Category Archives: Tech

Communication, Tech

Voice, Natural Language Processing, and the Future of Library Experiences

Image result for natural language processing icon

(From ACRL TechConnect blog, by )

“Is the future of research voice controlled? It might be, because when I originally had the idea for this post my first instinct was to grab my phone and dictate my half-formed ideas into a note, rather than typing it out. Writing things down often makes them seem wrong and not at all what we are trying to say in our heads. (Maybe it’s not so new, since as you may remember Socrates had a similar instinct.) The idea came out of a few different talks at the national Code4Lib conference held in Los Angeles in March of 2017 and a talk given by Chris Bourg. Among these presentations the themes of machine learning, artificial intelligence, natural language processing, voice search, and virtual assistants intersect to give us a vision for what is coming. The future might look like a system that can parse imprecise human language and turn it into an appropriately structured search query in a database or variety of databases, bearing in mind other variables, and return the correct results. Pieces of this exist already, of course, but I suspect over the next few years we will be building or adapting tools to perform these functions. As we do this, we should think about how we can incorporate our values and skills as librarians into these tools along the way.

Continue reading Voice, Natural Language Processing, and the Future of Library Experiences →

CMLE, Programs, Resources, Tech

Day One of the CMLE Summer Fun Library Tour!

Did you watch Phineas and Ferb? If so, you are already familiar with the concept of having a summer filled with cool things! You only have so long until summer is over, so let’s make the most of it!

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Xf3mRZ7SHu0

While we can not guarantee creating nanobots, giving monkeys showers, surfing tidal waves, or even climbing the Eiffel Tower, we do want to share some fun library facts and ideas.

Look for a daily series of quick posts with library trivia, programs, and models to make us all laugh, or to give everyone ideas you might want to try out this fall! The library field is filled with all sorts of interesting things – and we plan to explore them this summer.

If you have suggestions for fun library things this summer, send them in or post them to the comments below!

What will we have created by the time fall rolls around?? Who knows?? But hopefully we will all have had some library fun!

 

Day One of the CMLE Summer Library Tour:

Have you had to clean dirty books?? It’s never fun! But check out this machine that does the hard part for you!

The machine is from Italy, and is being used right now at the Boston Public Library!(Check their cute, short video!)

Academic, Books, Tech

What’s in the box: Penn State brings Short Edition reading dispensers to campus

Short Edition Stories 1

(From the Daily Collegian, by Erin O’Neill)

“Students looking for a quick read on the way to class may be in luck.

Penn State became the first educational institution in the world to collaborate with Short Edition, a French-based company that produces dispensers to print free short stories.

The goal of the partnership is to foster discussion on creative story-telling and promote the arts and humanities.

There are four dispensers in Penn State’s libraries, as well as one downtown at the Schlow Library.

The other two dispensers are in the Architecture and Landscape Architecture Library in Stuckeman Building and the Physical and Mathematical Sciences Library in Davey Lab.

Since being installed on May 9, the dispensers at the university’s main libraries have printed over 1,000 stories, according to Jill Shockley, Manager of Public Relations and Marketing for Penn State Libraries.

“My initial reaction was, wow,” said Shockley of so many stories being printed with many students home for the summer. “Ultimately we hope this sparks dialogue between reader and author.”

Penn State’s recent collaboration with the Short Edition will facilitate further conversation around creative writing pieces on a custom website.

“We see the partnership with Short Edition as the first step toward a growing number of thoughtful and creative exchanges, beginning with the installation of Short Edition dispensers around the University Park campus and the development of the online content management platform,” said Barbara I. Dewey, dean of University Libraries and Scholarly Communications, according to a press release.

Short Edition dispensers allow readers to request a one, three, or five-minute story, which is then printed on a paper as wide as a typical receipt.

Penn State students, faculty, staff or community members will soon be able to submit their own work for print.”

(Read the rest of this article here!)

 

Tech, Training

Codecademy

(From PC Magazine, By Molly K. McLaughlin)

“Codecademy has a bold mission—to rethink education from the bottom up—and it’s working on that on the web and out in the world through a handful of nonprofit initiatives. On the web, Codecademy offers courses to make learning to code and designing websites fun and easy. You can choose to learn specific languages, such as JavaScript, or even learn the (IBM) Watson API. Even better, all the classes are free, though a new paid plan offers additional learning tools and live support. This makes Codecademy our Editors’ Choice for free online coding classes.

Note: Codecademy is focused on teaching beginners. There are some advanced courses covering Ruby, PHP, and AngularJS, but you won’t find C or Java classes here. In the coming months, Codecademy will be rolling out new courses and refreshing its interface. Some older courses will be discontinued; if you’re in the middle of one, your progress will be lost, but your achievements will be saved, so you’ll still be able to track which courses (new and old) you’ve completed. Continue reading Codecademy →

Academic, Tech, Training

Twenty Three Framework Things self-paced training!

How to Participate

To participate in 23 Framework Things, register and work on the 23 things at your own pace. Begin with any “thing” by clicking on it from the homepage or via the “Things” drop-down menu. Each thing presents a prompt, giving a directive or asking a big question. Take time to analyze the prompt and read any suggested articles or blog posts, ask co-workers about the ideas presented, or do your own research on the issue — whatever you need to do to wrap your head around the topic — then follow the directive or share your reaction to the big question in the Comments section of the “thing.” You can also post your reaction on your own site, but be sure to share a link to it in the Comments section of the “thing” if you want us to track your progress. Please use your full name when posting in the Comments section or create a Gravatar.

About
Welcome to 23 Framework Things, an exploration of the Association of College & Research Libraries’ Framework for Information Literacy for Higher Education. This academic librarian-focused, self-paced program encourages participants to read, reflect, and respond to prompts and big questions surrounding the implementation of the Framework at their institutions.

Rationale

In response to the call for more support and resources surrounding the Framework, we, the current and former chairs of the Instruction Round Table of the Minnesota Library Association, decided to make 2017 the year we focus on the Framework. Through this program and the workshop and conference session that preceded it, we are engaging academic librarians in learning more about the Framework and putting it into practice at their institutions.

Participants

ALL are welcome to participate in 23 Framework Things, including those across the United States and internationally. However, due to funding, larger prizes will only be given to participants working in Minnesota. Please view the How to Participate page and fill out the Registration Form to participate.

Things

Each “thing” is essentially a prompt to get you to think about one aspect of the Framework. “Things” will be released in waves. At the beginning of each month from May 2017 to August 2017, a new wave of “things” will be released with “things” from different tracks.

Tracks

The 23 things are split into four tracks that loosely surround a theme, specifically: Pedagogy, Frame Focus, Assessment, and @ Your Institution.

Timeline

Though the 23 Framework Things site will stay active for years (barring catastrophe and whatnot), progress tracking, site management, and prize eligibility will end on October 5, 2017. Those who complete all 23 things by this date will receive a certificate of completion.

Prizes

Due to funding from the Minnesota Library Association, the prizes for Minnesota and Non-Minnesota participants will be different. We encourage Minnesota librarians to join and participate in MLA in order to explore additional opportunities for professional development and make connections within the Minnesota library community.

Non-Minnesota Participants

A digital track badge for posting to your personal website will be emailed to you after the completion of each track. Completing all 23 things will earn you a digital “All the Things” badge for posting to your personal website and a certificate of completion for the 23 Framework Things program.

Minnesota Participants

1st tier (completing 1 thing): A print copy of the ACRL Framework for Information Literacy for Higher Education [First 50 Minnesota participants]
2nd tier (completing 1 track): A 1st track button, a 1st digital track badge for posting to your personal website, and entry into a drawing for your choice of a READ poster from the ALA Store [Max: $18] (1 winner)
3rd tier (completing 2 tracks): A 2nd track button, a 2nd digital track badge for posting to your personal website, and entry into a drawing for a $30 gift card to Lithographs or Out of Print (1 winner – your choice)
4th tier (completing 3 tracks): A 3rd track button, a 3rd digital track badge for posting to your personal website, and entry into a drawing for your choice of a library instruction book from the ALA Store [Max: $60] (1 winner)
5th tier (completing all things; 4 tracks): An “All the Things” button, a digital “All the Things” badge for posting to your personal website, a 4th track button, a 4th digital track badge for posting to your personal website, entry into a drawing for up to $100 off MLA membership dues (1 winner; valid for next time your membership is due), and a certificate of completion for the 23 Framework Things program
For those who elect to receive prizes via mail, prize packages will be sent out within 1 month of completion. Drawing winners will be notified by October 9, 2017.”