Here’s some of the projects I’ve been working on in the last few months:
GIL-Find — An installation of the VuFind social catalog interface. It’s currently being tested at several institutions across the state, and ours is one of them! The students love it, and it’s way more functional than our Voyager catalog (relevance ranking and persistent links! w00t!).
Vtext — A DSpace digital repository for VSU. It’s stable and running, now the fun part: marketing to faculty!
I built Odum Library Search applications for Facebook and MySpace as part of a forthcoming writing project. I’ll talk more about it when it comes out.
Pagan Archives Network — I’m working with several Pagan Studies scholars to develop a web-based finding aid for primary and secondary resources. It’s still in development, but a few Pagan librarians have already started to volunteer their time to develop taxonomies and work on finding/inputting collections!
SaveTheMantas.org — Volunteering as a researcher, pulling together research and photos for their site. Give them a tax-deductible donation!
And last, but not least, I just did a re-design of clifflandis.net using the Go Green template. I hope you enjoy!
The Library Technology Reports series has a soft place in my heart–it has been my own personal “Library Technology for Dummies Everyone.” From my first introduction to basic Web 2.0 concepts, to technology competencies for libraries, to the emerging trends in catalogs, this series has provided me with the understanding necessary to explore the potential of these technologies and how they should be implemented. Even better, as my technological experience has grown, I’ve continued to find interesting and valuable tips in every report.
Robin Hastings has joined the long list of illustrious writers for this series with her report Collaboration 2.0. She is the Information Technology Manager for the Missouri River Regional Library in Jefferson City, Missouri, and she has a long list of presentations and publications that further validate her expertise in the realms of cloud computing for libraries. In this report, Hastings walks readers through the basics of online collaboration and cloud computing, followed by a description of the Library Society of the World, to show an example of cloud computing in action. Next, she provides explanations of the different styles of technology-aided collaboration, as well as a host of Web 2.0 tools that can be used to foster collaboration. Last, examples of groupware (collaborative software suites), examples of collaborations, and further resources are given.
I had a great time at the conference, presented It’s All About the User, met a lot of cool librarians, and had some inspiring conversations! Thanks again for a great time!!!
Zotero recently released the beta of version 2, which allows users to remotely backup their libraries to the web. Unfortunately, users have to own (and know how to use) WebDAV space to back the library up. This version also does not sync attached files.
Thankfully, there’s an easy way around all of this using Dropbox, everyone’s favorite automatically syncing backup storage service.
Install Dropbox on the computers you will be using regularly.
Now when Dropbox syncs, it will automatically syncronize your Zotero library (including all the attachments) to the web and all your computers. When you get up from work, close down Firefox Portable, but leave your computer on so it can finish backing up to the web. By the time you get home, your home computer will be all synced up and ready to pick up where you left off. Just open up Firefox Portable at home, and your Zotero library will be there!
Caveat: Because Zotero stores files in a directory and file structre that is unreadable to humans, you won’t be able to access your Zotero files or attachments directly from Dropbox’s web interface. So if you go on the road, make sure that you either have your laptop with you (with Dropbox installed), or else transport important files seperately from Zotero.
I had a great time in Ft. Myers for TechLearn2009 last Friday, and heard some great talks on literacy and brain science, how to invest in learning, e-branches, and much more. I was delighted to give the opening and closing keynote speeches, LEARN and TECH, both shown below. A great big thank-you to everyone there for making me feel welcome, and especially to Lee LeBlanc for inviting me!
