CIL 2009 Day 2 - Pecha Kucha: 2.0 Top Tips

This was an "interesting" session, although not a particularly useful one (at least to me). Pecha Kucha is apparently a Japanese term meaning "the sound of conversation" and the idea behind this kind of session is that each presenter has a limited amount of time (6 min. and 20 sec.) to give their presentation, spending no more than 20 sec. per slide. There were 5 presenters and each covered a different topic (blogs, learning the social web, wikis, the mobile future of libraries, and trying to implement Facebook in a change-resitant environment).

Not much new to me was said in any of these mini-talks, and anything that would have been particularly useful, I'm afraid was just too densely packed in, although the speakers generally did an admirable job of trying to stay within their time limits. Probably the most useful talk was the one on learning the social web, which, although saying things I know I've heard before, at least said things that I could use hearing again, namely that the best way to get someone to learn something new is to get them to use it, and to get them to use it is best for them to see some value in it. In this context the speaker mentioned the social networking site Ravelry, which caters to people interested in knitting and crochet.

CIL 2009 Day 2 - Evaluating, Recommending, & Justifying 2.0 Tools

This was a packed session which, although having it's good points, wasn't particularly applicable to my current situation. The presenter, Marydee Ojala from ONLINE magazine, described the process of deciding which web 2.0 applications are appropriate or inappropriate for a given context and how to convince all of the parties involved that doing this web 2.0 thing is a good idea anyway. It seemed more geared to larger, more bureaucratic organizations than WNPLD, and especially appropriate for corporate situations. It was well presented and had some good points, but not the session that I will take the most from.

CIL 2009 Day 1 - Web 2.0 Training for Customers & Staff

David and I both attended this excellent session where three people explained their processes for teaching web 2.0 to patrons and/or staff and the results of their training processes. Beth Tribe from Howard County Library explained explained how their web 2.0 classes for the public worked and how they helped patrons understand subjects such as tagging. Michael Sauers from the Nebraska Library Commission told of a statewide project to get library staff using web 2.0 services. The website for that project details the 16-day course that covered 23 different web 2.0 things. Finally, Bobbi Newman described her library's process of first teaching the staff (in an initial course of 29 things (23 things + mySpace)) and then a second follow-up course for the staff. They also started teaching classes to the public following their first round of staff classes, which seem also to have been somewhat successful. All-around, this was a good session.

CIL 2009 Day 2 - Social Network Profile Management

Four panelists gave 4 mini-presentations on the issue of digital identity and web 2.0 services. Some of the important points that were made multiple times were to have a consistent username/email address across services, if possible, to be authentic with your profile information and how you present yourself, and be sensible with what you put online. One interesting thing that came out in the Q&A at the end of the presentations was the repeated observation that trying to maintain a private identity and a professional identity separately almost inevitable ends in failure as the two eventually merge. It can be important to recognize this fact so you don't put information that you wouldn't want available to co-workers on a private profile. Information leak is almost inevitable.

CIL 2009 Day 2 - The Best of the Web

Aaron Schmidt (a librarian for D.C. Public Library who actually lives on the west coast) presented this quick run-down of useful webtools. Unfortunately I chose a terrible place to sit where my view of both screens was blocked by massive columns. The presentation covered a bunch of different online tools, some of which had been mentioned in yesterday's program of 40 web tools. I don't want to dump just another list of tools here (and the list I have from this one isn't as neatly formatted), but there are some good tools in the list I have (as well as some purely useless and silly ones, like the one that will add a slice of bacon to any page you want (don't ask)).

CIL 2009 Day 2 - Keynote

This morning's keynote was an inspirational interview of Paul Holdengräber, the director of Public Programs at the New York Public Library District, by Erik Boekesteijn. Paul discussed his role at NYPL in founding the "Live from the NYPL" programs which are done there. The talk had relatively little to do with computers, although it had a lot to do with libraries and in many respects is largely indescribable. His key points were that the Library is a place where we learn things, a place for opportunity and a haven. His job, and in many ways the jobs of library staff, is to facilitate a hospitable environment. The interview was streamed and if I can find a link to it somewhere I will post it here.

CIL 2009 Day 1 - Library Facebook Apps

This was a fascinating session where a staff member from North Carolina State University explained what they had observed about the nature of Facebook apps and that they realized that for a Facebook application to be successful it needed to have a social element. They developed an app for scheduling study groups in the Library and then tested it against a small group of students. The surprising result was something to the effect of "This seems like it would be useful. Why would you put it on Facebook?" Basically, the students see Facebook as messy and chaotic and not somewhere they would go for this kind of useful thing. They are going to continue evaluating what, if anything, to do with Facebook, but so far there is no successful application strategy for libraries at the moment.

CIL 2009 Day 1 - Searching Google Earth

Great session showing a lot of the cooler things that you can do with Google Earth nowadays. I was particularly impressed with the Rumsey Historical Maps collection which allows you to take historical maps of cities and overlay them right on top of the current satellite image. This session provided a good idea of what kind of thing is available for Google Earth and how to find it.

CIL 2009 Day 1 - 40-Plus New Tools & Gadgets for Webmasters

This is an annual presentation done by Diane Fichter from the University of Saskatchewan and Frank Cervone, who is now at Purdue University Calumet (somewhere I've actually attended classes). They whip through a huge list of cool apps and websites. I'll just post the whole thing right here. Some of it looks like it could be really useful (that stuff's in italics).

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Layout Gala (blog.html.it/layoutgala) – Lots of layouts

Wave (wave.webaim.org) – Accessibility testing

HTML Table Generator (www.spectrum-research.com/V2/projects_table_generator.asp) – Generates web tables

Visual Thesaurus (www.visualthesaurus.com) – Aquabrowser like thesaurus clouds added to your website (runs in Java, seems something most appropriate to education environments)

FancyZoom (www.dfc-e.com/metiers/multimedia/opensource/jquery-fancyzoom) – Adds a Mac-like zooming to a webpage for images

Uni-Form (sprawsm.com/uni-form) – Creates a well structured, semantic, accessible and usable form

feed.informer (feed.informer.com) – widget that assists with putting feed output on your website

phplist (phplist.com) – Open-source newsletter manager. RSS to email. (!!!!!!)

EasyPHP (www.easyphp.org) – Tool for simulate and installed PHP environment.

Net.tutsplus.com/videos/screencasts/how-i-can-code-twice-as-fast-as-you/

Texter (lifehacker.com/software/texter/lifehacker-code-texter-windows-238306.php) – GPL version of ShortKeys

TextExpander (www.smileonmymac.com/TextExpander) – (Mac)

Crowd Science (crowdscience.com) – Sophisticated survey tool (looks very nice and professional)

Fusestats web analytics (www.fusestats.com) – Can generate heatmaps of your website showing where people are going and looking on your page.

Read it Later (www.ideashower.com/ideas/launched/read-it-later) - Firefox extension

Top Posts Widget (www.postrank.com) – will show what blog entries have been most popular

Internet Health Report / Internet Status Report (internethealthreport.com / internettrafficreport.com) – Helps you figure out if there's a problem on the Internet and where it might be (possibly useful for patrons asking “Why is the Internet so slow?”)

Lonely Hearts Club for Web Sites (www.google.com/friendconnect) – Allows people to friend your website.

FireShot (addons.mozilla.org/en-US/firefox/addon/5648) – for making screen shots

FileJuicer (echoone.com/filejuicer) – get all of the images out of a PDF, Flash, or PowerPoint documents

XnView (www.enview.com/en/index.html) – allows you to convert graphics file formats to other graphics formats

ColorPicker (www.colorpicker.com) – Simple tool for picking colors and provides hex codes

Color Wizard (colorsontheweb.com/colorwizard.asp) – gives you suggestions for complimentary colors

Accessibility Color Wheel (gmazzocato.altervista.org/colorwheel/wheel.php) – shows you what a color scheme looks like for different color blindnesses

Personal Fonts (www.yourfonts.com) – Make your handwriting into a font for free

Lovely Charts (www.lovelycharts.com) – clean, elegant visualization tools

XML/SWF Charts (www.maani.us/exm_charts/index.php) – converts an arbitrary XML file into a Flash-based chart

Mind Mapping (bubbl.us) – cloud-based brainstorming tool

Mindmeister (www.mindmeister.com) – more collaborative mind mapping

script.aculo.us (demo: wiki.github.com/madrobby/scriptaculous/puzzle-demo)

xcavator (www.xcavator.net) – searches a number of different photo sites and allows you to see the results based on a particular image. You upload an image and it searches for similar images

Google Unsend (mailblog.blogspot.com/2009/03/new-in-labs-undo-send.htm) – unsend a gmail message in 5-10 seconds.

Automatically open search results in a new tab (lifehacker.com/software/firefox/firefox-tip-open-search-results-in-a-new-tab-255171.php)
Review Basics (www.reviewbasics.com) – Collaborative document reviewing

Quintura Kids (quinturakids.com) – filtered kidsafe searching

Virus Total (www.virustotal.com) – detects trojans in a file

WinDirStat (windirstat.info) – see what's using up space on a drive

LetsCallMe (letscallme.com) – hides your phone number but lets people call you

DamnIT (damnit.jupiterit.com) – Sends you an email when something goes wrong with javascript

Chunk It! (www.getchunkit.com)

net.tutsplus.com – tutorials

www.designer-daily.com/mac-apps-1915) -free mac applications

noupe.com

homokaasu.org/rasterbator (make an image poster sized)

CIL 2009 Day 1 - Omnipresence Without Spending a Dime

This was a nice presentation with a few good ideas. Nina McHale from University of Colorado-Denver talked about putting "steal this code" blocks on your website for people to be able to drop catalog search boxes, chat boxes, etc. on their own pages to expend your online presence.

Curt Tagtmeier from Fremont Public Library District presented on how he used a free service called mobiSiteGalore to create a cell-phone friendly version of their website. It's certainly an idea worth considering for our own site, although we'd need to limit it to the core of the site and what someone would want to do on a phone. This mainly has traditional cell-phones in mind. Smart phones, like the iPhone, generally do a capable job of browsing normal websites.

CIL 2009 Day 1 - Website Redesign Pitfalls

Having just done a couple redesigns I have no intention of doing another design just now, but I thought it would be interesting to hear what would be said here. The most interesting thing about the session was that in many ways the presenter discouraged redesigning (or in his terms, redeveloping) unless you have particular, verifiable, measurable goals. If the site "feels old", change the colors and the fonts and swap out some graphics, but leave the structure intact. One of his points I think we've felt in the wake of our recent redesign: staff like redesigning (it's exciting) but users hate them. As time goes on users like your design more as you like it less, hence the necessity to evaluate real reasons for a redesign before doing one and redesign to meet those goals (preferably avoiding a committee in the process). Good points in general on the redesign process and how to avoid the redesign process entirely.

CIL 2009 Day 1 - Key Note

Lee Raimie presented an informative and thought provoking keynote on the technological categories our users fall into. Here are my notes from the keynote:

In 2000 46% of adults were using the Internet. 5% with broadband. 50% owned a cell phone. Less than 10% used “cloud” computing applications.

2008: 75% of adults were using the Internet. 57% have broadband. 82% own a cell phone. 62% connect to the Internet wirelessly. 53% use “cloud” applications.

These changes have had these effects in the ecosystems of everyday people.

1. Volume of information has gown

2. Variety of information has increased

3. Velocity of information is faster (you find out things, both on a national and person level, faster).

4. The times and places to experience media enlarge.

5. People's vigilance for information expands and contracts. (As people gain new interests they...)

6. The immersive qualities of media are more compelling.

7. Relevance of information improves.

8. The number of information “voices” explodes and becomes more findable.

9. Voting and ventilating are enabled

10. Social networks (not necessarily online) are more vivid (in an environment where all of this stuff is happening, people are falling back on their social networks to help them cope).

Homo Connectus

Different sense of

• Expectation about access to information

• Place and distance

• Opportunities to play

• Time use

• Personal efficacy

• Social networking possibilities

39% of those surveyed in a recent Pew Internet survey are motivated by mobility (love it and feel good about tech)

61% are tied to stationary media (ambivalent about tech)

10 groups in the greater population (5 excited about tech, 5 ambivalent about tech)

1. Digital Collaborators (8%)

   1. People at the cutting edge (blogging, tweeting, always online, etc.) Gen X group

   2. Libraries just need to be a place for them to connect to the Internet. They can influence.

2. Ambivalent Networkers (7%)

   1. Younger (Gen Y). Use the Internet but less excited about it. Don't rely on e-mail as much as texting

   2. Libraries can be a sanctuary where they can go offline. Gaming is important to them. Libraries can help them deal with Information Overload.

3. Media Movers (7% of population)

   1. Like putting photos online, etc. (The people who are always sending links, etc.)

   2. Libraries can help them find outlets for sharing their creations. Help them navigate to material they can pass along.

4. Roving nodes (9% of population)

   1. People who could not give up their email & cell phone. Feel that technology gives them control. Largely female population. (sounds like a Winnetka group)

   2. Help them to be efficient. Give them access to technology. They are candidates to learn about cloud computing.

5. Mobile Newbies (8% of the population)

   1. New to cell phones. Love them deeply. Largely a female group and the oldest group in the Mobile set. Don't know much or care much about the Internet.

   2. How-to-material, coaching and mentoring are services they can use. They would like tech support.

6. Desktop Veterans (13% of the population)

   1. Internet veterans. Mobility doesn't matter. 2004 was an awesome year. Cell phones are used for phone calls.

   2. Offer good computers with good connections. Self sufficient. May want tutorials on content creation.

7. Drifting Surfers (14% of the population)

   1. Largely female. Attitudes on technology have worsened ove r the past two years.

   2. Would like tech support. Traditional library services

8. Information Encumbered (10% of the population)

   1. Largely male. Angry about information overload. Get ticked off when things break down.

   2. Don't force things on them. Provide sympathy. Be filters and provide good support.

9. Tech Indifferent

   1. Not internet users. Some cell users.

   2. Computers & Internet 101, but don't force them

10. Off the Network (14% of the population)

    1. People who used to do things online but don't anymore (often). Love old media. Affordability is an issue.

    2. Traditional services big. Maybe some tutorials.

Roles for libraries:

1. Pathways to problem-solving information

2. Pathways to personal enrichment

3. Pathways to entertainment

4. Pathways to new kinds of social networks built around people, media, and institutions

5. Pathways to the wisdom of crowds, so you can fill your own future here...

CIL 2009

I left Chicago early and managed to avoid the bad weather there this weekend. The weather in Washington yesterday was absolutely gorgeous. Sunny with some clouds and a high of 75. I had come out early to meet with some relatives and do some sight-seeing. I've posted some photos from my trip to the Zoo and the Cathedral yesterday here.

I haven't seen him around yet, but I've confirmed that David got here safely via email. After this morning's keynote on "Freeing Libraries: The Nodes in People's Social Networks" by Lee Rainie my plans for today tentatively include these sessions:

• Website Redesign Pitfalls
• Help Your Library Be Omnipresent Without Spending a Dime (a staff member from Fremont will be presenting here)
• 40-Plus New Tools & Gadgets for Library Webmasters
• Searching Google Earth
• Library Facebook Applications

Stay tuned for further updates.