Technology of Interest

Hopefully you've checked out my last blog entry about the technology Library Elf, an online tool that helps keep track of library items.  Everyone in my class submitted other great tutorials featuring exciting technologies that may be new to you.  Here is a list of other helpful and interesting websites you may want to become more familiar with! They can help make life easier (Zotero) or just help you have fun (Second Life).  All of these technologies can benefit libraries in many ways from advertising to referring students to useful sites when answering reference questions!

Twitter
Twitter is a real-time information network that connects you to the latest information about what you find interesting. Simply find the public streams you find most compelling and follow the conversations.

Adobe Photoshop
Edit, organize, store, and share your photo galleries easily.

Scribd
Scribd is a social publishing site, where tens of millions of people share original writings and documents.

Survey Monkey
Create and publish free online surveys in minutes, and view results graphically and in real time.

Zotero
Zotero is a powerful, easy-to-use research tool that helps you gather, organize, and analyze sources and then share the results of your research.

 Second Life
Second Life is a free 3D virtual world where users can socialize, connect and create using free voice and text chat.

Facebook

Facebook is a social utility that connects people with friends and others who work, study and live around them.

Prezi
Prezi is a web-based presentation application and storytelling tool that uses a single canvas instead of traditional slides. Text, images, videos and other presentation objects are placed on the infinite canvas and grouped together in zooming frames.

Tumblr
A feature rich and free blog hosting platform offering professional and fully customizable templates, bookmarklets, photos, mobile apps, and social networking.

Wordpress
WordPress is web software you can use to create a beautiful website or blog.

Library Thing
LibraryThing catalogs your books online, easily, quickly and for free.

Really Simple Syndication (RSS)
A family of web feed formats used to publish frequently updated works—such as blog entries, news headlines, audio, and video—in a standardized format.

Cloud Computing
Cloud computing is a model for enabling ubiquitous, convenient, on-demand network access to a shared pool of configurable computing resources (e.g., networks, servers, storgae, applications, and services) that can be rapidly provisioned and released with minimal management effort or service provider interaction.

Linked In
Manage your professional identity. Build and engage with your professional network. Access knowledge, insights and opportunities.

Library Elf
Personal reminder service for library users.  

Library Elf Tutorial

As some of you may know, we've been promoting Library Elf, a library material organization tool, to patrons at the Ames Free Library.  That's why I decided to focus my most recent class assignment, a technology tutorial related to libraries (in wiki format, nonetheless!) on Library Elf so I could learn more about it and pass it on to you.  Here's my tutorial (not in it's original wiki format because only Simmons password holders have access to it-I'm disappointed about that....it looks awesome and it took a lot of hard work but there's no way to import it here).

What is Library Elf?

Library Elf is a tool that provides personal reminders for when library items are due in order to avoid late fees and to help card holders keep their library items organized.  It provides email and text message alerts and can even be linked to Google Calendar, Outlook Calendar and Apple iCal.    It is especially helpful for families because it links multiple library cards together so that families can view all the items checked out on multiple cards on one screen, eliminating the time it would take to log in to their separate accounts from the library’s site.  One of the best features is that a cardholder at more than one library consortia can link cards from different consortia to their Library Elf account to view all checkouts, holds, overdues, etc.

 Is Library Elf Free?

If your library is a subscriber, then Library Elf is free.  The consortium subscribes to the service for a fee, allowing all member libraries to benefit.  See below to find out if your library network subscribes.

MA	Babson College - signup
MA	Boston Public Library - signup
MA	Boston University School of Theology Library - signup
MA	C/W MARS - Central - signup
MA	C/W MARS - West - signup
MA	Cape Libraries Automated Materials Sharing - signup
MA	Massachusetts Trial Court Law Libraries - signup
MA	Merrimack Valley Library Consortium - signup (subscriber)
MA	Metro-Boston Library Network - signup
MA	Minuteman Library Network - signup
MA	North of Boston Library Exchange - signup
MA	Old Colony Library Network - signup
MA	SAILS Library Network - signup (subscriber)
MA	Sharon Public Library - signup (beta)
MA	Stan Getz Media Center & Library - signup
MA	Tilton Library - signup
MA	WEBnet Library Consortium - signup (beta)

Basic Vs. Premium Service

An important element to note is that if your library consortium is not a subscriber, there are two levels of service that are offered for individuals, a basic service that is free and a premium service that is not.

Basic Service

The basic service provides email reminders similar to those found in existing library email reminders: single card with pre-dues and over dues notice only (holds ready and holds requested are not included). This free service is useful for users whose libraries do not have a pre-due or overdue email reminder service. If your library does provide such a service then you may want to sign up for your library's reminder service. 

Premium Service

The premium service provides multiple ways of monitoring your library cards. The premium subscription makes things more convenient for users who frequent different libraries, have families with young children as well as users who frequent the library a lot.The premium, or subscription service, provides features including pre-due and overdue library material notices, holds available and requested, RSS feeds, text message alerts, account support services and even allows users to see their items in any iCal based calendar like Google Calendar, Outlook Calendar and Apple iCal to help stay super organized! Another cool feature is that the patron can customize their account to set up features like how often to alert (every day, every other day, etc.), how to alert (email, text messaging, etc.) and who in the family to alert (the most responsible one!).  The downside to this service for individuals whose libraries don’t subscribe is that it costs twelve dollars a year for a single card and twenty dollars a year for multiple cards.  For some, this price may be worth it if the family has multiple library cards to keep track of.

Basic and Premium Comparison

	Basic	Premium
Library cards allowed	One	One or more
Customizable settings	Partial	All
Type of alerts	Pre-due and overdue	Pre-due, overdue, not due, holds ready and holds requested
Email format	HTML	HTML
RSS	No	Yes
Text message alerts 1	No	Yes2
Items summarized in Elf calendar	No	Yes
iCal calendar	No	Yes
Private daily snapshot web page	No	Yes
Real-time checking by browser	No	Yes
Ads	Yes	Optional
Support	FAQ	24-48 hour email response
Cost (single card)	Free	$12.00 USD/year
Cost (multiple cards)	Not available	$20.00 USD/year

How To Sign Up

If you've decided Library Elf is for you, it's easy to sign up.  There are four steps to follow.

Step 1: Create Your Account

Enter your name, email and create an Elf password.

Sign Up

Create Your Account

Sign up and receive a free trial period at the premium service level. The trial period is for three weeks or after six notices have been sent (whichever is longer). To continue the premium service, you can subscribe to Library Elf anytime you want. If you decide not subscribe, the free service will continue at the basic service level.

If your library has subscribed to Library Elf, you will continue to receive the premium service at no cost.

Privacy Policy.

Step 2: Add A Library Card

Sign Up

Add Library Card

The following card(s) have been entered.

• to add another card, click Add Another Card
• to delete an existing card, click the Delete icon

• to continue, click Next

This is what it looks like when you register more than one library card from different library consortia:

After you add all cards, click continue to step 3.

Step 3: Set Up Preferences

This is where you can subscribe to email and text alerts, RSS feeds and calendar features.  You decide how often you want the notifications.

I signed up for text, email and RSS feeds and linked my Google Calendar to my Library Elf account. I started getting the alerts immediately.  I really liked the text messaging feature to remind me when something was due and when I had a hold available.  I use Google Calendar to keep track of when my items are due as well.   I think families would especially benefit from these alerts since there can be many cards involved.

After you select your preferences click finish. 

Step 4: Verification/Confirmation

Step 4 will ask you to confirm the information you've entered, including library cards, personal information and preferences.  An email will be then be sent to you to verify your email address.  In order to complete registration, you must sign in to the email you provided and follow the link from Library Elf to confirm registration.

After you click on the link you will see this message:

Confirmed 

Your Elf email notification has been activated.
Sign in if you want to check on the latest status of your library loans.

You can now sign in to your account, check your cards and view your account settings.  A small summary is also provided with items checked out and holds available.

You will see all library cards that you've entered, as well as a small summary of overdue items, items checked out, holds available, etc.

I registered both of my library cards on Library Elf.  The sign-up was easy and fast.

Features

Now that you've signed up you can start to enjoy all the special features that Library Elf offers!

Detailed Summary Of All Linked Library Cards

One of the features I really like is the detailed summary list.  It shows you all library account information for every single library card entered all on one easy to read screen.  It also specifies what library consortium the items are from to help keep track of items taken out at multiple library consortia.  The detailed summary even tells you what place you are on the holds list! 

Link to Google Calendar

Another feature that I've mentioned is the ability to keep track of items in different forms of online calendars.  I linked Google Calendar with my Library Elf account.  Here are the instructions on how to do it yourself:

How to Subscribe To Calendars in Google Calendar

To add a calendar using its address, follow these steps:

1.         At the bottom of the calendar list on the left, click the Add down-arrow button and select Add by URL.

2.         Find the address of the Google Calendar in iCalendar format, or if you have the iCalendar address of a calendar from a different application (for example, Apple's iCal), you can use this as well.

3.         Enter the address in the field provided.

4.         Click Add Calendar. The calendar will appear in the Other Calendars section of the calendar list to the left.

Bestseller Lists and Links

Library Elf also has a neat page with links to popular literary sites:

http://www.libraryelf.com/Links.aspx

Learn More

If you'd like to learn more about Library Elf, check out the Library Elf website or click here for a real time demonstration.

Important Notes

It’s important to note that even if you link cards from different consortia (which to me is the unique feature about Library Elf) the library must be a premium subscriber to benefit fom all the features.  For example, I have two library cards.  One of them is from the SAILS library network (a subscriber to Library Elf). The other is from the OCLN library network (not a subscriber).  Therefore, I will be able to get all the features of the premium service for items on my SAILS account for free, but only basic alerts for items on my OCLN account unless I want to pay for the premium service.

Summary

I think Library Elf is an easy to use technology that individuals, families and libraries can benefit from to keep items organized, returned on time and to prevent overdue items and fees.  The downside is that the basic service is not anything new.  Library users can already get free alerts through email for items coming due and overdue from their library consortium.  What makes this technology useful is being able to link multiple cards, which is only possible with the paid subscription service. There are some libraries in Massachusetts signed up as you've seen the list above, but not many.  That leaves it up to the individual to decide if the paid subscription service is worth it.  My verdict? If you have many library cards to keep track of Library Elf probably pays for itself. By keeping all items from all consortia for all family members organized and on time, Library Elf prevents overdue items and to me would be worth the subscription price.

Google and Cloud Computing

For last week's blog entry I was trying to figure out a way to transfer my Microsoft PowerPoint presentation to my blog (which is basically a wiki format) and there was no way to add an attachment (that I know of).  I was only able to add links, pictures or videos.  So my co-worker Kathy and I played around with Google Docs.  I really liked my experience using Google Docs and wikis in the past because they are open source and available online through Google to anyone (check out my recent blog on open source software if you haven't already to find out more).  You can make links to these tools open to the public, to anyone with the link or they can also be private.  There was actually a feature to transfer my PowerPoint slides to a Google Presentation, which allowed me to post the link here for all to view.

Because Google Docs(which includes more than just documents by the way; you can create presentations, wikis, calendars, etc.) stores all the info on the web, it's called Cloud Computing because all the info is stored in the "cloud" of the Internet.  This is great because the files don't take up space on your computer or flash drive, but you are dependent on Google always working correctly and must have Internet access.  As I mentioned before, it's great for group projects because everyone in the group has access to the project from wherever they are and can make changes, even all at the same time! I definitely plan on doing more cloud computing, mostly because it's convenient and allows me to easily share links with you!

To see what else Google has to offer check out this link:
http://www.google.com/intl/en/about/products/index.html

To find out more about Cloud Computing and how it works check out this YouTube video:

Simmons Systems Librarian Interview

The first assignment for my Technology for Information Professionals class was a group project to interview a Systems or Technology Librarian.  Now, many of us dread group projects, but I must say I had the best group ever (Thanks Amy and Jake!).  We were all on the same page and put in out best effort for a seamless group project that literally paid off! We got our grade today...it was the only 100% that our Professor gave out, and he even made a note that a high percentage like that is very rare but our project exceeded his expectations and then some! Woohoo!

Anyway, much of the credit is due to Amy Deschenes (yes, another Amy...we had three Amy's involved in this project), who is the Library Technology Specialist at Beatley, the Simmons College Library.  Kudos to Amy for letting us barrage her with questions and answering them gracefully, insightfully and in a way that we non-techies understood! Here is a presentation of our paper which is based upon the interview with Amy, librarian extraordinaire.  Click on the link below to view:

Systems Librarian Interview Presentation

Beatley Library at Simmons College