Recently, I gave a presentation on 2024 technology trends. I always carefully preface this type of session with a disclaimer: I do, in fact, cover trends in technology, and not applications that could (yet) be implemented…
2 CommentsCategory: Keeping Up
My head is swirling after I read this article in The Atlantic. The title is: Talking to AI Might Be the Most Important Skill of This Century There’s so much in this story that I…
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Years ago, I worked in a library where the administration was intrigued by every new available technological advancement. There were a good number of positive things that came out of this interest, and the IT…
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A couple of years ago, I was asked to do a series of this type of workshop for an out-of-state consortium. When the evaluations came back to me a few weeks afterwards, I got very good marks as a presenter, but some comments threw me for a loop. A common complaint was that the technology topics I covered were not being used in libraries. I was stunned.
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Drive up to almost any McDonald’s drive-through window and you will see stickers proclaiming that the restaurant now takes payments through Apple Pay and Android Pay. Visa has just rolled out a program so that…
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Ok, I admit, that’s a bit of an incendiary headline, and I’m not really advocating that your library forego taking advantage of the viral new trend that is actually pretty advantageous for libraries. But, I do worry…
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It’s still pretty much a new(ish) year, and I’m interested in addressing even more topics that would interest you, the blog reader. This quiz will help (but let’s be real, it’s pretty limited), but please…
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I’ve only listed the three I think are most important right now, because we all get overwhelmed. Fill up on caffeine and get reading, folks. Does Google Think Your Library is Mobile Friendly? If you ignore…
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Let’s start with defining “other” here: I mean sites that aren’t library websites. If you do nothing else, I want you to get out of the habit at looking at other library sites for inspiration. …
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Learn about more common UX myth at http://uxmyths.com/. [qzzr quiz=”26203″ width=”100%” height=”auto” redirect=”true” offset=”0″]
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As many of you already know, I spend a lot of time looking at research as it pertains to the use of social media. Honestly, it’s a frustrating business. The information changes constantly, and there’s…
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Carousels have almost become ubiquitous. I am frequently asked about them when I start designing a site for a library. I often. now, make it clear that these don’t represent a good design choice. Yes,…
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Lately, it seems that all I, as a web developer, hear, is about mobile web usage. There’s been a lot of posts on the Web about the forthcoming mobile apocalypse (Mobipocalypse?), where people will browse…
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I was recently asked to come up with a session for new library directors, about how to improve their libraries’ online presences. Not just websites, but their social media work as well. At first, a…
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Recently, I had the unpleasant experience of discovering that one of my custom graphics was appearing, without permission, on a library’s website. It appeared that the library had simply copied the graphic from the original…
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If you’re a library network admin, you are probably familiar with complaints concerning slow download speeds on your local network. “The Internet is crawling today! What’s wrong?” At OPLIN, this is certainly familiar to us,…
Comments closedIt’s no secret, yet it’s not widely talked about. There’s a divide in library staff. It’s not between degreed and the not, and it’s not digital. It’s not about who uses Twitter and who doesn’t.…
5 CommentsRecently, I heard about how a public library recently found itself in some very hot water. It ran afoul of a very large provider of stock photography. The library used a licensed photograph from a…
2 CommentsWe all know that libraries are in a major budget crisis. What we don’t always know is how to cut costs. Well, I won’t make any claims that I can answer that question, either. What…
1 CommentWhat it comes to image editing, for either web or print, Photoshop is arguably the king of the roost. But let’s face it–Photoshop is darned expensive, and has a learning curve shaped like Mount Everest. …
4 CommentsI’ve had the experience in the past several months of being both a regular presenter and regular attendee of webinars. I’ve learned quite a bit, being on both ends, and I would like to share…
3 CommentsYes, it’s finally coming. The last official release of HTML was in 1999 (yes, you read that right, 10 years ago) at version 4.01. At long last, the W3C* is almost finished with the specifications…
Comments closed“The idea is as simple as its application is difficult. If all cans, books, shoes or parts of cars are equipped with minuscule identifying devices, daily life on our planet will undergo a transformation. Things…
Comments closedI crowdsourced this week’s post. I asked (via Twitter/Facebook) library staff to tell me what their favorite technology is, and why. Here’s most of what I got: “I’m digging on Excel right now because I…
1 CommentWhen Michael Jackson died on June 25, millions of people flooded onto Google News to find the latest information about what had happened. The spike in traffic was so massive that Google suspected a malware…
1 CommentIt’s a pain, but security is each user’s responsibility, not just the tech’s.–Bobbi Galvin, OPLIN One of the most common misconceptions library staff typically have about their email accounts is that nobody would want to…
Comments closed(Don’t know if you’re using IE6? You can check by opening up IE and going to Help–>About Internet Explorer. If you’re using anything less than 7 (and really, you ought to be on 8 by…
Comments closedA few weeks ago, I hopefully provided you with the reasoning behind why library web sites have to move from plain HTML to using CSS for style and formatting. I started to create a tutorial,…
1 CommentTwitter has finally hit the mainstream (If Oprah isn’t the mainstream, then I don’t know what is). So we’re finally seeing more and more public libraries putting their feet into the Twitterstream. This is generally…
4 CommentsSeveral weeks ago I had the privilige of attending the Virtual Worlds: Museums, Libraries and Educators conference held in the virtual world of Second Life. One of the sessions I attended was “Cyborg Learning: How…
1 Comment(In case you missed the memo, a lot of folks have replace the label “Web 2.0′ with “social media.” Probably a better, more descriptive label in my opinion. ) I’ve been around the social media…
Comments closed(Eric Jordan did an update to his first “Webmaster” vignette, and I’m posting it here for collective enjoyment. Thanks, Eric!) Web Master 1.1 (I had enough fun with the first one, I decided to upgrade!)…
Comments closedI count among my good Internet friends a certain Eric Jordan, who can not only outpun anyone I know, but has a talent for taking a humorous approach to making his thoughts known. Although Eric…
2 CommentsIt’s pretty easy to explain to people why their web sites need certain kinds of standards; take, for example, Section 508, which is essentially the ADA for web sites. Section 508 says that any organization…
1 CommentWhat does weather have to do with computers? Well, not much, actually. But cloud computing is a term that has gained in the buzz department recently, although it has actually been around for several years.…
2 CommentsFirst, there was virtual reality. Then there were virtual worlds. Now, we have augmented reality, and it may change the landscape of books entirely. It’s the stuff of many science fiction scenes; open up a…
Comments closedOne of the most common complaints I’ve heard about using various web services and social networking sites is the need for multiple accounts; multiple user names, multiple passwords, multiple things to forget. Who hasn’t used…
2 CommentsI thought I’d give you some more ways to waste time, online. 🙂 Check out some of these sites: Web Sudoku: “Billions of free Sudoku puzzles to play online.” You can play levels from “Easy”…
1 CommentWell, I am. See that 2-dimensional code to the left? That code contains the following information about me: First & last name Email address Web site URL Phone number Physical address, including country of origin…
3 CommentsVirtual worlds are everywhere now, it seems. Their purposes range from socializing and networking to education and conferences. And some just…are. Yoowalk seems to be one of these latter. Well, ok. I guess it has…
Comments closedIf you’ve ever seen my Facebook profile, you already know that I basically don’t watch television (much to the chagrin of anyone who attempts to engage me in conversation about the latest programs). My husband…
3 CommentsLately, I’ve been checking out a newish web app called Firefly. It’s a simple chat script that enables people to chat with each other directly on a web page, rather than in a separate instant…
Comments closedThere are a lot of online review sites. But one in particular is hitting the mainstream and has made the top 500 of all U.S. web sites, with over 3.5 million visitors each month. That…
3 CommentsSometimes, URLs can be insanely long. For example: http://www.llanfairpwllgwyngyllgogerychwyrndrobwyll-llantysiliogogogoch.com/ Or: http://www.microsoft.com/events/EventDetails.aspx?CMTYSvcSource=MSCOMMedia&Params=%7eCMTYDataSvcParams%5e%7earg+Name%3d%22ID%22+Value%3d%221032301951%22%2f%5e%7earg+Name%3d%22ProviderID%22+Value%3d%22A6B43178-497C-4225-BA42-DF595171F04C%22%2f%5e%7earg+Name%3d%22lang%22+Value%3d%22en%22%2f%5e%7earg+Name%3d%22cr%22+Value%3d%22US%22%2f%5e%7esParams%5e%7e%2fsParams%5e%7e%2fCMTYDataSvcParams%5e Yes, both real. Both annoying. And, if you try to email these, they will not display properly in some email clients. Some people won’t…
4 CommentsDo you like to use online forums or comment on blogs? If you do, chances are you’ve seen, or perhaps even have, a small icon or picture that often sits to the left of a…
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