Tag Archives: discovery

Start-Ups Take Library Jobs | Reinventing Libraries | Library Journal

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Three years ago, I wrote here that “libraries are so valuable that they attract voracious new competition with every technological advance” (see “Libraries, Ebooks, and Competition,” LJ 8/10, p. 22–23). At the time, I was thinking about Google, Apple, Amazon, and Wikipedia as the gluttonous innovators aiming to be hired for the jobs that libraries had been doing. I imagined Facebook and Twitter to be the sort of competitors most likely to be attracted by the flame of library value. But it’s the new guys that surprise you. To review the last three years of change in the library world, I’d like to focus on some of the start-ups that have newly occupied digital niches in the reading ecosystem. It’s these competitors that libraries will need to understand and integrate with to remain relevant.

The full story: Start-Ups Take Library Jobs | Reinventing Libraries | Library Journal.

The article reviews competitors GoodReads, Wattpad, Readmill, SIPX and Zola Books.

E-Books Could Be The Future Of Social Media | Co.Labs

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In the future, e-books will act just like social networks. We’ll use them on our phones, share and comment right inside e-reader apps, and publishers will use our data to help them make better marketing decisions. If you think digital reading is exploding now, just wait.

The article examines a new reading app called Readmill, which makes “each and every book its own self-contained social network.” See the full story: E-Books Could Be The Future Of Social Media ⚙ Co.Labs ⚙ code + community.

E-Books Could Be The Future Of Social Media ⚙ Co.Labs ⚙ code + community

Image Attribution: Readmill

This Database Lets You 3D Print and Explore Thousands of Fossils | Gizmodo

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Fossils are three-dimensional objects, but you aren’t really supposed to touch them, and you can’t see their depth and detail very easily over the internet. But a new database of fossils from the British Geological Survey actually has the necessary files for you to 3D print fossils yourself.

The searchable database has thousands of images of fossils you can zoom in on, rotate, and interact with on your screen. And you can bring these old bones and artifacts into the physical realm too, thanks to downloadable .ply and .obj files you can use to 3D print them. You can search by period of time, type of fossil, species, genus, etc. to find all kinds of fossils.

BGS Fossil Database

via This Database Lets You 3D Print and Explore Thousands of Fossils | Gizmodo.

The 25 Best Websites for Music Lovers | Flavorwire

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There are the obvious music sites that everyone reads — Pitchfork, Stereogum, Spin, Resident Advisor (if you’re into electronic music), etc. But there are a galaxy of other sites out there, so here are our favorites: 25 of the sites you may not be reading already, but probably should be.

  1. Aquarium Drunkard
  2. Tiny Mix Tapes
  3. Disco Naivete
  4. DatPiff
  5. The Quietus
  6. 20 Jazz Funk Greats
  7. Ad Hoc
  8. Fact
  9. Arthur
  10. ISO50
  11. Slicing Up Eyeballs
  12. Crystal Vibrations
  13. Rose Quartz
  14. Self-Titled
  15. One Week One Band
  16. YVYNYL
  17. Egotripland
  18. Maura Magazine
  19. 14tracks
  20. Dr. Schluss’ Garage of Psychedelic Obscurities
  21. House of Disco
  22. Raven Sings the Blues
  23. Mess + Noise
  24. Cyclic Defrost
  25. Hardcore for Nerds

See the full story: The 25 Best Websites for Music Lovers | Flavorwire.

You may also like: My long list of Music Discovery resources. | The Modern MLIS

SAPL To Debut Digital Commons, Test “Public Proof” OverDrive Kiosk | The Digital Shift

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As a beta tester for OverDrive, SAPL will be experimenting with an installation of the company’s new OverDrive Media Station (OMS) interface on a ruggedized kiosk that could be deployed in public areas outside of a library.

SAPL will be featuring the OMS interface on a Zivelo M32 Floor Display, a pedestal-mounted kiosk made with an aircraft-grade aluminum enclosure. With swipes and taps that will be intuitive for anyone who has used a tablet or smartphone, patrons can navigate the OMS interface to explore a library’s collection of ebooks, audiobooks, music, and videos, and easily read or listen to samples, place holds, or have an available ebook sent to their tablet, e-reader, or smartphone.

See the full article: SAPL To Debut Digital Commons, Test “Public Proof” OverDrive Kiosk | The Digital Shift.

OverDrive OMS

17 Amazing Stories of Lost and Found Films | Flavorwire

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Exciting news for silent comedy fans, movie buffs, and people who generally like things that are awesome: film historian Fernando Pena has discovered an alternate version of the classic Buster Keaton short The Blacksmith, featuring numerous never-before-seen gags and a new ending. The film, buried in a large purchase of European prints from eBay, is the kind of discovery that makes movie lovers’ hearts dance; there are so many great old films either lost entirely or no longer in their original form that these kind of finds in archives, collections, and odd spots make the impossible seem possible.

via 17 Amazing Stories of Lost and Found Films | Flavorwire.

Last.fm Founders Throw The Lights On Lumi, A Site That Uses Your Browsing History To Recommend New Content | TechCrunch

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The closure of Google Reader has put a spotlight on RSS and apps that people use to help make their way around the long tail of internet content. Lumi is tapping into a similar concept, but taking a very different approach.

RSS requires users to proactively select sites and information they wanted to track online — and some might argue that this proactive, sometimes technical element is what has prevented RSS readers from really going mainstream. Lumi, meanwhile, has been created with inactivity in mind. People can do nothing and still get relevant, current content delivered regardless, using algorithms that track where you travel online to provide links to what else you might like to see.

lumi

As long as you have downloaded the extension, which monitors whatever else do you on your computer, “you don’t have to do anything extra,” Stiksel told me in an interview. “You don’t click buttons or subscribe to new feeds. You can go away for two weeks and it’s even more fresh when you return. Because the system knows more about you.”

via Last.fm Founders Throw The Lights On Lumi, A Site That Uses Your Browsing History To Recommend New Content | TechCrunch.

This is what lumi looks like. The sidebar menu will disappear once you scroll off of it. Lumi reminds me of Stumble Upon, except at the content-specific level, rather than the website-specific level. Unfortunately, lumi is not recognizing my version of Safari at this time though it supposedly does recognize Chrome, Firefox and Safari, so the extension could not be installed. A cool and colourful new content discovery web service!

lumi

How We Discover New Music Today [INFOGRAPHIC] | Maashable

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Headphone maker Sol Republic made an exclusive infographic for Mashable that breaks down some of the recent trends in music discovery, including social listening and streaming services. via How We Discover New Music Today [INFOGRAPHIC] | Mashable.

To see a list of music discovery and streaming services check out my resource page here on The Modern MLIS. Warning…it’s long!

LibraryReads Book Discovery Program Launches Fall 2013

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Every day library staff share books they love with their users. Now, you can reach beyond the library walls to tell the rest of the country about the books you can’t wait to share.

LibraryReads – a new program, launching this fall [in the U.S.], harnesses the value of “library staff picks” into a single nation-wide discovery tool, a monthly list of ten newly released must-reads. via LibraryReads.

LibraryReads has launched a website, with areas for library staff, publishers, sample recommendation list and a comprehensive FAQ. Also sign up to join the program and receive the newsletter.

See the press release.

See also: LibraryReads Book Discovery Program To Launch | ALA Annual 2013 | Library Journal

LibraryReads

Music Discovery Services

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My personal preference was to discover new music based on recommendations from previous purchases or my library content, rather than listening to the radio. Or I would be watching a TV program (e.g. So You Think You Can Dance) and hear a track and absolutely must have it. Its time-consuming to find new music, so more and more I’m using recommender systems for discovery. There are so many options available now to discover music, its hard to decide which one is best for you. I’ve used Shazam in the past for recognition and just signed up for This is My Jam to follow what my friends like and Noon Pacific (because who doesn’t want handpicked music recommendations delivered by email!).

(Note: For music within an academic context most academic libraries offer a music library portal or music subject guides.)

Music curation and discovery is shifting from computer-generated algorithms back to including human recommendations and integrating social media and sharing within music streaming and radio services. The article Human Editors Are Returning To Music | FastCompany discusses services Pandora, iTunes, NPR and Rdio in this context.

There seems to be no end to the options for music streaming services, offered offline, online or as apps, free, freemium or subscription-based. Some services put social discovery at the forefront, rather than streaming. Here is a non-comprehensive list of music discovery and streaming services, with emphasis on discovery. Some of these services, such as Pandora (only offered within the U.S), have restrictions based on country.

  • 2u.fm. Free. “Finds music from music sites all over the web.”
  • 8tracks. Sign up for free. Internet radio created by people not algorithms.
  • Accuradio. Free. Also free mobile app.”Internet radio crafted by music lovers.” 600+ free Internet radio stations.
  • Amazon MP3. Shop 20+ million songs. Recommendations and Discover Music services.
  • Beastmode.fm. Free. “Random music to make you happy.” Music published on blogs courtesy of Shuffler.fm.
  • Blip.fm. Free. “Internet radio made social – free music streaming and sharing.”
  • Deezer. Free basic account (ads, restricted listening, discovery only) and subscription (no ads, mobile requires subscription). 180 countries – not in the U.S. “Discover, enjoy, share the music you love.”
  • Earbits. Free online radio. Connect with bands, support artists. No Top 40, no ads. Awesome “About Earbits” video.
  • Google Play Music. “Discover, play, store and share.” Only available in a few countries (not Canada). Google Play All Access subscription service coming soon.
  • Groove. Remixes your music library based on listening habits.
  • Grooveshark. Free basic account. Paid subscribers have access to cloud storage. 15+ million songs, 35+ million users. Listen to music online. Grooveshark Community and recommendation application. Full-featured.
  • Hype Machine. Free. MP3 blog aggregator.
  • iTunes. Also iTunes Genius for playlists, mixes and iTunes Match subscription for cloud storage. Apple Internet radio announcement coming soon (WWDC June 10-14).
  • Jango. Free Internet radio and on mobile that “plays what you want.” Simple. Search by artist. “Making online music easy, fun and social.”
  • Last.fm. Free and premium subscription. “Personalised recommendations based on the music you listen to.” Requires Scrobble plugin.
  • Live365. Free (with ads), 5 day unlimited with signup. 3, 6 and 12 month subscriptions. Network of 5000+ radio stations, 260+ genres. Personalized recommendations. Create your own Internet radio station.
  • liveplasma. Discovery search engine for music, movies and books. Search results are browsed using a graphical interface.
  • MOG. “Music On the Go.” Find, play anywhere, share with friends. Listen for free with ads (basic account). Subscriptions for unlimited music and no ads. U.S. only. 16+ million songs.
  • Musicovery. Free. Graphical interface Internet radio. Music by mood.
  • Noon Pacific. Free. Weekly playlist of the best songs handpicked from the best music blogs. Email delivery.
  • NPR Music. Web portal. NPR Music Radio for continuous music streaming. Social media integration.
  • Ohmytracks. Free. “Uses Last.FM to create a better user experience by offering you music that matches your tastes.”
  • Pandora. Personalized Internet radio. Free basic account, subscription for premium. Full-featured. Only available in the U.S., Australia and New Zealand.
  • Piki.fm. Free. Handpicked radio. Counterpart to Turntable.fm. U.S. only.
  • reddit Music. Web portal and forum. Listen and share. radioreddit. Free. Tunes are voted on.
  • Rdio. Discover (following friends, tastemakers, critics and artists), collect and share. 14 days unlimited trial. Up to 6 months free on computer. Subscription required. Many devices and full-featured.
  • Rhapsody. “More than just Internet radio.” Follow members, artists interviews and reviews. Full-featured. Subscription required. 16+ million songs. U.S. only.
  • seevl. Semantic music discovery plugin for Deezer and YouTube. Free.
  • Shazam. Music recognition app. Share to Facebook, Twitter and email.
  • Shuffler.fm. Free. An audio magazine made by music blogs. “Channel surf the music web through thousands of music sites and blogs, curated by tastemakers who filter the music information overload.”
  • Slacker Radio. Free. Subscribe for commercial free and offline listening. “The Best Music — Anytime, Anywhere, Any Device.” Curated by 200+ experts. 10+ million songs. Highly customizable.
  • Songbird. Free. Connect artists and fans. Handpicked YouTube playlists.
  • Songza. Free. Curated by music experts. Choose to customize music by day, time and situation. No listening limits.
  • SoundCloud. “The world’s leading social sound platform where anyone can create sounds and share them everywhere.” Distribution platform for artists.
  • SoundHound. Music recognition app. Also identifies by songs you sing or hum. Share and bookmark.
  • Spotify. Free and premium accounts. Desktop application. 20+ million songs. 20+ million users = many “eclectic playlists.” Full-featured.
  • Stereomood. Free. Turn your mood into music.
  • Tastebuds.fm. This is unique. Meet people through music – a music-based online dating service.
  • Torch Music. Free. Create online music collections with your friends.
  • Twitter #music. Truly social music discovery.
  • This is My Jam. Free. Music handpicked by your friends.
  • TuneIn. Free. “…the world’s radio station.” 70,000 stations. Multiple devices and connectivity in cars, televisions, etc. Social media and favourites integration, linked playlists.
  • Turntable.fm. Free. Share music interactively, play music together using “rooms”. U.S. only.
  • Whyd. By invitation. Keep, play and share tracks.
  • Xbox Music Pass. Previously known as Zune. Subscription required. Xbox 360/Windows devices only. 30+ million tracks. SmartDJ to create custom stations.
  • YouTube Disco. “Find > Mix > Watch.” Find by artist or song.

You may also like:

Slacker Radio Wants to Redefine Top 40 Music Charts by “Engagement” | Gizmodo

Why it’s still hard to discover new music online (and how we can fix it) | Digital Trends

100 Ways to Discover and Enjoy Music | DailyTekk – April 16, 2012