LibrarianInBlack

Creative Commons, User Generated Web Content, Mobile Learning, and more!

No need to rub your eyes.  Yes, this is a new Librarian in Black post.  As I have been blogging quite infrequently for the last few months, instead of writing out full-on single-issue posts with commentary, I'm going to throw out a number of things to pay attention to in each post--things that caught my attention in the last few months and made it onto the "blog about this later" list.  Think of it is a Blast o' Information, all at once, or if you like instead: "Highlights from mid-2009."  When I feel caught up enough to stop this nonsense, I will.  But until then, read on ... maybe you'll see something you passed up the first time you saw it in your feeds.

The Official Unofficial Creative Commons Facebook Application: Integrating Creative Commons licensing for your Facebook content is nearly impossible, as it is all spread out app by app.  However, if you use this app, it lets your page viewers know that your stuff is licensed through CC (a choice most libraries make for their online content).

Good Example of Website User Content: Emily the Strange has a lot of fan content on her site, including My Strange Cats - a LOLcat-esque area where fans can upload their cat photos a la Emily with titles/tags/etc., and other users can rate, comment, share, and tag the photos.  And the upload form is super-easy.  I'm looking at this as a good model for providing user uploads of library content such as book reviews, photos, videos and more.

IMLS Podcast Series for Jobseekers: The Institute of Museum and Library Services is now offering a Libraries to the Rescue series of five podcasts. The series consists of library folks sharing steps and success stories of how they have helped their communities.  There is a link for the audio and transcripts and also a separate link with resources for job-seekers.

Geek the Library: An innovative new library support campaign in Iowa.  Nice logo :)

ALA Emerging Leaders: The 2010 application to particpate in ALA's Emerging Leaders program is due July 31st, so if you're interested - do it now.

Free Mobile Learning Textbook: A new textbook, Mobile Learning: Transforming the Delivery of Education and Training, is available for free download in whole or in part if you're only interested in a particular chapter.  Open access publishing makes me happy.  [found via Reference Notes]

Hello. My name is Sarah, and I have Ehlers-Danlos Syndrome.

Librarian in Black readers have likely noticed that in the last several months I have been blogging less and less. I will continue blogging, never fear. But there is a reason for my less prolific activity. I am sick. I won’t die from my illness, but I am, nevertheless, sick. I have debated for years whether or not to share this with my professional contacts and readers of this blog.

I have Ehlers-Danlos Syndrome (EDS), and since May is Ehlers-Danlos Awareness Month, I thought I'd take this opportunity to do some issue advocacy for something that is part of my everyday life.

Ehlers-Danlos Syndrome is an extremely rare genetic disorder that affects the body’s production of collagen. And you’d be surprised by how much collagen is in your body (overall, the body is 30% collagen). It’s in your skin, your ligaments, tendons, etc.

What finally made me speak up was a recent conversation with a young woman with EDS. She was just diagnosed and she needed to build a support network. Tearful in one conversation, she encouraged me to continue helping others to keep them from wanting to die instead of living with the disease, like she had when first diagnosed.

I am writing to raise awareness and to help explain my own erratic activity and involvement in library-land. I am not writing, however, to ask for sympathy and I most certainly do not want any pity-posts. Take this information and maybe you can help someone else in your life with EDS get a diagnosis faster.

If you want a quick, 5-minute video explanation of what Ehlers-Danlos Syndrome is, try this video from the Discovery Channel:

Due to the EDS, every collagen cell in my body is faulty and is programmed to be too stretchy and ultimately becomes like an old stretched out rubber band.  Normal rubber bands are tight and when you stretch them they bounce right back to their previous shape. EDS sufferers have collagen that is already over-stretched, so when you stretch it out again, it does not bounce back to its original shape, but stays lax and loose. Therefore, we’re super-flexible…but pushing our joints to their limits (as with stretching, yoga, Pilates, heavy-lifting) does long-term irreversible damage.

Practically speaking, this means that my joints are all incredibly unstable and frequently dislocate. Some of my joints bend completely backwards (I can do neat party tricks like bending all of my fingers to touch the back of my hand) while other joints like my wrists and knees bend about 5-10 degrees backwards. The muscles around every single joint also tend to tighten way up, to do the job that my tendons and ligaments aren’t doing: keeping my skeleton in one piece. Dislocations and always-tight muscles = whole body chronic pain.

There’s a lot of collagen in skin especially (90% of skin is collagen), so my skin is super-stretchy and velvety which means two things: I have great skin that will keep me young-looking and wrinkle-free well into my life. But my skin (as well as other collagen-based tissues) bruises and tears easily and takes ten times as long to heal as normal skin does. This is bad for surgeries, and even for simple injuries like cat scratches. So, I'll probably look like I'm twenty when I'm sixty, but I felt like I was sixty when I was twenty. I truly, truly do feel like an old woman. My body doesn't work the way it should. It has betrayed me.

Below are a couple of photos that show what EDS patients look like, so you can get an idea of what I'm talking about (incidentally, these are not me):

Think of EDS like extreme rheumatoid arthritis in every single joint, with the addition of random dislocations. And “every single joint” means just that: fingers, wrists, elbows, shoulders, ribs, vertebrae (a particular bad set of joints for me), hips, knees, ankles, toes, etc.  People with Ehlers-Danlos Syndrome experience acute chronic pain in some or all of their joints and experience neuropathic (nerve) pain in some or all parts of their body, and some even have heart defects that can cause sudden death. Most of us have additional problems with vision, digestion, migraines, pregnancy, and our jaws and teeth. It's an all-encompassing disorder. I have the "Hypermobility Type" of EDS, and my most serious symptoms are in my entire spine, hands, wrists, ribs, knees, and hips.  Thankfully, I do not have the "Vascular Type" of EDS, which can cause sudden and early death.

There is no cure for EDS. There are only limited treatments for the chronic pain and over-flexibility.  Due to the rareness of the disorder, there is no money to be made by medical companies doing research into medication or other treatments.  Therefore, like other rare diseases, we with EDS suffer with little hope for any changes.

What does having EDS mean for me on a daily basis?  I wake up in intense pain every morning and am in pain all day.  Literally, I cannot remember the last time that I didn't hurt.  I am on 5 different pain medications which have numerous side effects including memory loss, loss of verbal recall, and sedation.  I have limited mobility and strength. If I move too much, it hurts. If I don’t move around enough, it also hurts like the devil.  I usually walk with a cane to avoid hip, knee, and ankle dislocations.  I have half a dozen different doctors managing my care, which means a lot of time in medical offices, at the pharmacy, experimenting with trial treatments, and in general a lot of time spent on my illness instead of my life.  Last, but not least, my life will never, ever be what I wanted it to be as a little girl. My life will likely not be as long as it would be if I did not have EDS. I will always be in pain. I will always have limited mobility. I will always be unable to do the things I wanted to as a young woman: hiking, traveling abroad, painting, calligraphy, yoga, cooking, etc.

I was diagnosed with Ehlers-Danlos Syndrome in 2005, a year after I became symptomatic. It is common for EDS-sufferers to become symptomatic in their late 20s, as I did, and to have a hard time getting a diagnosis due to a general lack of knowledge about EDS in the medical community. Before being diagnosed, most of us are told that instead we have Fibromyalgia or that the pain is simply in our heads--never an inspirational thing to hear.

My first sign of EDS symptoms was (brace yourself) dislocating every single rib on my right side, in my sleep. After an unproductive ER visit, I saw a dozen different doctors and received several different diagnoses before finally being diagnosed with EDS by a geneticist. It fit…all of it. Every symptom, every physical characteristic, my family history, all of it fit.

As you might imagine, in the following week I researched the heck out of the disorder like any good librarian. I checked everywhere. The most useful resource I found was the Ehlers Danlos National Foundation (EDNF). EDNF provides a vast amount of information as well as support groups, research resources, and contacts for advocacy. If you want more information, I would recommend their site as a place to get caught up. You can also review the Ehlers-Danlos Support Group.

After my diagnosis and research, I followed up by trying every kind of doctor or health care practitioner who might be able to help me: acupuncture, chiropractic care, rheumatologists, massage, spine specialists, neuromuscular therapy, cranial-sacral therapy, sleep specialists, chronic pain specialists, support groups, biofeedback, nutritionists, homeopaths, naturopathic doctors. You name it, I did it (and had to pay for it out of pocket, too). I kept busy for a couple of years with doctors, paths of treatment, and hope for a magical cure.

But I never took a leave of absence. I went to work with dislocated joints. I continued to blog. I continued to travel and present. I continued to write. I did not take it easy. I even walked the 7 ½ mile Bay to Breakers Race a few months after my diagnosis to prove to myself that I was OK. But I wasn’t. And a magical treatment wasn’t to be.

In the last few years my health has continued to deteriorate. The last year has been particularly bad. There has been grief; I no longer have that possible magical treatment to look forward to. This is it. I will not get better, barring some spectacular advances in stem cell therapy, which is the only way to heal faulty DNA that produces messed-up collagen.

Living with EDS means that the moment I get home from work I get horizontal to take pressure off of my spine and I don't get vertical again until the next morning. The same is true at conferences or other events (where you won’t see me at late night drinking fests or early morning breakfasts).

Living with EDS means that I rely heavily on my loved ones (especially my caring husband) to take care of me because I'm frequently incapacitated and unable to take care of myself, whether it will be for a couple of hours, a couple of days, or a couple of weeks.

Living with EDS means that I still am thankful for every day that I do not have to use a wheelchair, days when I can still move and walk around.  I appreciate what abilities I do still have even more because I don't know how much longer I'll have them. Pain-free days don’t happen, but low-pain days usually result in a flurry of activity while high-pain days mean lots of resting, pain medication, and trying not to cry.

So, to conclude…please do not be sad. Be educated. That is what this post was all about, after all. So, what can you do to make my confession worth it?

• Remember what EDS is and what its symptoms are (hypermobile joints, fragile or stretchy skin, chronic pain).  Maybe someday you can help someone else who doesn't know what's wrong with them get an early diagnosis and treatment.
• Be patient with me as I have my bad days, weeks, or months.  I am not ignoring you, I just can't muster the energy or get through the pain to do what I have to do sometimes.
• Donate to the Ehlers-Danlos National Foundation.
• Buy flowers through EDNF’s FlowerPetal.com site and a portion of the sale will go directly to EDNF.
• And finally, if you want to learn more, watch this longer video about a woman with EDS, the effect on her life, and her process to diagnosis.

Thank you all for your support, especially those who have known of my disorder and support me through patience, kindness, and making sure I get enough rest at conferences (thanks Aaron!).  And as always a huge thanks to my husband for his daily support.  It means the world to me.

Watch Ehlers-Danlos Mystery in Educational  |  View More Free Videos Online at Veoh.com

"Creating Future Libraries" notebooks for libraries

If you want to inspire some creative thinking in your library staff, especially in these tough times of layoffs and a need for inspired solutions to difficult problems, take a look at these lovely "Creating Future Libraries" notebooks created by Aaron Schmidt.  You can get the standard notebooks (both sides pictured below) or you can order custom notebooks. 

I'd like to pass them out at a staff training day, ask people to record thoughts for the next month, and then come together again with all of our ideas.  What would you do?

See Aaron's site for more information on his inspiration and ordering information.  At only $3 each with discounts on orders over 20, can you afford not to buy them?

Emerging Library Technologies Study in an Academic Library

The always brilliant Char Booth has just published "Informing Innovation: Tracking Student Interest in Emerging Library Technologies at Ohio University" through ACRL's Digital Publications wing.  It's an interesting study in practical technology applications with a user focus.  And guess what?  It's based on hard data!  Can you believe it?  Librarians using hard data? :)  You can download the PDF of the study results, the study instrument itself, as well as a webcast by Char.

From the abstract of this 130+ page book:

This book by Char Booth examines one institution’s efforts to move away from technolust and towards a “culture of assessment." It presents findings from an environmental scan conducted at Ohio University, which investigated the convergence of students, libraries, and emerging information, communication, and academic tools. Survey data is used to test generational and demographic assumptions that often guide technology development in academic libraries. The identification of student behaviors related to emerging and social technologies and the implications indicated by those behaviors are central to this study. The need for local user assessment is a fundamental message in this volume, which shares practical research strategies and methods with the reader. University and college libraries can use this case study and its appended survey instrument template to conduct similar investigations on their campuses.

Two OHIONET presentations: Sutainable Tech & Info Overload

Below are links to two presentations (on Slideshare) from my sessions at the OHIONET Annual Meeting last week.  I had a lovely time there and met many friendly library people.  We are a friendly bunch, aren't we? :)  Please feel free to peruse and enjoy!

Sustainable Technology in a 2.0 World

Handling Information Overload

Sarah at OHIONET this week

I will be giving the keynote on Wednesday at the OHIONET Annual Meeting (in Columbus).  The talk starts at 10:30am and will cover managing sustainable technologies in the library.  I will also be giving a talk in the afternoon about dealing with information overload.  If you're able to attend either session, please stop by and say hello!

playlist.io

If you haven't seen playlist.io, check it out.  It's a place to drop music files and playlists and then access them from anywhere, using the website itself or a number of its applications.  They even have a premium account you can upgrade to in order to get more space to drop your audio.  This could be useful as a hosting platform for audio conferences, podcasts, anything you can think of.

Cloud computing, touch screens, and more - voila!

A couple of months ago Jason Perlow wrote an interesting article on ZDnet on the future of computing, including the trend toward cloud computing and toward more visual and even touch-screen interfaces.  Two things I found interesting enough about this article to bother blogging about it two months later:

1. He touches on a lot of different possibilities for what new computers will look like and work like but like any good technologist, does not speak in absolutes.  He knows he doesn't know.  I truly appreciate that honesty.
2. The comments on the article are nearly as interesting as the article itself.  Other techies throw out their own ideas, slam his, and create a synthesis all their own.  For example, here's a comment from user johnfenjackson: "I share your vision insofar as the technology goes.  There are several global corporations who do not: media rights holders for all content, ISP's, M$$$$$$$$ [Microsoft], A???? [Apple].  Once they share the vision, and realise that the Internet means they are going to be dinosaurs unless they change their cost model and revenue expectations, then we might get somewhere."  Interesting, right?  The discussion continues!

Screen reader preference survey results

WebAIM conducted a survey over the past year or so to determine the usability preferences of people who use screen readers to view the web.  In other words, how do they like pages to be laid out?  What works and what doesn't?  What functionality works best?  What sites are really horrible and which ones work great?  The basic conclusion is that there is no general trend among users with screen readers, and a good response from screen-reader-users can only be achieved by following good usability practices and giving people options. 

I found it interesting that some very popular sites received poor marks from our screen-reader-users, including Amazon, YouTube, Facebook, and MySpace.  The other trend that I noticed was a consistent bashing of the use of Flash on websites.  I agree wholeheartedly, though for different reasons.  So many people don't realize how hard it is to use Flash effectively on a website and still make it accessible.  Most people don't even try, which results in frustration and irritation on the part of anyone using an alternative device (including mobile devices) to access the website in question.  Sarah's conclusion?  Same as theirs.  Use good usability practices...always.

FCC reviews content-blocking technologies: internet, video, & televison

I am still working on a comprehensive write-up on our library's filtering experience to post here, but in the meantime I thought I'd link everyone to an interesting article I ran across in my research: "FCC: More Content-Blocking Gizmos Needed" by Matthew Lasar on ars technica.  The FCC took public comments through April 16th on ways to effectively create "advanced blocking technologies" across all digital media (inc. television, DVDs, etc.) and the web.  This is being done in response to implementation of the "Child Safe Viewing Act of 2007" which mandated that the FCC gather information on filters and blockers on the market and how to best implement them.  The FCC has to review all of the feedback submitted and submit a summary report to Congress by August 29th, 2009.  It will be interesting to see what comes out of this process.  Will it be filters on video sites online?  More implementation of the v-chip or similar devices?  In any case, any universal solution can only serve to hamper our Constitutional rights to freedom of information so I can guarantee that many members of the library community will be watching closely.

Copyright video makes copyright fun

The Copyright Clearance Center (CCC) created a short video explaining how copyright works. 

CCC is making the video available for free for anyone who wants to use it for educational purposes.  The video is available for viewing online and anyone who is using it for educational purposes (e.g. to teach the library staff in your institution) can request a downloadable file by filling out this online form.  The video is quite clever and probably the most digestable explanation of copyright I've seen/heard.  Take a look!

City Council Votes Against Filters in the San Jose Public Library

Hello all.  I am jubilant to report that last night, near midnight after 4 hours of debate, the San Jose City Council voted 8-3 against implementing filters in the public libraries.  In addition, the proposal voted for requires that before filters should be considered in the libraries, other child safety budget priorities must be met first (such as fully funding crossing guards as well as police sexual exploitation and crimes units, and restoring the libraries' open hours to their 2000 levels).  I will write more on this later, with some links to news coverage, our library's report, the filtering study I headed up, etc.

Texas Library Association presentation: Methods for Staying Current and Dealing with Information Overload

Last Thursday I spoke at the Texas Library Association's Annual Conference in Houston.  I spoke about information overload, methods for staying current, and sites/resources to use to stay current in various aspects of librarianship.  You can find my presentation on Slideshare: Methods for Staying Current and Dealing with Information Overload, or use the embedded version below to view the slides.  I hope that this presentation helps others as much as it seemed to help the Texas audience (who was great by the way!). 

Methods For Staying Current and Dealing with Information Overload

View more presentations from Sarah Houghton-jan.

CIL2009: Mobile Library Apps

Mobile Library Apps
Sheryl Bai, Benjamin Smith, Chris Tonjes, Bill McLendon, and Aaron Schmidt

This session started with a presentation about the use of Handheld devices at the UCHC School of Medicine. Sheryl Bai said that the School has been supporting mobile devices since 2001. Back them, PDAs were the newest tool. A lot of medical resources were only available in mobile formats, which helped to move the School to move toward mobile devices. There was also a grant that the school received to give PDAs to the residents (students) at the School. Then selected faculty members were given PDAs with per-loaded databases of information and named "Faculty Champions." Some faculty took to the technology right away but others did not. In 2003, the library started loaning PDAs to student volunteers through something they called the "Student Champion Program." They started having a PDA Clinic and PDA Tune-Ups where students and faculty can receive training and technical support for their devices. They also created a website dedicated to the PDA services that helped support the services.

Benjamin continued the sessioin by discussing the current PDA initiative of the program. The first step is to require that second year medical students use the PDAs. They then check with the faculty to find out what databases they want the students to use on the devices. They then test some of the handhelds with the various databases. They create instructions for how to do the simpler tasks and send letter to the students about the program. They then meet with the small group of students and help them learn how to use the PDAs and afterward act as a resource for the other students. They also hold a "handheld orientation" where they demo the databases for them. Some of the considerations they've had to consider have been which devices to use and which OS to use (Wiindows Mobile 2003 or Mobile 5). They have had to caution students that when they purchase their own handhelds or smartphones, that they are not just buying the device but an ongoing data plan. The screen resolution on smartphones is lower than on normal screens/PDAs.*** Sometimes that wreaks havoc with the data and makes it hard to read. Windows Mobile 5 vs. Windows Mobile 6 cause problems. On PDAs and smartphones there are different versions and therefore they work differently, much less the differences between the two versions. Some of the Pocket PC Utilities they use include dotPocket, DeepFreeze from Faronics, ActiveSync, Microsoft Remote Display Control, My Mobiler, and the Windows Mobile Device Center.

Next, Chris Tonjes spoke about the Washington D.C. Public Library's iPhone Application. The goals for their iPhone application included working toward horizontal integration of their ILS, providing an alternative delivery of the catalog, giving them the library's first foray into the mobile world, leveraging the power of the iTunes app store (which they believe is the delivery method of the future), and providing tangible, near-term ROI and extended library use and awareness. The iPhone release road map started months ago, but they plan to improve the user interface, add RSS feeds of library info, add more account features, and release that in the 2nd quarter of 2009. In the 4th quarter of 2009 they plan to provide "full" account features, links to library multimedia, and allow for direct downloads. In the 2nd quarter of 2010 the plan is to offer eCommerce using iTunes and offer even easier and more direct downloads. From 12/21/2008-3/1/2009, there have been 2199 downloads in 17 countries. About 100 programming hours went into the creation of the app. The code for their app is available for download at http://dclibrarylabs.org. Hurrah for sharing code!

Bill then talked about the SMS Text messaging from their catalog for My Account features (overdue and hold notices, etc.). This was desirable to cover smartphone users who don't use the iPhone. They also felt that in their community many people of different ages use SMS. The SMS message includes a link to their account so that right from their notice they can renew, etc. It is an opt-in service on the website registration page. They are also attempting to increase library event participation via same day notification to the SMS users. He did note that you do have to tailor the messages to SMS length and message size requirements. If you have a system that supports categorization of your patrons, you can have them receive targeted messages to their interests. For their ILS, Sirsi Dynix, there was no library cost to extend notices and announcements to going out via SMS instead of email. They schedule the messages to go out in the middle of the day so they are not disturbing users in off-hours and give them time to pick up items or come to an event. They send out an average of 100 SMS notices daily.

Aaron finished off the session by discussing his work on the look and feel of the iPhone app. Aaron sketched design options on paper before presenting the final recommended design to the library. He showed the different designs to regular people to get feedback before starting. He says the design is very simple, which it is. There is a .psd file that has all of the different elements of iPhones, so Aaron used Photoshop to mock-up the final design. The first page offers two options: searching the catalog or looking at hours and locations. Clicking on the phone number of a location will call the library and clicking on the address launches a map. In the catalog you can click on the library location, place a hold (which requires entry of your username and PIN, which can be saved). And just like on the regular catalog you can choose a pick-up location. Next, they want to make the design different. Aaron would like to use the barcode reader applications of iPhones (taking photos of a book's barcode, which would immediately place a hold on that item at your library).

Audience questions included #1: whether there were restrictions on who was allowed to download the app. The answer is no, everyone can use it. #2: Was it difficult to work through the iTunes app process? Yes, their first version was rejected, they needed to add an error message for the flight mode, and it cost $100 to join the iPhone app developers' group. #3: On the back-end, how does the SMS work? The OPAC works with email already, so they used email-to-SMS tools to provide access. (I'd like to learn more about how they did that in SirsiDynix...) #4: Clarifying question about the number of development hours. The 100 hours included the self-training and learning process. #5: What made them devide on an iPhone app and not a web app. The introduction of the iPhone app store was revolutionary, says Chris, so there was no question that it would be done via an iPhone app. #6: Did they have problems when contacting the local service providers about the application since it comes from one email address and others have had problems with then being blocked because they were considered to be spamming.

***Clarification from Benjamin Smith, emailed to me after this was posted: The clarification I’d like to make is that not all Smartphones have a lower screen resolution, in fact most have the same resolution with only a few having a lower resolution.  We mainly point it out to students so that they are aware to look out for devices that may have a lower resolution.  To extend that thought another issue with display is that a lot of Smartphones have a smaller screen size than regular PDAs which also contributes to making the information harder to read.

CIL2009

CIL2009: Enhancing Learning Anytime, Anywhere: Spread Your Reach

Enhancing Learning Anytime, Anywhere: Spread Your Reach
Chad Boeninger, Joe Murphy, and Madeline Kriescher

Chad started the presentation by talking about how libraries typically teach. He's a business librarian and most training in his library happens through one-shot sessions which have no follow-up. Learning and Outreach, says Chad, is a way to reach out to and extend to our users. Chad encourages us to look beyond library learning trends, perhaps looking at busineses for how they train and teach and what tools they are using. Major Nelson is a manager for the X-box system - he has a blog, he Twitters about work and life stuff both, and a one-minute segment on new games that can stream through your X-box. His face is all over the place - real photos of him, not posed. Chad gave another example of a bike company mananger who does similar social networking. Chad gave some examples how he social networks with his learners. He has a business blog he's had for 4 years to reach out to business students, including posts about classes he's teaching. He also takes photos during classes and puts them up on the blog. He does small polls on the site to see what the learners are interested in. The library also has a blog promoting a large program they are holding later in the year. He also has "The Biz Wiki" which points students to subject-based resources. Chad talked about assessing learners through small quizzes. A tool called phpESP which is a server applicatioin and has more functions than SurveyMonkey for the same price. You can also connect to users via IM. Chat also talked about a Skype kiosk on the 4th floor of his library that lets people talk to libraries through the Skype connection instead of traveling to a different floor to find the librarian. They have also offered several tours of the library, in different languages. Interestingly people that speak the non-English langauges don't use them so much but people trying to learn the language do (fun!). He mentioned some good software: Wink, Audacity, Odeo Studio, and Captivate. He really plugged Wink as a screencasting tool; the output is a Flash file. He used CamStudio to do screen video capture, used a DV camcorder to record the in-person stuff, edited with a Windows tool which he does not recommend. He recommends the Flip Camera - record a video, pop out the USB, and upload automatically to YouTube, Blip.tv, etc. Chad says - don't demand perfection. He recommends not trying for perfection in videos - if you do that, it will take you forever to do the work and you'll likely never get it perfect. Settle for "good enough" as long as the video is serving its purpose for teaching your users. Chad also records himself giving some of his classes so that the students can go back and see it again, or other students can see the material. He also recommends QuickMediaConverter - which lets you compress the video, change file formats, etc. He mentioned "12 Seconds" which works with WebCams and Twitter and you get literally 12 seconds to say what you need to. Vyew and Dim Dim is a tool that could be used for online office hours. Try to find tools with an eye for potential library use and see how you could potentially use that to help your learners learn!

Madeline continued the session and discussed the problem with her library, the Kline Library (law), and the security and privacy issues that exist in the overall Court system. The IT department that supports her library also supports the judges, law clerks, etc. She wanted to use Flickr as a way to create tutorials online. She starts by converting her PowerPoint slides to .jpgs, uploading them individually in reverse order, entering metadata for each slide and batch-editing if possible, saving slides as labeled sets, and creating a collection to house the sets. The benfits of using Flickr for presentations is that it is easy to sign up and use, you can add notes to your slides, share it via a link or send out to Friends/Family on Flickr. Some of the weaknesses are that the links are difficult to work with, creating metadata is cumbersome, the slideshow can look cluttered, you dont' get information about who is looking at your tutorials, and for some people the uploader tool doesn't work. Flickr tracks the number of views, but you don't know who is looking.

Joe finished the session by talking about using Flickr to enhance asynchronous library instruction. Flickr offers the possibility of image-based instruction, including still images and video. Best practices for using Flickr instruction include: adapting the images to maximize their impact (text clarity, using outlines on the slide); never upload anything without titles, descriptions and tags; Every field can support links except title and description, but you can use notes to link. It's a good idea to create a badge for sets on the web so that people get pointed to your training resources from other sites. Market yourself by joining the appropriate groups, and adding friends/contacts. On the profile page, show that it's official, a disclaimer that you don't necessarily promote Flickr, include contact information, etc. He recommmends getting a Pro account in order to use all of the available features (and it's super cheap so why not). The management of the Flickr presentations is essential - ensure that the metadata is correct, hold people accountable for what they post, and figure out staffing (who is responsible for posting or for responding to messages). They also limited the tags to 75 set tags, but he's found that that's not enough for their needs. They do have to deal with questionable content from users - e.g. requests to join a group that is inappropriate. Friending people in Flickr is harder than it is in other social networks, so it doesn't happen as much. He emphasized that it's core to always link back to your library webpages and resources.

CIL2009