SMS & Text Messaging

Another form of chat/instant messaging that is hugely popular is SMS or text messaging between mobile phones (or between mobile phones & PCs).

SMS, or "Short Message Service is a communications protocol allowing the interchange of short text messages between mobile telephony devices. The SMS technology has facilitated the development and growth of text messaging. The connection between the phenomenon of text messaging and the underlying technology is so great that in parts of the world the term "SMS" is used colloquially as a synonym for a text message from another person or the act of sending a text message." [Wikipedia] In use since 1985, SMS allows for a user to send a text with up to 160 characters between devices.

I'd wager that many of you have already sent a text message between phones. Did you know that you can also send SMS messages from your PC to a phone? You just need the receivers phone number and provider. Here are links to a few of the major mobile phone providers and their PC to phone text messaging:

Sprint - Verizon - T-Mobile - Nextel - Alltel

What about libraries? There are libraries now using text messaging to communicate with customers, receive questions and search the catalog. Take a look at some of these examples:

-Receive a text message from the catalog - tired of writing down all those titles? (University of Oregon)

-Ask a Science Librarian (Yale University Science Library)

-Get your library notices via SMS (Cuyahoga County Public Library)

-Search the catalog (Bibliothece di Roma)

How would you like to see SMS/text messaging used in the library?

2.0 Alphabet

is for Connotea, "free online reference management for all researchers, clinicians and scientists" (e.g., social bookmarking for researchers). Developed for the scientific community, it "knows about" scholarly science journals and Web sites.

"Unlike many of the other well-known tools, Connotea is aimed primarily at scientists (though the user community is rapidly growing throughout academic disciplines), and while users may bookmark any webpage they choose, it incorporates special functionality for certain academic resources. Connotea recognises a number of scientific websites and will automatically collect metadata for the article or page being bookmarked, including author and publication names. It is also possible to add non-recognised webpages, by manually entering information." [from Wikipedia]

Web 2.0 Alpbahet:Part 1 (letters A - M) were originally published in Information Today 24.9 (Oct 2007): p.17(2).

Have you visited Tutor.com?

During these two weeks of exploring virtual reference it seems only fair to spend a little time discussing Tutor.com, one of our online homework help resources. It offers live, one-on-one tutoring for grades 4-12 in Math, Science, Social Studies & English and college intro.

Tutor.com is a resource that we have strongly promoted in our elibraries as a resource for their after-school crowd stuggling with homework. The service begins at 2:00 pm (when schools start letting out) and is available until 12:00 am. There are no time limits on each session which allows the students to take their time as they learn. After logging in, the tutors and students communicate easily via a chat and whiteboard. This may seem confusing but this service is acutally a very easy tool to use.

A visit to their website may be a good place to start and view the short video which explains the homework help service. Perhaps later you may choose to log in to Tutor.com from our HCPLC website under Databases and Websites > Online Learning. Tell the tutor you work for the library and that you are just trying to learn the product. They won't mind. It would also be a good idea to go prepared with a question, perhaps a math problem, and see how it works. You also have the option of visiting the Help section offline and learning all about the features.

This is a great tool. Take some time to familiarize yourself with its features and offer it to your customers as an after hours resource tool.

Meebo Anyone? (chat practice)

As part of Workbook section #2 - Instant Messaging & Virtual Reference we have asked that you participate in some type of chat or IM conversation. There's no better way to think through how libraries can best use this type of technology to serve customers without having some experience.

We now have an hcplc=Lib 2.0 Meebo Room so the we can practice chat together. It is not necessary to have a Meebo account to participate - if you have one, that's great - you can log in to Meebo and visit our training room. You only need to visit http://www.meebo.com/room/hcplclib20/, the password is "hcplc".

You will join the discussion as "guest######" (that's with some random number). The first time you type a message to the group, you will be asked to create a nickname. Please use your first name and last initial.

The room is open 24/7, but there may not be anyone there to IM at all times. So that you don't have to keep trying back, we have a schedule so you know when someone will be there to practice IMing:

Thursday (1/24) 10-11am & Noon-1:30pm

Friday (1/25) 1-2pm

Monday (1/28) through Friday (2/1) 11am-Noon & 1-2pm

Here's a brief YouTube video to demo what Meebo can do.

Ask A Librarian (AAL)

Just a little background info before you take the plunge and Ask A Librarian...

Probably the most visible way libraries use interactice technologies to help customers is through virtual reference. We are participants in a state-wide, collaborative chat reference services called Ask A Librarian - Real People, Real Help, Real Fast! (I appologize for the grammar, but that's the tagline for the service, "really"). The service is currently provided to desktop/laptop computers through an Internet browser (like Internet Explorer or Netscape). Customers can chat with a librarian in Florida and can collaboratively co-browse the web. Documents and files can be shared or pushed to customers as well. Ask A Librarian Mobile is now being offered to users of mobile electronic devices - PDAs, smart phones, etc. - that are Internet or wireless enabled. AAL Mobile is limited to email at the moment, but the Dokutek's VRLplus software that powers AAL will soon accommodate live chat.

While Florida's AAL program uses the Dokutek VRLplus software, there are other major library virtual reference packages. The most prominent are OCLC's QuestionPoint and Tutor.com's Ask a Librarian. Many libraries are also using free chat and IM programs to provide real-time reference help. Take a look at David Lee King's blog post - "Fun With Our Meebo Widget and the Library Catalog."

Libraries are not the only information providers - and certainly not the first - that use live chat to help customners. Many retail outlets and technical support services have used this for many years. Some of the key players in the industry are eGain, Live Help and LivePerson.

If you would like more information about library virtual reference programs:

Virtual Reference Training: The Complete Guide to Providing Anytime, Anywhere Answers,
by Hirko, Buff. Ross, Mary Bucher Publication: Chicago ALA Editions of the American Library Association, 2004. (NetLibrary eBook)

Going Live : Starting & Running a Virtual Reference Service, by Steve Coffman. Chicago: American Library Association, 2003.

Also, check out some recent articles available from our Gale Power Search databases.

IM, U will B

Today we are starting the second part of our Library 2.0 workbook and the subject is Instant Messaging. There are kids among us to whom IM is as natural as a phone call. Then there are the rest of us who are now learning what a simple and useful communication tool it can be. What those who work with Ask A Librarian know is that IM is a natural way to do long distance, and very effective, reference. Meebo makes it easy for a reference librarian, and for friends, to IM with many different people, regardless of the tool they are using (ie aol, google, yahoo).
Here's a Wikipedia article on Meebo, and here are some posts from David Lee King's blog on how it is used in his library, just a few links to get you started, learning and playing.

Is Web 2.0 really our "Cultural Downfall"?

Check out Library Journal's recent Online Databases column by Carol Tenopir - "Web 2.0: Our Cultural Downfall."

It's part review of Andrew Keen's new book, The Cult of the Amateur and part commentary on the whole 2.o topic. Here's a few snippets:

"Social networking and Web 2.0 may not be the total downfall of culture, but some of Keen's warnings hit home. Special interest groups, whether hate groups, political action committees, or corporations with a product to sell, can convey their message without revealing their true identity."

"The underlying message from Keen is buyer (or reader) beware. When anyone can add unfiltered, unvetted, and unattributed information to a growing array of social networking sites—sites some people rely on for their news or research—we have a dangerous dumbing-down of culture and a world where truth is hard to differentiate from falsehood ."

One of the important roles that libraries play in our culture is to help people find quality information that is relevant to their lives. How will 2.o change the way we do business? Is this really a new frontier for us, or have we always been helping our customers with information literacy - just in a different format?

We've spent two weeks looking at the definitions of Library 2.0. In light of what you've discovered in your quest toward Twopointopia - what do you think?

Go ahead, click that comment button...no one's looking.

2.0 Alphabet

is for BitTorrent, a peer-to-peer file-sharing protocol that facilitates sharing large amounts of data. It's not just for illegal downloading. Really.

A BitTorrent client is any program that implements the BitTorrent protocol. Each client is capable of preparing, requesting, and transmitting any type of computer file over a network, using the protocol. A peer is any computer running an instance of a client.
To share a file or group of files, a peer first creates a "torrent." This small file contains metadata about the files to be shared and about the tracker, the computer that coordinates the file distribution. Peers that want to download the file first obtain a torrent file for it, and connect to the specified tracker, which tells them from which other peers to download the pieces of the file.

It has often been used to transmit music, movie, software and computer game files from one personal computer to another via an informal network of users.

Now, all that said, we can't show you BitTorrent in the library. Peer-to-peer file sharing networks are not allowed according to county standards. Here's a diagram:

Web 2.0 Alpbahet:Part 1 (letters A - M) were originally published in Information Today 24.9 (Oct 2007): p.17(2).

Rip Van Winkle visits the library

The Time magazine article How to Bring Our Schools Out of the 20th Century recounts a joke exchanged by educators:

Rip Van Winkle awakens in the 21st century after a hundred-year snooze and is, of course, utterly bewildered by what he sees. Men and women dash about, talking to small metal devices pinned to their ears. Young people sit at home on sofas, moving miniature athletes around on electronic screens. Older folk defy death and disability with metronomes in their chests and with hips made of metal and plastic. Airports, hospitals, shopping malls--every place Rip goes just baffles him. But when he finally walks into a schoolroom, the old man knows exactly where he is. "This is a school," he declares. "We used to have these back in 1906. Only now the blackboards are green."

The article does not suggest that schools in the United States are completely frozen in time, but that they are not keeping pace with the changes in technology in other areas of life. Children are global citizens now, even those in rural America, and they must develop the 21st century skills demanded by today's economy. Web 2.0 skills are no longer an option but a necessity.

Let's continue with Van Winkle's tour of our country. Other than the elimination of the card catalog, would he believe many of our libraries have been frozen in time?

Getting to 2.0 Through 1.0*

Ambient Findability: What We Find Changes Who We Become, by Peter Moreville.

How do you find your way in an age of information overload? How can you filter streams of complex information to pull out only what you want? Why does it matter how information is structured when Google seems to magically bring up the right answer to your questions? What does it mean to be "findable" in this day and age? This eye-opening new book examines the convergence of information and connectivity. Written by Peter Morville, author of the groundbreaking Information Architecture for the World Wide Web, the book defines our current age as a state of unlimited findability. In other words, anyone can find anything at any time. Complete navigability.

Morville discusses the Internet, GIS, and other network technologies that are coming together to make unlimited findability possible. He explores how the melding of these innovations impacts society, since Web access is now a standard requirement for successful people and businesses. But before he does that, Morville looks back at the history of wayfinding and human evolution, suggesting that our fear of being lost has driven us to create maps, charts, and now, the mobile Internet.

The book's central thesis is that information literacy, information architecture, and usability are all critical components of this new world order. Hand in hand with that is the contention that only by planning and designing the best possible software, devices, and Internet, will we be able to maintain this connectivity in the future. Morville's book is highlighted with full color illustrations and rich examples that bring his prose to life.

Ambient Findability doesn't preach or pretend to know all the answers. Instead, it presents research, stories, and examples in support of its novel ideas. Are we truly at a critical point in our evolution where the quality of our digital networks will dictate how we behave as a species? Is findability indeed the primary key to a successful global marketplace in the 21st century and beyond. Peter Morville takes you on a thought-provoking tour of these memes and more -- ideas that will not only fascinate but will stir your creativity in practical ways that you can apply to your work immediately. (from Amazon.com)

This was one of the two books that we used when we decided to overhaul the Library's Information Gateway for its morph into the Databases & Websites page.

Check out Peter Moreville's findability.org blog.

*The idea for this weekly post came from LibraryBytes: Understanding 2.0 using 1.0.

2.0 makes it a cinch to share

Perhaps what I like best about 2.0 is how easy it is to share photos, thoughts, articles & information with people. Here are two quick examples.
My favorite article from Sunday's New York Times, by the clever Nora Ephron.
The children's literature awards announced yesterday.

The Results Are In!

Aren't you just ichin' to find out what everybody else said on the "How 2.0 RU?" survey? Just visit my eSnips site and download the survey results. Select the "SurveyResults.pdf" link to open or download the results.

Are there any surprises in there? Based on these results, we should have a pretty lively Podcasting discussion.

eSnips is a free, web 2.0 interest-driven social sharing site that allows users to share content and promote their creations and form social niche communities around their specific areas of interest. Members can upload and share content in any file type from one centralized profile, in folders representing their different areas of interest, and can determine the audience for each folder. eSnips is a Flickr type service for data files.

A is for Ajax

This will be the first in a series of Web 2.0 Alphabet posts. Shirley Duglin Kennedy - librarian at the MacDill Air Force Base - has published these in two consecutive issues of Information Today magazine. They will be re-posted here, one letter each week.

Ajax (Asynchronous JavaScript and XML) is a combination of technologies that powers many interactive Web 2.0 applications. It's also a cleanser, but it's always more rewarding to surf the Web than to scrub sinks, right?

From Wikipedia: A primary characteristic (of Ajax) is the increased responsiveness and interactiveness of web pages achieved by exchanging small amounts of data with the server "behind the scenes" so that the entire web page does not have to be reloaded each time the user performs an action. This is intended to increase the web page's interactivity, speed, functionality, and usability.

What do you think "B" could be for...you'll have to wait until next Friday.

Web 2.0 Alpbahet:Part 1 (letters A - M) were originally published in Information Today 24.9 (Oct 2007): p.17(2).

Take time to consider...

It has been mentioned that the purpose of this Web 2.0 training is to allow all of us an opportunity to “explore, play, and to have FUN – and maybe learn a thing or two.”
As you work through the workbook lessons, remember to take time to consider how some of these technologies can work in your library. We are not promoting the use of Web 2.0 technologies just for the sake of change, but as tools to help us do our jobs better or more efficiently. Can we improve how we communicate with our coworkers? Can some of these tools help us build our customer base and expand library services? Learn, have fun, and remember to take time to consider how Web 2.0 can work for you.

Renelda

Getting Started...

It's great to see so many people getting started with the training. Here's a few helpful hints to make this self-paced training a success for you:

• Read through the "About hcplc=Lib 2.0" located at the top of the workbook links.
• Visit the workbook lesson, read through some of the introductory articles, watch the videos under the Learning Objectives heading.
• Follow the directions under the Skill Practice and Experience Sharing headings.
• Talk through what you have learned with co-workers.
• Share your thoughts, comments, ideas and questions using the comments feature at the bottom of each post.
• Practice, practice, practice.

We will also be featuring library materials relating to "twopointopia" as well. Let's start with:

Library 2.0: A Guide to Participatory Library Service by Michael E. Casey & Laura C. Savastinuk. Information Today, Inc. 2007

"In Library 2.0: A Guide to Participatory Library Service, two of the first and most original thinkers on Library 2.0 introduce the essential concepts and offer ways to improve service to better meet the changing needs of 21st century library users. Describing a service model of constant and purposeful change, evaluation and updating of library services, and user participation, the book both outlines the theoretical underpinnings of Library 2.0 and provides practical advice on how to get there. From incorporating technology to reaching The Long Tail, from getting buy-in to maintaining momentum, all aspects of Library 2.0 are covered."

“Michael Casey and Laura Savastinuk have taken the discussion of Library 2.0 from just a conversation among technophiles to the key audience: library administrators. They have debunked the myth that Library 2.0 is only about new technologies and framed it as a customer service issue. This book includes real life examples of how Library 2.0 can be applied in libraries.”
— Michael Golrick, Library Director, L. E. Phillips Memorial Public Library, Eau Claire, WI, and author, Thoughts from a Library Administrator

It's a new library world!

In case you have any doubt that web 2.0 will have an impact on libraries, take a look at this posting on Helen Blowers' blog, Library Bytes. Not only are some systems redefining job descriptions, Salt Lake City is even making a 2.0 presence part of the application package for a new library director.

#1 - What is Library 2.0?

Learning Objectives

• Introduction to the 2.0 training blog & learn about the program
• Discover a few pointers for lifelong learning & professional development
• Define Web 2.0 & Library 2.0 and learn the core concepts & vocabulary


• Web 2.0 (tutorial on YouTube)
  

Skills Practice

• Take a tour of the hcplc=Lib2.0 training blog
• View one of the programs in the "Library 2.0 Appetizers" section
• Explore the Web 2.0 Directory and Best of The Best Web 2.0 Web Sites

Experience Sharing

• Post a comment to one of the entries on the hcplc=Lib2.0 blog

Resources

1. Library Technology Reports (September/October, 2007) - "Web 2.0 & Libraries, Part 2: Trends & Technology."
2. Library Technology Reports (July/August, 2006) - "Exploring Web 2.0 & Libraries."
3. Tim O'Reilly, "What is Web 2.0?"
4. Michael E. Casey and Laura C. Savastinuk, "Library 2.0: Service for the Next-Generation Library."
5. Michael Wesch, "Getting Started with Web 2.0."
6. ALA TechSource Blog - " The Internet is for Use."
7. Ken Chad & Paul Miller, "Do Libraries Matter? The Rise of Library 2.0."
8. Paul Miller, "Library 2.0: The Challenge of Disruptive Innovation."
9. Pew Internet & American Life Project. “Riding the Waves of Web 2.0.”
10. Using Web 2.0 Principles to become Librarian 2.0 (on Squidoo)
11. "Library 2.0" on Wikipedia
12. "Web 2.0" on Wikipedia


13. "Learning 2.0 on Library 2.0" by Helene Blowers
    
    powered by ODEO

Stinky Cheese, Awesome Ambassador

The librarian of Congress, James H. Billington, has named the country's first ambassador for young people's literature. Hooray for Jon Scieszka! What's your favorite crazy Scieszka book? Vote for it now on the poll right over there, and use the comments to name other authors who would be great for ambassador number two! Don't forget to sign your comments with your first name and last initial (or your full name).

Web 2.0 and the presidential election process

Web 2.0 is becoming an integral part of how we communicate and has been very evident during the current 2008 presidential election campaign. As I take time to think about it, the candidates and their supporters have been using many of the web 2.0 technologies included in our training.

We've seen presidential candidates declare their candidacy via YouTube and raise incredible sums of money thru online fundraising. Candidates have official blogs and social networking site profiles. Analysts are creating mashups with interactive maps that show dollars raised in specific communities. Supporters have wikis and blogs to discuss their views with embedded videos while others are creating their own campaign ads. Many supporters are adding candidates to their list of social network friends indicating their support and in a sense, displaying a new style of “bumper sticker.” Surely one of the most memorable events has been the CNN YouTube debate with the presidential hopefuls fielding questions from a snowman.

Will it make a difference? Perhaps only time will tell but there is no question that we have come a long way since the fire side chat!

Web 2.0, Libraries & Generation Y...Oh My!

The Pew Internet & American Life Project released a new study on December 30th about the research capabilities of Americans and their use of public libraries. The study - Information Searches That Solve Problems: How People Use the Internet, Libraries, & Government Agencies When They Need Help - show some surprising findings:

• More than half of Americans visited a library in the past year with many of them drawn in by the computers rather than the books.


• Of the 53 percent of U.S. adults who said they visited a library in 2007, the biggest users were young adults aged 18 to 30 in the tech-loving group known as Generation Y.


• The survey showed 62 percent of Generation Y respondents said they visited a public library in the past year...


• Most people use multiple avenues to find information: 64 percent of those who went to the public library were very successful; 63 percent of those who used the Internet were very successful.

The report's findings were against popular stereotypes, especially in relation to Teens & Twenty-somethings. "We were surprised by these findings, particularly in relation to Generation Y," said Lee Rainie, co-author of the study and director of the Pew project.

Take a look at the recent Web 2.0 column in the online tech magazine, TechNewsWorld - "Survey: Techie Gen Y Is Also Library-Savvy." It has some pretty flattering stuff to say about libraries and their adoption of tech solutions.

The report was also covered in Yahoo! News and Assosiated Press.