RISG New Technologies

New url for RISG blog

2010-03-09T21:18:00.003+11:00

Blogger have announced that they will no longer be supporting FTP. As a result of these changes the RISG New Technologies blog will soon be moving to a new URL www.newtech.nsw-risg.org

Apologies for any inconvenience

Trove Plans to Expand Coverage to Electronic Resources

2010-03-01T13:19:00.000+11:00

The plan to expand the Trove service to encompass Electronic Resources caught my eye in the recent Electronic Resources Australia newsletter.

The National Library is planning an expansion of Trove in the second half of 2010, to encompass journal articles and licensed e-resources. This expansion will be supported through collaboration with e-resource vendors. The National Library has issued a discussion paper dealing with the user authentication aspects of this expansion.
NLA Labs Wiki

Basically, they want to work with database vendors to aggregate their holdings into the Trove service. When a user locates an article of interest they hope to implement seamless authentication to the article content. To make it work people will need to register with Trove and provide their library affiliations as part of their Trove profile. Libraries will also need to provide a list of resources their members have access to.

This could have interesting possibilities and ramifications in terms of managing online databases.

Changes in the Library Management System Landscape

2009-11-24T20:38:00.000+11:00

Are we about to see major changes in the way Library Management Systems work?

I've been a bit more interested in the developments around the traditional ILS lately. With the probable demise of Horizon from SirsiDynix there are many libraries who will be looking for a new system and/or supplier over the next little while, MPOW included. And from what I'm reading and hearing, there could be a great deal more variety in the market in coming years.

There seem to be a number of themes emerging, such as:

The rise of Open Source alternatives such as Koha and Evergreen, and the associated challenges that Open Source presents for libraries and commercial vendors.
Exciting developments in the way an ILS works, typified by the Open Library Environment (OLE) project. Especially the restructuring of the ILS using the principles of Service Oriented Architecture and Web Services.
Vendors offering the ILS as a hosted service (SAAS) and the intention of the OCLC in the US to enter the ILS market with a cloud based product.
Libraries implementing discovery layer products as a replacement for their vendor supplied OPAC. Especially those products that have been developed from the ground up to take advantage of social data typical of Web 2.0 such as Bibliocommons and SOPAC 2.0.

One of the best resources I have discovered for making sense of all this is the Library 2.0 Gang podcast. Over the last few months they have discussed most of these issues. They make some complex stuff fairly accessible. If you're interested I can highly recommend taking a listed to some or all of the following (in order):

Happy listening!

Google Wave

2009-11-12T14:20:00.004+11:00

Google wave promises to revolutionise the way in which individuals can communicate and collaborate. Unlike conventional email where by a message once sent cannot be edited a wave conversation facilitates continual online collaboration by all participants allowing for a diverse range of mediums to be embedded into the conversation at any point. Well that's my initial impression at least.

What does this mean for libraries? Well it may provide a new platform by which we can communicate with our clients or influence the evolution of the exiting communication platforms that we are using.

For a detailed overview of the beta version have a look at the Google Wave Wiki manual.

eBooks Overtake Games as Most Popular Apps

2009-11-10T08:45:00.000+11:00

I was interested to read in a number of places lately that books have taken over from games as the most downloaded apps for smartphones such as the Apple iPhone. This appears to have come from the following report: Flurry Smartphone Industry Pulse, October 2009.

Here's a bit...

This September, however, we observed another category, Books, usurping Games for the first time ever. To illustrate the surge in the supply of books to the App Store, the chart below compares the number of books and games released to the App Store per month, over the last four months, as a percentage of all released applications.

I think this gives us an indication of the importance of convergence in devices. Dedicated ebook readers have not yet really taken the market by storm, although Amazon's Kindle may be beginning to have an impact. But they are still an extra device to carry.

The attraction of ebooks on a smartphone is that you always carry the device with you. It appears that people are willing to accept a lesser reading experience for the convenience of the device that does everything. Depending on your mood you are in a position to surf the web, listen to music, read a book or watch a video.

I don't think we should under-estimate the importance of convenience to users. This has wider implications for libraries than just the make up of our collections. With the rise of Google and Wikipedia we have seen this attitude of convenience being preferred over quality in the general information seeking behaviour of people - an attitude of 'good enough'.

Libraries need to consider how convenient they are for users as they plan and develop their services into the future.

DOK and Microsoft surface

2009-10-13T17:00:00.011+11:00

If you have not caught up with some of the developments from DOK have a look at this video about how Microsoft surface (and some nifty design and programing) can enable a local studies resource discovery tool.

Multitouch Microsoft Surface: Cultural Heritage Browser from Jaap van de Geer on Vimeo.

You can also look at some photographs from library based tests of this.

Apple eReader and battle for Australian newspapers

2009-08-17T16:18:00.003+10:00

There was an interesting article in today's Sydney Morning Herald about the battle for the eBook format rights for Australian newspaper content. Supposedly Fairfax has rejected an offer by Amazon (kindle reader) which leaves Sony and Apple still in the market.

Now let us consider a few fascinating possibilities. Does this imply that Amazon is considering launching their kindle reader in Australia? Perhaps even more exciting for those interested in eBooks is the indication that Apple is in the process of creating an eReader. Now if you consider the impact of Apple's Ipod on the music industry it is a tantalizing prospect as to what the implications of an Apple "Ibook" might be for the publishing world and for that matter public libraries.

Make Your Data Location Aware... NOW!

2009-08-08T07:58:00.004+10:00

Don't think that mobile computing and ubiquitous access to the network will fundamentally change what information people will expect, when they will access it and how they will interact with it?

Take a look at this video...

How will this type of access affect libraries?

thanks to @b3rn via twitter for the link.

Print on Demand Bookstores

2009-07-31T15:20:00.004+10:00

I came across this interesting blog post about the perfect bookstore and it got me thinking about what impact Print On Demand might have on future libraries? Surely, one of the big points of difference between libraries and bookstores, apart from price of course, is access to the long tail - out of print and hard to find books.

If (when?) Print On Demand takes off will it do for books what iTunes did for CDs and music publishing - fundamentally change the game? Or will we all be reading ebooks by then and printing itself will be thought of as an odd idea, in the same way that digital cameras have changed the demand for printed photos?

Catalogues

2009-06-18T13:13:00.000+10:00

The recently published M-libraries: information use is on the move states on page 8 Staff at Cambridge University Library have observed customers using their camera phones to take pictures of the catalogue results screen, rather than noting class marks on a piece of paper. 50% of respondents at both universities said they take photos of signs, books, etc...

The University of Arkansas Library allows people to send a text of a catalogue search. Both of these options save writing, and allow for a permanent, portable record, like a piece of paper but also completely unlike.

Some libraries make a mobile version of the catalogue available, others make a mobile version of digital objects available or a widget to access the catalogue. RSS feeds are becoming more common from catalogues and some are even browseable.

All of these increase findability.

What friendly catalogue solutions have you come across?

Communication, but not as we know it?

2009-05-29T10:49:00.000+10:00

Google intends to launch a new groundbreaking communication application that is a mashup combining email, instant messaging and document maps plus image and video sharing all neatly integrated into the one interface. Google wave will offer conference style calls between multiple people. Furthermore the application requires no special software download or plug-in to operate and can be easily used from any computer or 3g phone.

I can see a number of exciting applications for this technology from the perspective of facilitating collaborative initiatives such as the NSW Reference Information Services Group. It may also prove to be a powerful tool for providing reference services. Who knows virtual book groups may be just around the corner.

Google Wave was developed by the Google team in Australia, good old Aussie ingenuity. For further details please refer to the Sydney Morning Herald article.

Government 2.0

2009-05-28T14:36:00.000+10:00

Twenty Theses for Government 2.0, Cluetrain Style highlights some useful points to think about when considering web 2.0 applications. The risks of not acting can be higher than taking action.

Making the World's Knowledge Computable

2009-05-23T09:39:00.000+10:00

Has anyone had a go at the latest search engine - WolframAlpha?

They have an ambitious goal - to make it possible to compute whatever can be computed about anything. (more about WolframAlpha). It is no Google killer yet but it seems to do a pretty good job of questions that have an exact answer. Try a search for city sydney for instance and you get a map, coordinates, population, current time and temperature amongst other things.

Is this bringing us closer to the possibility of having a completely free, all digital reference collection?

Reference Excellence 2009 - welcome to the Ref-Ex wiki

2009-05-13T12:56:00.000+10:00

The slides from my recent presentation at the Reference Seminar are also available on Slideshare (helpful, 'cause the accompanying notes are listed there as well).

Reference Excellence 2009

View more presentations from CatyJ.

Reference Excellence is an online training tool using a wiki as the delivery tool. The Ref-Ex project has been a long time coming (since 2004) but it's now finally up and running. Covering modules from introductory reference through to reference interview skills and legislation and policy the aim of Ref-Ex is to expand across all areas of reference and information services (readers advisory, local studies, and so on) providing core training for public library staff across NSW.
Take a look and start your own professional development today!

Reference Excellence

RSS 4 Libraries

2009-05-11T09:47:00.000+10:00

Here is the presentation I recently gave at the Reference @ the Metcalfe Seminar about using RSS feeds in Libraries. It covered three areas - professional development, connecting with your community and syndicating content on your web site.

I tried to demystify RSS and show people that it's very easy to get started using this technology. It's a relatively simple, time saving tool non-techies.

RSS At Your Library

View more presentations from Martin.

RSS is only a starting point. As libraries start employing staff with a few more technical skills (programmers, developers, etc.) we can start taking advantage of all the data that's available and growing in the cloud. If you want to see a glimpse of this type of what this might look like have a look at Paul Hagon's slides from his talk at the seminar. He gave a fascinating talk about how he's combining the data from the National Library with the services and APIs available from online services like del.icio.us and Flickr to create exciting new ways for users to discover the NLA collections.

The Mobile difference.

2009-04-01T15:21:00.000+11:00

A new report has been published by the pew Institute focusing on the uptake of wireless devices used for Internet access: mobile phones, laptops and PDA's. The report explores and contrasts in detail the habits of the 39% of the population that have embraced mobile connectivity and their attitudes to "always present" connectivity with the remaining 61% of the population that utilise wired connections or are not connected at all.

The researchers have developed 9 participant typologies as the basis of in-depth analysis:

Motivated by Mobility (39%)
Digital Collaborators
Ambivalent Networkers
Media Movers
Roving Nodes
Mobile Newbies

Stationary Media Majority (61%)
Desktop Vetrans
Drifting Surfers
Information Encumbered
The Tech Indifferent
Off the Network.

Whilst the survey was undertaken in the United States the data will still be applicable to those in Australia interested in the changing online landscape.

The ever expanding section of the population that utilises wireless connectivity will necessitate that public libraries rethink how we package information for our end users. On the other hand there is also the possibility that a new digital divide will be created between those that have a wireless connection/device and those that do not.

Jackets for emotion

2009-03-20T14:38:00.000+11:00

Check out this blog post from Gizmodo about design work done to make a jacket which enhances your movie viewing experience by helping the viewing along.

Imagine if a future version could work with reading or listening to a book. There could also be some great tie ins to local studies and oral history accounts.

What library experience do you think this jacket could enhance?

South by southwest 2009

2009-03-18T10:04:00.000+11:00

South by southwest 2009 or sxs2009 is on now in Austin Texas. It is full of big ideas, new technologies, innovations and fun. They are making their podcasts available so that you can catch up with the amazing sessions.

Twitter has been heavily used at the conference and you can see the daily highlights as well as other tweets.

Twitter

2009-03-18T08:41:00.000+11:00

If you have not caught up with what is happening with twitter have a look at this blog post about twitter domination.

Coping with new technologies

2009-03-17T09:38:00.000+11:00

This video has been around for a while, but it serves as a good reminder that any new technology may be a bit scary. Have a look at it, and think about which technology is your current "book" experience.

Transformers

2009-03-06T09:22:00.000+11:00

Have any of you seen the film Transformers? I saw part of it recently and it struck me that this is what trying out new technology is like. Watch this video if you want a bit of an idea.

We are required to become effective at shape shifting. We don’t transform from trucks, cars, helicopters and tanks into Autobots but we still transform. We shift shape to adjust to the changing environment. The capacity to shape shift also shows our imagination. We can imagine a future which is different to the past, and we can imaging a vibrant future for libraries which we are part of.

e-book reader

2009-02-20T14:36:00.000+11:00

A new e-book reader should be on the market soon - and this one is a flexible e-book reader. It should have a robust, bendy screen.

M-libraries conference

2009-02-20T14:30:00.000+11:00

A really exciting conference to watch out for this year is the second M-libraries conference in June in Vancouver, Canada. It will have examples of mobile technologies for use in libraries as well as papers about how mobile technologies are being used in libraries.

Have a look at the program.

Best practices in Virtual Reference

2009-02-17T08:49:00.000+11:00

Fresh from the ALA Midwinter conference featuring WorldCat local panel presentations are two innovative approaches to improving reference service for our users: building a better search engine using the knowledge of reference librarians (David Lankes, Information Institute of Syracuse) and building a multilingual, multinational reference service (Paul S. Ulrich, Berlin Central and Regional Library), followed by a Q & A session.
These videos are well worth watching and considering within the light of your own reference service.

6 Technologies to Watch

2009-02-16T11:13:00.000+11:00

The Horizon Report always makes interesting reading and this year is no different. The Horizon Report is an annual publication that seeks to identify and describe emerging technologies likely to have a large impact on teaching, learning, research, or creative expression within learning-focused organizations. Each year the report identifies 6 emerging technologies to watch across 3 time frames - inside 1 year, 2-3 years and 4-5 years.

The 2009 Horizon Report focuses on the following technologies:
1 year or less - Mobiles and cloud computing
2-3 years - Geo-Everything and the Personal Web
4-5 years - Semantic Aware Applications and Smart Objects.

The report gives background to the technologies, reasons why they are having an impact and examples of how they are being used. I recommend that you have a look at the whole report but for now I want to probe your thoughts regarding mobile phones in libraries.

At my place of work we introduced an SMS service for hold notifications and it has been overwhelmingly popular. It's clear that almost all our users have a mobile phone and are happy to receive their notices via SMS. In addition, watching the students who use the library one could be forgiven for thinking that some catastrophic misfortune will descend upon them unless they text or call someone every 15 minutes. Combined with the rapid increase in the sophistication of devices such as the iPhone - web and GPS enabled, cameras, mulitmedia players, etc. - it seems to me an ideal way to connect with our community. But how? What services make sense if they are delivered via a mobile phone?

Let me give you a scnario. A fiction reader is standing in the shelves looking at a book. What if they could send the isbn, barcode or some other identifier of the book to a mobile application that told them whether they had read it before, provided the most recent patron review, listed other books by the same author or other books they might like based on recommendations from LibraryThing or Amazon?

Another one. What if a library member could sign up for SMS alerts on books that were currently on loan, which sent them a text when the book was returned? Do these types of services make sense? Are they useful?

Your turn...
Add your thoughts in the comments and tell me how libraries can make better use of mobile phones as a service delivery platform.