Tech Term Knowledge Pt. 2

More terms to print off, study, memorize and use to dazzle your friends and colleagues. Those youngsters that you work with won't know what hit them when you start talking about that kindle that's available right now, or ask what kind of MP3 player they're planning to use for the new overdrive books available!

Hyperlink: A navigation element in an email, blog,or website that opens on a webpage or takes you elsewhere. Click on Hyperlink and you'll see what I mean!
Kindle: For a consumer from Amazon. An electronic device that stores, organizes and plays print or text files like e books.
MP3 Player: For consumers. An electronic device that stores, organizes and plays audio files like music and audio books. IPods, Sansa, Zen Stones are examples.
Netiquette: ettiquette on the net. Mostly encouraged when emailing, but increasingly important in IM and social sites. Be polite. Be Nice. Be diplomatic.
Quick Time: A file extension developed by Apple. When you see a quick time extension on the web, it means the file in question is a movie or video clip.
Synchronous learning: An online classroom with lots of other people logged into the class in real time, discussing together. As in a WIMBA class from NW. This term is opposite of asynchronous learning.
Widget: In computing terms this refers to objects on a webpage that users interact with. Hyperlinked objects that when placed on your website or blog take you elsewhere on the web. An example is LibraryThing that provides widgets for you to put on your website.
WIMBA: A corporate name and leading producer of collaborative learning software and online classrooms. Web Junction uses WIMBA classrooms as their vehicle for the State Library and NWILS. If you were involved in last winter's Online conference you were involved in a WIMBA room.

If you keep tabs on new technology terms, you'll be learning something new every day. Check out www.webopedia.com to find the definition for terms that are unfamiliar, or to learn new ones! Keeping up is hard to do, but this site can give you a hand.

Tech Term Knowledge

These terms are from the 2008 Jamboree session on technology. And if you want more terms be sure to click here. There was so much available Bonnie didn't have time to get through them all. So we will test your knowledge in a couple of posts:
Applet A software component that runs in the content of another program. A small application like a web caculator or a text editor. Windows media player is one....
Asynchronous Learning: An online classroom but one not in real time. It is not connected to a teaching human at the other end, but is rather a tutorial, like web junction. You take these 'classes' on your own time and at your own speed, by yourself.
Avatar: a 'cute' image of your alter ego when you're online in IM or 2nd Life.
Bandwidth: The maximum amount of data that can flow throgh a communication path at any given time. It speaks to the speed of your internet connection if you look at it as a garden hose.
DRM: Digital Rights Management. It is the transferring to other medi functionality after its been downloaded; like downloading a book from Wilbor to Media Player to your MP3 player.
Emoticons: The smiley faces used to express feelings when you are using IM or emailing someone.
FAQ: Frequently asked Questions. As in the NW FAQ page about Wilbor.
VOIP: Voice over internet protocol. Your computer receives voice transmission from another connected computer, not a long distance phone call. Skype is an example.

Don't have Time?

So, if you're like most of the library world, staying current seems to be nearly impossible. It seems that once you get something down... like, say, flickr, or plone, or google docs, or even overdrive when along comes something else that you have to learn or try. The technology is exploding and you're at the center of the blast! So how do you keep up?

Delegate some time each week to pend at that keeping up task. Blogs are a great way to start and there are some great ones out there that will help you sort through all the important explosions of technology and information:
Library link of the day
Librarian in Black resources and discussions for techie/not so techie librarians
Library Garden A discussion from different kinds of libraries helping keep libraries relevant
Tame the Web libraries, technology, people
LISNews news for the librarian among us!
Library Journal Ok we just can't get away from reading, reading reading. It's what we do/promote!
There are also, a whole host of blogs and sites out there that are geared towards libraries and reading, that provide all kinds of reviews, or just discussions about topics that you might have a particular interest in. If you use an RSS feed you never have to go hunting for that site or try to remember which one it was. It will come into your computer automatically.

Some really good blogs that provide book reviews:
Big A Little a
Youth services Librarians unite
What Adrienne thinks about that
chicken spaghetti
Jen Robinson's promoting the love of books by children and the continued reading of children's books by adults

By checking any of these sites out, you will no doubt find more sites from links that are available there. Oh, I know, reading blogs, or about available technology won't get books processed or shelved, or even other technological problems that you have get solved, patrons served, but you will be much more knowlageable about what's out "there" right now. Keep up!

Take a tour: Glendale, AZ public Library!

I recently visited a branch library of the Glendale Public Library in Glendale, Arizona and was treated to some amazing art. I thought it might be fun for you to see what libraries are doing in other areas! Glendale has a program in place that provides commissioned art for libraries. These three pieces cost more than $500,000. Paid for by tax dollars, but not directly by the libraries. The first piece is called "the Magic Door" and is the entrance to the library's children's story hour room. Viewed at eye level, things on the inside are a bit distorted and is to make a child feel like he/she is headed into a world of their own. The second piece is a 20+ foot painting of all the animals in the sonoran desert as they would be during a 24 hour period. Beginning at one end you see animals during the early morning darkness hours and progress through an entire day. It is a beautiful painting and is labeled with all the animals of the desert. some of them you have to hunt carefully for. You could spend quite a bit of time checking this painting out! The last piece is called Sun and Moon and is made of 1000's of pieces of hand blown glass. It's suspended from the ceiling of their entry way and is very impressive. I have to tell you that this branch library was all on one level and wasn't much bigger than the Spencer or Orange City library. Very impressive.