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Tuesday, February 12, 2002 |
Today I passed the 10,000 page read mark, and my blog has been up less than a month. I still can't believe it, but I want to thank everyone that's swung by!
10:51:25 PM Permanent link here
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I don't know if I believe this one, but it'd be pretty cool if it's real. Check out the Musit, a new digital music device that has a "continuous satellite Web link that allows for continual downloading of millions of songs in MP3 format. The Musit will allows you to enter in a song or album title, download, and play it almost instantly. With a patented high-speed wireless link to the Web, the Musit will download songs at an amazing rate of over 1MB per minute." It comes with a stylus and supposedly recognizes handwriting for input of song titles. All for under $200. (Note that the site requires Flash.) [via Mempool]
Hmmmmm....... I'll believe it when I see it, but someday, this type of device and service will be commonplace. For those of you that have heard me talk about the "heavenly jukebox" of content, this is one way it might look.
10:38:25 PM Permanent link here
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Chris Pirillo has posted a Blogger's Manifesto, which I'm sure he worked on with his wife, Gretchen. Both blogs (actually, all of Chris' sites, too) make great reads, so I highly recommend them. They're in my RSS feed, but I should really have them listed in my blogiography, too. Time to change that. Eventually I'll list everything I subscribe to so you can play along at home.
10:08:36 PM Permanent link here
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Virtual Ink Untethers Mimio Whiteboarding Product "Mimio Xi (neXt ink) is a departure from the company's four-year-old Mimio electronic whiteboarding product in that it allows users to record whiteboarding writing without a PC and with almost no setup time via wireless connectivity.... At Demo, 3Com is expected to show off a proof-of-concept module for Bluetooth that allows the data to be fed to a PC via a wireless connection, and ultimately to a corporate network. Virtual Ink is publishing the specifications and plans to develop a version for IRDA to connect to PocketPCs or Palms; the company expects that third parties will create a WiFi module." [at InfoWorld]
We have the current Mimio at SLS, and we've never been able to get it to work well enough to put it to good use. The additiobn of Bluetooth or WiFi connectivity would be a huge boost. They also need to work on the handwriting recognition, but it does have potential. It would be cool to have this type of technology available in a library's meeting room so that various groups could use it and take their notes with them on a CD or email it to themselves.
9:23:38 PM Permanent link here
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Copy-protected CDs Slide into Stores "Israeli security company Midbar said Tuesday that it has released more than 10 million copy-protected CDs in the United States and Europe, highlighting the company's ongoing endeavor to combat digital piracy. " [at News.com]
And tick off the record companies' customers. There hasn't been much I've wanted to buy lately, now even more so. Watch those CDs you're buying for your libraries, as you'll have to look closely for the identifying labels.
9:09:07 PM Permanent link here
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I talk about this in my Information Shifting presentation, but here's why you need to pay attention to digital audio titles, which right now means MP3s. You may have seen libraries that are integrating bib records for eBooks into their online catalogs (usually for netLibrary). Maybe you're even one of those libraries. All a patron has to do is search the catalog, view a record, and click on the link to the online version, all without leaving their PC.
So take that scenario one step further. Let's say I'm a patron that wants to borrow "Pomp and Circumstance" for a party for my new graduate. What if I can go to your catalog, search for it, click the link, and download it for a two-week loan period, all without leaving my PC. Now I don't have to come in to pick up a whole CD (that you hopefully have); I can just download the one song that I wanted.
Of course, that's if your library has access to digital files such as eBooks and MP3 audiobooks in order to circulate them. Don't ever forget that the bigcos don't want you to have that access.
8:58:41 PM Permanent link here
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Eric's been holding out on me. I thought his Libtech blog was on the Radio servers, but he's actually elsewhere and I've been missing his posts. Today he posted a link to an Eastside Journal opinion about the King County Library System's MP3 audiobook program. I'm a big proponent of both MP3 audiobooks and the company they are partnering with, Audible.com.
In fact, our SLS Tech Summit last September featured Audible, with presentations by both a rep from the company (thanks for coming that day, Matt!) and Eric Welch from Highland Community College Library (Eric is also circulating Audible titles on MP3 players). I'm still hoping to jump start a group discount for SLS libraries, but the KCLS program is a great model, as well as proof that this works.
As the Up for Library Innovation editorial notes, "Thumbs up for the King County Library System, which is continuing its record of being on the cutting edge of information services. The latest is acquiring 200 MP3 players that allow patrons to listen to audio books. The 3-ounce devices are much smaller than ordinary cassette tape or compact disc players. They can hold the equivalent of 20 cassettes and the material is merely downloaded onto the device. If you want to use one -- you can check one out for 28 days -- be prepared to stand in line behind 753 people who already have their names on the waiting list. The good news? The library will double the number of MP3 players by year's end."
If you want to see the presentations from last fall, find them on the SLS InfoTech site.
If you want to find out more about the wildly successful KCLS program, visit their eAudio site. They used to have their quarterly reports available online, but I can't find them now. I'll look it up tomorrow at work and see if I can track them down.
If you want to know if your library should pursue this, then just take my word for it and do it. You don't have to be a big library system to offer a new, quality service to your patrons. Trust me - they'll thank you for it.
8:36:06 PM Permanent link here
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Here's a good offset to the rotten NBC coverage of the Olympics - it's the CSMonitor's Winter Olympics 2002 blog! I want to read all of the links about last night's figure skating controversy since the rest of the coverage I've seen this morning has been sparse at best.
2:53:42 PM Permanent link here
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Sorry, Time's Up! "The latest fad among jobless techies in San Francisco? Taxpayer-funded Internet access at public libraries.... As local unemployment has surged to 5.7%, once-quiet bookworm oases now swarm with surly surfers.... Librarians say the congestion has even sparked Web rage. In December, one user screamed for 10 minutes at a librarian who kicked him off a terminal. "He threatened to sue," says Eleese Longino, 26, a patron who saw the incident." [Tip of the hat to Shirl and WEB4LIB]
Well, leaving aside the 19th century stereotype of libraries as "once-quiet bookworm oases," where has the media been? I had people yelling at me in 1996, swearing, and just plain being ornery, all for more time at the Internet PC. And that was on a dial-up modem! What exactly here is news? That there's a few more of these people now so we can officially name it?
1:51:15 PM Permanent link here
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Very cool! My alma mater, the University of Kansas is combining 802.11b network mapping with GIS for its Wireless Network Visualization Project in Lawrence! "While computer networks and Geography may not appear to have much in common, a collaborative effort was launched between the Univeristy of Kansas' Information & Telecommunications Technology Center and Kansas Applied Remote Sensing Program to create a more advanced wireless 802.11b mapping and network visualization method. This new procedure uses wireless network data collected from walking and/or driving scans, aerial photography, and interpolation techniques to create highly detailed network coverage and signal strength maps." [via Slashdot]
Not only does it map the various networks in Lawrence, including signal strength, it evaluates the security of them as well. Lawrence is Wi-Fi rocking! (Just add some security in there, folks.) Just imagine all of those emails, video file trades, instant messages, and streaming video going across those networks when the Jayhawks win the NCAA Tournament this year!
12:32:20 PM Permanent link here
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Why This Link Patent Case Is Weak "It may be a long time before British Telecom knows whether it lucked out or lost big in the legal sweepstakes. But even if it wins its court battle, experts said the British telephone company has already lost the war." [via Scripting News]
This article pretty sums up my chat session with Bruce this morning about how crazy BT is to even bring this up, letting along go to court with it. These guys are de-shifting into the ice age.
12:18:50 PM Permanent link here
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I haven't visited Kottke in a few days (bad Jenny!), so I'm overwhelmed by new things to read and play with from his site. A sampling:
9:13:18 AM Permanent link here
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Bruce is in a haiku mood today and sends us the following via AIM:
Jennifer L's Web Site
"The Shifted Librarian"
Collects useful links
Note how only my family calls me "Jennifer." But I've got him reading my blog. :-)
9:07:02 AM Permanent link here
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Languages in the Palm of Your Hand "[Ectaco] has developed a handy pocket-sized gadget that translates English phrases into French, German or Spanish. Instead of thumbing through a dictionary, you just say a phrase in English, the device translates it and then repeats out loud in the foreign language in a robotic voice.... The device fits in a pocket with ease. It uses AA batteries and costs $249.95, which could pay for a few bulky paper dictionaries.... 'Unfortunately there is a lot of background noise here,' explained Mr Davydov. 'Usually it works 90% of the time.' " [via Bruce]
So make that a PDA/cell phone/GPS/translator combo for my Christmas list. Someday there will be white papers and articles about how to conduct reference interviews with non-English speakers using a translator device. Hey, Ectaco - if you'd like to test this out in the real world in libraries, let me know!
9:02:03 AM Permanent link here
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Zhikr.org is too interesting for me to write a one-sentence summary. Looks like good stuff on the Net Generation and on Islam. Must read tonight. [via Kottke.org]
8:49:05 AM Permanent link here
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Watch Out for a New Watchphone "Samsung's SPH-S1OO 'watchphone' accepts voice commands so it can be used hands-free. It rings in different ways for different callers and automatically keys in preprogrammed letters or numbers to make quick work of logging into online services. There's also a 'Secret Phone Book' where every saved phone number can be used only after the person keys in a 4-digit code, according to the device's 112-page user manual.... The FCC go-ahead is instead a 'proof of the technology,' the spokesman said. He declined to say when and where the watchphone would be available." [at ZDNet]
The analyst is right that it will take a long time for something like this to take off, even if Samsung starts actually making them. However, can you imagine what it would be like to be a kid growing up with this kind of device widely available and inexpensive? Always connected to a 3G network? Talk about information shifting!
8:41:01 AM Permanent link here
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Why Web services will be the Next Big Thing "Web services establish a method of standardizing communication, making it easier for applications and devices to share information back and forth across the Internet." [at ZDNet AnchorDesk]
Here's a good overview of Web services for those of you that are getting curious (as I am). The more I read about this, the more I think it has potential for things like Find-It! Illinois, IGI, VIC, and interlibrary loan in general. For those of you in the know, could it be an XML-based version of Z39.50 or is that stretching it too far? I have just got to start learning XML in order to connect-the-dots and begin using it.
8:21:51 AM Permanent link here
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A Matter of Trust: "Blogging should be mandatory for every CEO. Screw insider trading disclosure, open up the walls that shrould Fortune's top 500 in secrecy. For never again will I trust the words of an analyst, accountant or spokeperson. if it doesn't come from the horses mouth, it just doesn't cut the mustard." [CurryDotCom]
For those of you non-librarians out there - and actually for you librarians, too - here's the thing. You do trust libraries, even if you haven't used one in a while. Librarians have a built-in trust with the public because of the great service we provide (I'm talking customer service here), the great service we provide (I'm talking housing, organizing, and disseminating information here), and the great service we provide (I'm talking the consistency day in and day out - we're still here, what about all of the .coms that were going to replace us?).
If you go to the Librarians' Index to the Internet, you inherently know you can trust what they present to you. Actually, don't go there, and just think about what the title tells you. You can't count on companies, politicians, or the media anymore, but you can still count on us. Just try and find someone who has never once used a library as a child, a student, a parent, a person. Go on. I dare you.
So if you haven't used a library in a while, come on back. You'll be surprised what we have to offer (still). And librarians, let's build on that trust that's been sitting in the back seat and continue asserting ourselves in our domain - information. We need to get our message out to the masses that we're still here - better than every, thank you very much - and you can still trust us.
7:10:45 AM Permanent link here
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© Copyright 2004 Jenny Levine.
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