Category: Ideas
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Update on Ebrary downloadable content
Last month I complained that it wasn't possible to download ebrary content directly to the iPad, but that's changed sometime in the intervening weeks. As outlined in this ebrary knowledgebase post, you'll first need to create an Adobe ID (you probably have one already if you've dealt with their DRM in the past), and also…
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A quick introduction to the concept of open access in universities
Thanks to my colleague Tim for tweeting about this short video, produced a year ago by the Canadian Association of Research Libraries and McGill University Library. I wish it somehow did better job explaining how the money aspect of the equation keeps research out of the hands of some, as most of us here in…
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A mid-way review of In the Plex
I'm just over half-way through Steven Levy's In the Plex: How Google thinks, works, and shapes our lives, and wanted to jot down a few notes (and remove the sticky I have marking a quote). The early chapters aren't going to give you much new information if you've been a Google follower for a while,…
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The Information Flaneur – a new way to browse the collection?
Here's a short article about a search engine being built by a UofC PhD student. Called VisGets, it's definitely a browsing tool, not something one would use to search for a known item. What do you think, could this work for browsing a library collection?
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How Individual Book Buying Experiences are Reshaping Academic Library User Expectations for Ebooks
When I recently posted a summary of Jane Burke's posts on the InfoViews blog, I hadn't realized InfoViews was owned by a ProQuest employee. Mike does point out that the views posted are his, and not those of ProQuest, but it's something to be aware of, and explains why he's collecting so many guest posts…
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What’s missing from EVERY iOS cycling app
I've tried a fair few of them by now, and have settled on iMapMyRide, because it's accurate (most are), and it shows hill categorizations, which I think is tres cool. There are a lot of hills in Calgary, so it's nice to get some tiny tangible recognition for climbing them. But there's something EVERY iOS…
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User perceptions of the academic library and how Discovery Systems can help
I wanted to wait until the final post before mentioning Jane Burke's guest 6-part series about user perceptions of the library and how Discovery Systems can help on the InfoViews blog. Jane is Senior Vice President of ProQuest and the executive sponsor of Serials Solutions (who makes Summon). In the first four posts Jane paints a…
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7 Things You Should Know About the Modern Learning Commons
This month Educause looks at 7 Things You Should Know About the Modern Learning Commons. The learning commons, sometimes called an “information commons,” has evolved from a combination library and computer lab into a full-service learning, research, and project space. As a place where students can meet, talk, study, and use “borrowed” equipment, the learning…
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Some Discovery-related Reading
I've had a few posts about Discovery Services piling up in Google Reader: Library Technology Reports, Volume 47, Number 1 / January 2011, is an issue dedicated to Web Scale Discovery Systems. "This report describes in detail the content, interface, and functionality of web scale discovery services developed by four major library vendors: OCLC, Serials Solutions,…