Lifehack.org has a post on 8 Expenses to Cut and How. One of the suggestions is to use a local library. Libraries have changed. Most libraries are now connected into a big sharing consortium, expanding the collection of what you can take out and what they’ll have that you might want. Further, most now have an online catalog that you can use to browse and request from home. Libraries now frequently stock DVDs (mine favors Hollywood movies, and the one in the next town features mostly highbrow independent stuff).

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My homestead seriously lacks some art. I found some nice ones over at Fleet Street Scandal that also seem decently priced (ones I checked were $20 and ok sized). Haven’t ordered yet but plan on it. This post is mostly as a reminder for me. All of our artwork is professionally printed in-house on heavy 100% cotton rag archival stock using an 8-color printing process. Each print is individually signed by the artist.

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Dave Pattern has created The Library 2.0 Idea Generator. There’s a similar function in #code4lib where panizzi will generate ideas based on jargon. The command is @library2. A little more on the tongue-in-cheek side than Pattern’s. Here are some examples: Deleenolib = rss-based wiki via XML redirecting ead Meebelidoolib = community shopping via email invite *only* integrating ontologies Deloodoolib = cellphone-based news via email invite *only* revamping marc Zimelibolib = geotag-based wiki via email invite *only* revamping ead Infsharelib = greasemonkey extension for search engine via bittorrent revamping call numbers Panizzi isn’t the best with grammar.

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Two new beta offerings. Hellodeo is a video/webcam sharing service similar to odeo’s audio voicemail offering. Odeo Play is another way to browse the site with a more ajaxy interface. Has things such popular items, recently played, etc. The video will likely interest people more. The are apparently behind the new SMS/social site twttr

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I’ve posted a bit about the long tail before but figure I probably should again after a recent post on the ALA TechSource. In terms of libraries the long tail is probably easiest to understand as the library has a few books that get the most circulation while the majority of the holdings get little circulation. For most book publishers the high selling would be the new books, new to paperback, etc while older books barely sold and of course, out of print not at all.

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The final two sessions I went to. I only caught the last part of the 24/7 Asynchronous Learning one but it again used actions and reports to allow students to get constant feedback and instructors to stay in control of large courses. The workbook section was by Elsevier and Learning Objects. They have taken the workbook model of what usually came with textbooks and integrated it with various LMS’s. currently in early development Authoring Environment: simple WYSIWYG that allows authors to create various question types.

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This presentation was by Allan Gyorke of Penn State. It was another one about using Resource Libraries which I think may be underused here. about 7500 courses, 63500 students, 191000 enrollments (about 3 courses per student) Scattered across the state Blended learning: combine scattered students into one course, integrity across courses, overflow for high enrollment Share objects across courses, reduce seat time Had templates used for specific courses across locations, regardless of instructor Resource Libraries: lesson content only Master Course: Resource library with all tabs copied Who makes official version of master course.

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This presentation was also presented by the University of Waterloo. The presentation was mostly about the team features. The university of waterloo has apparently been giving quite a bit of feedback regarding the team features and what they have become. The example course in this case was a 800 student course with 4 sections. Each student is part of multiple teams. A lecture, section and small group among others Over 200+ teams of 4 students each Used team generator to assign students New variable in 7.

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I attended the ANGEL Users Conference this year and found it well worth the time. It helps to see what other people are doing with a product and how they are taking advantage of certain features. There’s quite a bit that can be done with some of the tools we’re not taking advantage of. For those who don’t know ANGEL is a Learning Management System. Most will be familiar with the 800lb gorilla Blackboard or the OSS option of Sakai.

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Another application that can be built on top of the XML Server is an IM bot. There are various libraries available for bots and having a way to easily get and transform the data from your ILS makes things much easier. The one below is on AIM and was built by Rob Casson of Miami University Libraries in Ohio. The code is available from his blog. Below are some screenshots to give you an idea.

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