tech tuesday: 100 gadgets of the past century

Does it make you feel old to know that Dyson’s dustbag-free vacuum is 20 this year? Or that the much-loved Sony Walkman and the world’s first ever laptop, the Epson HX-30, are both over 30 years old? These are just a few of the gadgets that have made it onto the 100 gadgets of the past century that we can’t live without.  Excerpted from ALA Direct, 10/09/13.

new eresource: learn4life

Learn4Life delivers hundreds of engaging, instructor-led online courses focused on professional development, technology skills, and personal enrichment to transform lives and foster positive changes in your community.  The library recently purchased a 6-month subscription to this service, which is available to patrons and staff now by clicking Online Tools on our home page.  The next sessions begin January 15th, so be sure to check out the catalog and sign up for your free class today!

free resource of the week: healthline body maps

We occasionally get anatomy students in from time to time who ask for a "box of bones".  While we don't have a box of bones on hand, we can offer them free 3D Human Body Maps from Healthline.

tech tuesday: why you really get sick on airplanes

Okay, so this is not a really techy post, but it is still worth mentioning, and I'm betting you will use technology the next time you book a flight to make sure you get in the less-germy-zone.  Until I read this article, I believed that the recirculated air was what made people sick on airplanes.  It turns out there are far worse culprits closer at hand.  Learn more about how to stay well on your next flight here.  Wishing everyone safe and healthy travels this holiday season!

resource of the week: SummarizeThis

SummarizeThis is a free tool that allows you to paste text of long articles, press a "Summarize" button, and access a short summary of the original passage.  According to Richard Byrne, this tool "provides a better summary than simply searching for keywords in an article to decide if the article will help with a student's research".  This resource was originally highlighted on Byrne's blog here.

tech tuesday: best gadgets & apps for travel

Before you take any travel frustrations out on your family, check out Amy Azzarito's 10 favorite gadgets and apps to make your travel experience a little easier.  Whether you're in need of some noise cancelling headphones or a way to track your luggage, her list has something for everyone!  Originally posted in AL Direct, 11/27/13.

resource of the week: MiNDbank

World Health Organization (WHO) MiNDbank is an online platform bringing together country and international resources, covering mental health, substance abuse, disability, general health, human rights and development. It is part of WHO’s QualityRights campaign to end violations against people with mental disabilities. MiNDbank aims to facilitate dialogue, advocacy and research, to promote reform in these areas in line with international human rights and best practice standards.

tech tuesday: charging all those devices

This article from How-To Geek helps to answer the question: Can you use any charger with any device?  Bottom line, those cheap chargers from big box stores may end up costing you big bucks in the end!

resource of the week: Oxford English Dictionary

The December 2013 update of the Oxford English Dictionary is now live!  Along with more than 500 new words, phrases, and senses, more than 1000 entries have been revised.  One of the new words added is emoji, a Japanese loanword referring to small digital images or icons used in texting and other electronic communications to express ideas and emotions.  See the full list of new words.

tech tuesday: top 10 time saving tips

Tech specialist David Pogue shares 10 simple,clever tips (5:45) for computer, web, smartphone, and camera users. Yes, you may know a few of these already, but there may well be at least one that you don’t.  Featured in ALA Direct, 10/30/13.

resource of the week: DPLA Bookshelf

At its DPLAfest on October 24–25 in Boston, the Digital Public Library of America introduced a new way to browse more than a million online books it has added to its collection. DPLA Bookshelf lets the user scroll a visual representation of a bookshelf that provides all the instantaneous power the digital world provides. DPLA Bookshelf was created by the Harvard Library Innovation Lab, based on its Stacklife project.  Featured in ALA Direct, 10/30/13.

tech tuesday: item record redesign

Bohyun Kim writes: “Almost all librarians have a love-hate relationship with their library catalogs."  Aaron Schmidt has recently put forth an alternative design for a library item record that provides a good starting point to rethink how to design the library catalog’s search results display.  One can dream, right?  Excerpted from ALA Direct, 10/16/13.

resource of the week: alternative search tools

Ref Seek is a search engine whose intention is to only serve links that have potential academic use.  Ref Seek seems to eliminate the advertising and paid links found on Google, Ask, Yahoo, and other commercial search tools.  Users can sort Ref Seek results into "links only" or "documents only" views.

Google Scholar will lead researchers to a variety of resources including abstracts, papers, books, patent records, and court opinions.  Some items may be available for free viewing (in Google Books, for example), but many link to journals contained in subscription-required databases.

Excerpted from Richard Byrne's "Beyond Google: Alternative Search Tools", featured in the February 2013 edition of School Library Journal.

tech tuesday: overdrive media stations

OverDrive announced November 12 that its OverDrive Media Station ebook, audiobook, music, and video sampling and checkout terminal is now broadly available. Launched as a pilot program earlier in 2013 with 50 public library systems in five countries, the in-library ebook kiosks enable readers to browse ebooks, audiobooks, and other media on a touchscreen monitor in libraries or other locations.  Learn more here.  Excerpted from ALA Direct, 11/14/13.

resource of the week: cookbook finder

Cookbook Finder is an experimental, works-based application created by OCLC to provide access to thousands of cookbooks and other works about food and nutrition described in library records. You can search by person, place, topic (e.g., course, ingredient, method and more) and browse related works by author and topic.

tech tuesday: death in the digital age

Joe Miller writes: “In the two years since the Eric Rash case, which led to the drafting of a US federal law concerning the data of minors, few countries have issued clear guidance on the rights of families to access their deceased loved ones’ data. And despite the fact that we put more of our lives in the cloud than ever before, few of us are preparing for our digital afterlife. As a result, it is more difficult to bequeath your iTunes library to a loved one than it is to leave your CD collection to them in a shoebox."  Read more here.  Excerpted from ALA Direct, 10/09/13.