District of Columbia Public Library patrons can now get holds and overdue notifications via SMS. What’s almost even cooler is something I learned just a few months back. When you apply for a DCPL card online it is immediately active and can be used to place holds and use electronic resources. And actually, people in DC don’t even need to get a physical library card. They can opt to use their drivers license and its number as their barcode. Pretty convenient. DCPL CIO Chris Tonjes and consultant Bill McClendon did a nice job with this stuff.
text message notifications from the DCPL
Feb 23, ’09
4:50 AM
walking paper scraps
Feb 11, ’08
10:48 PM
→ Ditch Binders and go with Chicago Screws
Oh my, I do love office supplies.
→ How to kill an elephant path
Social pressure and user desires
→ Is text-messaging the new word processor?
Cellphone novels in Japan
→ Another nail in HD-DVD’s coffin
Blu-Ray might be aroud for a little bit, but I still think that the move to consumer HD video will largely leap over physical formats.
→ Mixed Reality Treasure Hunt
With your Nintendo DS in Japan. Libraries are the perfect setting for mixed reality games.
walking paper scraps: happy friday!
Oct 5, ’07
10:29 AM
→ Teens “need” their cell phones
Text messaging is the killer app for teens. Once again I will mention: How are libraries responding to this?
→ The 20 Best Hacker Movies warning: about.com lame voice ad
→ Today’s Web 3.0 Nonsense Blogstorm
O’Reilly on the oft present “What’s Web 3.0?” question. He doesn’t really like the term.
→ The Curious Origins of 9 Delicious Phrases
I bet I’m not the only librarian into etymology. I also bet I’m not the only librarian that would like to see some citations for these explanations.
1. The Cold Shoulder
Believe it or not, there was a time when giving someone the cold shoulder didn’t just mean publicly snubbing them, it actually meant handing them a cold shoulder, as in a cold shoulder of beef. During the Middle Ages, the easiest way to hint to guests that they’d overstayed their welcome was to serve them a heaping mound of cold cow parts. A few platters of nothing but shoulder were supposed to drive away even the most persistent of guests.
pizza via SMS in the UK
Aug 22, ’07
12:00 PM
It was years ago I read about SMS enabled vending machines in Asia. Now Domino’s is experimenting with pizza via SMS in the UK. Frankly, I’m surprised it has taken them this long. Phone technology usually travels to the US from Asia, Scandinavia, and then the UK, so I suppose we might see texting become even more popular and interesting here.
There are only a few libraries experimenting with services via SMS, two of which are in the US.
I still think Michael Casey’s solution to send text messages without needing anything beyond your current ILS (and a free website) is spot on, though of course I wish we didn’t have to piece together workarounds.
Are Reference Desks Dying Out?
Apr 17, ’07
9:18 PM
“Are Reference Desks Dying Out?” is an interesting article besides the drama surrounding its interpretation of the Q&A session of an ACRL panel session. For the drama (and some further discussion of the important issues), see Reference Desk Backlash at Brian Mathews’ The Ubiquitous Librarian.
I’d like to mention two other bits in the article. One, it tells the story of University of California at Merced librarian Michelle Jacobs answering reference questions via SMS while she was in Baltimore for the ACRL conference. Neat. I’d like to hear more about that, in particular if they’re using some system or just her personal phone number.
The other good section is about the “Librarian With a Latte” program from University of Michigan at Ann Arbor. What’s with Ann Arbor and library goodness, anyways?
With a laptop and a wireless connection, he sets aside time to sit at a table at a popular Ann Arbor coffee shop and invites students to drop by for help. Dozens of students showed up for one of his recent sessions.“‘Going to where students are seems to be a theme in social-networking discussions, and they mean virtually,” he says. “It’s equally important to go where they are physically.” The coffee-shop sessions help establish relationships with students that become online interactions later.
AWESOME.
Incidentally, the article also has a funny quote from Derik Badman (that’s two posts in a row!) about his stapler, even though he spoke with the reporter at length about virtual reference.
extending device life
Sep 22, ’06
12:06 PM
As we try to port library services to mobile devices, or actually try to create new services for mobile devices, we should be encouraged by news of increased battery life. Hybrio rechargables allegedly last 4 times longer than regular alkaline batteries and can be charged 500 times. According to some MIT micro-jocks, batteries might soon be a thing of the past. See the article “Engine on a chip promises to best the battery”. I can’t really get my head around the idea of having a fuel burning engine inside of my laptop, but if it gets me 10 times the life of a charge, I’m all for it.
Meanwhile, how are teens using their cellulars? They’re not using them to tunnel in to Unix servers or even watch live doppler radar loops. A study by online cell provider LetsTalk says that teens are all about texting. No surprise, really. Think there’s a service opportunity there? [hint: yes]
IM and SMS not ruining Canadian’s command of grammar
Aug 2, ’06
1:45 PM
While there’ve been a few studies decrying IM and SMS’s impact on people’s ability to speak “properly,” many articles seem to think that texters are still obeying the rules of grammar and simply using a rich, shorthand language in their messages. My wife taught me about code switching, which is the process of changing language or dialect, often dependent on context. Kids are naturally good at this, changing the way they communicate depending on if they’re talking to their parents or friends, for instance, and I think this carries over to speaking versus using IM.
“Instant msg-ing messes with grammar? As if! lol!” is another article not being hysterical about IM shorthand. Other reports of the same University of Toronto study include IMing is Creative Language, Study Says and Texting helps teens’ grammar.
“Parents and teachers don’t need to be concerned that this new medium is corrupting young people’s grammar”, said Sali Tagliamonte, a professor of linguistics at the University of Toronto. Tagliamonte added that she was “blown away” by the command of English, the creativity and the fluidity of language shown by the kids studied. IMing, cell phone texting and chatroom-speak are “an expansive new linguistic renaissance,” the study says.
[via]
IM and SMS not ruining Canadian’s command of grammar
Aug 2, ’06
1:45 PM
While there’ve been a few studies decrying IM and SMS’s impact on people’s ability to speak “properly,” many articles seem to think that texters are still obeying the rules of grammar and simply using a rich, shorthand language in their messages. My wife taught me about code switching, which is the process of changing language or dialect, often dependent on context. Kids are naturally good at this, changing the way they communicate depending on if they’re talking to their parents or friends, for instance, and I think this carries over to speaking versus using IM.
“Instant msg-ing messes with grammar? As if! lol!” is another article not being hysterical about IM shorthand. Other reports of the same University of Toronto study include IMing is Creative Language, Study Says and Texting helps teens’ grammar.
“Parents and teachers don’t need to be concerned that this new medium is corrupting young people’s grammar”, said Sali Tagliamonte, a professor of linguistics at the University of Toronto. Tagliamonte added that she was “blown away” by the command of English, the creativity and the fluidity of language shown by the kids studied. IMing, cell phone texting and chatroom-speak are “an expansive new linguistic renaissance,” the study says.
[via]
what’s old is new is old
Mar 13, ’06
10:10 PM
Rochelle from Tinfoil + Racoon posted a link to a great article about SMS and postcards on the LJ TechBlog. The article gives an interesting history about the popularity of the postcard and posits that it was the first MMS (Multimedia Messaging Service). The abbreviated writing found on old PCs is really similar to the short hand we see in txt messages.
“Sorry will not take lesson tonight but will resume on the 20th next Yours truly Mrs Brown” (Mailed: March 1908);“We live where the X is on the card Bill, House has garden to water side Bob”;
“The Annual Meeting will be held at Brisbane House on 18th. Your attendance is requested. Hon Sec.” (Mailed: 15th October, 1900);
“Hope you will be able to stand the shock of receiving this P.C. in haste ET” (May 1906)
What’s really funny to me is that my Series 60 Nokia 6682 has a “send via postcard” feature built into the camera. For a fee, you can have a photo printed and sent to a specified address with a customized message. How’s that for a mashup?
what’s old is new is old
Mar 13, ’06
10:10 PM
Rochelle from Tinfoil + Racoon posted a link to a great article about SMS and postcards on the LJ TechBlog. The article gives an interesting history about the popularity of the postcard and posits that it was the first MMS (Multimedia Messaging Service). The abbreviated writing found on old PCs is really similar to the short hand we see in txt messages.
“Sorry will not take lesson tonight but will resume on the 20th next Yours truly Mrs Brown” (Mailed: March 1908);“We live where the X is on the card Bill, House has garden to water side Bob”;
“The Annual Meeting will be held at Brisbane House on 18th. Your attendance is requested. Hon Sec.” (Mailed: 15th October, 1900);
“Hope you will be able to stand the shock of receiving this P.C. in haste ET” (May 1906)
What’s really funny to me is that my Series 60 Nokia 6682 has a “send via postcard” feature built into the camera. For a fee, you can have a photo printed and sent to a specified address with a customized message. How’s that for a mashup?