Tags Kyle Jones

6 posts

Gearing up for New LIS Class Sites

Michael’s EDUCAUSE Learning Initiatives 2010 conference presentation where he discussed “The Hyperlinked Campus” leads nicely into a recent post I made detailing exactly how Michael and I put together his course sites from a technical standpoint. If you’re looking to break free from the constraints of your learning management systems (LMS), I highly suggest you look into using WordPress MU and BuddyPress for a custom LMS.  See all the details here: http://thecorkboard.org/blog/enhancing-wordpress-as-lms/ ——- Kyle Jones, TTW Contributor @thecorkboard thecorkboard.org

In Support and Extension of “An Unformed Thought” by Mick Jacobsen

In Mick Jacobsen’s post, “An Unformed Thought,” in which he discussed the possibility of libraries acting as a hub for information technology needs such as website design and hosting, he hit on a core value of librarianship – community building.  As we strive to build library spaces that are usable and promote interaction and collaboration, we naturally try to enhance interpersonal connections and create conversations that connect our patrons either to us or other users.  And the conversation in the past couple of years has advanced this thought into our online spaces but with a reliance on preexisting technologies like […]

Rate that library website @ Libsite.org

I’m a big follower of library websites.  They are virtual representations of their physical presence and they also say a lot about a library’s innovation (or lack thereof).  All this summer I investigated different libraries to see what they were doing and how they were designing their online presences as I redesigned the website for my employer, the A.C. Buehler Library at Elmhurst College.  But it would have been great to know that I could have gone straight to one location to look at a plethora of library websites instead of Googling sites I knew of. Well – that one […]

Cover Flow and Collection Interaction on Library Websites

It’s my belief that library users are expecting more from their web browsing experience. I’m not talking social networks, I’m talking interactive web design. These users are used to websites that allow for dynamically changing content (content that may not require a new page to load) and for a feeling of interactivity with the page. Dynamic content shifts on the page, animates, and morphs into something it wasn’t previously. Let’s look at some examples: Jeep: The rectangular information boxes nicely animate in and out upon click of the left or right arrows allowing for new information to nicely slide in […]

Put Virtual Reference in the User’s Pocket

Some say that IM is on the verge of extinction and that forging into such territory for virtual reference so late in the game is a waste of a library’s energy. You can surely count me as one of those who agrees with that statement. I predict, as do many others, that virtual reference needs to fit in users’ pockets – in their cell phone. We need to look at the trends happening now (according to PEW, 2006): -47% can’t live without their cell phones -35% use SMS and 13% would like it added to their features The preceding stats […]

Business trends @ your library

As we’ll see, coffeehouses provided something society needed: a place to just be. But no one had any idea how badly we needed it. (51) So reads a section of Starbucked by Taylor Clark. The idea of a comfort place, a third place as it has been called, was taken under the wing by the Starbucks visionaries and has become a staple at nearly all their stores. The comforting soft tones of wood tables, abundant chairs of varying sizes and comfort levels, and the wafting aroma of splendid coffee all welcome you in from the freezing cold (if you’re in […]