, OCLC
Jason Griffey, Head of Library Information Technology, University of Tennessee at Chattanooga
Monique Sendze, IT Director Johnson County Library, Overland Park, Kansas
Cindy Trainor, Coordinator for Library Technology and Data Services, Eastern Kentucky University
Joan Frye Williams, IT Consultant

CURRENT TRENDS

Blyberg discussed the new world of ”multilevel convergent media.”

With the explosion of new devices and communication channels, people are finding new ways to describe, explain, and interact with the world around them, and the boundaries between personal and professional domains have been blurring.
This has paved the way for a move to devices that are optimized across multiple applications to support diverse communication and information sharing needs.
Now it is becoming possible to reach a new point of synergy where the total impact across applications is becoming greater than the sum of its parts. For example, writing a research paper is not a very good experience on the iPhone but the iPad will work well for this and across many other critical applications.

Dempsey called out some of the changes relating to mobile devices and their implications.

Much of the early development for mobile devices has related to the direct translation of the web applications to a mobile environment.Now there are opportunities to look at how services can be atomized and reconfigured.
The web experience can be tied to physical locations, as with the QR codes found at the ProQuest booth.
There is also the phenomenon of “microcoordination” or checking in to better manage space and logistical challenges. For example, a quick call or IM can now be used to change the time or location of a personal or business meeting on the fly.

Griffey talked about how content is no longer tied to a container.

In the past, the container (book, journal, etc.) has defined how the information has been consumed and displayed.
Now we are starting to see “container sans interface.” For example, users now expect the library catalog to look like Google, with less emphasis on the various types of information containers.
Use of iPad with touch screen does not focus the user on containers but just surfaces the information.
He feels that the touch screen is setting a new interface standard for browsing and exploring content, noting that after showing his iPad to his two-year-old daughter, she started to touch the screen of their TV expecting it to behave in the same way.

Sendze discussed the importance of libraries responding to the rapid evolution of mobile technologies in order to stay relevant to their users.

It is applications and software that make iPhone different from competing devices and this will also distinguish the iPad from its emerging competitors.
Libraries need to move aggressively into mobile applications and software as increasingly users will be coming to the library expecting to use their own devices rather than the library’s computers.

Trainor surfaced an increased emphasis user-driven collection development.

Libraries need to be more about getting people to things rather than owning them.
Many libraries were adding a complete set of MARC records from an ebook provider and then buying the books that they do not have in response to user demand.

Williams surfaced many of the changes that are being driven by the current economic environment.

Economic dislocations have been the genesis of a new creative economy. There has been an explosion of everything from niche researchers to pastry chefs. Typically, these business startups are hyper-local and home based.
Libraries need to explore what can be done to create an optimal environment for these users. This is a significant change in mindset because being an incubator for these enterprises means supporting the messy, iterative activity that is needed to spark creativity.
Rather than focusing on serving up content, libraries need to focus on being the foundation for a creative process. It is akin to moving from a grocery store to a kitchen mentality.

IMMINENT TRENDS

Williams talked about the blurring between object descriptions and the actual object.

There is a new practice called “fabbing” where 3D descriptions are facilitating the creation of the referenced object. This means that the line is blurring between comprehensive information about a thing and the thing itself.
Librarians to find new ways manage recall and rights for 3D e-versions of things, because the e-world of libraries is flatter than the real world is.
Librarians typically have not developed these types of design sensibilities needed to manage these e-objects effectively because the library world has traditionally been so text based.

Trainor called out the FaceBook privacy backlash and its implications.

Openness in terms of technology and ideas could be impacted as many people are being more thoughtful about sharing their personal information.
At the same time, there is an important piece of our cultural heritage that could be lost as it is not clear who if anyone would be in a position to preserve the rich tapestry of information that has been posted on Facebook.

Sendze talked about changes as more and more library technology infrastructure moves into the Cloud.

This change has the potential to be very disruptive.
It could significantly reduce library back room IT needs and it will likely mean that the IT function will need to be more embedded in the day-to-day work of library.

Griffey signaled the potential disruptive effects of low-cost e-Readers.

Citing recent price drops for the Kindle and the Nook , $99 eInk reading devices could be a possibility in the upcoming holiday season.
Low-cost or even disposable devices could ultimately be married with ebook content that is freely available on the web.

Dempsey talked about how new discovery layers are helping libraries to overcome the fragmentation of library resources.

Users appreciate a Google-like single search box and faceted results, and they typically perceive that everything in the collection has been surfaced, while there are generally opportunities to expand elements of the collection that are made available in this fashion.
There are also many other opportunities to surface content outside of the library collection such as Google Scholar and Google Books.
A third dimension is surfacing resources not in the current collection that could be made available through Patron-driven ILL or on-demand purchasing.

Blyberg used Seth Godin’s term “the dip” to stage his prediction of new struggles with open source software.

He indicated that many open source library projects were hitting a point where success reaches a plateau and progress gets harder and harder to achieve.
Funding is one issue since library budgets are under significant stress and while grants have often provided for startup costs, they are typically not funding ongoing costs.
Also, he indicated that open source solutions have in many cases failed to keep pace with the features and functionality offered by commercial vendors.

LONG TERM TRENDS

Griffey singled out 4G cellular infrastructure and its power to transform mobile applications.

With speeds of 100 Megabits per second, it will provide ethernet capacity in your pocket.
He talked about a new small rapid scanner developed in Japan that could ultimately allow quick scanning and OCR of Encyclopedia Brittanica or Oxford English Dictionary by a mobile device.
Libraries will need to be prepared for these types of technology shifts in order to manage implications for library services and copyright.

Sendze anticipates an acceleration of profiling and the death of Internet anonymity.

Users are freely giving over their personal information to search engines and these commercial providers are doing profiling and predictive analysis.
Libraries are still focused on protecting user privacy, despite the fact that lots of data is now available that can be used to enhance the experience of their users.
Users likely trust libraries to safeguard their personal information a lot more than they do commercial vendors and users will likely be open to their personal information being used to anticipate needs and to enhance their experience with the library.

Trainor predicted that ultimately physical copy scarcity would be gone.

As the abundance of information continues to grow, scarcity is manifesting itself in new areas such as bandwidth. Libraries should be helping to bridge these gaps for the benefit of all their users and society at large.
In the end, it will also be up to libraries to add value in new ways rather than just securing content. As an example, changes will be needed in library instruction when the only service point is the web and users are getting most of the resources they need for free.

Williams drew a comparison between the information industry and the energy industry.

Similarities stem from the relationship between the suppliers and their customers in both sectors.
Libraries are acting like niche green technology companies that are blazing down a new path, often propelled by grant funding. They are committed to building their own “information ecosystem” that is self-contained and pure and free from contaminants, like a locally-owned, socially conscious information utility.
Resource and technology challenges abound and it is difficult to sustain investments in technology infrastructure for the long term.
One potential impact could be an epidemic of “dataspills” that involves sensitive or personal information and potentially even crackdowns by the government.

Blyberg discussed the future transformations that are being driven by current economic pressures.

Current economic pressures have brought a “come to Jesus moment” for all libraries.
Many libraries have had to admit that they have very inefficient backend processes where significant benefits can be achieved through automation and process improvements.
Libraries are discovering that they can still be true to what it means to be a library while sharpening their focus on transforming the user experience.

Dempsey called for a shift for libraries from managing supply to managing demand.

He talked about the complex suite of systems and relationships for supplying information that are driving overhead and keeping libraries from focusing more of their energies on the user experience.
Greater focus will be needed on the demand side such as helping users rank, relate, or recommend items.
Embedding resources in research environments and courseware and building community around library resources will also derive significant benefits by integrating library resources into user workflows.
Libraries also need to focus on sparking indirect discovery through surfacing Google material, curation and management of institutional outputs (IRs, etc), and search engine optimization.
Only with continued focus on the demand side can libraries get to the ultimate desired state – where the mission of the library has become helping users to manage their own library.

Booktrailers - Using and Creating Them

2010-07-03T11:09:00.001-07:00

When librarians use, create, or teach others to create booktrailers... they are marketing books, authors, and reading. This new Librarian-promoted (and student-promoted) trend is a good thing. It is NOT something librarians and other educators are taught in college or grad school. It is a win-win-win strategy. Librarians need to develop a tag line such as "powered by the XYZ library". Next step: Figure out how to measure results.

The June 2010 annual American Library Association conference included a panel program organized by the YALSA (Young Adult Library Services) Teens and Technology Interest Group on creating booktrailers. Booktrailers are promotional music videos similar to movie trailers. "ALA10: Lights! Camera! Booktrailers!" included an author, a book publisher, school and public librarians who shared how they create or teach booktrailers.

Librarians interest young people in reading books by teaching them how to create booktrailers. After all, you can't create a video about a book if you haven't read it! Vallencia District Librarian Joy Millam's "Booktalks and More" wiki includes a how-to on creating book trailers and a growing list of booktrailer student-created examples.

Georgia Teacher Librarian and blogger (The Unquiet Librarian) Buffy Hamilton spoke about how librarians can use existing booktrailers to teach and engage students.

Contra Costa County Library: QR (quick response) Mobile Application

2010-06-30T18:59:00.000-07:00

Emerging Technologies Specialist Susan Kantor posted an announcement on the CALIX listserv about "Snap & Go!", a Contra Costa County Library mobile patron support system to support QR (Quick Response) codes. I first heard about QR or "2D Bar Codes" for retailer loyalty marketing from a March 2010 Bloomsberg Business Week article. I learned more about QR codes a few months ago at a print industry conference, PINC (now Visual Media Alliance), in San Francisco. It is good to see a California library moving ahead with this and other customer service tools. Kudos to the CCCL and Cathy Sanford's technology team

Susan says the California public library system expanded its "services to people on-the-go by providing mobile access to downloadable audio eBooks, podcasts, reading recommendations, library catalog and account information, and more through QR codes and a new mobile website. The website is part of the Snap & Go project which links customers with cell phones to library services and information." The Contra Costa County Library used funding from a $60,000 BALIS (Bay Area Library & Information Service) Innovation grant to work with Quipu Group to develop a mobile patron support system for pushing new and existing library content and services into the hands of the growing number of people who want to access library services on the go. See the library's press release.

Free E-Books from Internet Archives

2010-06-30T13:13:00.000-07:00

The Wall Street Journal carried a 6/29/10 news item about the Internet Archives and several public libraries offering free ebooks. The article is "Libraries Have a Novel Idea:Lenders Join Forces to Let Patrons Check Out Digital Scans of Shelved Book Collections" by Geoffrey Fowler.

A video news program also covers the OpenLibraries announcement.

hive.

Text Messaging Services by Libraries - Research Grant

2010-06-18T13:10:00.000-07:00

San Jose State University Graduate School of Information and Library Science received an IMLS grant to study role of text messaging in Reference Services. Here is the SJSU GSIS announcement:

Use of text messaging is skyrocketing, and our nation’s libraries are starting to explore new ways to tap into this increasingly popular communication platform to connect with their patrons.

Dr. Lili Luo, an assistant professor with the San Jose School of Library and Information Science, will conduct the first in-depth research regarding how libraries can meet their patron’s information-seeking needs via text messaging. Thanks to a $122,683 grant award from the Institute of Museum and Library Services, Luo will conduct a two-year study of how libraries can use text messaging as a platform for providing virtual reference services, as well as how they can collaboratively deliver services and expand their ability to meet patron needs during challenging economic times.

Engaging a New Generation of Library Users: Exploring a Multi-Library Collaborative Model to Deliver Text Reference Service will investigate how text reference service is different from other types of virtual reference services (such as email and instant messaging) and how it can fulfill users’ information needs. Luo will also study whether text reference provides an opportunity for libraries to engage new users, including our nation’s teens — the fastest growing group of individuals using text messaging. Luo will study the rich pool of data available via InfoQuest, the nation’s first large-scale collaboration by numerous libraries to provide text reference services. Launched in July 2009 by Alliance Library System, today more than 60 libraries from multiple states participate in InfoQuest. They include a wide array of library types, including urban, suburban, and rural libraries, small and large libraries, and public, academic, school, and law libraries.

The project’s goal is to learn from InfoQuest’s innovative national model, gleaning new knowledge regarding how to implement, manage, and assess a collaborative text reference service model, as well as factors libraries should consider when deciding whether or not to participate in a text reference collaboration. Results will establish a solid understanding of the text reference user community and provide a roadmap for libraries interested in adopting texting to meet patrons’ information needs.

The Institute of Museum and Library Services (IMLS), the primary source of federal support for the nation’s libraries and museums, announced the award on June 15, 2010.

Wireless Mobility Applications for Libraries

2010-06-16T15:08:00.000-07:00

The American Library Association Office of Information Technology Policy has created an 18-page document on mobile technology and libraries for distribution and discussion at the ALA annual conference in Washington, DC. in June 2010. See below.

OITP brief explores mobile technology and libraries
There’s an App for That! Libraries and Mobile Technology: An Introduction to Public Policy Considerations (PDF file), released June 16 by the ALA Office for Information Technology Policy, takes a look at how the adoption of mobile technology alters the traditional relationships between libraries and their users. Authored by OITP Consultant Timothy Vollmer, the brief explores reader privacy, access to information, digital rights management, and accessibility....
District Dispatch, June 16

2010 HORIZON REPORT for K-12

2010-06-05T12:28:00.000-07:00

The annual HORIZON Report for higher education is now available for K-12 eduction, thanks to a grant by HP. The 2010 HORIZON Report: The K-12 Edition is arranged in the same format, with executive summary, trends, challenges, short-term horizon (1-2 yrs), mid-term (3-5 yrs), and longer-term (5 yrs).

Here are the top five trends identified for the 2010-2015 time period:

Technology is increasingly a means for empowering students, a method for communication and socializing, and a ubiquitous, transparent part of their lives.
Technology continues to profoundly affect the way we work, collaborate, communicate, and succeed. Information technologies impact how people work, play, learn, socialize, and collaborate.
The perceived value of innovation and creativity is increasing. Innovation is valued at the highest levels of business and must be embraced in schools if students are to succeed beyond their formal education.
There is increasing interest in just-in-time, alternate, or non-formal avenues of education, such as online learning, mentoring, and independent study.
The way we think of learning environments is changing.

Critical Challenges to K-12 use of new technology:
To this list, I would add California's K-12 financial meltdown.

Digital media literacy continues its rise in importance as a key skill in every discipline and profession.
Students are different, but educational practice and the materials that support it are changing only slowly.
Many policy makers and educators believe that deep reform is needed, but at the same time, there is little agreement as to what a new model of education might look like.
A key challenge is the fundamental structure of the K-12 education establishment.

Digital Pop-Up Book - Library Annual Report

2010-06-04T12:52:00.000-07:00

Topeka and Shawnee County (Kansas) Public Library's Creative Staff created an online annual report, presented as a digital pop-up book. Very cool. See article by Mark Hall of CJOnline.

A how-to workshop and template would do well at any library conference! It is a great way to communicate what your library does, did, and is capable of doing. Very nice! Love the visualization. Are the Creative Staff from TSCPL.org going to share? What's next from Michael Perkins, the library's digital services supervisor?