Way back when, a library I worked at had a standard survey we gave to every student at the end of an instruction session. It included a bunch of Likert scale questions like “How satisfied were you with the session?” and “How useful was the session?” We dutifully collected the surveys and someone went through … Continue reading Asking the Right Questions
This phase of the industry offers many choices, including both proprietary and open source license options, some based on cloud technologies and others that continue to rely on local hardware. Though a new generation of library services platforms has entered a phase of early adoption, the integrated library system remains viable, especially when extended to … Continue reading Library Systems Report 2014
CPL Commissioner Brian Bannon tells American Libraries that the program—already in place at the Harold Washington Library Center and other locations throughout the city—will expand to six new branches. A pop-up version will bring YOUmedia to 12 more neighborhoods, giving teens one- or two-day experiences with the latest technology, he says. “It’s all part of … Continue reading CPL Teen Program Expands and Replicates
New York City–based app developer Apploi provided the library with a special tablet device kiosk in March 2014 through its Jobs4Five program—an initiative that aims to bring the job searching technology of the internet to those who can least afford it. “The internet is the primary channel now utilized for finding new job talent,” Apploi … Continue reading Job Hunting Goes Higher Tech
A vendor somewhere had to try this approach: metered reading. And now someone has. Yoav Lorch is the engaging and insightful CEO of an Israeli company called Total Boox. I met with him at PLA in March, and got a guided tour of his product. Total Boox is based on the premise that most of … Continue reading Tick Tock, Book Boox
Anyone who attends any of the many engaging library conferences understands the value of immersing oneself in our professional culture, attending inspiring and engaging presentations, and learning from those outside of one’s own library system. Yet, except for some of the keynotes, we don’t often hear from those outside our field. At SXSW on the … Continue reading SXSW upon Reflection
Terry Winograd, professor of computer science at Stanford University, is one of the top leaders in human-computer interaction. For a dozen years, he has collaborated with the Hasso Plattner Institute of Design (the D School) at Stanford University to present a course on the design of computer- and telecommunication-based applications. All of its courses are … Continue reading One Product, Many Users
Sometimes the best way to think outside the box is to look inside other people’s boxes. So I participated in a session titled “Library Machines: A Lo-Fi Design Conversation,” with presenters Jeff Goldenson, a designer in Harvard Library’s Innovation Lab, and Sidsel Bech-Petersen of Aarhus Public Library in Denmark. A library machine is “a mechanically or … Continue reading SXSW Day Two: Conversing in Lo-Fi
Drumbot and interactive two-way art wall. Interactive light peg exhibit. … Continue reading Hands-on Fun at SXSW 2014
On the eve of SXSW, a group of librarians and I attended a maker meetup hosted by the Austin Mini Maker Faire at the Thinkery, an Austin children’s museum. Adults of all ages engaged in crafts, water exhibits, shadow art, and oversized Lite Brite–like designs before listening to a brief address by Dale Dougherty, founder … Continue reading Maker Meetup at SXSW
Librarians from all over the country have landed in Austin, Texas, for SXSW Interactive, a five-day conference of tech professionals and venture capitalists, startups and entrepreneurs, gamers and makers, and everything in between. For the past few years, a group of library, archives, and museum professionals have coordinated to present sessions, advocate for libraries, and … Continue reading SXSW Day One
Steve Leggett, program coordinator of the National Film Preservation Board at the Library of Congress (LC), laughs as he retells this Hollywood urban legend. Nevertheless the story contains truth. Scores of films were destroyed during cinema’s early years by studios that viewed silents as obsolete. These silent classics were not seen as works of art … Continue reading Saving Our Celluloid Past
