I was having a play with barcode apps recently. Mainly I wanted a QR code reader, but then started playing with shopping type apps.
However, one app that particularly interested me was Zbar – and that’s because it’s not a shopping app but a barcode app – it let’s you create your own search links, create saved lists and email these as a saved list. This was interesting because despite not being as pretty as the others (it showed the barcode, not the product), the customisation and ability to email scanned barcodes as a .csv file offered great potential.
And that’s whare it sat for a while… potentially interesting & kind of fun, but I was still thinking in terms of shopping. Then, when road tripping for Christmas the thought occurred that if searching within Mandurah Libraries you could almost be assured a 100% hit rate. Scanning the product barcode on an item takes you directly to the full catalogue record of the item – Summaries (from the catalogue record, but also links to Google Books, LibraryThing), Author Links, Subject Links, Series Links, LibraryThing enhancements like tags, similar titles etc. So if you find an item on the shelf you’ve already read – scan and find what else we hold by that Author. Find the 2nd or 3rd volume of a series on the shelf – scan and find out if we have the first….. All without having to type anything in.
Putting this in writing makes it seem a bit naff – you could just go the to OPAC’s like we’ve always done. But I suppose that’s the point, you don’t have to. You can do it all at the shelf where you are so you don’t need to keep going backwards and forwards to the catalogue. You could also do it from home or when out and about - we don't always have a pen or paper handy, but we almost always have our mobiles...
We are always looking for ways of engaging our customers – maybe something like this is a good start, even if it might be a bit naff?
Tuesday, December 27, 2011
Monday, June 6, 2011
Augmented Reality
I've been aware of the term "Augmented Reality" for a while - but have always related it to gaming and things like "Second Life" and have never directly associated it with mobile apps or libraries.
But after coming across Arron Tay's article on Augmented Reality I'm actually quite excited.
As a librarian in a public library I'm rather attached to the book in paper format. I can use and appreciate electronic formats but I'm attached to the tactile experience of relaxational reading with a paper based book. Even with non fiction or study texts I find working with paper based medium more conductive to my thought process than working with ebook formats.
With all the talk lately in library circles regarding the rise of the ebook and the decline in circulation of traditional formats I was starting to worry that there would, for traditional formats be a lack of new development.
Shelf checking is the bane of a librarians existence - It's time consuming, fiddly and monotonous. But if the books are not filed correctly customers or staff cannot easily locate items, which can be both frustrating and embarrassing. When items cannot be found it adds to our workloads - looking for, writing off, Inter-Library Loaning or purchasing a new copy to satisfy the initial customer query.
Alot of people think RFID will help with this. And maybe in ideal cases it will, but given the offline/report based output of many RFID solutions and (in our case at least) issues with Call Number construction I have my doubts as to how effective it will be. An improvement yes, but the answer we expected ? likely not.....
Which brings us back to Augmented Reality
Seems great to me. An interactive, real time shelving guide.
From this great example and Arron's quick exploration it isn't hard to image a future where you can call up all of the same enhanced content (Syndetics, LibraryThing, etc)via your mobile phone or tablet while wandering the library shelves.
But after coming across Arron Tay's article on Augmented Reality I'm actually quite excited.
As a librarian in a public library I'm rather attached to the book in paper format. I can use and appreciate electronic formats but I'm attached to the tactile experience of relaxational reading with a paper based book. Even with non fiction or study texts I find working with paper based medium more conductive to my thought process than working with ebook formats.
With all the talk lately in library circles regarding the rise of the ebook and the decline in circulation of traditional formats I was starting to worry that there would, for traditional formats be a lack of new development.
Shelf checking is the bane of a librarians existence - It's time consuming, fiddly and monotonous. But if the books are not filed correctly customers or staff cannot easily locate items, which can be both frustrating and embarrassing. When items cannot be found it adds to our workloads - looking for, writing off, Inter-Library Loaning or purchasing a new copy to satisfy the initial customer query.
Alot of people think RFID will help with this. And maybe in ideal cases it will, but given the offline/report based output of many RFID solutions and (in our case at least) issues with Call Number construction I have my doubts as to how effective it will be. An improvement yes, but the answer we expected ? likely not.....
Which brings us back to Augmented Reality
Seems great to me. An interactive, real time shelving guide.
From this great example and Arron's quick exploration it isn't hard to image a future where you can call up all of the same enhanced content (Syndetics, LibraryThing, etc)via your mobile phone or tablet while wandering the library shelves.
Thursday, March 3, 2011
Course Wrap up
The course has been fun - but also stressful trying to make time to complete it.
Blogs & Wikki's, RSS Agregators, Tagging, Delishious, LibraryThing and Podcasting stike me as the most applicable for developing our library services.
Social Networking will be important as a means of communication and being "where are customers are", but I can't seem to work up the appropiate enthousiam - perhaps because I don't currently use social media regularily, so when I do I have to wade through alot of junk to find the things I got on their for. Basically, I think it will be easy to get wrong - too few posts or too many, but will be great if we get it right.
I think it's great that all of our staff are getting to do the course as it gives us an even playing field to discuss, plan and involve everyone in the next stage of development - a true online presence.
Blogs & Wikki's, RSS Agregators, Tagging, Delishious, LibraryThing and Podcasting stike me as the most applicable for developing our library services.
Social Networking will be important as a means of communication and being "where are customers are", but I can't seem to work up the appropiate enthousiam - perhaps because I don't currently use social media regularily, so when I do I have to wade through alot of junk to find the things I got on their for. Basically, I think it will be easy to get wrong - too few posts or too many, but will be great if we get it right.
I think it's great that all of our staff are getting to do the course as it gives us an even playing field to discuss, plan and involve everyone in the next stage of development - a true online presence.
Geocaching
I have mixed thoughts about geocaching. On the one hand I can't work up any enthousiam for it, but on the other I can see how we could use it - perhaps it just feels like the straw that broke the camels back.....
In a library context, I can envision scenarios where we could use geocaching in conjuntion with library events such as National Year of Reading and even Author talks etc to give these an added dimension. We also get a lot of travellers using the library for wireless and public PC access. If travellors are accross the whole geocashing experience this could be a "fun" way to engage with them.
Chicargo's finding history throughout the city did strike a cord however. Seems like there is great potential to utilise this in our Museums learning programs - or once again to engage visitors to the region to learn about the history of Mandurah.
The thought occurs that QR barcodes could be used for similar purposes or in conjunction......
In a library context, I can envision scenarios where we could use geocaching in conjuntion with library events such as National Year of Reading and even Author talks etc to give these an added dimension. We also get a lot of travellers using the library for wireless and public PC access. If travellors are accross the whole geocashing experience this could be a "fun" way to engage with them.
Chicargo's finding history throughout the city did strike a cord however. Seems like there is great potential to utilise this in our Museums learning programs - or once again to engage visitors to the region to learn about the history of Mandurah.
The thought occurs that QR barcodes could be used for similar purposes or in conjunction......
Wednesday, March 2, 2011
Podcasting
I personally have mixed feelings about podcasts. I have dozens of podcasts at home that I've never got around to listening to.
Work-wise, I think we should be looking at podcasting/vodcasting all of our events - think advertising darling !!
At the very least we should be looking at podcasting our "Writers in the Library" talks. This would hopefully be a good way of generating interest and hopefully getting more people to physically attend. Our museum’s audio histories would be a good source of material to post.
Personally I’d love to download Tripple J’s new music podcasts – but they would be one more thing that I would get a chance to listen to....
Work-wise, I think we should be looking at podcasting/vodcasting all of our events - think advertising darling !!
At the very least we should be looking at podcasting our "Writers in the Library" talks. This would hopefully be a good way of generating interest and hopefully getting more people to physically attend. Our museum’s audio histories would be a good source of material to post.
Personally I’d love to download Tripple J’s new music podcasts – but they would be one more thing that I would get a chance to listen to....
Sunday, January 16, 2011
Online Video
I think online video has great potential in libraries as training tools for both staff and public. Handouts and procedures are often either too simplistic or too hard to comprehend easily.
Watching short clips lets you take the information in easily and can be supported by the handouts or procedures. I’m not sure about quality. Is it better to have something up as long as it gets your point across? So many things that we see look so professional I would be embarrassed to put anything up that I produced as it wouldn’t look very good…..
How could we use it in libraries?
The 3 obvious option are to
1. promote services by creating short introductions/training clips
2. promote books via book trailers
3. promote our events by posting past ones.
eg:
Watching short clips lets you take the information in easily and can be supported by the handouts or procedures. I’m not sure about quality. Is it better to have something up as long as it gets your point across? So many things that we see look so professional I would be embarrassed to put anything up that I produced as it wouldn’t look very good…..
How could we use it in libraries?
The 3 obvious option are to
1. promote services by creating short introductions/training clips
2. promote books via book trailers
3. promote our events by posting past ones.
eg:
I now have a Twitter account http://twitter.com/#!/brucie995 and have posted my first tweet and also sent my first retweet!
I think I will have to come back and edit this post after I've had a play for a couple of days. Not too sure yet what to make of Twitter. My only experience so far is when I've followed some posts online to with regards to conferences that I've not been able to attend. Have generally found those posts hard to follow as for me they were "out of context" and full of abbreviations.
I think I will have to come back and edit this post after I've had a play for a couple of days. Not too sure yet what to make of Twitter. My only experience so far is when I've followed some posts online to with regards to conferences that I've not been able to attend. Have generally found those posts hard to follow as for me they were "out of context" and full of abbreviations.
Thursday, January 13, 2011
Facebook has changed so much since I last used it regularily, I can't quickly wrap my head around it. I think it has gr8 potential as a communications tool.
It's been about 18 months since I last really logged on. Because I don't have internet at home, and had a commute to work of about 1 hour to 1 and a half hours I found all of the pokes and game request really annoying to wade through.
I would like to start playing with it again, because i would like to understand all of the new features - facebook likes to copy other websites that are doing good things with technology, like geolocation ......
I also need to wrap my head around who can see what nowdays. Facebook keeps amending the privacy settings - so that mine are differnet to what I originally set and I think nowdays friends of friends can see my posts.....
Not sure - that's why I need to play and research....
It's been about 18 months since I last really logged on. Because I don't have internet at home, and had a commute to work of about 1 hour to 1 and a half hours I found all of the pokes and game request really annoying to wade through.
I would like to start playing with it again, because i would like to understand all of the new features - facebook likes to copy other websites that are doing good things with technology, like geolocation ......
I also need to wrap my head around who can see what nowdays. Facebook keeps amending the privacy settings - so that mine are differnet to what I originally set and I think nowdays friends of friends can see my posts.....
Not sure - that's why I need to play and research....
Sunday, December 19, 2010
LibraryThing
I first joined LibraryThing when I moved away for a year and all my stuff was in storage.
I wanted to know what I owned, so I created a spreadsheet as I would not have Internet access - then I discovered LibraryThing so I bulk imported the spreadsheet to create my library http://www.librarything.com/catalog/brucie995.
I've also created accounts using that spreadsheet with alternative LibraryThing sites
http://www.bookjetty.com/brucie995
http://www.shelfari.com/brucie995
Not having Internet, I've never really utilised LibraryThing (or the other sites) to it's full potential but it's been useful in solving arguments with my brother.
I know some of our customers use social book club sites and I would definitely like to explore options - eg: LibraryThing Local to increase exposure to our programs and events.
Mandurah Libraries already has it's catalogue accessible via z39.50 to Shelfari (i think), Bookjetty and LibraryThing - this means that when users are searching LibraryThing they can check to see if it's held by us. This unfortunately uses ISBN so the hit rate is lower than it should be but I'm hoping these site will broaden their search parameters to include title information.
All we need now is something just as good for Music and DVDs!!!
I wanted to know what I owned, so I created a spreadsheet as I would not have Internet access - then I discovered LibraryThing so I bulk imported the spreadsheet to create my library http://www.librarything.com/catalog/brucie995.
I've also created accounts using that spreadsheet with alternative LibraryThing sites
http://www.bookjetty.com/brucie995
http://www.shelfari.com/brucie995
Not having Internet, I've never really utilised LibraryThing (or the other sites) to it's full potential but it's been useful in solving arguments with my brother.
I know some of our customers use social book club sites and I would definitely like to explore options - eg: LibraryThing Local to increase exposure to our programs and events.
Mandurah Libraries already has it's catalogue accessible via z39.50 to Shelfari (i think), Bookjetty and LibraryThing - this means that when users are searching LibraryThing they can check to see if it's held by us. This unfortunately uses ISBN so the hit rate is lower than it should be but I'm hoping these site will broaden their search parameters to include title information.
All we need now is something just as good for Music and DVDs!!!
Social Bookmarking
I love the idea of social bookmarking. Keeping bookmarks synchronised between my three main computers is impossible, let alone sharing these where appropriate among new and existing staff. While there are software tools to synchronise bookmarks across PCs, work IT policies prevent these from being installed.
Another aspect is how quickly web pages can disappear - if your bookmark is out-of-date you can quickly find other sites that have been bookmarked without having to wade through as much dross.
Because others can add to these and you can share/import it you can develop a list of websites collaboratively that can be utilised for reference enquiries and to give new staff access to resources easily. And because it's collaborative it takes the burden off of a single person to maintain and is hopefully "self" correcting.
My Delicious bookmark page is http://www.delicious.com/libsmorethanbooks .
Another aspect is how quickly web pages can disappear - if your bookmark is out-of-date you can quickly find other sites that have been bookmarked without having to wade through as much dross.
Because others can add to these and you can share/import it you can develop a list of websites collaboratively that can be utilised for reference enquiries and to give new staff access to resources easily. And because it's collaborative it takes the burden off of a single person to maintain and is hopefully "self" correcting.
My Delicious bookmark page is http://www.delicious.com/libsmorethanbooks .
Thursday, December 16, 2010
Wikis
I do like the collaborative aspect of wiki's. It's always a problem when working on a project with others to keep track of all the emails, versions of documents, revisions etc. And then when someone else gets involved or you want to share then information with others later it can be a real problem compiling all that data.
The nice thing about Wiki's (and blogs) is that you post it once and then people can edit or comment - and it's all laid out sequentially so you can trace the development or progression of ideas. When others come later it's already there and laid out for them & they too can add their contribution.
The nice thing about Wiki's (and blogs) is that you post it once and then people can edit or comment - and it's all laid out sequentially so you can trace the development or progression of ideas. When others come later it's already there and laid out for them & they too can add their contribution.
Sunday, December 12, 2010
RSS Feeds
I love my iGoogle homepage - I forget to check google reader, but I like having all my RSS feeds displayed on my browser when I start it as all I need to do is a quick scan across the page for anything interesting. And it has the the google search right there !
I added some of the regular blogs I view to the right of my blog. A particular favourite is "Musings about librarianship" as I generally find the topics reflect things that I am thinking about or know I should be thinking about.
I added some of the regular blogs I view to the right of my blog. A particular favourite is "Musings about librarianship" as I generally find the topics reflect things that I am thinking about or know I should be thinking about.
Wednesday, December 1, 2010
Mobile Devices
I found this image on Flickr from Robert Dumas on WorldCat's mobile app. I wonder how this instant access to library holdings will affect customer expectations ?
Will customers still be willing to wait (possibly) weeks for their reservations to be satisfied or will they start demanding faster response times ?
If they email a request for information how quickly do they expect a response ?
Does it matter ? Is it a case of user education ? or if we meet their expectations will they find other sources or even just stop asking altogether?
Will customers still be willing to wait (possibly) weeks for their reservations to be satisfied or will they start demanding faster response times ?
If they email a request for information how quickly do they expect a response ?
Does it matter ? Is it a case of user education ? or if we meet their expectations will they find other sources or even just stop asking altogether?
Monday, November 29, 2010
Welcome to "Libraries - more than books"
I have created this blog as part of a Learning 2.0 course, so I've yet to develop style for this blog. But as you can probably tell from the title I have an interest in libraries and would like to use this blog as a starting point either share thoughts on the use of Web 2.0 and technology in libraries or to use this blog as a platform for experimentation / playing with Web 2.0 tools .
I don't think libraries are in any immediate danger of becoming irrelevant, but at the pace that technology is progressing it is certainly a concern. Using Web 2.0 tools to be where our customers are, being able to involve ourselves in their discussions and to keep ourselves in their awareness are important steps.
But also of concern is using those tools effectively and that's what I'm hoping to explore.
I don't think libraries are in any immediate danger of becoming irrelevant, but at the pace that technology is progressing it is certainly a concern. Using Web 2.0 tools to be where our customers are, being able to involve ourselves in their discussions and to keep ourselves in their awareness are important steps.
But also of concern is using those tools effectively and that's what I'm hoping to explore.
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