"Free Literary Map Literary Landmark Locator. Sure, all those public restroom databases are great, but wouldn't a map like this be cool on your PDA? Maybe add library locations?" [Library Techlog]

Especially if you had a GPS-enabled PDA....

Airport Kiosks to Offer Movie Downloads

"Air travellers will be able to download feature films and computer games to a handheld computer using a service to be launched first at US airports this summer.

Customers will be able to insert their computer's removable memory card or chip into slots in the kiosks, to download films, music, games, electronic books and newspapers....

The service will be available for handheld computers running Microsoft Pocket PC or Palm operating systems. A range of memory cards and chips, including Flash memory cards, Sony's Memory Stick and IBM's Microdrive, could be used in the kiosks....

A typical feature film will take less than three minutes to download, and one megabyte of memory will store a minute of film, says Pocket PC Films, the company that will supply the movies in a compressed format. Games and books will have a much quicker download time.

Pocket PC Films currently sells feature films and other video content on CD-ROMs. These cost between $9.99 and $49.99, but movies will cost slightly less through the new kiosks, nREACH says. Similar kiosks will also be installed in shopping malls and other retail outlets." [New Scientist]

My first thought was to ask who on earth would want to watch a movie on a screen that small. Then I realized what a godsend this would be at the doctor's office with the kids, when I'm stuck at the airport, or even just in meetings.  ;-)

So I guess I'm geeky enough to look forward to this. I wonder if libraries can use something similar to circulate digital videos from within the building (over the net or via wireless would be a whole other ballgame).

Larry Lessig on Copy-protecting Aristotle:

" 'I have bought a number of eBooks, including Aristotle’s Politics. Aristotle’s Politics, of course, was never copyrighted, but the Adobe eBook reader forbids me from printing any pages of the book because the permissions have been set to disable any printing. If I try to interfere with those permissions .. if I write a bit of code to disable the limitations that forbid me from printing Aristotle’s Politics from my Adobe eBook .. that would be circumventing an access technology, which under the Digital Millennium Copyright Act is a crime.' - Creative Commons founder Lawrence Lessig, as quoted in the Reason (found via Pocket PC eBooks Watch)." [TeleRead]

Combined with the ridiculous case of the license for the ebook Alice in Wonderland that makes it a crime for parents to read the text out loud to their children, and you can see why librarians are worried about being able to circulate digital files in the future.

Here's an example of the dilemna in which we find ourselves right now. I heard back from Salon that libraries can indeed purchase John Dean's ebook Unmasking Deep Throat and circulate it to their patrons as long as they take reasonable steps to prevent it from being copied.

I was thrilled by this news, but now I'm scratching my head trying to figure out how a library would circulate it without paying $5000 for the Adobe Content Server. How is a library supposed to check the title in and out, get it to the person, get it back, and make sure the person doesn't keep a copy. I haven't been able to think of a way yet because Rocketbooks and Franklin eBookmans don't handle PDF files. There's no way to load it onto a patron's PDA, and we certainly wouldn't email it to or burn it on a CD for someone.

Does anybody have a solution to this problem?

Marlene Coleman of the Ela Area Public Library District (hi, George!) posted the following message to the ILA-RTSF mailing list today. I'm making a mental note to try and visit them (Chicago's northern suburbs) later this year.

"I’m a new member of the group and Lori Bell thought you’d be interested in learning about our Checkpoint RFID system.

We moved into a new building in Feb., and had Checkpoint’s Intelligent Library System built into it. We started preparing for the system last July, as all items in the collection had to have a tag put in them. The tag has a barcode 'in it' and it can transmit that number to a RFID station (pad), which substitutes for a scanner. It reads through space, corian and anything not metal. So no more finding the barcode and scanning the number. We still put a label over the tag for protection, which has our library address on it, and can print a visual representation of the barcode for new items (as we’re in a consortium and other libraries can’t read the tag). There is a program that will take a barcode already on an item, and create a tag with that number in it, so you don’t have to re-barcode your older items (although you do have to put the RFID tag in them). Other parts to the system are: self check machines that work for any material AV included, return that automatically check in items, and security gates that alert if an item is not checked out. There is also an inventory wand that we’re still learning how to use.

Once circulation got used to it, it’s really saved on repetitive tasks, and they like it. There are some 'bugs' we’re still working out, because it has to coordinate with our online vendor (SIRSI, we migrated to this in December), using SIP2, which needs to be modified somewhat. I think we’re the first library in Illinois to get it “working”, although Algonquin PL and Skokie PL are in the process.

Lots of excitement around here!"

Webbys 2002 Winners

"The Webby Awards has announced the winners and included their five word speeches (best awards rule). Lots of familiar Web sites won because they're obviously head of the class and continue to draw visitors." [meryl's notes]

The Library of Congress won the Webby Award for Government + Law. Especially interesting since they've recently re-designed their home page. Go LOC!

Schools' Tech Support: Students

"Teachers attending the National Educational Computing Conference weren't surprised that, according to a study, students are used to provide technical support in more than half the school districts in the country.

The National School Boards Foundation surveyed technology decision-makers for 811 public school districts, including 90 out of the top 100 largest districts, and found that students provide technical support in 54 percent of the districts.

"I'm surprised it's not higher than that," said Martha Cochenour, a teacher in the Mountainburg School District in Arkansas. "The teachers are of the older generation and we're just learning, whereas the kids have grown up with technology....

Students troubleshoot hardware, software and infrastructure problems in 43 percent of districts. They set up wiring and equipment in 39 percent and perform technical maintenance in 36 percent of districts....

The survey -- titled "Are We There Yet?" -- also reported that 71 percent of districts credit the e-rate as the most influential outside initiative to bringing technology into the schools.

About 30 percent of technology leaders believe that one in five students will receive a significant part of their education (one-third or more) online over the next three years." [Wired News]

In his book Next: The Future Just Happened, Michael Lewis describes a family in which the parents are completely reliant on their son, the computer whiz, this way: "Technology had made them a family of immigrants." In other words, he's their translator for the online and computer world, and without him they would be completely lost. I love that quote.

In regards to the above article, I would add that e-rate has been very effective in helping libraries provide internet access, too, so it's a good thing CIPA was struck down (even though it will rear its ugly head again). Online education is going to shift learning in our society, and libraries need to adapt to that in order to serve the needs of those patrons. We don't give a second thought to supporting home schoolers, and this is no different.