Tame The Web

http://www.computerworld.com/action/article.do?command=viewArticleBasic&articleId=9018594

So many college students I’ve met — even at some of the nation’s top universities — are there because they have an aptitude for memorization. Many straight-A high school students have few interests, little curiosity and zero inclination toward intellectual discovery. Our system rewards the memorizers and punishes the creative thinkers.

An iPod, when used during tests, is nothing more than a machine that stores and spits out data. By banning iPods and other gadgets, we’re teaching kids to actually become iPods — to become machines that store and spit out data. Instead, we should be teaching them to use iPods — to use that data and to be human beings who can think — and leave data storage to the machines.

By banning iPods, we’re preparing our kids for a world without the Internet, a world without iPods, a world without electronic gadgets that can store information. But is that the world they’re going to live in?

Let me pull out a bit of the above for emphasis:

Many straight-A high school students have few interests, little curiosity and zero inclination toward intellectual discovery. Our system rewards the memorizers and punishes the creative thinkers.

That nearly knocked me off my chair. Who do we want eventually running our libraries? Rote memorizers or creative thinkers. To me, the answer is obvious and as I prepare for my third year of full time teaching, I see where the emphasis should be.

NCSU Learning Commons Originally uploaded by mstephens7

There’s just so much good here! Take a look at North Carolina State’s Learning Commons Web presence:

http://www.lib.ncsu.edu/learningcommons/

• Live computer availability
• Web cam of “The Brickyard”
• Flickr photos
• “We want your Ideas” for eboards
• Commenting form
• Borrow laptops, cameras, iPods, GPS units, etc

I’m incorporating this and the Loyola Information Commons into my new talks. 

100 Million iPods Sold

Originally uploaded by mstephens7.
http://www.apple.com/pr/library/2007/04/09ipod.html

http://playlistmag.com/news/2007/04/09/ipodanalysis/index.php

100 Million iPods Sold

Originally uploaded by mstephens7.

http://www.apple.com/pr/library/2007/04/09ipod.html

http://playlistmag.com/news/2007/04/09/ipodanalysis/index.php

Rob Coers, my Dutch partner for presentations at Internet Librarian International, just posted about iPod training he recently completed:

http://www.robcoers.nl/weblog-artikelen/bibliotheek-spijkenisse-en-ipod-nano.html

He translated the post as well:

In september 2007 the Spijkenisse Public Library in The Netherlands won the 4th IFLA International Marketing Award with their campaign “We miss you”. Library director Huub Leenen awarded his staff (21 people) with a iPod Nano. I had the honour to do a hands on training to help the staff on the way.

What a fantastic way to make your staff familiar with current technology and motivate them in their job!

Ohhh…sweet technolust…

Driving back to Illinois this week I caught up on my Mac podcasts, including one of my favorites Mac Break Weekly. The podcast included loads of news about Apple’s new product the iPhone, and I realized that my personal technolust will surely get the better of me. I want this phone!

That said, I wonder how many geeked out folks will doing just what I did:

T-Mobile Rep: “T-Mobile Customer Support, how can I help you?”

Me: “Yes please, when does my contract expire with T-Mobile?”

T-Mobile Rep: “August 2008.”

Me: (Ouch) “And how much is the fee to break contract?”

T-Mobile Rep: “$200.”

Me: (Ouch) “Good to know…”

T-Mobile Rep: “May I ask why you are asking about the contract?”

Me: “I want an iPhone!”

T-Mobile Rep: “Well, T-Mobile has a wide selection of phones that will play music…”

Me: “..But those phones aren’t the iPhone…thanks for your time!”

T-Mobile Rep: “Have a good day.”

I will, especially when cradling the sleek lines and smooth surface…. sigh..

Anyway, Aaron discusses how libraries will have another menace to stop at the front door (humor, folks) and I wonder if library technology departments or emerging tech groups might want to get in line for one, to understand what it means for service, access and the possible impact on the way the world communicates. Seems most logical to me — and fun!

Finally, David Pogues gives us some FAQs:http://pogue.blogs.nytimes.com/2007/01/11/the-ultimate-iphone-frequently-asked-questions/

http://theubiquitouslibrarian.typepad.com/the_ubiquitous_librarian/2006/11/sharing_via_itu.html

The Ubiquitous Librarian ponders using iTunes in academic libraries in some pretty darn cool ways:

How can libraries use this? Let’s put information literacy to the side for a minute, because sure, you could host tutorials and content about the library (itunes plays videos) but let’s think bigger. Last week we had Maya Angelou give a talk on campus, why not dump that video or podcast into an iTunes library—as well as other speakers and events? How about a weekly student interview series or alumni talks? How about sporting event replays or the coach’s talk show? How about short commercials highlighting different clubs, organizations, or services on campus?

And my favorite bit, TUL ties it to the bigger picture:

This hits two of my big themes: target the niche and immerse the library within the community.

Joshua Zehner, Assistant System Administrator at the Fulton County Public Library in Rochester, IN, writes:

Hey, I was surfing you flickr account and I found those pictures from Cherry Hill Public Library in NJ. I was really interested in the three or four photos of their “Listen Before You Borrow” station. Our library would love to do this expect there is one issue my boss has with it, copyrights. Is it legal to rip your collection onto a pc for everyone to listen to, but yet allow those same CD’s to be checked out at the same time? We would love to implement this station into our library, as long as we can get past this one hurdle. Any information about this would be very helpful and appreciated. Thank you.

Thanks Joshus for writing! It seems that Cherry hill has been doing this service a while, it’s very friendly and no one seems to be complaining. That said, i’m really at a loss about whether or not this violates copyright. As a try before you borrow service, it just make the process easier than getting a CD off the shelf, popping it into a listening station player and trying it out. I think iTunes actually protects the music more than haviung folks bring their laptops into the library for a massive ripping session into itunes from CDs in the collection.

I confess: copyright confuses me. I am learning more as I prep for classes and Dr. Kate Marek is guesting in my class in a few weeks to present on the topic (I’ll be all ears), but in my mind, it seems ok. I’d love to hear from others who might help my thinking…

Some links:

Chris Kupec uses iTunes at his library: http://tametheweb.com/2005/03/ttw_mailbox_chelmsford_public.html

John Blyberg on making iTunes work in networked settings: http://www.blyberg.net/2006/09/12/sharing-music-with-itunes-and-mt-daapd/

And Chris Kupec also reports this week: I discovered that the Windows version of my iTunes to OPAC script works with info from the iTunes Store too, not just your own personal library. The AppleScript version doesn’t allow me to get info out of the store. Very strange, but a plus for PC-centric public libraries! Might be a way to push teens to use the library more, if they could play with iTunes at home, and order up the CDs from the library. I also have a version of the script that I modified to help me with CD and movie ordering. Check out Chris’ blog at http://homepage.mac.com/ckupec/iblog/index.html

Patron to AV Librarian on learning the library would soon be checking out iPods:

“Get out! You mean I can check out an iPod from the library? I don’t have to spend $150 myself to get one? Great, now I can spend that money on something else. I’m getting a manicure, a pedicure….”

iPods @ SJCPL

Originally uploaded by St. Joseph County Public Library.

Julie Hill, my friend and colleague from SJCPL, announces the new SJCPL iPod program!!!! I am so happy to see this fly!! Here’s a post she sent me for staff:

Books on iPod: Yours our Ours

1.What type of iPod will you circulate? The iPod Nano (1GB).
2.Will children and teen titles be available for downloading? Not at this time. Only adult titles.
3.Age limits? 18 and over
4.Will this service be available at the branches? Not at this time. This is a pilot project that will start at the Main library.
5.Where do I check out the iPods? At the Sights & Sounds Reference desk of the Main library.
6.Why iPods? Why not other MP3 players? We chose iPods based on their popularity and large market share. Currently 85% of MP3 players sold are iPods.
7.What size of a collection will you start with? Our opening day collection will have 200 titles to choose from.
8.When will this service start? We hope to roll it out the week after Labor Day.
9.How many iPods will the library circulate? 30.
10. How long does it take to download a title? A couple of minutes or less!

http://www.libraryforlife.org/blogs/lifeline/?p=1300

Coolness reigns at SJCPL!

iPod fan? iTunes Music Store Shopper? Perplexed about the music services?

Check out this post at TechCrunch:

http://www.techcrunch.com/2006/04/07/lets-buy-some-music-part-1/

UPDATE: What a great time that was! Thanks to all at OPAL!!

Here’s the presentation.

Here are some extra links as resources:

Cluetrain

Netvibes

Open Source Software at TechEssence

ALA on DRM & DRM Guide for Librarians

Librarians Who IM

Future of Music

Using Bloglines!

The Internet is Entering its LEGO era

Libraries with MySpace accounts

Tennant and Pace on the Future of Catalogues from Panlibus

Rainie on Millennials from SELCO

iPods in Action at Georgia College and State University

Using Evidence to Support our Libraries from Stephen Abram

OCLC Perceptions

I wrote this piece, entitled Crystal Visions at TechSource a few weeks ago. Today, we get this news out of Colorado via LISNews:

In mid-March, members will be able to start downloading documentaries and IMAX movies, travel and concert films, do-it-yourself remodeling flicks and exercise videos. “It will be very cool, because you could take it on your laptop on a business trip and have your yoga program right there in your hotel room,” Jeske said.

“This is the way that audio-visual material is moving,” Jeske said.

This model intrigues me. As more and more content comes to our libraries digitally, and iPods in Libraries slowly become commonplace, what does the next generation AV area look like?

From ALA TechSource:

This will be a slow change. Early adopters will pave the way, just as it took years for the VHS cassette to come and be on the way out. Collections will remain, for those folks who keep their players, probably as long as there is demand. Will the product be available on CD or DVD? Doubtful.

So, what’s the “Crystal Vision?” The Audio Visual Department of 2015 may be two spaces: 1) a vibrant space for digital creation and mashing up all of our content and room to gather and pursue our hearts’ interests and 2) a space with a bunch of servers that serve out library-licensed content to library users, wherever they happen to be.

I love the ideas about applications of video in library settings. One of these days we’ll see an official “video podcast” from a library show up in the next incarantion of the iTunes MEDIA Store.

David King has a great post about integrating video into Library Web sites. He lists ten things librarians might do with video, including:

Videocast of bibliographic instruction, downloadable when a student needs it
Tours of the library
Showing what a meeting room looks like

Wonderful ideas that make use of the medium. The BI videos could be very helpful for “training on demand.” At SJCPL, we purchased acces to Mac OS Training videos at Lynda.com and it’s been helpful. I’d love to see libraries produce some stuff in house or a group of libraries band together to share resources and design training for staff.

This morning, Greg Schwartz shares his #11 over at Open Stacks: Meet the Staff Videos Cool idea. When I was investigating UNT, I went through all of the meet the faculty videos to get a sense of what the professors were like. This idea translates well to medium or large library settings where new hires might not meet administrators right away.

For all of these eleven hot ideas I’d hope I could also download them to my iPod!

A few of the shared libraries that pop up at SJCPL!

Bruce Connoly has an article in the new Computers in Libraries that presents an incredible idea: use iTunes built in sharing capaibilty to share music with library users! Connoly discovers other folks music librraies showing up when he opens iTunes. His thinking, sparked by the recent EDUCAUSE conference and Joan Lippincott’s article on serving Net Gen users, leads to this:

We started by creating a playlist called “Schaffer Library - New Music” consisting of about 2 dozen songs. We used complete songs, not samples. Generally, we included no more than a track or two from any one CD title. We decided to add the Schaffer Library call number in the Comments field (although this is an optional display field and users may not have it turned on) and to include additional information sometimes.

Our intention was not to create a permanent shared archive but rather to add new songs and delete older ones over time. Now we have also begun creating themed playlists–organized around events on campus or wider cultural events like Hispanic Heritage Month–that encompass areas of the CD collection that we would like to showcase. For instance, when The Threepenny Opera played on campus, we noted that several songs in the playlist came from that work.

This blows me away and it is OH SO EASY to do! Go look for the current issue of CIL (sadly the article is not online) and give it a read!

He concludes: “Lippencott’s chapter on “Net Generation Students and Libraries” in Educating the Net Generation asks: “Why should libraries and librarians adapt their well-structured organizations and systems to the needs of students rather than insist that students learn about and adapt to existing library systems?” The answer, from our perspective, is that sharing is a statement that assures students that we are willing to meet them in a space of their choosing–a space that is familiar, comfortable, and vibrant–and that we are just as eager to invite them into our space if they choose to come”

Don’t miss Janet Balas’ article Blogging Is So Last Year–Now Podcasting Is Hot as well - I love the title!

http://news.scotsman.com/index.cfm?id=2181372005

Here’s the HOT part about student created content and new ways to look at learning:

The school was chosen after it successfully bid to pilot the “iPodagogy” project in Scotland.

“Suddenly, school is not a foreign land, because you are doing what you do at home, so the pupils are less likely to get bored.”

Is an iPod becoming a social tool? As a means to share student (and library?) content, i would say YES.

Screen capture set: http://www.flickr.com/photos/michaelsphotos/sets/1245962/

So far, I’ve purchased some shows and videos and changed a couple of iMovies to iPod format. It’s fascinating. Last night, I snuggled in bed with two dogs and the Night Stalker! Who would have thunk that?

Here’s a review by Edward Baig at USAToday: http://www.usatoday.com/tech/columnist/edwardbaig/2005-10-19-video-ipod_x.htm?csp=34

I was all a-lust when Jenny showed off her new Video iPod in Monterey! Mine was waiting when I got back! Hooray!

http://www.flickr.com/photos/michaelsphotos/sets/1232433/

So far:
It sounds GREAT! (Better than previous generations..I tested)
It looks GREAT! (oh yeah..the screen is incredibly clear…)

I purchased the Desperate Housewives pilot, a few music videos and moved some iMovies over to it…

Apple really has caused a stir: vidcasting is all over my aggregator!

http://blog.wired.com/cultofmac/

Reuters

http://news.scotsman.com/index.cfm?id=2095642005

Nice article with some thought provoking points.

Michael Casey, who has the coolest programs at his library for young people, comments here at TTW:

This quote is from the Accessibility Trial of the Downloadable Digital Audio Book Service from netLibrary and Recorded Books. (I tried to enter a link but it was refused when I tried posting)

“The fact that netLibrary’s digital audio books are in the protected WMA file format, coupled with the fact that Apple iPods and most accessible devices (for example, the Book Port and the Book Courier) will not play the WMA file format, is unfortunate. One can only hope that soon both Apple and the manufacturers of accessible playback devices realize that supporting the playback of WMA content is in everyone’s best interest.”

Here’s the link: http://www.tapinformation.com/netLibraryfinalreport.htm

Maire turned me on to this extensive review of the Nano.

http://arstechnica.com/reviews/hardware/nano.ars/1

The images of the scratched surface of the black Nano they tested are awful! I need a Nano case!