Twitter Class Notes

As we continue on with our course, we are looking at twitter, the use of it and possibilities for libraries.

For this I created a new twitter account, @ARLibraries, the purpose of which is to focus solely on libraries, future technology related to libraries, augmented reality and related fields.

Twitter has advantages in that it can provide quick, concise feeds of information and thoughts, but there are also downsides.  Follow too many people - especially if they aren't work or profession related - and any useful posts can be rapidly lost in the stream of posts, often many of which may be irrelevant.  It is for that reason I set up a new account only for course/study and library/technology related posters.

One thing we are required to do is a annotated citation on one poster.  For that I have chosen and followed Bonnie Wildie.


Twitter.com. 2013. Bonnie Wildie (BonnieWildie) on Twitter. [online] Available at: https://twitter.com/BonnieWildie [Accessed: 27 Aug 2013].

Bonnie Wildie posts on twitter under the username @BonnieWildie, and has made to date 809 tweets, with 416 followers, with the most recent being this week.  She teaches at the WSI TAFE, and her twitter account (and blog) are designed to help her LIS students discover the interactions between social media and the library world.  This speaks to her authority, though as she says all her opinions are her won.  While it is aimed towards her students, it is of interest to any in the field of libraries and social media.

On Podcasts

Looking at podcasts, it took me a while to discover one about the use of Augmented Reality in the library, but in the end I did.  It can be found here;

http://lis460.podomatic.com/entry/index/2012-03-22T10_41_44-07_00

PodOmatic. 2012. Linda's podcast. [online] Available at: http://lis460.podomatic.com/entry/index/2012-03-22T10_41_44-07_00 [Accessed: 20 Aug 2013].

Jessica Blasko - Augmented Reality in the Library is a podcast of a talk by Jessica Blasko, public librarian at the Watertown Public Library, uploaded by Linda W Braun, Project Management and Consulting Coordinator of Librarians and Educators Online.  LEO is a consulting company specializing in the growing technology and information needs of libraries, schools, and other educational institutions.  There is some authority from the speaker on the podcast, though given the commercial nature of the company the uploader works for, it may be lessened partially.  The talk is about what AR is, and why it should be used.  The talk was made March 22, 2012, making it fairly recent.  It is aimed towards other librarians and those that work in libraries.

A Glimpse of the Future

Could this be a glimpse of the augmented reality libraries of the future?



The possibility is intriguing  - and one to look forward to.

YouTube Class Notes

Furthering on with YouTube, we come to notes, opinions, and of course our own work.

One of the tasks we had to undertake was to create our own short video, in which we had to demonstrate a task in action, then upload it to YouTube.  Here is mine.


YouTube as itself is a site with endless possibility as to what you can find, but there are drawbacks, in that anyone can upload anything and it can remain there until reported and removed.  Also the anonymous nature of commenting means a lot of negative comments can be made unless comments are closed.

The video I choose to explore, on ShelvAR, was chosen as it demonstrates one example of AR in action in a library, and one that is forthcoming soon.

In this day of the digital age,libraries at least understanding, if not using YouTube is becoming more important.  As digital integration becomes more common, with new technologies such as augmented reality, being able to plug into it and provide services to customers can help libraries retain their edge.  Events can be advertised and shared with ease, and even book trailers and reviews can be shown.

ShelvAR In Action

Continuing on with our class exercises, we come to YouTube.  For this part of the course, I am going to show a video on the AR app, ShelvAR, now being tested in the Wertz Art and Architecture Library at Miami University.  ShelvAR is designed to increase the speed and accuracy of shelf-reading, which has to date always been done by eye.






YouTube. 2012. ShelvAR - ISMAR 2012 submission. [online] Available at: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5syfcmV3mwQ [Accessed: 20 Aug 2013].


The ShelvAR - ISMAR 2012 submission YouTube video was uploaded by Dr Bo Brinkman, of the Miami University Department of Computer Science and Software Engineering, which gives the video authority.  In it he explains and demonstrates the ShelvAR app.  The video was posted May 23, 2012, meaning it is a bit over a year old, but still relevant given the app is not yet publicly released.  The video is aimed towards librarians and those who work in libraries, as a demonstration of what will be available in the future, as well as for anyone interested in the development of AR.

There are also a couple of other videos which have shown the development of the app.

 From Jul 6, 2012, showing the app in action being tested in the Wertz library.


From Mar 22, 2011, showing the app for the first time.

As can be seen, once this tool is up and running and available, it will be a valuable tool in any library, given the time savings and accuracy it provides.  It is an example of just what can be expected with the addition of augmented reality to libraries.

Augmented Reality in Education Wiki

Trying to find a wiki based around AR in libraries is, not surprisingly, not easy. The wiki I am looking at for my annotated bibliography is about augmented reality in education.

Augmented-reality-in-education.wikispaces.com. 1997. Augmented Reality in Education - home. [online] Available at: http://augmented-reality-in-education.wikispaces.com/ [Accessed: 13 Aug 2013].

The Augmented Reality in Education wiki was set up by Karen E Hamilton, professor and online coordinator in the School of Liberal Arts & Sciences at George Brown College in Toronto, Canada, as part of the Curriculum, Technology and Educational Reform (CTER) program at University of Illinois- Urbana.  Given she is the only poster to date, it gives the wiki authority, but given the nature of wikis and that they can be added to by others, it is no guarantee that it will remain so.  The most recent updated were in March this year, which makes it fairly relevant.  The blog is aimed at those interested in using AR in the fields of education.

On Wikis

A wiki is a collaborative web application that allows it users to add, modify or delete content, normal via some form of content management system for easy use, similar to have blogs are edited.

They can range from small group wikis, where only permitted members are allowed to edit the wiki, through to world wide wikis where anyone can edit it.  The most famous of these is of course wikipedia.

Wikis can be set up for any conceivable purpose, ranging from wikipeda's encyclopedia, to specific subjects such as courses or TV series and communities both large and small.

Within libraries, such things as book reviews can work well, with readers commenting on the books they have read and their recommendations.  It could also be used internally for organisation and for scheduling, for training purposes and for links to relevant and useful information.

Discovery Exercise - Class Wiki

As another part of our course studies, we looked at wikis, as well as practicing with using them on an internal class one.

Given my previous experience with blogs, and the general similar in which they are used, making changes, additions and adding pages and links came fairly simply to me.  Even for people with little experience with them, I can not see them having too many problems with editing and adding to pages.  Links may prove a bit harder to manage at first, but once learned may not be too difficult to handle.

A Delicious Look

Continuing on from class notes, we get to Delicious.  Delicious is a social bookmarking website for storing, sharing and discovering website bookmarks.  When you bookmark a website on your own computer, it is only available to whoever uses that computer.  In Delicious, it works a bit differently.  You bookmark the site through Delicious, making it publicly available to anyone who uses Delicious.

How can you find relevant bookmarks in all those saves ones?  Through tags.  You, and others, can tag the bookmarks, and you can search for tags which will then list all bookmarked websites so tagged.  Of course, if it isn't tagged then it can't be easily found.


In a library setting, it could be of use to see what websites other libraries and their staff find interesting, what they are working on, development and of course as an easy method to share what is happening in your own library.

From what I have seen of Delicious to date, it isn't too difficult to work with, though I have yet to delve deep into it to find out all it is capable of.

Flogr - a Flickr mashup

Among the items we are covering in this course are mashups, where in data from two or more sources is combined to create a new service.



 One such example of this is flogr, which allows you to display your flickr photos in a customizable photo gallery on your website.  So if you don't like the flickr default look, you can arrange a different one.

TasTAFE Library & Flickr

IMG_0990, a photo by a_warwick on Flickr.

A view of part of the Campbell St library of TasTAFE.  Fairly typical of most libraries, and what people in general consider them to look like.  What if we could make it more though...what if we could augment it....

This photo comes from our exploration of the photo sharing site, Flickr, in which we had to not only find a library related photo (in my case the SpeedGeeking 2012 photo), but also take and upload one of our library.

From what I have seen, Flickr seems fairly simple to use, and share with, but I have a fairly extensive IT background which may colour my views on such matters.

SpeedGeeking 2012 (7)

SpeedGeeking 2012 (7), a photo by School of Engineering and Applied Science, MU Ohio on Flickr.

Flickr. n.d.. SpeedGeeking 2012 (7). [online] Available at: http://www.flickr.com/photos/79737110@N02/7338371968/# [Accessed: 6 Aug 2013].

The ShelvAR team presenting their work on the augmented reality mobile app, ShelvAR, which is used to help the user sort library books on a shelf.

One augmented reality app I want to talk about at some point is ShelvAR, but first the annotated bibliography of the above photo as required for course work.

SpeedGeeking 2012 (7) was uploaded to flickr by the School of Engineering and Applied Science, Miami University, Ohio, which, as a university, speaks to their authority. It portrays the ShelvAR team presenting their work at the annual CSE SpeedGeeking in 2012, making both the event and the photo current. The SpeedGeeking event is where CSE capstone students provide short presentations to alumni and other participants about their research. The photo is aimed at sharing with the public snapshots of the event and what went on.