Category Archives: Online Services

Catch-22 Terms of Service

Posted on 8 June 2010 by Rick Mason

Apple pulled a newsreader called Pulse from their App Store yesterday after the New York Times sent a letter saying that the application violated their terms of service. The issue seems to revolve around the fact that Pulse is a … Continue reading →

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Anne Frank’s Annex: 3-D Tour

Posted on 29 April 2010 by Rick Mason

Each year, about one million people visit the site where Anne Frank’s family hid from the Nazis during World War II, which was described vividly in her diary.  Now the Anne Frank House has opened a virtual annex site, including … Continue reading →

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Practical Open Source Software Website

Posted on 27 April 2010 by Rick Mason

Nicole Engard’s forthcoming book, Practical Open Source Software for Libraries, has a page on the accompanying website consisting of links mentioned in the book.  Not only is this a tantalizing glimpse of the book, but it is a source of … Continue reading →

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iPad Peek

Posted on 7 April 2010 by Rick Mason

A good service for web designers who want to see how their website will work on the iPad: iPad Peek found via WeblogToolsCollection

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Zombie Attack Preparedness

Posted on 5 April 2010 by Rick Mason

I am a huge supporter of organizational disaster plans.  Not only does this allow for greater safety for staff and users, but a well-made disaster plan can mean that your library can be more functional in a shorter time when … Continue reading →

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OpenDNS Hits 1%

Posted on 24 March 2010 by Rick Mason

DNS, aka Domain Name System,  is one of those things that is easily taken for granted.  However, the DNS service we use can determine our overall internet experience. I first encountered OpenDNS at a tech conference, and was intrigued enough … Continue reading →

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Mash-Up the OPAC

Posted on 16 March 2010 by Rick Mason

ILS user groups can be one of the greatest sources of tips, tricks and inspiration for tech-oriented library staff. There was a recent discussion on the Innovative User’s Group that has led to an interesting way to embed various media … Continue reading →

Posted in Cataloging, ILS, Libraries, Library 2.0, Online Services, Software, Tutorials, Video, Web Design, XML | Tagged , , , , , , , , , , , | 3 Comments

PictureIt Rare Book Reader

Posted on 11 March 2010 by Rick Mason

The University of Michigan has unveiled the PictureIt Rare Book Reader, an on-screen reader that is similar to others that I have seen, but faster, smoother, and simply beautiful to see and use. The first book available online is volume … Continue reading →

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An Argument for Free High Speed Internet

Posted on 28 January 2010 by Rick Mason

As the economy continues to remain weak and budgets tighten for public libraries, here is a study that should encourage any community of the value of high speed internet access via their libraries: Internet Use and Job Search (pdf) In … Continue reading →

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Convergence

Posted on 15 January 2010 by Rick Mason

2010 : The Only Year of the E-Reader is a post on Kit Eaton’s blog at Fast Company.  He argues that the days (well, years) of the e-reader are nearly through, because the multi-function tablet seems to be coming into … Continue reading →

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Baker & Taylor E-Book Technology

Posted on 9 December 2009 by Rick Mason

Baker & Taylor has the next big thing in ebooks. Really! As with all of  the “next big things” we see in digital technology, we get to “wait and see”. However, reading the post makes me marvel at the possibilities … Continue reading →

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Library Website Fails

Posted on 8 December 2009 by Rick Mason

I see these types of messages all the time on library-related websites, and I agree that it sends the message that those who manage those sites don’t have a good grasp of current web technology: Time to Update? by David … Continue reading →

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OCLC Policies Directory Preview

Posted on 3 December 2009 by Rick Mason

OCLC is previewing their new Policies Directory site, which is set to go live on December 13th.  To try it out, point your browser to: https://policies-preview.oclc.org/ Authorization:  100028264 Password:  oclc Be sure to enter your OCLC Institution Symbol to view … Continue reading →

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How College Students Seek Information in the Digital Age

Posted on 2 December 2009 by Rick Mason

How College Students Seek Information in the Digital Age (pdf) is a report from Project Information Literacy, maintained by the Information School at the University of Washington that contains a few surprises for libraries: Course readings were the first place … Continue reading →

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Springo

Posted on 10 November 2009 by Rick Mason

I have always been a fan of the idea of creating a mediated search engine – one in which the results have been reviewed in order to ensure a lean, relevant results list. The reality of the idea is, shall … Continue reading →

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punypng

Posted on 24 September 2009 by Rick Mason

punypng is a great service for those who work with the .png image format.  If you work on web sites, presentations, or other projects that involve image files, this is really worth adding to your toolkit. What it does is … Continue reading →

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HealthBase, continued

Posted on 3 September 2009 by Rick Mason

A follow-up to yesteday’s post on HealthBase: It wasn’t what I was thinking of when I provided a caveat regarding Wikipedia being used as a source, but apparently some search results have offbeat listings, occasionally with negative associations. My caveat … Continue reading →

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Ohio on iTunes U

Posted on 27 August 2009 by Rick Mason

The State of Ohio has launched an iTunes site that is designed “to share educational resources, professional development materials, and student videos which have been produced by members of higher education, the K-12 community, and community partners free of charge … Continue reading →

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Social Your Site

Posted on 23 August 2009 by Rick Mason

Jenny Levine makes a great case on The Shifted Librarian for adding a feature to your sites that allows users to easily share your content via social networks.  Not only will this offer a way for your users to help … Continue reading →

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BookChaser

Posted on 23 August 2009 by Rick Mason

I wrote a post about the BookChaser Editions service last year, but encountered a reference to another service they offer, and this led me to others: BookChaser Covers : compares cover images available from Amazon, Google Books, LibraryThing, and Open … Continue reading →

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