Archive for July 2008

The free, open access Urban Library Journal presents a special issue for Spring 2008 entitled The Creative Library which highlights the creative side of librarians in meeting the challenges of twenty-first century libraries. Steven Bell guest edits this issue of nine inspiring articles. Here are just a few of the articles:

• The Eye of the Brainstorm: Transforming the Library through Creative Idea-Building
• Perseverance and Play: Making a Movie for the YouTube Generation
• Listen Up: Discovering the Reference and Instructional Applications of Apple’s iTunes
• Fun Precedes Function: Fostering a Creative Workplace in the Public Library

Video – My Recent Trip to Gettysburg

Create Animoto Music Videos – Easily create music videos from your photo sets on Flickr, Facebook, Picasa, and others with Animoto.

Create Blog Slideshows with FlickrSLiDR - This very simple tool instantly creates nicely formatted slideshows from your Flickr photos that can be embedded in your blog or website. PictoBrowser and many others are similar. See my slideshows with these tools here.

Create Business Cards – Make business cards, stickers, postcards, and more from your photos which you have stored on Flickr, Facebook, and other social networks at Moo.com.

Create Librarian Trading Cards, Badges, & More Fun – Easy to use tools will walk you through creating trading cards, magazine covers, movie posters and more with your online photos here at Big Huge Labs.

Edit Photos with Picnik – This Web-based photo editor has partnered with Flickr, Facebook, Photobucket, and others to provide you with instant image editing tools from within these social websites, look for the Edit Photo option when viewing your photos, or browse to Picnik to connect the editor with your accounts.

Create an Online Scrapbook – Organize your photos into an online scrapbook such as this one which spotlights a trip to Italy with Scrapblog.

Create a Coffee Table Book – Create gorgeous hardcover photo books with the easy-to-use Blurb bookmaking software.

Create a Newsletter – Create beautifully designed newsletters and photo collages with LetterPop.

Turn Your Photos into Cartoons - Run your photos through BeFunky’s Cartoonizer and create comic book versions of your images.

Create an Online Portfolio – Collect your best photos and set up an online portfolio of your work using Carbonmade.

Publish a Brochure – Create a brochure, online magazine, portfolio, or other image-based project with FormatPixel.

Caption Photos – Add captions, objects, and speech bubbles to photos from Flickr, Webshots, Shutterfly and more with Graphita.

Create Comic Strips – Browse Flickr photos by user or tag and create comic strips from them using the Bubblr tool.

Create Social Networking Slideshows – Create fun slideshows to embed on social networking websites such as Facebook and MySpace. Customize backgrounds, music and special effects at Slide.com or RockYou.

Frame Your Photos – Add photo frame templates to your photos which will transform them into motivational posters, bus stop signs, and billboards at Image Chef.

Create Photo Collages – Place your photos into Web-based collages with Tabblo

Create Photo Widgets – Experiment with thousands of photo widgets found on Widgetbox and embed your creations on your websites and blogs.

I’m sure there are many other creative things to do with online photos, please list some of your faves in the comments!

Chris Brogan discusses 50 Ways Marketers Can use Social Media to Improve Their Marketing. Right away he raises a good point – it “isn’t always the right tool for the job”, and while organizations may not want to implement all of his recommendations, this article is an excellent primer. Here are his top five suggestions:

1. Add social bookmark links to your most important web pages and/or blog posts to improve sharing.
2. Build blogs and teach conversational marketing and business relationship building techniques.
3. For every video project purchased, ensure there’s an embeddable web version for improved sharing.
4. Learn how tagging and other metadata improve your ability to search and measure the spread of information.
5. Create informational podcasts about a product’s overall space, not just the product.

Brogan lists his recommendations in no particular order, however, Jeremiah Owyang, Sr Analyst at Forrester, has taken the list and segmented it by objective to add some helpful organization. These are his objectives:

• Listening: Gleaning market and customer insight and intelligence
• Talking: Engaging in a two way discussion to get your message out (and get messages in)
• Energizing: Letting your customers tell your prospects on your behalf (viral, word of mouth)
• Supporting: Getting your customers to self-support each other
• Embracing: Building better products and services through collaboration with clients
• Strategy, Training, and Planning

Mashable puts together a list of more than 20 tools which will let you broadcast live video to the Web from either a webcam or your mobile phone. These streaming videos can be embedded into webpages or social networks and would be an excellent way to offer coverage of live events. Here are a few of their recommendations:

• LiveCastr.com
• Kyte.com
• Justin.tv
• Shozu.com
• Seesmic.com

This month I had a Library Technology Report published on the mobile Web, however, it was written before Apple’s release of the new iPhone 3G. This article attempts to provide a bit of an update to that, delineating some of the improvements to the device with its second issue as well as pointing out a few of the shortcomings which have been expressed by early reviewers.

iPhone 3G Improvements

Earlier this week, Apple released its second-generation iPhone, the iPhone 3G, an improved version of the wildly popular original which has sold over 6 million devices. These are some of the enhancements that this new model brings.

Lower Cost – The new iPhone 3G is available at half the price of the original at $199 for the 8GB model (down from $399) and $299 for the 16GB device (down from $499). A year ago, the 8GB iPhone was priced at $599. This is quite a significant price reduction.

Faster 3G Network – The new iPhone 3G now has access to high-speed 3G (third-generation) networks where available which are twice as fast as its slower EDGE network for accessing the Web and other data tasks.

GPS – This second-generation iPhone comes with GPS, a technology which makes it “location-aware”. This grants the device the ability to geo-tag pictures with location-based information, plot its location on a map, and opens it up to many third-party location-based software programs.

Better Audio Quality – The iPhone 3G has improved the audio quality and volume for voice calls and music playback beyond that of its predecessor.

iPhone 2.0 Software – Apple has released iPhone 2.0 SoftwareUpdate which comes installed on the new iPhone 3G, but can also be downloaded and installed on previous iPhone devices for free, and iPod Touch owners can snag it for $9.99. This upgrade brings additional functionality and features such as:

• Compatibility with Microsoft Exchange ActiveSync (Note: Exchange Sync will delete an owners’ personal calendar and contacts data, however, the new subscription-based MobileMe will make it possible to store both on the device).
• Parental controls which allows guardians to restrict applications such as YouTube or downloading abilities, etc.
• Ability to move and delete multiple emails simultaneously
• Address book search
• Multiple language support
• Ability to view Microsoft PowerPoint files
• A scientific calculator

iPhone App Store – Apple has launched an iPhone App Store through which device owners can shop for and download new software programs for their phones and Touch devices. At the time of this writing there were over 700 applications listed in the store’s catalog, 150 of which were free and the rest ranging in price starting at $0.99. According to TechCrunch, the App Store had already made Apple $55,000 one day before the store officially opened. The new App Store is accessible to older iPhone users as well as iPod Touch owners, as long as they have installed the 2.0 software upgrade.

Sleek Design – The new iPhone 3G sports a sleek, curvy design, and is somewhat slimmer and lighter than its predecessor. It’s plastic backside replaces a metal one, making it more friendly to radio waves.

Standard Headphone Jack – This new model has a headset jack which will now work with standard, non-Apple headphones.

iPhone 3G Shortcomings

Although the iPhone 3G does make strides towards improving its device features and functionality, there are still items on the wish list for owners. For lovers of the iPhone, the 3G model is a good upgrade, it is an undeniably slick, beautiful device which, like its predecessor is breathing new life into the mobile Web, however, some may want to hold off until the next iteration and here’s why:

Service Plan Cost – Although this new model is half the price of its predecessor there is one snag – the increased cost of the service plan. AT&T – the sole U.S. mobile phone carrier for the iPhone – has raised the cost of its unlimited Internet service contract by $10 per month and has eliminated text messaging from the package which tacks on another $5/month. Over the life of the mandatory AT&T two-year contract, this adds on another $360, making the cost of the iPhone 3G actually higher than that of the original.

EDGE Network – While the new model does have access to 3G networks, they are not available everywhere, and the device defaults back to the slower EDGE network in those instances. According to the New York Times, ten states don’t have any 3G coverage from AT&T, and in 16 states, only three cities or less have coverage at this point. See AT&T’s 3G Coverage map here.

No Removable Battery – The faster 3G network uses the battery life at twice the speed of the EDGE network, and the battery is not replaceable by a spare as it is not removable.

No Expandable Memory – There are no SD or other memory slots on the device, so available memory cannot be expanded.

Weak GPS - David Pogue at the New York Times reports that, according to Apple the antenna on the new iPhone 3G is not powerful enough to support turn-by-turn navigation for driving (or walking) directions.

No MMS – This new model lacks the multi-media messaging service found on most smartphones for easily sending photos to other phones.

No Stereo Bluetooth Headset Support – The iPhone 3G is not compatible with hands-free stereo Bluetooth headsets.

No Copy/Paste Functionality – The latest model does not have basic copy and paste functionality useful for composing emails and documents.

No Flash, Java, or Windows Media Video Support – The iPhone 3G does not support these technologies.

2 Megapixel Camera – The new model comes with only a 2 Megapixel camera with no flash.

No Video Camera – The iPhone 3G lacks the ability to shoot video with the camera.

No Voice Dialing – The new device does not support hands-free, voice dialing.

Further Coverage

If you’re interested in more coverage of the new iPhone 3G be sure and take a look at these articles.

For the iPhone, the ‘New’ Is Relative – The New York Times

Newer, Faster, Cheaper iPhone 3G – All Things Digital (Walt Mossberg of the Wall Street Journal)

Apple’s New iPhone 3G: Still Not Perfect, but Really Close – USA Today

10 Things the 3G iPhone is Still Missing – PCWorld

iPhone 3G Review – Gizmodo

Seven Problems with the New iPhone – The Bivings Report

Those of you who have taken the plunge and purchased a new iPhone 3G, please leave your impressions in the comments!

The ACRL Instruction Section’s Research & Scholarship Committee has started a “5 Things” series that will focus on topics of interest to instructional librarians. Their first publication in this series is titled 5 Things You Should Read about Copyright and Sharing Instructional Materials in which they recommend and review five useful resources to read and discuss – they even provide approximate reading times. These recommendations are right on track with the “open” course I’m building for the fall, so I’ll be sure to check these out:

1. Bissell, Ahrash and James Boyle. 2007. Towards a global learning commons: ccLearn. Educational Technology 47 (3): 5‐9.
2. Green, Cable. Developing a culture of sharing and receiving: Open educational resources. Bellingham Technical College elearning, Feb 2008.
3. Hobbs, Renee, Peter Jaszi, and Pat Aufderheide. 2007. The cost of copyright confusion for media literacy. Washington, DC: Center for Social Media.
4. Lehman, Rosemary. 2007. Learning object repositories. New Directions for Adult & Continuing Education 113 (Spring): 57‐66.
5. Lessig, Lawrence. How creativity is being strangled by the law. TED (Technology, Entertainment, Design), March 2007.

via Educause

I’ve created a faculty office in Google Lively where my students can drop-in and chat in a virtual space. Up to 20 people can join and interact in a room at once, although 100 can enter rooms with view-only access. If you’ve installed Lively, stop by and say hello. If you’re just getting started you may find these resources helpful:

Official Lively Help Group

Lively Help Center

Blogoscoped’s Google Lively FAQ

Open Culture spotlights 70 educational video collections on YouTube originating from media outlets, cultural institutions, universities and non-profits. Among their top picks are:

• The Nobel Prize
• University of California – Berkeley
• Stanford University
• MIT (Massachusetts Institute of Technology)
• Citizen Tube
• Council on Foreign Relations
• Pulitzer Center on Crisis Reporting

Jared Goralnick at Technotheory has put together a stellar guide for Getting Started with Social Media which is broken down into four easy-to-follow steps. The primer gives practical advice and guidance within sub-sections of each step. And if you still need pointers afterward, he provides further resources to explore at the end.

Step 1. Listen To What People Are Already Saying
Step 2. Participate In The Conversation
Step 3. Create, Share, And Build Your Presence
Step 4. Stay At It And Meet People In The Real World

via SocialMedia

On Tuesday, Google launched a virtual world called Lively which allows players to embed their avatars and even “rooms” from within the world into their websites and blogs. Similar to Second Life, users must download and install software in order to enter, but then can access the world from social networking websites such as Facebook and MySpace. A search of Lively’s rooms reveals that several libraries may already experimenting with the service including the Alliance Virtual Library, ASU’s Noble Library, and Rutgers University Law Library.

For more coverage check out:

Google ventures into virtual reality with ‘Lively’

Google Tries To Go Lively With Its Own Virtual World Effort

Lively: Google Launches Virtual World

The Center for Social Media at American University’s School of Communication presents a best practices report for making online videos within the boundaries of fair use. Building on their previous report, Recut, Reframe, Recycle, the study guides video makers through acceptable practices according to copyright law. Some of these acceptable uses include:

• Commenting on or Critiquing of Copyrighted Material
• Using Copyrighted Material for Illustration or Example
• Capturing Copyrighted Material Incidentally or Accidentally
• Reproducing, Reposting, or Quoting in Order to Memorialize, Preserve, or Rescue and Experience, An Event, or a Cultural Phenomenon
• Copying, Reposting, and Recirculating a Work or Part of a Work for Purposes of Launching a Discussion
• Quoting in Order to Recombine Elements to make a New Work that Depends for its Meaning on (Often Unlikely) Relationships Between the Elements

So if you’re considering making video mashups, or using copyrighted video for instructional purposes, etc. you’ll want to check out this report.

via Social Media

Mashable puts together a list of 20+ Must-Have WordPress 2.5 Compatible Plugins. Blog authors who use the WordPress platform will want to check this out. Here are few which I’ll be looking at more closely:

• Twitter Updater which will create a tweet each time you post to your blog.
• WP-Polls which makes it easy for you to poll your readers.
• Recent Posts which displays a listing of your most recent blog posts for your sidebar.
• Similar Posts/Post-Plugin Library which suggests other post recommendations following each of your articles.
• Events Calendar which allows you to add events to your site.

What is LinkedIn? from LinkedIn Marketing on Vimeo.

The CommonCraft team, known for their “In Plain English” videos has made another of their introductory videos available, this time for the professional social networking website LinkedIn. If you’re at all curious about how to get started in this community, give this a glance.

Edward M. Corrado, Systems Librarian at The College of New Jersey (TCNJ), and Kathryn A. Frederick, Access and Electronic Services Librarian at Elmira College review free and open source options for creating and maintaining subject guides and course pages in the Code4Lib Journal. The authors discuss the strengths and weaknesses of each of the following options:

• MyLibrary
• SubjectsPlus
• LibData
• ResearchGuide
• Library Course Builder
• Social Bookmarking Sites
• Blogs
• Wikis
• Course Management Systems

via Educause

Bryan Alexander, Director of Research at the National Institute for Technology and Liberal Education (NITLE) writes about Games for Education: 2008 in the July/August 2008 issue of Educause Review. Alexander discusses computer games as learning objects “from which both students and educational staff can learn”.

“Games can be learning objects. This assertion summons up two strands of thought concerning computer-mediated teaching and learning. First, many of the goals for the learning objects movement can be transferred to games: digital objects from which learners can learn and that can be repeated. Second, we now have two decades of practical experience in using and thinking about digital objects in teaching, even if we have not always applied learning objects as a term to describe them: CD-ROMs, podcasts, videos, assigned web pages, e-reserves, files on USB drives, GIF or Java applets. If we emphasize the replayability of learning objects, the idea of computer games as items to learn from is not a new thought at all.2″