Book Club in your Onesie with Google+ Hangouts Free Video Conferencing

Ever wanted to join a book club at your local library but not in the mood to leave the heater on these cold winter nights? Sounds like you need to check out Google+ Hangouts, the latest rage hitting your local library. Whether you wish to join an established community,  check out an author talk, participate in an event on air as its happening or just chat to your mates about the latest Game of Thrones, this is definitely worth checking out. All you need is a Google+ account and Google Chrome browser. You can have your own private hangout with up to ten friends or create your own public event and talk to the world! Every public event is saved to your own You Tube channel. A great resource for libraries to bring together the community, for the house bound or book groups looking for a way to just hang out from..well, anywhere, anytime!
For more information on Google+ Hangouts, visit the website.
While you're there, make sure you check out the latest events scheduled on Hangouts On Air

Satisfy your curiosity with the new Curio app

THE NSW State Library has launched a new app called “Curio” that gives users detailed information about exhibits as they view them in the library.

The free app gives extra information on each exhibit and, for some items, audio and video. It is able to pinpoint where the user is in the library and provide relevant information about exhibits whilst they are viewing them.  To enhance the interactive experience, users can also rate objects in the library whilst there and then play back their visit to the library at home.  Users can also share their favourite objects on Facebook and Twitter.

The new “Curio” app is available for iOS and Android devices but works most effectively with the iPhone 4S, iPhone 5 and the ASUS-manufactured Google Nexus 7-inch tablet. The app uses a form of indoor location technology that is accurate enough to give users information about collections within the room they are visiting.

“The innovative mobile interface knows where you are inside the State Library and intuitively delivers interesting facts, surprising stories and multimedia about the objects and architectural features around you,” the library said in statement.

Source: The Australian April 10, 2013

ShelvAR- The best thing since the DDC

Really, what was Dewey thinking? Was he just making sure that no library worker would ever be safe from the dreaded shelf check? So we never would have time to just sit around and read books all day? Yep, never a dull moment while those books continue to find themselves out of order while the Decimal system continues to confuse unsuspecting shelvers. Well, finally,Dewey's plans may just be foiled...

Recently, at a gathering in Ohio called the LITA National Forum, two geniuses from the Miami University, Librarian Stacy Brinkman and Bo Brinkman, Professor of computing, presented our saviour- ShelvAR- a shelf checking Android App! (At last!!!!) While the project still requires funding, and is still in the pilot stage, an Application Programme Interface is available, a code posted to github. An IOS App is a work in progress, the Android App is not open source,and the University may file a patent after the one year provisional phase. Tests have proved the App helps to save time and improve the accuracy of those poor unsuspecting shelvers.

To prepare the collection for use, the staff labelled the books with codes generated by the LC numbers, placed them in a straight line then simply scanned the labels with a smartphone camera.The ShelvAr app then ticks properly placed items and questions the misplaced. Tap the screen and an arrow points you in the correct direction. Check out the ShelvAr in action with exciting demonstrative videos at http://www.shelvar.com/

Making Popcorn!

An online tool to make more dynamic video clips 

This online tool would appear to not only have significant potential to make videos more dynamic, but is also great fun to experiment with! Mozilla Popcorn Maker is an online tool that makes it possible to combine video with content pulled directly from the web including everything from text, links and maps to pictures and live feeds. The creators’ aim was to take “video beyond the box” citing that the only change in videos after a decade on the web has been the size of the box and the quality of the picture!

Popcorn Maker is free to use and claims to work in all browsers (although my web browser apparently “lacks some functionality expected by Popcorn Maker to function properly”!). Working with timelines just as you do when editing video, web events are pulled into the timeline as opposed to clips.

For example, you can include a live feed from Flickr by dragging the Flickr option into the timeline and it will pull in images off the web according to the selected tags. As it is a live feed, it will be different every time you access the video. Other options to include on the timeline, and therefore in the video clip, are Google Maps, Wikipedia, pop-ups, Twitter and images.

In short, it means that videos created like this can work just like the web; dynamic, full of links and completely remixable.  Definitely worth a look! To see some examples of what can be done or to take a tutorial, go to the Popcorn Maker website.

Foursquare

Foursquare seems to be the current hottest thing in social networking. It is a way of connecting with friends and participating in a game whilst exploring restaurants, parks, cafes, bars, museums etc... It can be used anywhere in the world and for mobile access you can either download an app or use their mobile-friendly website.


If you go out to a bar for example, you tell Foursquare where you are ("check-in"). To do this, it uses GPS to give you a listing of nearby places from which you select your location. It will then notify your friends of where you are.

It doesn't stop there.... When you log into Foursquare you can add tips and to dos. These are all location- and experience-based comments. For example, recommend a particular dish at a restaurant or a must see exhibition. Tips are recommendations for others, to dos are reminders to yourself to try a new dish/place etc... Thus when you check-in with Foursquare it will come up with tips from your friends and to dos from you relating to your current location.

The 'game' component comes from a points system used to encourage you to go out and explore. You receive points for each check-in. Bonus points are on offer for those who are the first to register a new place. You can even become Mayor by being the person to have visited a particular location the highest number of times.

Foursquare integrates with other web 2.0 tools. If you choose to you can link your Foursquare account to your Twitter and Facebook accounts and allow it to report updates. Foursquare itself keeps stats on you - they track your activity - number of nights out, number of checkins, ave. no of checkins per night out, distribution by day etc...

Foursquare seems to have found its niche by creating partnerships with businesses that produce shopping and restaurant guides. This gives them a way of creating a money-making aspect to their resource. There is an interesting article about this on TechCrunch.

Yelp is another social networking site that enables sharing of reviews for local businesses, restaurants, shops and the like, but it appears to focus more strongly on the review aspect than does Foursquare. Yelp also has not been around as long as Foursquare and although it seems good it has a more limited geographic representation.

VALA and ebooks

Technology peeps ahoy,

The VALA 2010 conference is underway in Melbourne as I write.
Kathryn Greenhill, librarian 2.0 virtuoso is tweeting live from proceedings.
You can check her out here...
http://twitter.com/libsmatter

Also yesterday's Sunday Profile on Radio National was all about ebooks. Stephen Page of Faber and Faber is interviewed. As this happens to be the very subject we plan to explore with the public in just a few short weeks, I think we should check it out.
Download the podcast here...
http://www.abc.net.au/sundayprofile/stories/2811148.htm?site=greatsouthern

TTFN

QR Codes - assistance on the go

QR codes are graphic codes that can be read using the camera on many existing mobile phones with the appropriate app. There are a number of websites such as http://qrcode.kaywa.com/

that allow you to create your own QR code which can then be printed or embeded into a website. These codes can be used to convey text such as brief details of an event such as a seminar.

When used on a web-enabled phone, they can also direct you to a website for further information. QR codes are appearing in many magazines for this very purpose.

UTS Library is running a pilot project using a range of applications of QR codes. For example, they are including the codes on their promotional bookmarks and brochures to link clients to the relevant online content. They are also placing the codes on equipment used by customers in the library. If the customer is unsure how to use the equipment they can scan the code and watch a short demonstration video. This is a great way of supplementing existing assistance by providing a physical demonstration.