Tech Tools

In the past year or so, there has been considerable discussion here in libraryland about ebook readers. Still, the actual personal ownership of them is still reasonably low. So we don't have a lot of actual user feedback on how people like the devices, what they find useful, and what users really experience when reading on one. I thought I'd make an attempt to remedy that as much as one person on one blog can. Read More »

As a new mom, I’ve been thinking nonstop about family. I look at my son and wonder what I will tell him about his family. Genealogy has been a quest for every generation, and has become much more popular in recent years. Still, until now there have not been many online tools that could map out family trees.

Enter Geni. With the tagline "Everyone's related," Geni takes family relations and adds all the bells and whistles the Internet has to offer. The best part is that this tool is free, user friendly, and easy on the eyes. It was built by former employees of PayPal, eGroups (which was bought by Yahoo! in 2000), Tribe, and eBay and has many design features that users will find familiar. Read More »

Most everyone reading this blog is familiar with Karen G. Schneider. As a recent member of the Techsource team, she has helped us all understand technology a little more clearly. Her new job as Community Librarian for Equinox Software, Inc. involves working to expand library and librarians knowledge about the Open Source ILS, Evergreen.

I was able to track her down, and ask her a few questions about Evergreen, libraries, and the ILS. As always, she never fails to inform. Read More »

When you are training a dog, you do not start with something complicated. You begin with something small and easy: sit. From sit, you move on to tricks that build on that one skill, like shake and lie down. You never start with lie down or shake, because a dog has to be sitting to do those things.

When we teach children to read, we sing them the ABCs first and then teach them how the letters form words. We do not show them words and then teach them the alphabet. We know that to learn a skill there is a logical progression of learning. We know this, but often, when dealing with technology, we forget about it. Like all other knowledge acquisition, learning how to use technology tools should follow a logical progression. We should start with cornerstones before constructing the building. If you are a technology trainer, consider what cornerstones are already in your staff's arsenal when planning a training. Read More »

In the past few months, I have had the privilege to work with some amazing school librarians. Many of them want to begin incorporating more technology into their libraries, but are hampered by filters and lack of knowledge about the available tools on the Web. For some, even the most basic tools are blocked by overzealous IT and administrations. Read More »

In just 12 months, from the time ALA Techsource published Web 2.0 & Libraries: Best Practices for Social Software, the influx of 2.0 type tools, books, articles about the tools, and conference presentations has been overwhelming. So much excellent content to take in!
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I had the honor of giving my "Hyperlinked Library" talk at the prestigious New York Public Library last week. The question-and-answer session following was wonderful: questions about levels of service with technology, reaching out to the under-served who may not have access to newer types of tech and what working in a 2.0 world means to a large library system. I've heard that staff are given internal blogs to communicate, and there are some other wonderful digital projects on tap with the new Director of Digital Strategy and Scholarship, Josh Greenberg.
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Recently, the Maintain IT Project has been mentioned on various electronic-discussion lists and blogs. The Maintain IT Project is funded by the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation and is gathering information and success stories about Public Access Computers (PACs) in public libraries. Eventually, the project team plans to compile the stories and make them available to libraries as a troubleshooting resource.

I was intrigued by the project idea and wanted to know more—this could very well be an invaluable resource for libraries in the future—so I contacted the leader of the project, Barbara Gersh.

MB: Can you tell me a little bit about what the Maintain IT Project is?
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Google has a relatively new offering called Google Apps for Education. It is part of its Business Solutions branch of services. Google Apps for Education is a suite comprised of Gmail, GTalk, Google Calendar, Google Page Creator, and the Google Start Page customized for your school. This option is also available, though in a slightly different format, for businesses. Both the Google Apps for Your Domain and the Google Apps for Education are in beta production, and a limited number of schools are being offered the service free of charge during the beta period.
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