Tech Roundup

Technology Committee members here at Towson University’s Cook Library are always on the hunt for new technology applications to bring into the library or technology-related issues our library should be addressing.  As we scour the internet for important, interesting, or just plain cool examples of technology applications, issues, or news, we post links and  summaries with our take here to the blog.

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 SpiderOak encrypted cloud storage adds drag and drop support with Hive

This story from Ars Technica can be of note to the library/academic setting in a couple of ways.  One, is that SpiderOak is another example of a cloud storage services that enables collaboration and sharing similar to other services librarians are already using (much like Dropbox and to some extent Google Drive).  Additionally, the focus on security and encryption is an important development, especially in an environment as open and inclusive as the library. - Matt M.

The Power of Stories through Technology

A great story can serve as creative inspiration for just about anything and some of the most imaginative stories I know came from children. Growing up my mother use to write little captions on all of my pictures as I waxed poetic about how my scribble was actually some epic depiction of my day. Providing the resources to fuel minds is a philosophical goal for most libraries. If there is one thing a librarian understands it’s the power of a story. In  a TED talk, Chimamanda Adichie, tells how dangerous it is to only have one story influencing you, and that we must have a diversity of stories to truly understand the world.  Today it is possible to spread stories in all sorts of ways, through video, blogs, photos, the list grows as people think of new ways to use technology such as Instagram, Twitter and Tumblr. Consider the following projects and consider how you could utilize the technology within your library to help spark creativity.

Written by a Kid – While you may not have the resources to recreate children’s stories into miniature movies, there are tools such as Xtranormal that could allow you to partner up to create a small animation.

Caine’s Arcade – The inspirational story of Caine building a cardboard arcade is a prime example of what is possible if the time, space and supplies are provided for a creative mind. Makerspace is a concept which brings people together to share and create and a library could be a prime location to hold a Makerspace event.

Here are a few other projects inspired by children that you can check out just for fun:

• Axe Cop
• Child’s Own Studio
• Daily Napkins

- Laksamee

Create an All-iPad Class Radio Show with AudioBoo, Bossjock, GoodReader, & SoundCloud

I’ve been thinking a lot about how I can create in-class activities during instruction sessions that are more challenging and more “fun” than a standard worksheet. This article from Moving at the Speed of Creativity caught my attention because it talks about using several different applications to create a class radio show, all using the iPad. Though the article is aimed more at a K-12 audience, I think academic librarians should also continue challenging themselves to incorporate creative, multimedia activities into the classroom. – Kim

Who’s Liable for Crimes Committed with 3D-Printed Guns?

3D printers are a hot topic in the library world right now, with many libraries enthusiastically starting to incorporate them into the library service. Academic libraries are also specifically exploring how providing 3D printing can benefit students or faculty. This article from Mashable brings up some interesting questions regarding how this technology should (or, at least, could) be regulated in light of the recent buzz around a 3D-printed handgun which successfully fired its first shots. As more libraries bring 3D printers into their spaces, there will also certainly be a continued discussion of when and how to monitor the materials users are producing. – Kim

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What do you think about some of the issues or technologies presented?  Have you found anything interesting online this week? Share in the comments!

Creating Panoramas with Hugin

Upon returning from last month’s ACRL 2013 conference, I was excited to sit down and explore Hugin after more than one librarian mentioned using it to create panoramic and/or 360-degree images (for one example, see this PDF of Scott Rice and Margaret Gregor’s Presentation  “This Library Orientation is Fun! Building a Successful Virtual Experience for Students”).

Based on the Panorama Tools project, Hugin is a free, cross-platform photo stitcher that allows you to join overlapping images into a single panoramic image. Although Hugin’s advanced features can be initially overwhelming for the casual user, with seemingly endless image manipulation tools,  the “Assistant” tab can get you started creating panoramas in just three quick steps.

After downloading Hugin, the first step in the assistant is to load your images. I decided to test out Hugin using images of the Towson University campus I snapped with my phone’s camera. Hugin will attempt to automatically detect information about the lens used to take the images, and it easily recognized the information for my iPhone’s camera.

Hugin Assistant

The next step is to “Align” the images. Hugin automatically attempts to create a single panoramic image from the images you upload – including selecting “control points” between images (significant overlapping points in each photo used to align the images). From there, you can also adjust a number of other settings, including layout, projection, and cropping.

Hugin Panorama Preview

Finally, you can “Create your panorama.” The Hugin processor will ask you to save your project (which means you can come back to work with it again later) and will produce your panoramic image. (Tip: It look me a while to find, but you can adjust the image file output to produce TIFF, JPEG, or PNG files in the “Sticher” tab in the upper right-hand portion of the Hugin screen).

Below you can see the before and after of the simple panorama I created using Hugin. Four individual photos are stitched together to create a single image, with the Hugin assistant automatically attempting to adjust the images’ exposure, orientation, and cropping. If you are not pleased with your panorama, you can go back and try adjusting any of the image settings as-needed.

Image series before….

… and panorama after using Hugin.

Creating this simple panorama with the Hugin assistant took me less than five minutes from start to finish (maybe 10 minutes if you include install and picture taking time). You can also opt to by-pass the assistant, and follow these directions provided by Hugin to dig deeper into the program. The assistant feature seemed to work well with my smartphone snapshots in “ideal” photographic settings – outdoors, with plenty of natural light and subjects that are farther in the distance. More complicated projects would benefit from someone with an interest in digital photography and equipment that is much more sophisticated than a smartphone camera.

Although there are more settings than I could fully explore in one sitting, I can see how the advanced features in the tool would be useful for larger projects, particularly in the hands of users with a higher level of photography experience and knowledge (or time and interest to develop such knowledge). Libraries might be interested in further exploring Hugin if they are producing images of their library to use, for instance, in promotional materials or online tours.

Hugin also includes tutorials on its site that demonstrate several other techniques, including stitching multiple rows together and joining scanned images. And according to Hugin’s website, they will be unrolling a new interface sometime in 2013 (you can see a preview on the Hugin website), which promises to include Simple, Advanced, and Expert settings.

Why not take a few quick shots of your library and see what you can create!

Tech Roundup

Technology Committee members here at Towson University’s Cook Library are always on the hunt for new technology applications to bring into the library or technology-related issues our library should be addressing.  As we scour the internet for important, interesting, or just plain cool examples of technology applications, issues, or news, we post links and  summaries with our take here to the blog.

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Interactive Charts for Your Library Dashboard

This was an incredibly useful talk/demo at ACRL that has helped me make some progress on an issue I have been grappling with for some time – how to make our library data more available without a lot of manual updating and sharing of spreadsheets. Specifically, I’m interested in web analytics data, and Heather Rayl’s presentation addresses just that. Using the Google Analytics API, I can populate data in a Google Spreadsheet. Heather feeds that data into a separate script using Highcharts JS. For now, I’m creating charts within Google Spreadsheets and sharing/embedding them in a Google Site. Still in beta mode right now, but that’s more than I’ve had up until now! If you collect data, Google Spreadsheets might be something to look at to share that data with others in your library. – David

Video Notes

It is fairly common for academic libraries to provide online tutorials, screencasts, or other types of web-based instruction; one area for further expansion might include better support for students’ interactions with the video content. Richard Byrne of Free Technology for Teachers recently shared a great tool called VideoNot.es which allows users to simultaneously view YouTube videos and take notes, side-by-side on their screen. VideoNot.es is also integrated with Google Drive, making sharing and collaboration easy. Students could watch an assigned video, sharing notes and questions with other students or the librarian, providing further support for use of video materials in distance, online, or “flipped” instruction. – Kim

7 Things Libraries Can Do with Google Glass

Google Glass continues to be one of the most common topics for writers on the web. Last time, we shared an article about West Virginia’s attempt to regulate Google Glass. But how could this technology be used in libraries? Ellyssa Kroski over at iLibrarian talks about just that, with seven different suggestions for how Google Glass could influence and enhance library services. - Kim

 Paper Touchscreen

If scanners or copiers are widely used in your library check out this new interface that can make a paper surface into a touchscreen! Fujitsu has created a “FingerLink Interaction System” that allows a user to point and select information on a physical object. This demo mentions using the interface for filling out government forms, but I can easily see this technology replacing scanners and copy machines. Rather than laying a book down and crossing your fingers that it’s in the right place, a user can see and use familiar gestures to choose what they want out of a paper book or any physical item. Additional possible library uses for the  technology are sparking my imagination! – Laksamee

Create Magazines in Flipboard

Last year, one of our awesome Library Tech Talk guest authors introduced you to Flipboard for staying current with your online reading. Recently, Flipboard released a new feature which allows you to create your own digital magazines. This post from The Digital Shift includes a screencast which shows you how exactly creating your own magazine works. I think it could be really fun to create a collaborative magazine with students during library instruction, perhaps in a session about resource evaluation in which students are asked to collect good (or bad!)  examples of sites they find when investigating sources for a class project – Kim

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What do you think about some of the issues or technologies presented?  Have you found anything interesting online this week? Share in the comments!

Tech Roundup

We’re back with a new “Tech Roundup!”

Technology Committee members here at Towson University’s Cook Library are always on the hunt for new technology applications to bring into the library or technology-related issues our library should be addressing.  As we scour the internet for important, interesting, or just plain cool examples of technology applications, issues, or news, we post links and  summaries with our take here to the blog.

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Carnegie Mellon U. Students Use Fingerprint Scans, Not ID Cards, for Payment

Are student ID cards a thing of the past?  This article from The Chronicle of Higher Education describes students at Carnegie Mellon University developing a system which maintains fingerprints,  personal and financial  information so there is no need to carry a card of any kind. What kinds of privacy concerns might we need to address, and how could this play out in academic libraries? - Shannon

Thin Reads

Add yet another name to the growing list of digital content types, e-book single. If you’re looking for something a bit more in depth to read, but don’t have time to get through a whole book (A situation I find myself in frequently when taking a plane somewhere) then an e-book single could be just right. Making the search simpler, Thin Reads is a website which features and reviews the newest e-book singles! Check it out and find even more things to add to your to-read list. - Laksamee

ScotteVest

Sometimes I wonder how many more “must have” devices I am going to acquire before I say enough is enough. Once I got my iPad I was extremely happy I could stop lugging my laptop around while at a conference. However, I still had my Kindle, iPhone, headphones, wallet, badge, keys, camera. The list goes on depending on the situation.  It’s also why I am envious of someone who’s been smart enough to invest in a ScotteVest product. Clothing designed to hold the technology of today, I desperately want the Woman’s Trench Coat. The reviews for this geeky product are very positive, and if you are someone who lugs around a little or a lot of technology (like many librarians are known to do!), sometimes it’s nice to be hands free with the perfect pocket to hold whatever needs tucking away. Check out the xray view on the product pages to get a glimpse of what can fit inside. Then put it on your gift list so someone else can pick up the tab. - Laksamee

Before its release, West Virginia may regulate Google Glass while driving

This recent article from Ars Technica describes pending legislation in West Virginia aimed at banning the use of Google Glass while driving. Essentially, legislators are concerned that current laws regulating other driving distractions (e.g., texting and driving) will not apply to potential distractions brought about by Google Glass. While this legislation does not directly impact our work in libraries, it is an interesting case to watch regarding how law makers are reacting to the development of new technologies. - Kim

Two Alternative Inputs Coming Soon: How Will You Use Them?

An interesting article from Jason Griffey over at ALA Tech Source about two gesture-based input techniques that may be coming to a computer near you. The first, Leap Motion, uses a camera connected to your computer to sense movement, which is then uses as an input for controlling the computer. The second, Myo armband, is a physical armband you wear on your forearm, which then uses the movement it senses in your arm to control your devices. Can you imagine users interacting with your library resources via this type of gesture-based computing? - Kim

Google Reader Alternatives

Of course, big news in the library community last month came when Google announced it will be closing its Reader as of July 1st. The Internet promptly responded with a multitude of options – here is a quick rundown of some articles about Google Reader alternatives. (Flipboard, a Google Reader alternative previously featured on Library Tech Talk also recently came out with some new features.)  How are you replacing Google Reader? - Kim

• iLibrarian – 3 Great Alternatives to Google Reader and How to Transfer Your Feeds Before the Shutdown
• Lifehacker – Five Best Google Reader Alternatives
• Mashable – Check Out These Google Reader Alternatives
• CNET – Google Reader is dying, but we have five worthy alternatives
• Gizmodo – 8 Google Reader Alternatives That Will Ease Your RSS Pain

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What do you think about some of the issues or technologies presented?  Have you found anything interesting online this week? Share in the comments!

Guest Post: Lucidchart – The online flow-chart app you’ve been dreaming of.

Today we’re featuring another fantastic guest post from Emily Thompson, Learning Technologies Librarian at SUNY Oswego.

Have you ever tried to make a flowchart in Word or PowerPoint? I can feel you cringing from here. It’s kind of an awful experience. Things are hard to line up and they always end up “good enough” after hours of fiddling. It’s a frustrating process that often made me think, “Come on. There has to be something easier than this!”

Lucidchart is that something. It’s a web-based application that makes charts: mostly flow charts, but also beautiful Venn diagrams, mind mapping, and wire-framing. The beauty of the program is that thing that will take a long time in your standard word processor take minutes. This chart (made for a poster on using librarians for SUNY Oswego’s Annual Symposium on Learning and Teaching last fall) took approximately ten minutes. It looks professional and clean, and it was incredibly easy.

Flowchart created using Lucidcharts.

After signing up for an account (more on that later), you click on “New Document” and choose a template. I like to start with a blank one. The work space looks familiar, with shapes on the left, choices on the top, and a white space in the middle. To get started, you just need to grab a shape from the left and drag it onto the workspace. You can edit the fonts and colors using the choices. Then to make the next node, hover near the side  of your box. The cursor will turn into a +, click and drag and your arrow will appear. Release, and you can pick your next shape.

Lucidchart workspace

In addition, you can drag in your own pictures, which can be handy for building instructions that require screenshots. Under File->More Shapes, you find your options for Mind Mapping and Venn diagrams. I find the Venn circles to be particularly time-saving. Rather than spending time on powerpoint trying to get the perfect translucent overlay, Lucidchart just gives you circles. The overlay is automatic. All that’s left is a text box to label them.

This Lucidchart example is also from the Symposium on Learning and Teaching poster.

When you’re finished, the final product is downloaded from the File menu. Lucidchart gives you a choice of a pdf, jpeg, png, or a Visio. The pdfs are 8.5×11, but the others can be downloaded as a full page or a selected area. After downloading they can be added to any project just like any other image.

You can sync Lucidchart with a Google account and it will show up in your Drive. If your not on gmail, you can still share any chart with anyone else with an account.

Icon for setting up a free educational account

The one caveat: signing up for a free educational account is far more confusing than it should be. First you have to sign up for a paid account trial (it doesn’t ask for a credit card though). Then you have to click on your name at the top left of the screen. Once you’re in your account, you should see a grey box on the right that says “Get a free educational upgrade.”

You will only see it if you sign up with an email that ends in .edu. Students can get an individual account (after feeding Lucidchart three email addresses), but teachers and librarians need to sign up for a class account. It’s all sort of confusing and weird, but it’s such a great product that it’s worth it.

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Emily Thompson is the Learning Technologies Librarian at SUNY Oswego in Oswego, New York. She spends her days seeking out new tools to help her students make their projects as awesome as possible. She also co-hosts the LiTTech podcast on edreach.us. You can follow her on Twitter @librarianofdoom.

How to “Explain Everything”

If the latest version of the NMC Horizon Report Higher Education Edition is any indication, tablet computing continues to be at the forefront of higher education trends. As a new tablet owner myself, I have been looking for more ways to incorporate it into my daily work life aside from reading email, taking notes and enjoying the occasional YouTube video. Also, as more librarians are using tablets for roving reference or during instructional sessions, it’s interesting to consider how shifting more of our day-to-day work to tablets might look.

Given the increasing number of librarians interested and involved in creating online instructional materials, one area to explore in tablet computing is screencasting and screencapture applications which allow librarians to do this type of work on-the-go.

Explain Everything

One of my favorite applications I’ve found so far for screencasting from my iPad is Explain Everything. Explain Everything is an iOS app which allows you to interact with images and presentations on your iPad, including adding annotations and recording live animation or voice narration.

Creating and Editing Projects

To begin a new project in Explain Everything, you can upload images (JPG or PNG), upload other compatible files (including PDF or RTF and PowerPoint, Excel, Word, Pages or Numbers files), or start from scratch with a blank project. Projects are presented as a series of slides, with new pages or images from imported documents each appearing as separate slides. You can rearrange, duplicate, insert, and delete slides within the Explain Everything project.

Explain Everything home screen displaying saved projects.

Once a project is created, you can manipulate objects using the interactive white board. Tools in the whiteboard allow for adding new slides, annotating or free-hand drawing, inserting shapes or typed text, adding additional images, and opening a live browser window. You can also rotate, resize, and delete objects.

Editing and recording interactive whiteboard in Explain Everything. Image created using Skitch

Recording

In addition to manipulating the slides on screen, you can record a presentation or screencast. Using the “Record” button on the bottom of the whiteboard will capture your live annotation, object manipulations, laser pointer, and voice narration. You can continuously record while navigating from slide to slide, and easily pause the recording during interruptions.

Since Explain Everything also allows you to open a live browser window, you can easily create projects which demonstrate online resources. This is particularly nice for libraries as we create guides for users to reference when interacting with our online catalogs, databases, etc. Unfortunately Explain Everything’s recording capabilities may not capture some online animations (including pop up windows and javascript), which can make it difficult to demonstrate certain interactive online activities (like typing into a search box).

For demonstration purposes, you can see a couple of quick videos I created using the recording function.

Saving and Exporting

One of the best features of Explain Everything is its ability to export projects in different formats to different locations. Projects can be exported as Explain Everything’s XPL format, or as PDFs, images (PNG), and videso (MOV/MP4), and can be saved to various places like the iPad camera roll or Youtube, as well as your favorite cloud storage service (including Evernote, Dropbox, and Google Drive). You can also adjust the quality and size of exported images and videos, though the quality of its compressed videos may leave something to be desired for some users.

Export and Save in Explain Everything

Wrapping Up

Although not a free app, Explain Everything’s current price at $2.99 (or $1.49 per copy if you’re purchasing more than 20 copies through Apple’s education volume purchasing) is significantly lower cost than many other screencasting alternatives which offer the same type of features and capabilities. Additionally, you can learn more about using basic and advanced features of Explain Everything with video guides and a free iBook manual. [Note: At this time, Explain Everything is available for iOS only. However, Android users may want to check out these posts when looking for Android-friendly alternatives.]

In addition to creating quick, low-cost screencasts and tutorials, Explain Everything might be useful for librarians who are using iPad carts in library instruction or libraries with iPad check out programs, providing students an easy way to create and export their own screencast projects or narrated presentations.

Have you tried to create screencasts or tutorials using a tablet application? Leave us a comment!

Tech Roundup

Technology Committee members here at Towson University’s Cook Library are always on the hunt for new technology applications to bring into the library or technology-related issues our library should be addressing.  As we scour the internet for important, interesting, or just plain cool examples of technology applications, issues, or news, we post links and  summaries with our take here to the blog.

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Exobrain

The next time you need to do a little mind mapping, check out Exobrain. The uncomplicated interface enables users to create a clean, color coded visual map for virtually anything.

Submitted by Shannon

BOOKish

As great as technology has been in providing information access, any nostalgic librarian can agree that nothing beats simply browsing a shelf to look for a book. Improving book discovery is something which is still eludes the online environment. Amazon, Good Reads, Library Thing, there are many ways for people to skim books online, check reviews, catalog their personal collection. A new online book recommendation engine has recently emerged. BOOKish attempts to pull various information from multiple sources, including editor and publisher reviews and recommendations. Books will have reviews, prices from various vendors, favorite quotes and more. While I am not entirely sure about it yet, given a bit of time to grow a user base and build more recommendation, BOOKish could become a contender in the search for something to read.

Submitted by Laksamee

Storify

Storify is a web tool which allows a user to illustrate a topic by pulling together various online works, such as tweets, images, websites, videos and more. Create a storyboard about current events, a project your library is implementing, or highlight what the world is saying about you! Here is an example created by NCSU libraries. If your connected to the world through various social media facets, Storify can help you create a cohesive story so your followers can focus on what you think is important.

Submitted by Laksamee

 

Making the Most of Google Drive With Integrated Apps

Although we’ve mentioned some of the original Google (Doc) Drive applications on LibTechTalk before, there was recently an interesting article from Make Use Of about using additional apps within your Google Drive account. Now you can integrate your PicMonkey creations into your Drive!

Submitted by Kim

 

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What do you think about some of the issues or technologies presented?  Have you found anything interesting online this week? Share in the comments!