Keeping Up Archives - What Does This Mean to Me, Laura?

Libraries, stop asking “how”

Recently, I gave a presentation on 2024 technology trends. I always carefully preface this type of session with a disclaimer: I do, in fact, cover trends in technology, and not applications that could (yet) be implemented in libraries. The webinar description…

Human finger reaching for a digital finger

Are librarians the next prompt engineers?

My head is swirling after I read this article in The Atlantic. The title is: Talking to AI Might Be the Most Important Skill of This Century There’s so much in this story that I had some difficulty trying to…

A funny muffin with eyes, mouth and blue sprinkles

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The Googly-Eyed Technology test

Years ago, I worked in a library where the administration was intrigued by every new available technological advancement. There were a good number of positive things that came out of this interest, and the IT department had a significant amount…

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Libraries: let’s be honest about “emerging technology”

A couple of years ago, I was asked to do a series of this type of workshop for an out-of-state consortium. When the evaluations came back to me a few weeks afterwards, I got very good marks as a presenter,…

Is your library ready for mobile payments?

Drive up to almost any McDonald’s drive-through window and you will see stickers proclaiming that the restaurant now takes payments through Apple Pay and Android Pay. Visa has just rolled out a program so that New Yorkers can use their…

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Forget Pokemon Go. Your library has real problems

Ok, I admit, that’s a bit of an incendiary headline, and I’m not really advocating that your library forego taking advantage of the viral new trend that is actually pretty advantageous for libraries. But, I do worry that libraries are spending too…

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Tell me your worst trouble spot right now

It’s still pretty much a new(ish) year, and I’m interested in addressing even more topics that would interest you, the blog reader. This quiz will help (but let’s be real, it’s pretty limited), but please feel free to add your…

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Link roundup: things your library should be paying attention to right now

I’ve only listed the three I think are most important right now, because we all get overwhelmed. Fill up on caffeine and get reading, folks. Does Google Think Your Library is Mobile Friendly? If you ignore everything else in today’s post,…

What can you learn from looking at other websites?

3 things you can learn from other websites

Let’s start with defining “other” here: I mean sites that aren’t library websites. If you do nothing else, I want you to get out of the habit at looking at other library sites for inspiration. No, really, I mean it.…

How well do you know your web usability myths?

Learn about more common UX myth at http://uxmyths.com/. [qzzr quiz=”26203″ width=”100%” height=”auto” redirect=”true” offset=”0″]

Carousels: time to go

Carousels have almost become ubiquitous. I am frequently asked about them when I start designing a site for a library. I often. now, make it clear that these don’t represent a good design choice. Yes, they’re convenient. They seemingly solve…

Which browser(s) does your library offer?

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Have you given much thought to browsers?

Lately, it seems that all I, as a web developer, hear, is about mobile web usage. There’s been a lot of posts on the Web about the forthcoming mobile apocalypse (Mobipocalypse?), where people will browse the Web with nothing but…

Want to make your library's online presence better? Get over yourself.

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Want a better presence online? Get over yourself

I was recently asked to come up with a session for new library directors, about how to improve their libraries’ online presences. Not just websites, but their social media work as well. At first, a lot of disparate things tumbled…

Is it theft? Yeah, it is.

Recently, I had the unpleasant experience of discovering that one of my custom graphics was appearing, without permission, on a library’s website. It appeared that the library had simply copied the graphic from the original site for which it was…

Up to speed? The perils of online speed testing

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Up to speed? The perils of using online speed testing

If you’re a library network admin, you are probably familiar with complaints concerning slow download speeds on your local network. “The Internet is crawling today! What’s wrong?” At OPLIN, this is certainly familiar to us, too. After all, many times…

Lock those virtual doors

What would happen if your library closed up at night and purposefully left the front door unlocked? Every night? Eventually, some unscrupulous individual would figure it out. He/she would have the run of the library at night, and could easily…

Ignorantiaphobia

It’s no secret, yet it’s not widely talked about. There’s a divide in library staff. It’s not between degreed and the not, and it’s not digital. It’s not about who uses Twitter and who doesn’t. This divide may not…

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Web images: TANSTAAFL*

Recently, I heard about how a public library recently found itself in some very hot water. It ran afoul of a very large provider of stock photography. The library used a licensed photograph from a stock photo site without paying…

Got a Fiverr?

We all know that libraries are in a major budget crisis. What we don’t always know is how to cut costs. Well, I won’t make any claims that I can answer that question, either. What I will share with you…

What’s this TokBox thing?

Last week, I had the opportunity to speak about teens, tweens and social networking at the NEO-RLS Youth Services Symposium. One of the newer tools that I mentioned had everyone puzzled–no one had heard of it. That tool is rising…

Nibbling at Lunch.com

You know those sites that have a name that is in no way related to what it does? Lunch.com is one of those. Lunch.com is a reviews site, with the goal of changing the way people think about each other. …

What if you don’t have Photoshop?

What it comes to image editing, for either web or print, Photoshop is arguably the king of the roost. But let’s face it–Photoshop is darned expensive, and has a learning curve shaped like Mount Everest. Not to mention that you…

Broadcasting with Qik

As more people start using smartphones (e.g., Droids, Blackberries, iPhones, et al), we’re also starting to see a lot more applications that can be downloaded and used on them. One I’ve been doing a bit of experimenting with is Qik…

Figuring out Foursquare

Physical locations in combination with the web are starting to hit it big, and is predicted to seriously take off this year. One example of an application that is rapidly heading that way is Foursquare. From Wikipedia: Foursquare is a…

Considering 2010 for libraries and technology

At the end of every year, lots of media outlets and assorted gurus make predictions about what is going to be happening in the next 365-odd days. But how often do libraries stop to think about what those predictions might…

Webinars that don’t drive people nuts

I’ve had the experience in the past several months of being both a regular presenter and regular attendee of webinars. I’ve learned quite a bit, being on both ends, and I would like to share what I’ve learned here for…

HTML 5: don’t get too excited yet

Yes, it’s finally coming. The last official release of HTML was in 1999 (yes, you read that right, 10 years ago) at version 4.01. At long last, the W3C* is almost finished with the specifications for a new version. Pay…

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The Internet of Things

“The idea is as simple as its application is difficult. If all cans, books, shoes or parts of cars are equipped with minuscule identifying devices, daily life on our planet will undergo a transformation. Things like running out of stock…

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Crowdsource and engage

I crowdsourced this week’s post. I asked (via Twitter/Facebook) library staff to tell me what their favorite technology is, and why. Here’s most of what I got: “I’m digging on Excel right now because I love turning lots of numbers…

Unsticking Glue

This week I’m chatting about a web application called Glue . I look at a good number of web applications, and some are useful. Unfortunately, Glue is not one of those. The premise of Glue is that it “shows you…

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What is “The Real-Time Web?”

When Michael Jackson died on June 25, millions of people flooded onto Google News to find the latest information about what had happened. The spike in traffic was so massive that Google suspected a malware attack and began blocking anyone…

Listen up: you’re in charge!

It’s a pain, but security is each user’s responsibility, not just the tech’s.–Bobbi Galvin, OPLIN One of the most common misconceptions library staff typically have about their email accounts is that nobody would want to hack them. WRONG. Your email…

Why it’s time to kill off Internet Explorer 6

(Don’t know if you’re using IE6? You can check by opening up IE and going to Help–>About Internet Explorer. If you’re using anything less than 7 (and really, you ought to be on 8 by now), you need to upgrade.…

CSS Part II: a gentle introduction to using it

A few weeks ago, I hopefully provided you with the reasoning behind why library web sites have to move from plain HTML to using CSS for style and formatting. I started to create a tutorial, and got frustrated with WordPress,…

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5 ways for your library to Fail at Twitter

Twitter has finally hit the mainstream (If Oprah isn’t the mainstream, then I don’t know what is). So we’re finally seeing more and more public libraries putting their feet into the Twitterstream. This is generally a good thing; however, I…

Technofascists, technophobes and cyborgs…oh my?

Several weeks ago I had the privilige of attending the Virtual Worlds: Museums, Libraries and Educators conference held in the virtual world of Second Life. One of the sessions I attended was “Cyborg Learning: How to Engage Young Minds” by…

Laura’s truths about social media

(In case you missed the memo, a lot of folks have replace the label “Web 2.0′ with “social media.” Probably a better, more descriptive label in my opinion. ) I’ve been around the social media block a few times. I…

Polar bears, Che Guevara and porn

(Eric Jordan did an update to his first “Webmaster” vignette, and I’m posting it here for collective enjoyment. Thanks, Eric!) Web Master 1.1 (I had enough fun with the first one, I decided to upgrade!) The Programmer approached the Web…

Who is living in your house?

I count among my good Internet friends a certain Eric Jordan, who can not only outpun anyone I know, but has a talent for taking a humorous approach to making his thoughts known. Although Eric is not a web developer…

Why web standards matter and why your library (really) has to care

It’s pretty easy to explain to people why their web sites need certain kinds of standards; take, for example, Section 508, which is essentially the ADA for web sites. Section 508 says that any organization receiving federal funds (hmm…bailout companies,…

Intermediate Twitter: #hashtags

(Thanks to Don Yarman for suggesting this topic–I’m always on the lookout for new fodder. Send your ideas to meanlaura@oplin.org.) I have to assume that, by now, your library has finally jumped on the Twitter wagon. (See here for additional…

Sharing your slides

Whether you do presentations in Powerpoint, OpenOffice or something else, making your slides publicly available can sometimes be a headache. Enter Slideshare, which could arguably be considered the YouTube of presentation slides. Slideshare allows you to create a (free) account,…

Getting buy-in

I am often asked about how to get buy-in for new web-based initiatives. I ran across this slideshow today, which is fabulous material for demonstrating the usual roadblocks one can run into. Web Tech Guy and Angry Staff Person View…

Cloud computing

What does weather have to do with computers? Well, not much, actually. But cloud computing is a term that has gained in the buzz department recently, although it has actually been around for several years. “Cloud computing” is really just…

Augmented reality: the future is truly here

First, there was virtual reality. Then there were virtual worlds. Now, we have augmented reality, and it may change the landscape of books entirely. It’s the stuff of many science fiction scenes; open up a newspaper or a book and,…

Signing in with ONE account

One of the most common complaints I’ve heard about using various web services and social networking sites is the need for multiple accounts; multiple user names, multiple passwords, multiple things to forget. Who hasn’t used those handy “Forgot your password?”…

Because you’re probably not getting much work done anyway….

I thought I’d give you some more ways to waste time, online. 🙂 Check out some of these sites: Web Sudoku: “Billions of free Sudoku puzzles to play online.” You can play levels from “Easy” to “Evil.” There’s even a…

Is your library coded?

Well, I am. See that 2-dimensional code to the left? That code contains the following information about me: First & last name Email address Web site URL Phone number Physical address, including country of origin All that is in there?…

Consolidating your Web 2.0 profile

If you’re like me, you belong to more than a mere handful of social networking and sharing sites. Keeping track of your online presence might be a daunting task. And letting people know where you hang out online might entail…

Walking the Web

Virtual worlds are everywhere now, it seems. Their purposes range from socializing and networking to education and conferences. And some just…are. Yoowalk seems to be one of these latter. Well, ok. I guess it has a purpose. I just don’t…

Hulu: TV on demand

If you’ve ever seen my Facebook profile, you already know that I basically don’t watch television (much to the chagrin of anyone who attempts to engage me in conversation about the latest programs). My husband and I used to say…

Firefly: every page a chat room?

Lately, I’ve been checking out a newish web app called Firefly. It’s a simple chat script that enables people to chat with each other directly on a web page, rather than in a separate instant messaging client or Meebo-like widget. …

[GUEST POST] Listening & the pattern

Dan Rockwell is a User Experience Researcher at Lextant. [BACK STORY: I met Dan at BarCamp Ohio and started following him on Twitter. Then I started listening to his soundbytes on Utterli. One of his messages really resonated with me,…

Yelp: is your library in there?

There are a lot of online review sites. But one in particular is hitting the mainstream and has made the top 500 of all U.S. web sites, with over 3.5 million visitors each month. That site is Yelp. This Web…

Short and sweet…URLs

Sometimes, URLs can be insanely long. For example: http://www.llanfairpwllgwyngyllgogerychwyrndrobwyll-llantysiliogogogoch.com/ Or: http://www.microsoft.com/events/EventDetails.aspx?CMTYSvcSource=MSCOMMedia&Params=%7eCMTYDataSvcParams%5e%7earg+Name%3d%22ID%22+Value%3d%221032301951%22%2f%5e%7earg+Name%3d%22ProviderID%22+Value%3d%22A6B43178-497C-4225-BA42-DF595171F04C%22%2f%5e%7earg+Name%3d%22lang%22+Value%3d%22en%22%2f%5e%7earg+Name%3d%22cr%22+Value%3d%22US%22%2f%5e%7esParams%5e%7e%2fsParams%5e%7e%2fCMTYDataSvcParams%5e Yes, both real. Both annoying. And, if you try to email these, they will not display properly in some email clients. Some people won’t be able to click them…

Grabbing a gravatar

Do you like to use online forums or comment on blogs? If you do, chances are you’ve seen, or perhaps even have, a small icon or picture that often sits to the left of a commenter’s name. These are called…