The Shifted Librarian

Grok Headline matches for The Shifted Librarian

Shifted Librarian unpacks free CDs from
the RIAA

Shifted Librarian unpacks free CDs from
the RIAA 08/23/2004 06:36 AM
Cory Doctorow: As a requirement of its price-fixing settlement with the Feds, the RIAA is obliged to give thousands of CDs to public libraries. However, as has been noted, the CDs they're sending around are worse than shit: hundreds of copies of the years-old Whitney Houston single of the Star Spangled Banner, that species of kidney.

Jenny Levine (AKA the Shifted Librarian) works at a library where the RIAA care packages have started to come in. She reports on the contents thereof:

Several of the boxes are literally cut on the side, and the cut goes into the jewel cases themselves. Hence my declaration that we received a ton of "cut-outs." Some of the boxes even have dates of 2001 and 2002 posted on the labels, which I hope doesn't mean the date they were boxed up and put into storage. There is no way these boxes were packed by mistake as the result of a computer glitch. Some of the labels very clearly say 30 copies of this or that title, and I highly doubt the labels were supposed to cut the boxes after boxing and labeling them.

Link

The Shifted DJ?

The Shifted DJ? 06/21/2004 02:07 PM

One of my goals for the near future is to set up a Shoutcast stream of the music on my home computer in order to listen to it on the go on my Treo 600 using the fabulous Pocket Tunes program. Icecast may also be an option, but that's as far I've gotten in my research.

Tonight I had another thought. If I put a TV tuner card in my computer, will it receive Comcast's digital music stations (which are commercial-free), which I could then turn into Shoutcast (or other) streams? Can I make my own version of satellite radio (albeit an inferior one) using a service to which I already subscribe?

Please leave/send comments or suggestions about this idea!

The Shifted DJ Is in the House

The Shifted DJ Is in the House 06/28/2004 10:08 AM

So I finally got a Shoutcast Server working with the WinAmp DSP plug-in on my home PC, and I'm able to stream it to Pocket Tunes on my Treo. How cool is that?!

Of course, now I have to find the time to create playlists for the various scenarious in which I envision myself using this. For example, the first one I want to create is a baseball-themed one for between innings at Brent's games. I plan to wow the other parents with this one! After that, maybe a library-themed one that I can play as people slowly congregate in the room where I am giving a presentation.

Oh, the possibilities!...

Shifted Libraries on WEB4LIB

Shifted Libraries on WEB4LIB 03/14/2005 06:23 PM

Over on the WEB4LIB mailing list, there's been a fascinating discussion evolving about marketing, ubiquity, and library web services. It kind of starts here in a comment about Gmail but you'll need to use the date index to follow where it goes.

You already know where I fall in the debate (I'm closely aligned with Kare n Schneider's and Alan e Wilson's responses), so I'll just encourage you to read through the whole thing (watch the subject lines - they morph into new ones) because it's one of the better discussions I've seen on the topic lately with lots of good points. Finally, we're seeing a more aggressive conversation!

One thread I do want to highlight (well, I hope it becomes a thread), is Stephen De Gabrielle's attempt to suggest a course of action. There were other suggestions, but this is a new one that could help long-term if we can get the vendors to agree to it.

"Why don't we have a common API for all ILS? - and demand these of our ILS vendors.(Libraries have always led the way in standards.)

I assume this list is as good a place as any to start the process.

What do list members think would be appropriate services for such and API?"

Maybe then we could focus all of our various programming efforts on the greater good instead of just our own local catalogs.

Time Shifted Frankston

Time Shifted Frankston 03/19/2005 02:32 AM
ZDNet Mar 19 2005 6:36AM GMT

A Very Shifted OCLC Blog

A Very Shifted OCLC Blog 07/09/2004 12:16 AM

It was only a matter of time. OCLC started to "get" RSS and began providing a feed for research announcements earlier this year, and now they're blogging, too. Well, a few of them are, anyway, and it's the folks behind the Environmental Scan leading the way. Why? Because It's All Good. :-)

"A cool blog from OCLC Online Computer Library Center staff about all things future that impact libraries and library users. A conversation that starts with the Environmental Scan and goes from there."

And there's an Atom feed since it's on Blogger.

A Generation of Shifted Kids Growing Up

A Generation of Shifted Kids Growing Up 10/31/2003 01:38 AM

Studie s: 90 Percent of Kids Use Computers

"About 90 percent of people ages 5 to 17 use computers and 59 percent of them use the Internet -- rates that are, in both cases, higher than those of adults. Even kindergartners are becoming more plugged in: One out of four 5-year-olds uses the Internet.

The figures come from a new Education Department analysis of computer and Internet use by children and adolescents in 2001. A second report from the agency, based on 2002 data, shows 99 percent of public schools have Internet access, up from 35 percent eight years ago.

'Children are often the first adopters of a lot of technology,' said John Bailey, who oversees educational technology for the department. 'They grow up with it. They don't have to adapt to it. ... Students, by and large, are dominating the Internet population.'

By the time they're age 10, 60 percent of children use the Internet. That number grows to almost 80 percent for kids who are 16....

Like adults, young people are going online for a range of reasons, the government research shows. Almost three in four use the Internet for help with school assignments, while more than half use it for writing e-mail, sending instant messages or playing games....

Almost two-thirds of young white people use the Internet, but less than half of black people ages 5 to 17 do, and slightly more than a third of Hispanic young people log on. Part of the reason is access -- 80 percent of black students use computers at school, for example, but only 41 percent do so at home, according to the 2001 report.

'We need to address the limited access to technology that many students have outside of school,' Education Secretary Rod Paige said. 'There is much more we can do.' " [Salon]

Like stop cutting library funding and closing libraries? That would be a good start. Then maybe we could go back to teaching information literacy to all children (and adults).

Amazingly Shifted Round-up from My
Aggregator

Amazingly Shifted Round-up from My
Aggregator 03/14/2005 06:23 PM

I couldn’t have planned this better if I’d tried, but this theme leapt out in 3D from my aggregator yesterday. Together, they don’t even need any commentary, although the easy one would be to just restate yesterday’s tagline that you can go on thinking these trends won’t affect libraries, but you’d be burying your head in the sand.

In the order they were posted:

Sendo X2 Packs a Punch with Music and Light Weight
“The new X2 Music Phone features stereo sound, MP3/AAC/AAC+ format support, plus Bluetooth and USB to move your music.  It will also feature a 1.3 megapixel camera with support for 1GB miniSD memory for storing your music, photos, and video.  Finally all of this content will be brought to you by a rather large 2.2 inch 65k display.  Oh, and did we mention this whole package clocks in at a mere 95 grams?” [Engadget]

MP3 Players Storm the World
“I hardly ever do ‘here's the news’ entries, but the Pew Report released today stands almost without comment for anyone following podcasting and related technologies. ‘We just got the results of the survey we took between January 13 and February 9 and for the first time asked a question to find out how many American adults have iPods or MP3 players. The answer is 11% -- or more than 22 million of those who are age 18 and older. It’s safe to say that there are several million more MP3 players owned in the teen world, but we did not survey teens in this poll.’ ” [Free Range Librarian]

Motorola E1060: The iTunes Phones“So here it is, the mythical iTunes phone. The Motorola E1060 will be the first Motorola handset to run the mobile Java version of iTunes that will become the default media player for future Motorola handsets.” [Gizmodo]

Sony Ericsson Introducing Walkman Cellphones
“Remember how the other day Sony Ericsson said that 2005 is all about listening to music on cellphones? Yeah, well they’re cashing in on the Sony part of their parentage with a new line of Walkman-branded music playing cellphones. They don’t have any prototypes or pics or anything to show off, but they did announce today at the big 3GSM World Congress (which is why there is so much damn cellphone news) that they’re going to introduce the line in March. They say the phones will have large amounts of memory, good headphones, the ability to easily transfer songs over from a PC, and will work with Sony’s Connect online music store.” [Engadget] 

Thanks to Cellphones, TV Screens Get Smaller
“Three original television series, including a spinoff of ‘24,’ are making their debut on Verizon's new high-speed cellular phone network.” [New York Times]

Portable Future
“We seem to be on the verge of a big breakthrough in portable entertainment similar to the emergence of so many MP3 players back in 1999-2000. This time, the breakthrough isn't yet another device to lug around weighing down pockets already overloaded with cell phones, digital cameras, iPods and other cancer-inducing battery-powered leg warmers. Instead, we are extended support for existing formats in the same old devices we've grown accustomed to fill our pants…. The convergence that succeeds will combine audio and video player with what we currently recognize as a cell phone into one unified portable entertainment hub, finally providing some justification for that $25-per-month unlimited Internet access charge…. When Nokia announces improved support for Real media formats, Windows Media and Flash in the same week, it's time to take notice.” [Jake Ludington’s Digital Lifestyle]

More Cell Phone Functionality
“Cell phones do alot already. Companies are looking at adding even more functionality:

• Internet radio
• Music
• Document scanning
• Three-dimensional sound….

You can read more about these ideas at CNE T.com.” [Library Technology in Texas]

Cool, Shifted SCSU Services

Cool, Shifted SCSU Services 06/05/2005 11:24 PM

Rebecca Hedreen is doing lots of very cool things in her users' worlds, not just within the four walls of her building. For starters, her Frequently Answered Questions blog is intended specifically to help distance education students at Southern Connecticut State University (which, of course, gives her an automatic feed for syndication). On that blog, a post from last month notes some of the ways you can ask a question, one of which - Chatango - I was unfamiliar with.

"Please note that I also have new icons for my online status for chat and IM. Generally, if I'm ‘online’ for all of them, I'm likely to be in my office--so I'm likely to be available by phone and email at that time, too.

Please try the various services out--Skype may be of particular interest to our international contingent. If you download the software (and sign up for an account) you can call just about anywhere in the world to another Skype user for free--and to regular phones for a discounted rate. All you need is a broadband connection and a microphone on your computer (not an insignificant requirement).

The chat service (http://delibrarian.chatango.co m/) requires no downloads or registration, only Macromedia Flash Player. If I'm not online, you can leave me a message (please include your email!) and I will get it as soon as I login.

The two IM services, MSN Messenger and AIM, do require registration, but they both have web interfaces, so you don't have to download the software. If you are not using them from home, please check the regulations at your workplace, school, or library. Many places still discourage the use of chat and/or IM and I don't want to get anyone in trouble! You may want to point out the number of libraries that are now using IM for Virtual Reference, if you want to try and get policies changed." [Frequently Answered Questions]

I love the idea of offering Skype, Flash-based chat, and IM options to cover the broad spectrum of online – especially distant – users. Hopefully Rebecca will provide more details, and maybe even a review, of Chatango for use within libraries. She’s embedded other cool things on the blog, too, like a link to Subscribe by email with rssfwd for those users that don’t have aggregators. I love this page, too!

My exploration of Rebecca’s work all started, though, with a link to her Library’s page describing Search Plugins and Scripts for the Firefox Browser, where you’ll find what are quickly becoming standard FF search plugins for the catalog and their journal locator. However, she’s also playing around with xISBN GreaseMonkey scripts, and she’s included GM extensions for WorldCat and and her catalog from Amazon! I definitely need some time to further explore this whole concept, but here’s how Rebecca describes it on her Library’s plugin page:

“These scripts create icons next to the titles of books on Amazon.com linking to the CONSULS catalog or the OCLC WorldCat ‘Find in your Library’ database. GreaseMonkey is a Firefox Extension that runs scripts to cause changes in the appearance and/or actions of a web page. Not all web pages will run these scripts.”

Last week, knowledge god Gary Price took some time to light my bulb regarding the NeedleSearch toolbar, a service that makes it stupidly easy to create your own toolbar for your library’s catalog, no programming required! He first wrote this up all the way back in 2003, and it’s still a good read. Highly recommended.

With all of this innovation coming on the Mozilla/Firefox side, you have to wonder how far libraries could take all of this. I want to push a lot of this with our SWAN catalog and create various plugins and toolbars, highlight them all on a single page, and let SWAN members either point to it or copy the code onto their own sites. Rich Allen sent me a link to NOBLE's Firefox Tips and Tricks, which comes close to this. It even mentions Smart Keywords, including how to use this with EBSCO. My only quibble is that all of this is hidden from their home page.

Let power users be power users they way they want to be, not by forcing them to use our advanced search screens! All I need are a few more hours in each day….

U.S. Scientists Say Quake Movement
Shifted Islands

U.S. Scientists Say Quake Movement
Shifted Islands 12/28/2004 07:36 PM
Reuters via Wired News Dec 28 2004 10:28PM GMT

Technical staff at Microsoft shifted to
work on Longhorn

Technical staff at Microsoft shifted to
work on Longhorn 08/04/2004 11:46 PM
osOpinion Aug 5 2004 3:39AM GMT

"Librarian.net"

"Librarian.net" 07/29/2004 01:02 AM

librarian.net at the DNC

librarian.net at the DNC 07/27/2004 04:08 PM
librarian.net/dnc

librarian.net/dnc
track this site | 3 links

librarian.net

librarian.net 04/18/2004 02:55 PM
Librarian.net has been linking to classification s .. librarian.net gives the blog a link with exclam! .. I Was Mentioned on Librarian.net .. self-sufficient .. Jessamyn West .. librarian .. Jessamyn .. job

librarian.net
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Robot librarian

Robot librarian 07/21/2004 11:20 AM
Researchers at Universitat Jaume I in Spain are designing a robot librarian of sorts. The three-wheeled bot listens for verbal book requests, heads to the approximate location of the title on a shelf, and uses digital cameras to read the spines. The toughest challenge is engineering a grasper with "fingernails" to pull out the book, Professor Angel del Pobil told the BBC:

"It is mimicking the way we manipulate our hands. We have constant feedback from tactile sensors, so it is moving very slowly. In the first experiments, the books really got damaged because it was pressing too hard. Now it touches gently."

Link

Blogging Librarian I

Blogging Librarian I 12/19/2004 03:36 PM

Are you Chief Blogging Officer Material?

"Government is already rife with chiefs, why not one more? HighBeam Research, Inc. has set the pace by announcing today the appointment of Christopher Locke as Chief Blogging Officer (CBO). Looks like the role of CBO is a pace setter who creates a buzz about the company products and enlists others to blog the cause. Ironically, the announcement came in the form of a (oh, so 20th century) press release." [RSS in Government]

Yes! More ammo for my theme that libraries need to treat blogs like newsletters and devote the same types of resources (time, training, graphic design, staff, etc.) to them. Blogs humanize, and library web sites desperately need some humanizing. I really do have to find my notes and write up last month's conference talk.

JavaScript-Librarian-0.01

JavaScript-Librarian-0.01 04/03/2005 05:38 AM

Text to Librarian

Text to Librarian 04/25/2004 10:11 PM

Startup Offers Text Message Q&A Service

"Colly Myers, founding CEO of Symbian, has launched a new startup in the UK, called issuebits.com, offering a search engine-style service to answer any question by text message, reports ElectricNews.net< /A>.

UK mobile users can try it out by texting their question to short code 63336. and "within (6) minutes they will get a text answer".

issuebits.com says it has patented Natural Language Processing algorithms as well as real human researchers. The service goes live on Orange and Vodafone networks in the UK on Thursday with the others to follow." [textually.org]

Coming to a future near you: answering reference questions and searching the library's catalog via text messaging.

"Librarian Tees"

"Librarian Tees" 10/29/2003 03:28 AM

Informed Librarian

Informed Librarian 01/22/2004 02:12 AM
Informed Librarian
http://www.InformedLibrarian. com/

I am very pleased to announce that we have received official word from The Informed Librarian that they have added our Awareness Watch™ Newsletter to the titles that they cover in each monthly issue of the Informed Librarian. We are very honored and will continue to offer the finest quality content in each of our monthly Awareness Watch Newsletters. Additional information as well as the current issue and archives of previous issues are available by visiting AwarenessWatch™ Newsletter website by clicking here.

Librarian Tees: Welcome

Librarian Tees: Welcome 10/28/2003 11:07 PM
site with librarian-related t-shirts .. These

is2.dal.ca/~mdelia/tees/index.html
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Robotic Librarian

Robotic Librarian 02/17/2004 10:26 PM
The new Librarian at the Valparaiso University in Valparaiso Indiana will be a Robotic Librarian. The books will put in specially designed metal bins and the students can select any of the obscure books from the internet that they want then the robotic crane device goes fetches selections and drop them to an accessible location for the students to pick up at their convenience. The school hopes to eventually have about 600,000 books in their system for check out. (Other colleges also have installed simlar devices.) The high tech library building will cost about $33 million. I don't think they have such a cool robotic librarian at my old alma matter. :-/

"Librarian: Don't use Wikipedia as
source"

"Librarian: Don't use Wikipedia as
source" 08/31/2004 02:14 AM

Librarian: Don't use Wikipedia as source

Librarian: Don't use Wikipedia as source 08/29/2004 02:09 AM
entire column bashing Wikipedia .. yesterday's Post-Standard .. writes about

syracuse.com/news/poststandard/index.ssf?/base/news-0/10933389 72139211.xml
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Best search engine? A librarian

Best search engine? A librarian 04/12/2004 07:29 AM
Best search engine? A librarian (via Chicago Sun-Times) .. More

suntimes.com/output/lifestyles/cst-nws-zay11.html
track this site | 4 links

Gumshoe Librarian: "Where in the World
Is..."

Gumshoe Librarian: "Where in the World
Is..." 08/03/2004 05:35 AM

A Bibliography of Recommended Websites for Global Research Issues

Gumshoe Librarian: "Where in the World Is..."
http://www.llrx.com/fe atures/gumshoe.htm

A Bibliography of Recommended Websites for Global Research Issues By Barbara Fullerton and Sabrina I. Pacifici

Abstract from Authors:
This bibliography includes links to 73 websites that Barbara and Sabrina presented during their July 13 program at the 2004 AALL Annual Conference in Boston. These sites represent a broad but selective range of resources on topics that include business and corporate data, global news, search engines, guides to international and comparative law, country profiles and statistics, locating people, businesses, places and useful services around the world, banking resources, and data on terrorism and security issues. For the most part, the sites we chose are free, although several may have a fee-based component and/or require registration to obtain access to the full complement of data available.

This has been added to Research Resources Subject Tracer™ Information Blog. This will be added to International Trade Resources 2004-05 Internet MiniGuide.

Blogging Internet Librarian

Blogging Internet Librarian 11/04/2003 07:10 PM

This is the first librarian conference I've been to that is this meta! Liz Lawley is blogging, Steven M. Cohen is blogging, and Aaron is photoblogging. Kind of all at the same time. Greg Notess is on stage showing how to find the various IL blog posts using Daypop, Feedster, etc. He's making his point nicely.... ;-)

BTW, here's shifted - Aaron is instant messaging me via his cell phone... while he's sitting next to me photoblogging!

MyMusic Personal Librarian 2.5

MyMusic Personal Librarian 2.5 04/13/2004 05:10 PM
A powerful database program designed to help you create & maintain an inventory of your music collection.

Marian The Robot Librarian

Marian The Robot Librarian 07/24/2004 11:16 AM

Confessions of a Science Librarian

Confessions of a Science Librarian 07/25/2004 05:51 AM
Confessions of a Science Librarian
http://jdupuis.blogspot.com/
This weblog (by John Dupuis) features links and pointers to information of interest to academic science librarians.

New School Librarian Is a Robot (AP)

New School Librarian Is a Robot (AP) 02/17/2004 08:04 AM
AP - There will soon be a new librarian at work at Valparaiso University. This librarian won't get any days off because it's a robot.

Politics shifted in 2004 from Internet
money boom to birth of private political
action groups

Politics shifted in 2004 from Internet
money boom to birth of private political
action groups 01/03/2005 03:05 AM
AP via San Francisco Chronicle Jan 3 2005 7:24AM GMT

When a Search Engine Isn't Enough, Call
a Librarian?

When a Search Engine Isn't Enough, Call
a Librarian? 02/10/2004 02:41 AM
"What's the name of the party that Ross Perot established?" a user wanted to know.Ms. Tuckerman checked the Internet for a biography of Mr. Perot. Then she quickly switched to an electronic database of biographies to which the library subscribes. But even after scrolling through several screens of text, she was unable to come up with a satisfactory answer. ?

Soon, robots to turn your friendly
librarian!

Soon, robots to turn your friendly
librarian! 07/23/2004 12:58 PM
123Bharath.com Jul 23 2004 5:10PM GMT

librarian.net : avoiding the PATRIOT Act
since 2001

librarian.net : avoiding the PATRIOT Act
since 2001 09/18/2004 10:51 PM
signs to display in your local library .. avoiding the PATRIOT Act since 2001 .. Well I don't feel secure .. FBI might be monitoring .. Or can you? .. ways around

librarian.net/technicality.html
track this site | 3 links

Librarian Sues Harvard Over 'Pretty'
Bias (AP)

Librarian Sues Harvard Over 'Pretty'
Bias (AP) 03/22/2005 04:51 PM
AP - A Harvard University librarian claims in a lawsuit that she has been rejected repeatedly for promotion because she is black and is perceived as just a "pretty girl" whose attire was too "sexy."

French librarian fears US domination on
the Internet

French librarian fears US domination on
the Internet 04/11/2005 11:37 PM
Taipei Times Online Apr 12 2005 4:15AM GMT

Librarian of Congress Posts DMCA
Exemptions

Librarian of Congress Posts DMCA
Exemptions 10/28/2003 11:06 PM

New Track for Public Librarians at
Internet Librarian!

New Track for Public Librarians at
Internet Librarian! 02/01/2005 10:09 PM

Michael Stephens is organizi ng a track just for public librarians at October's Internet Librarian conference. This is most welcome news because PLA books sessions at its conferences too far in advance to address "current" trends, while most public librarians I know feel LITA is beyond them. I think we can fill a real niche here, especially since Michael plans to focus on practical advice and tips, not theory. Even better, he's aiming the sessions at small- to medium-sized libraries, those that need this the most.

He's already got a few ideas that he wants to implement, but he's also asking for comments, suggestions, offers, and discussion from all public librarians. Got a topic that intrigues you? Heard about a "top tech trend" but you're not sure how to actually implement it? Have some ideas of your own? Share them all over on Michael's post. This is your chance to help build a track that addresses YOUR needs. Help us prove that if you build it [the public librarian track], they will come!

Then make sure you register for Internet Librarian (October 24-26, 2005). :-)

Grok Description matches for The Shifted Librarian
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The Shifted Librarian