May 24, 2010
I really like the creative way David Lee King‘s library looked at publishing their online annual report.
What could have been a boring link to a pdf document ended up being a pop-up interactive book – it still gives you all the fact you need, but in a really creative way.
Here’s the link to the full annual report.
May 21, 2010
I love this idea for library name tags that I found on Tame The Web
I love how it goes against the stereotypical idea of librarians as being boring, old-fashioned, fuddy-duddy people!
I think mine would read:
Sophie van der Walt
AKA …
- camper
- amateur cook
- wild life enthusiast
- lover of pina coladas
May 19, 2010
Want to find a great image of a news event that’s just happened? Free Technology for Teachers put me on the path of NachoFoto.
NachoFoto is an image search engine designed to bring you the latest images from across the web on emerging trends and breaking stories.
At the moment the Trending Topics they have images for are:
Afriqiyah Plane Crash 12th May 2010 Pictures Bay to Breakers Pictures Cannes Film Festival Pictures Elections in the United Kingdom Pictures Miss USA 2010 Pictures Oklahoma tornado outbreak 10th May 2010 Pictures Open Air Mass At Fhatima 13th May 2010 Pictures Quebec landslide 11th May 2010 Pictures Series Of Explosions Hit Iraq 10th May 2010 Pictures Thai Anti Government Protest 2010 Pictures Uranium Exchange Program 17th May 2010 Pictures Wall Street reform Pictures War in Somalia 2009 Pictures
It can offer great images to link to current events/topics and you can use the NachoFoto’s timeline slider to look back at images taken over the course of the development of a news story.
May 19, 2010
I just got back from speaking at two conferences – one was a university faculty conference and the other a library conference from the library I used to work at.
I spoke about the findings of my Masters’ studies on generational awareness in academic libraries in South Africa twice and co-presented a paper on using e-posters to teach research methodology to honors students. (I’ll try to post both presentations today or tomorrow)
It went really well, and this morning when I read Roy Tennant’s post Thoughts on Speaking where he mentions another post on “30 Quick Tips for Speakers (now 35!)” that gives a few tips on presenting and speaking I thought I’d add my 2 c worth:
2. The power is not the point – slides are there as navigation points, not to be the content - I couldn’t agree more! the presentations that resonated with me where the ones that were text light but the presenter was knowledgeable enough not to need a text heavy slide
4. There is a high demand for people who can both provide content and deliver it effectively from stage. Some can do one of the two, most don’t do either and a select few do both. Aim to be great. Amen! Great content can get lost/spoiled if the presenter can’t deliver well. Practice untill you find your presenting voice and don’t try to imitate somebody else’s style
15. Have passion for what you’re saying. If you don’t, your audience won’t either. I experienced this in all three my presentations. Because I was passionate about my topic and thought it was really interesting the audience responded very well too and ended up asking really interesting/thought-provoking questions
20. Change your presentation every time. Update stats, bring new examples. Own the content, not repeat it. I agree with this. Even though there was only one person in audience who attended both of my solo presentation I changed some of the slides, added some videos and cartoons and made sure that it looked and felt different and new
33. Tell great stories (your own, not someone else’s), and be funny. Don’t tell jokes, but use humor. (From Ava Diamond Site / Twitter) People respond better to you as a speaker if you can humanize yourself, so I always try to use humor (even at my expense) to show that I’m just a normal 30-year-old
I like presenting not just because I like to talk so much 
but because of the incredible feedback and vibes you get when presenting. It’s a chance to tell people “here’s what I did/think – what do you think about it” and that leads to some really interesting meetings and people!
April 1, 2010
This is not only a gorgeous graphic, but lets you listen to the sounds of the solar system!
(click on the link below to go to the website and listen)
Thanks to Information is Beautiful for posting this.
March 17, 2010
I simply love the new ads from the Antwerp Zoo in the Netherlands.
The Zoo wanted to place the Zoo as the garden for anyone living in Antwerp and collaborated with real estate agents in Antwerp.
So as part of every house, or apartment that they sold or rented, a garden the new owners would receive a year pass for the whole family to the Zoo. All of a sudden you have a garden!
Advertising Agency: Saatchi & Saatchi, Brussels, Belgium
Creative Director: Jan Teulingkx
Art Directors / Copywriter: Arnaud Bailly, Ross McCurrach
Photographer: Marc Paeps
Account: Carolina Pizzutilo
Published: March 2010
March 17, 2010
You can now explore the British Library’s Virtual Books collection via their online gallery:
Explore the British Library here
March 10, 2010
AUDIO RECORDING AND EDITING
Audacity
Audacity is an audio recording and editing application with a lot of the features you find in commercial products. It works on all platforms and is probably the most popular free audio program around.BURNING CDs and DVDs
ImgBurn
This is supposed to work more smoothly than the software that comes with Windows for burning CDs and DVDs. It creates data backups, video DVDs and music CDs. The publisher provides a list of sites where you can download the application. They’d like a donation, so oblige if you can.DOCUMENT CREATION
Open Office
I keep hearing good things about Open Office. It’s the free alternative to the Microsoft Office Suite. You can create text documents, spreadsheets, presentations and databases. And it comes in many languages.PrimoPDF
Primo PDF has a free and paid version. The free version is all you need to quickly convert most file types to the .pdf format. To create a .pdf, just use the print command from the source program that the file was created in.
Thunderbird
Some say this email program from Mozilla is better than Outlook Express. It’s supposed to have great features and is easy to use. I’m thinking of using it on my Mac.FILE TRANSFER
FileZilla
I like this for uploading and downloading files to and from FTP sites. It’s open source software, yet actually has some Help documentation. It’s plain and simple and does the job through a drag-and-drop interface. Works on all platforms.GRAPHICS
GIMP
GIMP is one of the better, if not the best, downloadable image editing and manipulation applications around. It can do some of your Photoshop tasks and works on all platforms. For more on free editing tools, see Image and Optimization Editors in the Resources section.Picasa
Picasa is the other popular image editor and its from Google. You can import photos from a digital camera, edit them, and make and share Picasa Web Albums online.ONLINE CHAT
AIM
Most everyone has their favorite online chatting tool. Just in case you haven’t found yours, check out AOL’s Instant Messenger, as it has lots of capabilities. In addition to text chats, I’ll often use it as the tool of choice for video chatting. You can download AIM for all platforms. By the way, their Lifestream product looks interesting too. It’s a way to broadcast and get updates with AIM buddies from all your social media.Pidgin
This chat program gets rave reviews. It lets you connect to most of the other chat services, like AIM, Google Talk, IRS, MSN and Yahoo, so you don’t need to install different programs to chat with different people. It doesn’t have video or audio chat, though. But it does runs on all platforms.SCREENCASTS
Jing
Jing works on both Mac and PC, to capture single pictures or to record video of screen activity. You can also paste the video into an IM chat, email or Twitter. Now that could save time.CamStudio
CamStudio can record all the screen actions on your computer, as well as an audio narrative, and create AVI files which can converted to a streaming Flash (SWF) format. This app only works on PCs.SECURITY
AVG Anti-Virus
This is a well-known and loved anti-virus software for home use only. The software is free, but registration is required.SYNCRONIZING FILES
Dropbox
Dropbox seems to be the file synchronization software of choice. It will automatically synchronize files between all of your computers, regardless of whether they run the Mac, Windows or Linux OS. You get 2Gb for free, after that you have to pay.VIDEO PLAYERS AND CONVERTERS
FLV Player
If your a multimedia maven, then you need to play FLV files. I like this better than the one that comes with Articulate for the PC. You can download the free FLV player at CNET. It’s got a simple install and works well. I had it downloaded, installed and running very quickly. Then I fainted.Handbrake
Have you ever been stuck trying to get DVD video into another format? Well, Handbrake can save the day. It’s a cross-platform media converter that can pull DVD video and convert it to MPEG-4. It may not give you ultimate control over all settings, but it has a nice interface and gets the job done.VLC Media Player
VLC might be the media player you’re looking for. It’s cross-platform, open source and plays most video and audio formats as well as converts files from one format to another.VOICE OVER INTERNET (VOIP)
Skype
Skype is the software of choice for talking to people over the Internet, using a headset and mic. It installs easily and the sound quality is good. I have some clients that prefer Skype rather than the phone, so I use it regularly and can vouch for its quality.
ZIP FILES
7-Zip
This is an archiving application with a very high compression rate. Free, open source and all that good stuff.
March 3, 2010
Remember babushka dolls? My gran used to have a set that I loved, and when she went to Turkey she bought me 2 sets.
This McDonalds Ad plays on the babushka connection and I love it!
During the Olympic Winter Games in Vancouver, the Russia House was located right across the street from a flagship McDonald¹s location. These Big Mac boxes based on matyroshka, a set of traditional Russian dolls that decrease in size and fit one inside the other, were sent over to welcome them. Inside the final and smallest Big Mac box was a coupon for free food written in Cyrillic. 100s of sets of boxes were then placed in McDonald¹s take-out bags and dropped off at the Russia House for members of the Russian delegation.
Advertising Agency: Cossette, Vancouver, Canada
Creative Director: Bryan Collins
Creative Director: Rob Sweetman
Art Director: Scott Schneider
Copywriter: Jeff Shorkey
Designer: Rob Horsman
March 1, 2010
Eric Morrow, founder of Maendeleo Foundation in Kampala and Seattle is a true hero, and here’s why:
Using three solar panels, a battery, ten folding chairs, five tables, fifteen Intel-powered Classmate PCs and two teachers in a small van his foundation sets up Mobile Solar Computer Classrooms (MSCC). It’s been in operation in rural Uganda for two years now and has the purpose of teaching pupils and teachers IT and computer skills.
Here is what the eLearning Africa blog says about Eric’s MSCC:
A new MSCC is already touring through Uganda. Using funds from the grant Maendeleo recently received from Intel’s Inspire-Empower challenge, the Foundation was able to put together a second MSCC that will serve rural areas in the same way as the original MSCC. With the grant, they have also been able to upgrade the original MSCC that they had (to run with fifteen computers). They are now also in the process of buying land and building an Advanced Training Centre, where they intend to give further individual training during school breaks to students who show potential and interest in working in the ICT industry.
You can also watch YouTube videos about the Maendeleo project.
