50 Feet From the Cutting Edge in the Northeast Kansas Library System
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Just in time for NEKLS Tech Day and the keynote on handhelds, Apple’s App Store just added the Wordpress app for the iPhone, available for free. I quickly installed the app and set up the NEKLS website, the Tech blog, and the Tech knowledgebase sites, as all the sites are built on Wordpress. I’m writing this post to you on my iPhone. Easy install and easy to use. It only allows creating/ editing posts, nothing with pages yet, but it’s an awesome start!
PC World has published a list of the 50 greatest gadgets from the past 50 years. It ranges from 1978’s Speak and Spell and 1970’s Simon toy to the iPod and Treo from more recent years. It’s interesting to consider how many of these gadgets have intersected with or impacted library services… or how many will.
Hm. Wonder if this could be a solution to backup for our very small library automation systems?
Better than a zip disk…
I received the following cartoon in the email the other day. I’m sure the person who sent it wanted me to laugh about it (which I did) but it brought to mind some very important things about designing libraries to fit the changing nature of technology.
Two things struck me… One, the people are not sitting in chairs at all. Clearly, in this library, the chairs are somewhere else, not accessible to the only thing wireless users are chained to anymore: power. Two, the area around the power is not an organized space. It’s just some pillar in the stacks that happens to have an outlet on it!
This made me think, well hey, maybe we should design libraries to be more usable for our wireless patrons. We’ve given them convenient Internet access, now let’s make it convenient for them to use it. Put comfy chairs and tables near power sources so these wired (wireless!) patrons can “get off the floor,” or at least congregate in a space that is better suited to their wireless endeavours.
I must admit that this is something I’ve neglected to suggest when presenting about wireless access in libraries, and I was struck this morning by the reality that I’ve put in many wireless access points without suggesting to my librarians that they might want to rearrange a bit to make the new service more functional and comfortable for patrons to use.
Any thoughts on this? Any libraries making an effort to organize the space in a “wireless patron friendly” manner?
Interesting development in the world of AudioBooks… Digital audio players that you *DON’T* connect to a computer… but come pre-loaded with an audiobook. Currently only about 40 titles are available, but I can see libraries latching straight on to this.
Props to Jim for finding this development in the KC Star today.
Kansas City Star | 10/13/2005 | Digital audio books come ready to go
One of my most delightful recent discoveries has been Google Earth, a wonderful free program that allows you to fly from outer space to the rooftop of your house. Using satellite pictures and sophisticated digital technology, Google Earth puts a planet’s worth of imagery and other geographic information right on your desktop. If you’ve always dreamed of flying, Google Earth is about as close as it come to the real thing.
Download it here: http://earth.google.com/
We’ve had some requests lately for information regarding the Overdrive service for downloadable audiobooks. The big question is, can patrons put the audio from the Overdrive service (a service that depends heavily on Microsoft Windows and the Windows Media Player) on their iPods? Can they use it on their Mac?
The answer seems to be… yes (after a fashion)! But how you ask?
According to the Overdrive documentation, files downloaded from Overdrive can be burned on CD. If they can be burned to CD (in the normal “plays in any player” way), they can be re-imported into iTunes as MP3 or AAC format, on either Mac or PC, which can then be copied to the iPod.
Is this practical? Well for the cost of a CD-R and maybe 10 minutes, you get the content you like, in the format you like, on a device you like. Doesn’t everybody win?
I’d like to try this out, actually, and see if this theory of “Overdrive for all” will actually work. Anybody have an Overdrive account that they’d be willing to let me “borrow” for testing purposes? Is this a violation of the Overdrive Terms of Service?
Lots of questions… maybe posting here will get us some answers.
A company has invented a backpack that generates energy from the bounce in the wearer’s step. It’s enough energy to juice up an MP3 music player, a PDA, night vision goggles, a handheld global positioning satellite navigation device, and a mobile telephone — all at the same time! I’m not sure if there are technology implications for libraries, but it’s Friday and maybe I’m already thinking about my weekend hike 
During her NEKLS Tech Day presentation, Jenny Levine talked about cell phone text messaging and what a popular medium of communication it is for teens today. It will be interesting to see how this technology moves into other areas of life…. At the Starlight Theater in Kansas City (great place to see a show!), for example, audience members can text a message to a large screen for everyone to see.
Handheld devices, interactivity all-around us ,… is this starting to feel like a science fiction novel to anyone else?
Ha! Libraries made front page on CNN.com. This is a topic we’re going to cover at NEST so here’s a preview of a few of the things we’ll be talking about.
CNN.com - Libraries offering audiobook downloads - Aug 26, 2005
A quite interesting blog about the future and current usage of e-books, both hardware, software, content, and issues surrounding them. For those of you interested in e-books, this might be a very good resource for you.
A breakthrough for public libraries, these smart little skins fit over your DVD’s and CD’s and keep the actual disk from getting scratched. They’re a little expensive, but I think their protective qualities will save many a DVD from certain doom.
The skins fit over the bottom of the CD or DVD and the discs will still work in any player.
Sounds like a great advancement to me!
It seems that everyone is talking about podcasting lately. Did you know there’s a podcast search engine? I really need to get an iPod….