TechBits

Touch Screen Monitors

Several people have asked me about the touch screen monitors Reedsburg Public Library is using for delivery and at their check-out desk. To help answer some of your questions, I created a short video highlighting some of the features of the Viewsonic touch screen.

Reedsburg Public Library also opted to purchase different stands that are more flexible than the included stand that comes with the monitor which only lets you tilt.

If you are interested in purchasing one for your library you can order them by going to the peripherals order form.

 

 

Guest Post: Using BatchGeo to Make Google Maps

Kerri's test data above, resulting map below.

What is BatchGeo? It's an easy way to convert spreadsheet data into a Google Map.

Guest post by Andy Barnett, Assistant Director at McMillan Memorial Library in Wisconsin Rapids.
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1. First, start with some an excel spreadsheet that includes address information, such as a list of patrons. McMillan used a list of patrons residing in a township.
2. Decide what you want to display on the map. Address, city, state, zip are essential to creating the map. Depending upon your data, this might include a number of things. We included patron barcode, but not anything else. This allowed us to identify and check any questionable addresses.
3. Copy the relevant data. If you copy entire columns, the first row will serve as headers and will not be mapped. If you copy a selection, the first row will be treated as headers and will not be mapped. We copied a selection and the row above, which gave us confusing headers, but accurate mapping.
4. Go to http://batchgeo.com/. Paste the data where it says Copy and then paste your location data below.
5. Click on Validate & Set Options. Match address, city and zip to your fields.
6. Finally, choose Map Now. A link to the map will be emailed to you. Maps can be public or private.

There is a limit of 2,000 items per map in the free version and the fee version creates maps faster.

Some addresses do not map correctly. CTY TRK doesn’t work, but CO RD does. Some state highways also confuse the mapping, especially when they use South or North in the address. BatchGeo is not as smart or forgiving as the USPS.

The resulting maps are zoomable and can be shared. When zoomed out, patron are aggregated and shown as numbers. City/village edges are easy to see, but county and township boundaries are not displayed. They can be used to check PSTATs, show where patrons live, or just for funsies.

I Found a Multi-tool in my Laptop

So I was just messing around with an office laptop when I discovered something interesting about the spacer Dell installed to fill in the expansion slot...

The spacer is, in fact, a multi-function tool!

It includes a mini ruler (English and Metric), holes to estimate diameter,

a temperature conversion table on the underside,

and a letter opener.

Good job, Dell, to bring functionality to what otherwise would be just a mundane piece of plastic!

(Caution: results my vary)

Edelweiss

Photo credit: Ian Kennedy

Guest post by Jean Anderson
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No, the title of this post doesn’t refer to the flower, or the song Edelweiss or even the cheese shop in Verona. I’ll explain more shortly.

Many of you know that I’m a HUGE reader (or is that an understatement?) When you receive emails from me, you’ll see that in my signature line I always include what I’m reading (print), listening to, and reading on my NOOK.

You may have noticed that recently, many of the books I’m reading on my NOOK are books that aren’t published yet. For example, I’m currently reading Room No. 10 by Ake Edwardson which is due out in March. Up next are:

• Ordinary Grace by William Kent Krueger, due out 3/26/13 
• Tuesday’s Gone by Nicci French, due out 4/4/13 
• Cooked by Michael Pollan, due out 4/23/13 

How, you may ask, did I get access to all those ebooks? The answer is Edelweiss. From their website, “Edelweiss is a web-based interactive publisher catalog system that enhances or replaces the use of hard copy catalogs.” In addition, through participating publishers, they offer a way for librarians to request access to Digital Advance Review Copies (ARC). In the past, I’ve come home from conferences loaded with galleys or proofs of books also known as ARCs. Now, I do the same thing - but on my NOOK.

The process is easy. Check out the debut episode of Know More with Jean & Shawn for a demo of Edelweiss, or take a look at the tutorial on the Edelweiss site. Digital ARCs can be read on most all types of e-readers and there’s help on the Edelweiss site for each kind. It’s free, easy and can be very addicting - just ask Shawn!

Thunderbird Font Size

A few libraries have asked how to change the global font size of Thunderbird instead of the font size used in messages.  If you want to change the font size of the mailboxes, the messages pane and Thunderbird menus, the Theme Font & Size Changer add-on is worth a look.

1. Download the Theme Font & Size Changer add-on
   
2. Open Thunderbird 
3. Click Tools
4. Click Add-ons
5. Click Extensions
6. Click the little "gear" at the upper right and select Install Add-on From File...
7. Go to the folder where the add-on is saved and double-click it
8. Click Install Now
9. Click Restart Now towards the upper right
10. After Thunderbird restarts, click Tools
11. Click Theme Font & Size Changer
12. Now you can test the settings until you find one you like

Search The Skies For More Than Just Stars and Planets

Guest post by Michael Fehrenbach, SCLS intern extraordinaire!
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Sputnik fell out of the sky decades ago, but since that historic landmark mankind has sent thousands of satellites in its place, performing a variety of useful functions. They’re used to calculate our position. We receive TV and radio from them. Maps are made from images collected by them.

Now, you can find where all those satellites are with the free Satellite AR app for Android devices from Analytical Graphics, Inc.

SatelliteAR offers an augmented reality (AR) experience, like Google Sky Map, to see the location of man-made satellites in the sky. There are numerous satellite categories to choose from and observe. You can look for anything, from the International Space Station and other objects potentially visible with the naked eye, to DirectTV satellites so that you can check if your dish is properly oriented. All satellite tracking data is provided by CelesTrak.com.

With the new moon this week, it is now the optimal time to hunt for satellites. The best time to look is as soon as the sky darkens after sunset. How many satellites can you find?

Ziggi Document Camera

SCLS recently purchased a couple of inexpensive document cameras for use in our office. The Ziggi document camera by IPEVO makes a great addition to your workspace if you do a lot of presentations, training or just want an easy to use camera that can quickly transfer pictures to your PC.

If you’ve borrowed the ELMO document camera or been to an SCLS presentation where it was used you should be familiar with this kind of technology. For those of you who haven’t seen a document camera, it’s like a web cam attached to a stand. It allows you to snap photos of documents, book covers , screens on a smart phone or tablet PC or whatever else will fit under the camera.

For $89.00 this is what you get with a Ziggi:

• 2 megapixel image which is capable of producing high resolution and standard resolution images.
• Really nice auto focus.
• Up to 30 fps live video capture.
• Software package that works with both Mac and PCs.

Below is an image I created using the Ziggi.

Lytro Camera

I’m excited to tell you about a new camera we have at SCLS. It’s called the Lytro, the world's first commercial light field camera.  That means it captures the entire light field. Your current camera only captures a single plane of light while the Lytro captures light traveling in every direction. It has a very simple design and is easy to use. This camera only has two buttons, power and a shutter release. What’s great about this camera is it lets you refocus your photos after you load them on your PC (Windows 7 64 bit) or Mac. I’ve been getting to know it the last couple of weeks and it is quickly becoming a favorite of mine because the image quality is amazing and it’s fun to refocus pictures.

I will be adding this camera to one of our gadget packs in the near future and let you know when it is available for your library to check out.

Here is a sample photo I took of my cat Rocky in his backyard with different focal points.

 

Do you still use iGoogle?

Do you use iGoogle for a personal or shared start page at your library? In the past, we've heard about libraries where the staff all used it to exchange notes about the library, monitor SCLS blogs for new posts, keep track of email and scheduling, and more. Google has announced that iGoogle will be retired on November 1, 2013.

If iGoogle is a necessary part of your daily routine, you might try a similar service. Some examples include Netvibes, Protopage, My Yahoo, uStart, Spaaze, and Symbaloo. Reviews from Lifehacker and MakeUseOf.

Or, are you ready to rethink the idea of using a start page? Maybe using a combination of extensions and multiple homepages in your browser would suffice. This may be what Google intends—their announcement cites "modern apps that run on platforms like Chrome and Android" as the culprit for a shrinking iGoogle user base.

My own testing with Chrome suggests that it doesn't do what iGoogle does, but it might serve the same purpose. I figured out how to add extensions for sticky notes, Google Search, Google Reader, Google Calendar, and Gmail on the new tab page, but they don't show preview content like iGoogle does. This is where multiple homepages come in. Chrome (and any other modern browser) can be set to open several pages in separate tabs on start up, and a quick glance through each tab might be close enough to the preview I'd get from an iGoogle page.

If you currently use iGoogle, what are you going to try as a replacement? (And if you have a trusty system for day-to-day communication between desk staff, please share it in the comments!)

Thanks to Marilyn at Stoughton Public Library for suggesting this topic!

Digital Literacy

Guest Post by Jean Anderson
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The phrase Digital Literacy has been cropping up recently in articles and blog postings in my Google Reader. According to Wikipedia, digital literacy is “is the ability to locate, organize, understand, evaluate, and analyze information using digital technology.” Sounds a lot like a librarian, doesn’t it?

If you or your patrons are looking to improve your digital literacy skills, I’ve come across three tools to help you. First, the Northstar Digital Literacy Project from Minnesota. The project is designed to assess the ability of adults to perform tasks in six main computer areas: Basic Computer Use, Internet, Windows Operating System, Mac OS, Email and Word Processing (Word). Just for fun, I took a couple of the assessments. While they include audio, the quiz questions are also written on each page. When you complete an assessment, you’re given a score. For any incorrect answers, you’re told what skill you need to improve before taking the assessment again.

Second is the Colorado Libraries 2.0 project. This project, like our Project Play, is designed to help library staff (and patrons) become familiar and comfortable with Web 2.0 tools. The project is broken up into seven categories: communication; collaboration; visual communications; personal learning environments; productivity tools; social networking; books and reading. Each category has two to four different tools to try out. While the project was designed and created for Colorado library staff, the material and lessons are open for anyone to use. Designed back in 2010, some of the content or tools may be slightly dated but overall, it’s a great place to start learning more about Web 2.0 tools.

Last, but not least, is another Colorado project. This one is called Tech Training for Libraries and can be used in a number of ways. You could use the lesson plans and activities to teach classes on topics ranging from Computer Guts to Craigslist 101 to patrons at your library - handouts included! Or you could use the competencies and checklists to ensure that library staff are all on the same page, technologically. I think this could be a great programming resource for libraries. If you try out any of these classes in your library, please let me know! I’d love to hear how you’re using this site and others in your library.

P.S. One more thing...Nicolet Federated Library System recently held a webinar called Technology Trainer Bootcamp with Sarah Houghton. Her presentation topic fits in nicely with this post. Enjoy!