Tag: libraries

Read Social Attention: a modest prototype in shared presence by Matt Webb (Interconnected, a blog by Matt Webb)
My take is that the web could feel warmer and more lively than it is. Visiting a webpage could feel a little more like visiting a park and watching the world go by. Visiting my homepage could feel just a tiny bit like stopping by my home. And so to celebrate my blogging streak reaching one year, this week, I’m adding a proof of concept to my blog, something I’m provisionally calling Social Attention.
You had me at “select text”…

If somebody else selects some text, it’ll be highlighted for you. ❧

Suddenly social annotation has taken an interesting twist. @Hypothes_is better watch out! 😉
Annotated on March 28, 2021 at 10:03AM

How often have you been on the phone with a friend, trying to describe how to get somewhere online? Okay go to Amazon. Okay type in “whatever”. Okay, it’s the third one down for me…
This is ridiculous!
What if, instead, you both went to the website and then you could just say: follow me. ❧

There are definitely some great use cases for this.
Annotated on March 28, 2021 at 10:05AM

A status emoji will appear in the top right corner of your browser. If it’s smiling, there are other people on the site right now too. ❧

This is pretty cool looking. I’ll have to add it as an example to my list: Social Reading User Interface for Discovery.

We definitely need more things like this on the web.

It makes me wish the Reading.am indicator were there without needing to click on it.

I wonder how this sort of activity might be built into social readers as well?
Annotated on March 28, 2021 at 10:13AM

If I’m in a meeting, I should be able to share a link in the chat to a particular post on my blog, then select the paragraph I’m talking about and have it highlighted for everyone. Well, now I can. ❧

And you could go a few feet farther if you added [fragment](https://indieweb.org/fragmention) support to the site, then the browser would also autoscroll to that part. Then you could add a confetti cannon to the system and have the page rain down confetti when more than three people have highlighted the same section!
Annotated on March 28, 2021 at 10:18AM

I want the patina of fingerprints, the quiet and comfortable background hum of a library. ❧

A great thing to want on a website! A tiny hint of phatic interaction amongst internet denizens.
Annotated on March 28, 2021 at 10:20AM

What I’d like more of is a social web that sits between these two extremes, something with a small town feel. So you can see people are around, and you can give directions and a friendly nod, but there’s no need to stop and chat, and it’s not in your face. It’s what I’ve talked about before as social peripheral vision (that post is about why it should be build into the OS). ❧

I love the idea of social peripheral vision online.
Annotated on March 28, 2021 at 10:22AM

streak: New posts for 52 consecutive weeks. ❧

It’s kind of cool that he’s got a streak counter for his posts.
Annotated on March 28, 2021 at 10:24AM

Read Understanding Library eBook Lending: Q&A with Panorama Project Lead Guy LeCharles Gonzalez (IBPA)

(Manhattan Beach, CA - October 13, 2020) -- When an IBPA member sent the office a link to this Wired article about ebooks flying off libraries’ virtual shelves with the question,...

“I am a bit confused by why one ebook could cost 40-60 dollars. Is that only with the Big 5?”

...IBPA reached out to Panorama Project lead Guy LeCharles Gonzalez for more information.

IBPA: Hi Guy. So, what's with the average $40 price for a library ebook?

Guy LeCharles Gonzalez (GLG): That Wired article has caused quite a stir despite being a little behind the story! The ebook pricing cited is a little too broad, but it's on the right track, especially for Big 5 ebooks which are what most of these articles tend to focus on.

I’ve been meaning to do some research into pricing that libraries pay. Apparently it’s more than I would have expected.
Checked into Pasadena Public Library - Hastings
Picking up a copy of The Celtic Myths by Miranda Aldhouse-Green to finish reading it.

Front walk of the library with a plastic folding table blocking the entrance with signs regarding "curbside" pickup
Front walk of the library with a plastic folding table blocking the entrance with signs regarding “curbside” pickup
One of the big posters outside describing their curbside pick up procedure
Curbside pick up instructions
Read Black workers want Free Library to address racism, safety before reopening (WHYY)
Black workers at the Free Library of Philadelphia have penned an open letter about racism in the workplace. The letter by the Concerned Black Workers of the Free Library of Philadelphia, which was posted online but not delivered directly to management, says Black staff are bearing the brunt of COVID...
Liked a tweet (Twitter)

I imagine that she’s purchased more than her fair share of books, but knowing some of her background, she’s “cheating” a tad since her job is reading/reviewing books which means the majority of her collection was sent to her for free. Of course she also has the added bonus that she’s probably actually read the larger portion of her library in comparison to most.
Bookmarked National Emergency Library : Free Texts : Free Download, Borrow and Streaming (Internet Archive)
A collection of books that supports emergency remote teaching, research activities, independent scholarship, and intellectual stimulation while universities, schools, training centers, and libraries are closed.
Watched Which Is The Most Explosive Paper in Hydraulic Press? 150 Ton Hydraulic Press Test from YouTube

500 sheets of paper, books, playing cards, some pulp and other paper products vs. our 144 ton Hydraulic press on this experiment where we test which is the most dangerous paper of them all!

Do not try this at home!! or at any where else!!

Who would have thought you could make paper explode with a little bit of pressure?! Excuse me a moment while I go rearrange some books in the library…
Read 6 examples of newsroom-library collaborations (International Journalists' Network)
Journalists provide quality information. Librarians help people find quality information. Both fields are rooted in promoting civic engagement. Both are contextual experts in the communities they serve. And both are working to reinvent themselves in the digital world.

It just makes sense that news outlets and libraries collaborate. That’s something we at the News Co/Lab have believed from the beginning, and it’s something we’ve seen work very well in our partnerships ❧

Perhaps this is a good incubator for the idea Greg McVerry and I have been contemplating in which these institutions help to provide some of the help and infrastructure for the future of IndieWeb.
Annotated January 08, 2020 at 04:12PM

I also note that this article was syndicated to this site from this original: https://newscollab.org/2019/06/19/6-newsroom-library-partnerships-to-check-out/

Read E-books at libraries are a huge hit, leading to long waits, reader hacks and worried publishers by Heather Kelly (Washington Post)
While some people are scrambling to collect log-ins for Netflix, HBO Go, Hulu and, now, Disney Plus, Sarah Jacobsson Purewal is working on a different kind of hustle. She signs up for any public library that will have her to find and reserve available e-books.
I’ve always had a dozen or so library cards at any one time, so I guess I’ve never really bothered to go out of my way to collect more for the digital games people are playing here with books. I have however very naturally checked several library systems for books in this way, however I find that many libraries just don’t have the titles I’m looking for anywhere.

I liked the tip about putting one’s e-reader into airplane mode to keep it from updating and removing overdue books. Of course there are some more technical methods of stripping DRM or even pirating books which I was a bit surprised they didn’t delve into, but which are frequently mentioned with respect to college textbook related articles.