Technology

Videos, Secure Data and Napping

/ dwakimoto

Happy Monday!

So my library isn’t even open to the public yet (we open at 10am as we are between terms right now) and it is going to be a pretty dead day around here. Which means, of course, lots of work will get done-thus it is a happy (work) Monday.

So, why would it be a happy Monday for you? Because, faithful reader, I have a trio of resources and articles to inspire you to protect your data, make YouTube videos and, well, nap. So without further ado:

First up is this article on students using YouTube videos for help with classes. And, no, I’m not talking about those horrible videos on how to cheat. This article talks about how students watch videos on math problems, biology concepts and physics in order to learn. Yes, they learn on YouTube. This is just great, really! I use YouTube videos in my classes on information literacy all the time and I’ve seen some library videos up on YouTube, but I think it is a place where there is a lot of untapped potential for librarians to populate the YouTube sphere with great library videos. I mean, we’ve already got the vlogbrothers on our side. If you have no clue who the vlogbrothers are, please click the previous link and find out.

Speaking of retaining what you learn, check out this article on how napping helps memory. Yes, we should have students watch YouTube videos and then nap so they retain the information and can think of new ways of using the information they have now retained. I am totally for napping; we need to institute napping during the work day.

And, in order to keep your data secure, while you are napping or otherwise, check out Lifehacker’s guide to the top 10 ways to lock down your data. This is very important stuff. No one wants to be the poor person who loses the confidential company data. So do yourself a favor, and lock down your data.

As a bonus, just for fun because this is probably the last post before I leave on vacation, check out John, of the vlogbrothers talking about his library and other fun stuff.

Enjoy, happy Monday, and happy holidays!

Keeping Current and Living in the Library

/ dwakimoto

Happy Friday! I don’t know about your place of work, but at my library, it has been dead all week long (I mean, we still have people coming in but after the crush that was finals week, it feels like a ghost town). Granted I work at an academic library, and the term is over, and it is quickly nearing many holiday celebration days, and most of the faculty members have left on vacation, but I’m still here! Which means, faithful blog readers, that I’m still blogging.

This will be a much shorter post than usual because, as my colleagues know, I just finished about 7 hours of captioning a video to make with 508 standards. Want to see the labor of my hard work? I captioned the wonderful Fair(y) Use Tale Video from Stanford’s Center for Internet and Society. Thank goodness they made the video available under a Creative Commons License, and with this post I am trying to fulfill the Share Alike clause. And, yes, my eyes hurt from trying to sync captions that long.

Onward to other great things on a Friday.

How do you stay current about trends online? Are you interested in what people are tweeting about? Why should you care? Well, it is always a good idea to know what is happening out there in the Internet ether. You never know what might be super-important to you and your library. Plus, it is just fun to play with new stuff. Here is a great article about 21 sites to Find out What’s Hot Online by makeuseofit.com. Just don’t go overboard on the web surfing. Remember to back slowly away from the computer every once in awhile.

I love this article about students camping out in the library. Take that people who say libraries aren’t relevant! It also goes to show that furniture needs to be moveable so students can rearrange the spaces in ways that work for them. And, in my opinion, people designing library spaces or renovating spaces, could do well to talk with students about how they use the space and what they need before assuming they know best. In another library I was at, it was obvious someone had taken the time to figure out what the students did in the library. Why? Because there were tons of electrical plugs for laptops and wireless worked throughout the building. Not to mention, the chairs were fabulously comfortable. Think I’m joking about the importance of designing for laptops? Check out this post about laptop use from the Ubiquitous Librarian.

Best wishes for a happy weekend! Safe travels to everyone who is traveling this holiday season.

And, never fear, the Waki Librarian will be blogging until the 23rd and then be back again with techie, library goodness after the new year.

Some Great Technology for Friday

/ dwakimoto

Okay, here it is, more love from Lifehacker for a Friday. Yes, some random stuff, but also some great tips for making technology work for you. Yes, I heart Lifehacker.

First, for the random, here is the great 40 Inspiration Speeches in 2 minutes YouTube video. Watch it and see just how many of these movies you know.

Here is Lifehacker’s Most Popular How To Features of 2008. I love tutorials and how to posts. This one is great, especially for all you Mac lovers out there–iPods and iPhones make multiple appearances on the list.

Chrome has left the building. No, actually Chrome has just officially left beta. Too cool. I love the Google Chrome browser–it is fast, sleek and the tabs rock. Oh, yeah, this article offers tips and tricks for getting the most out of Chrome too.

Love this (also found through Lifehacker) but here is the original post: The Ultimate Social Media Etiquette Handbook. Check this out to make sure you aren’t committing a faux pas on a social networking site.

And last, but certainly not least, How to Save Time during the Holidays. Great tips for saving time as everyone is so busy during the holiday season.

Speaking of which, everyone have a great time getting ready for the holidays and a lovely weekend. This has been your Waki Librarian info for the day. Now go forth and geek well and support your local library.

Cool Deals and Free Software

/ dwakimoto

Well, it is freezing in my office and I am set to give my first final exam at noon today. And what, you ask yourself, does this have to do with cool deals and free software? Nothing, except that I want you to be impressed I actually posted something as my fingers are freezing off as I type this and I am worried about my students coming on time to their exam. Though I shouldn’t complain about cold as my poor friends in the Northeast are literally way below freezing.

So on to the actually heart of this post. Lifehacker has come to the rescue again for all of us who are trying to save and still need to buy gifts for this holiday season. Check out this awesome article on finding the best deals online. Definitely a little holiday gift from Lifehacker.

Here is another, slightly older, Lifehacker post on the free software we are most thankful for. And no, this isn’t about illegal software–it’s about great open source, free software. I have to say I am super-thankful for Gmail, VLC media player, Audacity, and Open Office. These rock and make my computing life so much simpler and more rewarding. Plus, I feel less like throwing my CPU through the window into the courtyard because I can use these programs (that don’t crash my computer!). So what software are you most thankful for? Yes, I know Thanksgiving is over, but that doesn’t mean we have to stop remembering what we are thankful for.

Check out the above articles and I promise something in them will help you and make the holidays and work a little less stressful.

Friday Stuff and Such

/ dwakimoto

I’m terrible with titles–doesn’t matter what kind–blog post titles, subject lines of emails, titles for term papers, theses–I just wasn’t made to name things. Luckily, or hopefully, my writing makes up a little for the lack of skill with titling things.

Well, it is Friday and yes, it means some random thoughts about trying to help and improve the library, yourself, the world even maybe. When I was teaching on Tuesday, I used a quote by Ghandi, “We must be the change we wish to see in the world.” So yeah, I believe that by changing yourself and actions you can change the world. Where am I going with this?

Well, I read this great post by the Free Range Librarian, K.G. Schneider. Whose blog you should really subscribe to if you don’t already. It is insightful, funny and all the things that a blog should be. I love this post because peer-review might be broken, but publishing anonymous bloggers is not helping things, and I am sick of all the talk about the Annoyed Librarian too. It is way too easy to be pessimistic; it takes a lot more work to be optimistic and try to improve things when the economy is tanking and libraries are feeling the hit. But I would way rather be spending time improving things, be it trying to improve peer-review process or helping my students finally get how to apply information literacy concepts to their lives outside the university, than spend time complaining about it.

Here is a report from Pew Internet that talks about users having trouble with technology. This is nothing new, but I wanted to point it out so the next time you feel bad for not knowing the latest online game, just remember it only feels like everyone else knows about it. Most don’t and most people are still having trouble with basic technology stuff. Librarians are cutting edge–just remember that and remember it’s okay to still be learning. Just remember to take a deep breath when explaining something new to a patron. Not everyone is a techie, and that is okay.

And, it is a beautiful, sunny Friday morning. Enjoy your day, enjoy working with people and have a great Friday and weekend.

Oh and has anyone tried SlideRocket? It looks really cool and I need to play around with it. It’s an online presentation application. Anyway, just thought I’d check.

Accessibility and Useless Gadgets

/ dwakimoto

It is Friday and, like always, my brain feels about fried so I think that it will come as no surprise that today’s ramblings and resources are a little off the wall. But really it makes sense, really! I’ll explain.

Yesterday was the fourth in a series of five technology brown bags that I have been hosting at my library. The topic was on accessibility and online resources. The CSU system is one of the great systems that is actually forcing compliance with Section 508. However, lots of people are confused about what they need to do to make, retrofit and use accessible resources. It was a great workshop and of course, lots of excellent questions raised. One major question was: how do we code accessible JavaScript and AJAX? I really need this as I want to make Google Gadgets for the library. So of course, I went digging.

Here are two resources that I am still reading, but look awesome, on accessible coding. First is Reading up on WAI-ARIA from 456 Berea Street. It links to a ton of resources on creating Accessible Rich Internet Applications (ARIA).

The other great resource is this Accessible JavaScript post from Enpresiv Developers blog. I really need to work through this because accessible JavaScript is the only way to go.

And, because it wouldn’t be Friday without a slightly random article. Here is a Wired article on Five Useless Gadgets You Should Throw in the Trash Right Now. And can I just say, I am completely for getting rid of fax machines–those things hate me! And printer ink, don’t even get me started! So have a read, or at least a laugh at the photograph in the article.

Have a great weekend!

Humanity

/ dwakimoto

Alright, first off, a little bit on the elections before we get into the nitty-gritty library stuff. I promise I won’t get too into politics (but Rock on Obama!); I just wanted to share this great xkcd cartoon with you today. Seriously, go check out Election.

Now that you are back, let’s just admit it–everything we do is to further collaboration and connection. Humans are social creatures, no matter what people claim about being introverted. Yes, we differ on the level of social networking and interaction we want, but we are at our base social creatures. We want to connect and collaborate and this is where Web 2.0 tools come in so handy.

I found this blog post through Tame the Web and I too am hearting this post. Really, go check it out. Technology is just the means to connect and to reach out to others. We are using technology to recreate and re-invent public meeting spaces that are rapidly disappearing.

And last, but not least, here is an article from Educause about a phenomenon that fanfic writers have known about for years–collaborative work. These stories live online and many people contribute to them, respond, and comment on these stories. Storytelling is no longer limited to a few authors, but expanded to anyone who has an idea. Anyone can create something and post it on the web. And, no, I am not against everyone having a voice and I don’t think it is a crisis of quality of writing, reading, or any of that other stuff. Remixing, creativity, and passion live in this new world and if educators could harness the work that students do in this environment and transfer it to lessons and assignments in school, I think the results would be amazing.

Yes, I am unrepentant in my optimism about Web 2.0 applications, teaching and creative work. I believe that we can collaborate and connect online and in person because that is what we do. And as librarians, educators and blog readers we can all take part in these creative endeavors. Happy November 5th and rock on!

Resources for an Online World

/ dwakimoto

Wow, it is November already. Crazy how quickly 2008 is flying by. Okay, so here are three resources for the online world as we all seem to be tied to our computers more and more frequently at work and at home, so let’s make the most of it.

So, do you dislike traffic and commuting? I sure do. Nothing is more stressful first thing in the morning than rush hour gridlock. I think that is why telecommuting is so popular–or at least one of the reasons. I occasionally (like twice a quarter) work from home and I always get so much more done in less time with less stress than at the office. And this isn’t because I don’t like my colleagues, I like my colleagues a lot, but at home I can work without interruptions, take breaks when I need to, run errands, and still have accomplished more in 8 hours of work than I would have in the office. Plus, no driving. So you want to convince your office that telecommuting should be an option? Not to mention a green option for work? Well, you are in luck. Lifehacker has put together a great article on Telecommuting Talking Points. Check it out and then talk to the powers that be. Good luck.

Another great article to check out from Lifehacker is Online Storage Comparison. As you think about storing data online, it pays to compare and use the best one for your particular situation.

Last but not least, for all you graphic designers out there on a shoestring budget that does not include Photoshop. Check out Aviary an online alternative with free and for-fee plans. I watched the video and was amazed by the professional effects created on Aviary. So definitely check it out.

Have a great Monday!

Happy Halloween!

/ dwakimoto

So, if you want some Halloween fun, head on over to Lifehacker where they have some Halloween tips and tricks.

It’s Friday! Yahoo! So glad it is Friday. In California, we are getting the first major rain of the season which is wonderful, but makes me awful sleepy. I just want to curl up with a good book and hot chocolate! Hopefully it doesn’t rain on our trick-or-treaters.

Anyway, on to some library goodies for your digital Halloween bag of tricks!

So excited to get a feed yesterday about a Google Labs project. It is an accessible web search for the visually impaired! How great is that? As librarians, we are always trying to provide access to information without any barriers and this definitely helps. I’m always happy to see large companies making products that promote accessibility.

And, since we are on the topic of Google, here is a really cool article from Wired about how to use Google more intelligently. Some tips you might already know, but a lot of good stuff to share with people you know who use Google. (And, honestly, who goes on the Internet and doesn’t end up at Google at least once?)

Last up for the day, but definitely not least is Scott Brown’s article, Facebook Friendonomics also from Wired. The article is a very interesting look at how social networking sites are changing how we keep in contact with people we might otherwise not. Something to think about while you are simultaneously twittering away while you’re webcasting your life.

Have a great weekend!

An Assortment of Goodies…

/ dwakimoto

…to help with finding library conferences, public speaking, and more.

Yes, another random day of posting from the Waki Librarian. And why not? I am a little tired at the moment and apologize in advance if none of this makes sense. I am wading through another round of homework from my students and am amazed how many do not pay attention to directions? Anyone have a great tip for getting students to actual follow directions on assignments?

Anyway, first resource for today is the recently updated Library Related Conferences compiled by Marian Dworaczek. Rock on Marian! This is a great source–international in scope and just makes me want to go to so many conferences.

Speaking of conferences, check out this great article on public speaking from Lifehacker. I don’t know about you, but it is so disappointing to go to a presentation and have a person present so poorly that all you can think about is why there isn’t wifi in the room so at least you could be on Facebook. Really, everyone can always improve their public speaking (I know I can), and it is worth it to explain your point coherently and engagingly. Remember, public speaking might be nerve-wracking, but it can be the best way to make an impact in your library and in the great community. You represent not only yourself but your organization, so go out and make a splash so no one is wondering how to hijack the wifi while you are presenting but instead are riveted thinking “wow, that is so cool!”

So you are getting ready for presenting and would like to change it up a little. I dare you to include one of the 24 words that CED wants to get rid of to make room for other words in the dictionary in your presentation. Perhaps you can embrangle your competition or, as my mother says, baffle them. Plus, I think it is always fun to learn obscure words. Have some fun.

Alright, so you’ve got the list of conferences you are going to, you’ve got your tips on public speaking and even a few cool, obscure words to use, but you still need to figure out where to meet Bill before you both head down to the conference together. No worries, there is Meet Inbetween Us to the rescue showing you the half-way point to meet before carpooling over to the conference together.

Finally, you’ve heard of Google docs right? But do you know how to use Google docs? I have to admit to not being fully conversant in all things Google docs. Luckily for us there is the Google Docs Guide. Now we can all figure out how best to use Google docs.

I think that is enough to keep us all busy this Wednesday. But I have to share a quotation before leaving you in the blogosphere that came up on the quote widget on iGoogle the other day and is just great for our web2.0, perpetually beta, hyperlinked world where we are always learning:

“Personally I’m always ready to learn, although I do not always like being taught.” ~ Sir Winston Churchill