 Tuesday, June 10, 2003
Got blog? The Roselle Public Library District sure does. Check out their way cool Blogger Book Club!
"The Blogger Book Club is an 'invitation only,' online, book discussion group. It is an opportunity for kids to share their thoughts and ideas about books, anonymously, at their convenience and from wherever they happen to be (at home, on vacation, in the library... wherever!). We will be talking about several of the books from the 2004 Rebecca Caudill nominee list....
The book club is open only to kids in grades 4 – 6 who have a valid Roselle Public Library card."
Needles, Haystacks, and Web Searches
"As you go out onto the Net researching controversies, recipes or even system errors, remember that you can paste an exact search of as many as 10 words into most search engines. Put them in quotes, and then filter through the results. Look for sites that you can trust by reputation or experience.
If that fails, go to the library and ask a librarian. She or he still has more wisdom than all of the search engines combined." [Press of Atlantic City, via LISNews.com] (Emphasis is mine.)
ReplayTV Puts Ad Skipping on Pause
"The company said its upcoming ReplayTV 5500 boxes, which are expected to be released in August, will not contain the Send Show and Automatic Commercial Advance tools as the company tries to 'address the concerns of copyright holders....'
A representative for ReplayTV's new owner said the company made a business decision not to offer the disputed features in future products after reviewing the matter, but current models will still have them.
The company also said it will maintain offerings such as QuickSkip, which lets people fast-forward through programs in 30-second increments. In the future, it hopes to let consumers use their ReplayTV units to send non-copyrighted materials, such as home videos, across the Internet to other ReplayTV units and computers." [CNET News.com]
Whoo-hoo, I get to keep my features! Run out and by one now!
Actually, as long as I get to keep my QuickSkip button, I'm happy. I could live without the automatic commercial skipping, although it is amazing how quickly you get used to no commercials. In fact, just yesterday Kailee was watching a show on Animal Planet and I was surprised to see commercials on the screen. I said, "Kay, fast-forward through the commercials." "It's live," she groaned. I was actually shocked to find her watching live TV in our family room. It's positively unheard of these days. When Replay records a show overnight, it tunes the TV to that channel, so my guess is that she got caught up in the live show when she turned on the TV to watch Replay.
I'll have a black market winner here, baby! Maybe I'll be able to finance the kids' college education with it!
"V" Sequel Coming to NBC
"According to CNN, twenty years after NBC's hit sci-fi miniseries 'V' invaded the small screen, the network is bringing the aliens back with 'V: The Second Generation,' a three-hour TV movie from the original creator Kenneth Johnson." [Slashdot]
Posted mostly for the benefit of my brother, because we're already waiting breathlessly for the return of Battlestar Galactica! (And yes Dad, it's "Battlestar" Galactica, not "Battleship" Galactica.)
Phonecam Nation
"The trend started innocuously a few years ago, when novelty cameras that plugged into mobile handsets were marketed to gadget-obsessed kids in Japan and Europe. But in the past few months, a global phonecam revolution has begun to emerge. Take the device's portability, add its ability to post images online, multiply by its growing ubiquity, and what do you get? A cheap, fast strain of DIY publishing in which everyone is an embedded reporter. The rise of the technology resembles the leap from late-'90s personal homepages to today's weblogs: Like blogs, phonecams are a fresh combination of familiar elements that equal way more than the sum of their parts....
Of course, we're still in the early days of this revolution. Phonecams won't fulfill their potential until they can send big photos fast, anytime, anywhere, to anyone. American mobile networks remain pitifully unreliable compared with those in Asia and Europe. Getting giddy over phonecam photos and video seems hasty when US carriers can't even deliver voice service that works everywhere all the time.
Eventually, though, network upgrades will bridge the bandwidth gap - and the introduction of megapixel phonecams from Sony Ericsson, Mitsubishi, Sharp, Fujitsu, and others suggests that device makers will be ready with better hardware. With video in the mix, things get really interesting. AT&T network subscribers can now choose Nokia's 3650 model with video capture and Bluetooth so they can shoot phonecam movies to nearby PCs and PDAs. Sony Ericsson's clamshell Z1010 phone, coming later this year, is equipped with two cameras and displays for apps like videoconferencing.
The pieces have been around for a while, but as time and technology advance, the cloud of bits and bytes begins to converge. Is it public? Is it personal? Is it media? Is it conversation? We're about to find out." [Wired]
Everyone's becoming a convert, even David Coursey:
"There I was just a few days ago, ready to write a column deriding the uselessness of those combo cell phone/digital cameras. Then something happened: I got one to play with. And while I still have reasons for disliking the devices, I have to admit the one I tried was fun to use, the pictures weren't awful for what they were, and, yes, I can even imagine using one for business."
And you thought the reality craze was already overhyped....
Seriously, though - have you thought about cameraphones in your library? Got a policy about it yet? You'd better.
Who knew? Billboard is tracking the most popular music on the various music sites:
"Hits Of The Web is a compilation of rankings from various Web sites that reflects music-related activity on the Internet, including sales, downloads, webcasts, searches and more. All data is submitted to Billboard.com by the individual sites."
Interesting that they don't have any numbers for sites like, say, Pressplay, Rhapsody, or MusicNow. I guess selling digital music online is going so well they don't feel the need to report their numbers. Congrats, guys - you figured it out!
New LITA Guide on E-Books Available at ALA Annual Conference
"LITA is pleased to announce the publication of LITA Guide Number 10, E-Book Functionalities: What Libraries and Their Patrons Want and Expect from Electronic Book Technologies. This Guide will be on sale for the first time at the ALA Store at the Annual Conference in Toronto for $34.99 ($31.50 LITA members). A printable order form and list of other LITA publications can be found at www.lita.org/litapubs
This book provides in-depth reviews of surveys and studies of user preferences for e-book functionality and a classified arrangement of e-book functionalities. Special attention is given to the functionalities valued and used by end-users and libraries. Recent research and thinking about e-book functionalities are summarized. Some guidance is offered on e-book RFPs, license agreements, and purchases. The book includes general conclusions and recommendations about the past, present, and future of the functionalities of e-books based on real data about what makes an e-book usable.
Susan Gibbons, Thomas A. Peters, and Robin Bryan have pulled together this E-Book Guide based upon the ongoing work of the E-Book Functionality Working Group of the E-Book Task Force of the American Library Association."
Case in Point:
"An exciting program: Challenges and Opportunities: The Leadership Role of Public Libraries in Helping Young People Develop Digital and Information Literacy Skills
For whom: Public library staff, trustees and those interested in Internet literacy for young people
When: Saturday, June 21, from 8:30 - noon
Where: Renaissance Toronto at Skydome Hotel (1 Blue Jays Way) in the Northern Lights Ballroom
Purpose : Learn about the successful professional development and outreach program, designed for use by American library staff, offered by Media Awareness Network (MNet) and Ramapo Catskill (NY) Library System (RCLS). Hear Robert Hubsher, Director of the RCLS, present synopses of the three Workshops on marketing to kids, fact or fiction, and Internet safety, and Bill Allen, Director of Communications at MNet, describe the Web Awareness Program and how it meets the needs of public library staff." [via WEB4LIB]
- The Meadville Public Library recently unveiled wireless access for the public, but they didn't buy an access point to do it. Rather, their staff built one out of an unused computer and OpenBSD! Once it was set up, they just bought the wireless card, PCI adapter, and antenna, and they were off to the races.
- The Parlin Memorial Library is advertising their Wi-Fi service using a large banner over the circulation desk, along with stories in the local newspaper, the Friends newsletter, and on their web site. Even better, they loan a wireless bridge for those users that have an ethernet port but no wireless card (in-house only). Deb Abraham says it's working very well and adds:
"We have a handout as to how to set your IP address to 'get it authomatically.' The best publicity seems to be to ask laptop users we see in the library if they know we have a wireless system that they can use. We give them a copy of the info sheet and invite them to give it a try. In this way our group of regular users has grown."
National Magazine Taps Librarian Expertise with Debut of Online Book Club
"The first of 24 librarian book recommendations debuts today as part of Woman's Day magazine's online book club, available at http://www.womansday.com/. This is the first-ever formal book club for the publication, whose Web site receives nearly 300,000 visitors every month.
Twelve librarians representing ACRL (Association of College and Research Libraries), PLA (Public Library Association) and RUSA (Reference and User Services Association) contributed book titles and reviews to the book club. Each librarian was asked to submit two book titles that would appeal to the Woman's Day reader. They also submitted discussion questions or personal thoughts about the books to encourage discussion among book club participants. Each title will be featured for two weeks, with the last title appearing the week of May 7, 2004....
The book club is currently featured on the site's 'Community' section at www.womansday.com/community. Discussion about the books will appear in the "Book Club Forum" section of the site." [ALA Press Release]
It would be interesting to see similar partnerships with other national magazines, especially those aimed at men.
Congratulations to Teri, her husband, and new addition Daphne Rose! We can't wait to see pictures. :-)
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