Category Archives: GTA Technology Topics, Tips & Tricks

Weekly email updates to University of Alberta SLIS students 2011-2012.

GTA Technology Topics, Tips and Tricks: Last GTA 4T Email & 3D Printing

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This will be the last GTA Technology Topics, Tips and Tricks post on The Modern MLIS, as my placement as Graduate Technical Assistant at the School of Library and Information Studies at the University of Alberta is finished.
 
I think its fitting the last GTA 4T email focus on what’s on the horizon technology-wise. It seems some new technology is announced on a daily, so I am only going to focus on one – 3D printing! For a good report reviewing technologies on the horizon and in the next 3 to 5 years, I suggest looking at the 2012 Horizon Report from EDUCAUSE.
 
3D printing has fascinated me since I saw a post on Mashable in January stating that Pirate Bay Wants You to Download Physical Objects Now. I had no clue what the headline meant but reading a bit further I realized that 3D printing using lasers was moving out of the realm of fiction into fact and even into mainstream adoption. Although I’m not going to advocate one download anything from PB, what was interesting about what PB was discussing was that they were creating a new category of object called “physibles” where the user can download a blueprint for printing a 3D object. This brought all kinds of questions to my mind. Will 3D objects be copyrighted or considered of intellectual property value? Should printable 3D objects have no copyright? Because if a 3D blueprint is created in the first place then the intent would be to print a 3D object. Like, am I going to get sued for printing a patented car part! There are all sorts of implications for this new technology and I look forward to participating in the discussion. Links to further your 3D printing knowledge are provided below.
 
Here is a great paper discussing why 3D Printing Will Change the World.
 
 
 
The Fayetteville Free Library Fabrication Lab: Will Fabrication Labs Make Libraries Useful Again from Gizmodo and 3D Printing: Coming to a Library Near Youfrom SmartPlanet
 
 
3D Printing from Explaining The Future – Very tech speak!
 
Libraries and 3D Printing video from CES 2012. Refers to libraries as “hacker spaces” and “maker spaces.”
 
 
My personal favourite – Choc Edge 3D Chocolate Printer – world’s first chocolate printer. 🙂
 
Maybe “Libraries of the Future” will involve having 3D printer “maker spaces.” Discuss.
 

GTA Technology Topics, Tips and Tricks: Links to Tools & Resources

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Here are some lovely links to a variety of tools and resources!
 
 
11 Web-Based Polling and Survey Tools from Free Technology for Teachers
 
 
EDUCAUSE has links to hundreds of informational resources browsable by topic (e.g. information systems and services, libraries and technology, teaching and learning, etc.) or resource type (i.e. presentations, blogs, podcasts, publications).
 
 

GTA Technology Topics, Tips and Tricks: Mixed Links on Visual/Digital Resources & Services

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The Pottermore Shop is open for purchase of Harry Potter eBooks. Unfortunately it looks like the eBooks are not available in Canada yet but the digital audio books are. The eBooks are DRM free. For more details see this announcement from Publisher’s Weekly. Checkouts from OverDrive start Thursday (?US only).
 
I ran across the Ogilvy Notes from SXSW 2012. These graphics are pretty cool and visually summarize a wide range of topics such as Digital Debauchery with Anthony Bourdain, Surviving Technology and Abundance: The Future is Better Than You Think. Communication using visual imagery always seems to have more of an impact and is very effective for technology related topics.
 
Continuing with the visual imagery theme, here is a post investigating the 20 Great Ways Libraries are Using Pinterest.
 
 
The Nelson Mandela Centre of Memory Digital Archive goes live with help from Google (PCMage article).  Also, from earlier this month the Albert Einstein Archives Online is now available.
 
A post from SU Information Space commenting on why LIS students should care about the Digital Public Library of America project.
 
A new Timeline tool is now available for everyone that pulls in media from different sources such as YouTube, Twitter, flickr, etc. Here is a post from Mashable highlighting this new tool.
 
Did you know there are over 100 different tools and resources available about infographics and data visualization? Here is the list.
 
 

GTA Technology Topics, Tips and Tricks: Infographic Diversions – Dystopian Timeline to the Hunger Games; Wikipedia is Redefining Research; Google Algorithm Changes

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Some fun infographic diversions…

GTA Technology Topics, Tips and Tricks: Online Privacy

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I’ve seen the commentary on online privacy intensify the past few months. Facebook routinely changes its privacy policy it seems and Google has moved to one privacy policy for all of its applications. I think its good we hear about the privacy infractions by companies in the news, such as when the Sony database was hacked into and personal data was stolen from users. It really concerns me though about all the intrusions and privacy breaches that are not disclosed. Organizations need to start being more accountable for the client data they are charged with protecting and we need to start expecting more from the organizations we provide our personal information to. Users need to arm themselves to protect their information and identity, so its important to create awareness and give users tools to protect themselves. In that spirit here are some useful and informative links on online privacy.
 
The Sad State of Social Media Privacy Article & Infographic from Marketing Tech Blog/MDG Advertising.com
 
 
The Electronic Frontier Foundation proposed in 2010 a Bill of Privacy Rights for Social Network Users. They again built on this theme by creating A Mobile User Privacy Bill of Rights earlier this month.
 
 
The iLibrarian has a great post on this very topic which I am including below:
 
Social media and online privacy are always a concern, but more so in recent times with variable and ever-changing privacy policies. Here are five stories from the last couple of weeks covering online privacy:

Are You In Control of Your Social Media Privacy? [INFOGRAPHIC]
Stephanie Buck at Mashable blogs about a recent infographic titled Social Media Management: Protect Your Privacy created by ZoneAlarm, based on a 2012 study by Pew

Do You Value Your Internet Privacy?
Alicia Eler at ReadWriteWeb takes a look at a recent study released by the European Network and Information Security Agency (ENISA) in which researchers investigated whether or not customers of online services would pay a mark-up to an online service provider who protected their information better.

Social Media Privacy: 3 Questions to Ask Before Authorizing Third-Party Apps
Jamie Beckland at Mashable talks about how best to insure your privacy on social sites and whether it’s a good idea to authorize outside apps to access your information.

Internet privacy a growing concern, Pew finds
Benny Evangelista, SFGate dicusses privacy with regard to search engines and whether or not people’s search histories are being tracked.

How Do We Explain Patron Privacy in a World of Target Markets?
Laura Crossett writes an insightful article about privacy and library patrons.

GTA Technology Topics, Tips and Tricks: Comics in the Library, E-Comics

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Today’s post is focused on comics. Disclaimer: I know next to nothing about comics or graphic novels so please forgive me for begin a total noob. I came across a Marvel announcement that I thought would be of interest to some of you SLISters that precipitated writing a GTA email on this topic.

The recent announcement by Marvel mentioned that the company will be including a code for downloading the *free* digital copy within every top-selling physical comic book purchased (those priced at $3.99).  Here is an article by Fast Company’s expert blogger Rob Salkowitz, questioning whether Marvel’s Digital Comic Book Shift “Will Fly” published March 12, 2012.  Note that there have been previous announcements by other comic book companies (such as DC Comics) previously regarding shifting to digital, so the announcement by Marvel is not that unique…excepting codes for downloading the *free* digital versions. Interesting times.

So, I was thinking, what are the reasons that libraries do not collect comic books?  Pricing and acquisition, difficult to catalog, collection development and management concerns, theft concerns. Do comics offer no learning or educational opportunities? Others reasons?? Some commentary on this very issue: Egads! Comics! In the Library!

Maybe with the announcement by Marvel, and the development of e-comic databases, more libraries will explore offering e-comic collections to their users (as an extension to currently offered graphic novel collections). Then again, I could see libraries getting out of offering any e-content at all to patrons due to pricing, licensing and availability issues, etc.

Here is a link from the University of Florida listing US university libraries with physical comic book holdings.

Library of Congress: Comic Books

British Comics Collection

If you are interested in graphic novels/comics in libraries I came across this 2010 resource, which is a holding of the University of Alberta RHSS Library. Graphic novels and comics in libraries and archives: essays on readers, research, history and cataloging by Robert Weiner.

Ok, I think I have just proposed a great research project for one of you!

GTA Technology Topics, Tips and Tricks: Timeline Tools

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I was asked whether I knew of any good timeline maker tools and I actually have never used one before. I did some investigating into what is available and am passing along the tools I found.
 
This article by makeuseof looks at two easy to use tools Tiki-Toki and Dipity.
 
Tiki-Toki – Looks impressive but basic/free account has restrictions.
 
Dipity – More basic than Tiki-Toki but may not work well for print purposes. Looks great for web purposes and sharing.
 

TimeRime – Create, view, share and compare timelines. Basic account probably has some restrictions.

 
TimeGlider – This one looks more advanced and again may not work well for print purposes. Application moving away from Flash and will use a Javascript plugin. Complicated installation.
 
Timeline – This one is cross platform, free and open source. Requires installation. May be the best to use for print purposes. Mac OSX users may have to install from the command line.
 
Another option is to install a PowerPoint plugin from Office Timeline. This looks like the best option for print purposes.
 

GTA Technology Topics, Tips and Tricks: Pinterest

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As an update to my prior post on Social Bookmarking, this post is dedicated to the new hot social media trend Pinterest (though it has been around since 2008).
 
Pinterest is a website of virtual inboards. From an LIS perspective, users “catalog” items and create visual collections by topic/interest/category.
 
Some may argue its an advertising tool to sell things and promote brands…I think Pinterest is a great tool to see what’s trending and popular.
 
Pinterest may have useful applications for libraries as discussed in these posts by the iLibrarian “5 Ways to Use Pinterest in Your Library” and “5 More Ways to Use Pinterest in You Library“.
 
Here’s an infographic for some Pinterest stats…one of which is that 97% of Pinterest’s Facebook fans are women! Apparently Pinterest has no revenue business model right now and is focused on growing the service.
 

Another Infographic: Is Pinterest The Next Social Commerce Game Changer?

 

GTA Technology Topics, Tips and Tricks: Diversions

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Here are some diversions in anticipation of University of Alberta’s Reading Week break. Some are informative, some are fun.
 
 
 
 
 
 
Oldies but Goodies
 
And because I know you know I love infographics…and to celebrate Valentine’s Day…the Stacy Green, Will You Marry Me Infographic
 

GTA Technology Topics, Tips & Tricks: Social Bookmarking & Recommender Sites

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Here are some great websites to take a look at for social bookmarking (excluding Twitter and related web applications). Social bookmarking tools can be used to find recommendations, what is popular, share what you love, and find further information on a topic. This recent article by eBizMBA lists the top 15 of February 2012. The hottest social bookmarking website right now is Pinterest. It does look pretty cool.  I wish I had the time to use all these social bookmarking tools!
 
Pinterest – “Pinterest lets you organize and share all the beautiful things you find on the web. People use pinboards to plan their weddings, decorate their homes, and organize their favorite recipes.”  I love how visually-based this website is! With such cool pin boards as “Plan a Wedding” or “Save your inspirations.”
 
Reddit – “The front page of the Internet.” Lists links and ranks the most popular websites on the Internet and websites that are trending. 
 
Delicious – “Delicious helps you find cool stuff and collect it for easy sharing. Dig into stacks created by the community, and then build your own!” 
 
Digg – “Digg is a place for people to discover and share content from anywhere on the web. From the biggest online destinations to the most obscure blog, Digg surfaces the best stuff as voted on by our community.”
 
StumbleUpon – “We help you explore new and interesting things from every corner of the Web.”  You tell StumbleUpon what you like and it will recommend web pages, videos, photos and more that “you wouldn’t have found on your own.”
 
GetGlue – “GetGlue is a social network for entertainment. Users check-in and share what they are watching, listening to and reading with friends; get fresh recommendations, exclusive stickers, discounts and other rewards from their favorite shows and movies.”