QR Codes for libraries: Are we ready for a new code?

QR (quick response) Codes, are two dimensional barcodes which when scanned using mobile phones having camera (some phones may require installation of a QR reader application software) enables one to access some pre-written content such as a website address, email address, details of items in the catalogue, phone numbers etc. They are capable of storing much more information than that of conventional barcodes.

Libraries, I think are best placed to introduce these codes to enable patrons to get quick access to the information when they are on the move. The library information such as details of items in the catalogue, links to library URL address, e-mail address, tutorials, brochures etc. can be linked using these codes.  In the west, some of the libraries are using these codes for linking URL addresses, catalogue records, signage etc.  For example University of Bath library in UK is using these codes in the catalogue to enable library users to scan and transfer information about a book directly to their mobiles to save patrons from keying or noting the details. Other uses of QR codes made in libraries can be seen on a Library Success wiki.

The use of QR Codes in libraries even though looks simple, but requires libraries to make their website compatible to mobile phones or have different version for mobiles. Looking at the high penetration rate of mobile phones and their greater usage among the new generation of people, I think it is sensible to introduce these codes for disseminating library related information.

Apart from libraries, these codes, may also be used for other purposes such as on business cards, power point presentations etc. The generation of QR code is simple. It can be developed either by using any free QR generation application software or online tools such as Goqr.me.   For power point presentations and documents, further help is available from tagmydoc.

Future Minds: How the Digital Age is Changing Our Minds…

Richard Watson the author of Future Minds: How the Digital Age is Changing Our Minds, Why this Matters and What We Can Do About It,  examines how digital culture is changing the way we think today, and how it will shape our future. His views on libraries are also worth going through.

So all in digital age may not end well, we need to keep faith in our old forms of learning.

 

 

alt-metrics, a new tool for research assessment

Recently, I came across an interesting article ‘Current research assessment could miss the big picture‘ on Research Information.  It highlighted on how traditional methods of research assessment (peer review, citations etc) could be failing those researchers who are fully embracing the possibilities of Web 2.0.  This has called for new methods of metrics (altmetrics), which better reflect today’s research practices and take advantage of the use of current social media technologies. However, such metrics to succeed requires widespread acceptance from the research community. I think researchers in general would consider this new metrics academic worthy and accept it to measure the impact of their research in the changing ecosystem of information landscape.

In the field of library and information science, I think it is worth to use altmetrics in line with bibliometrics, scientometrics, webometrics etc to measure the impact of research undertaken by individuals and organizations in different disciplines.

Beware of online information filter bubbles

Recently, I came across an interesting video ‘Beware of online Filter Bubbles‘ on TED Talk. The speaker Eli Pariser talks about online filter bubbles and how they control flow of information to different group of users by giving an example of Google, Yahoo etc and how they retrieve different search results on the same topic to separate individuals.  Each one of these online tools are trying to create a comfort echo chamber zones for different individuals using algorithms, they then try to predict what we want or don’t want online. This may prevent people seeing all the information on a particular topic as someone is filtering information for you. Have a look at the following video:

The recent article on New York Times ‘The Trouble With the Echo Chamber Online‘ highlights some of these issues. As an information intermediary, we have a greater role to inform library users to be aware of these filter bubbles.

Embedded librarianship: Are we ready for it?

I came across an article ‘Embedded librarianship in the research context:
Navigating new waters‘ in the recent issue of ‘College and Research Libraries‘.  As discussed in the paper ‘Embedded librarianship takes a librarian out of the context of the traditional library and places him or her in an “on-site” setting or situation that enables close coordination and collaboration with researchers or teaching faculty.’  It may further enable librarians in the research environment to collaborate with the faculty members or researchers and be integral part of research teams in undertaking projects.

The model of embedded librarianship is already being applied in information literacy programs as a means to overcome the limitations of the  one-time
library orientation class. However, this is happening more in the West than in developing countries like India.  The article also provides list of advices for the embedded librarian for successful implementation of this model.

I think it is a time for us to think in this direction and make our researchers and organizations aware of value of libraries and librarians in meeting the goals of the organization.

The Value of libraries for research and researchers

RLUK/RIN have recently brought out a report on ‘The Value of Libraries for Research and Researchers‘. The report presents the findings of a study of the value of the services that libraries in the UK provide to researchers, and of the contributions that libraries from a wide range of institutions make to institutional research performance. I think even though the report highlights UK HE [Higher Education] and research environment, it may be well suited for HE and research environment of other countries.

Key message emanating from the report are:

• Good libraries help institutions to recruit and retain top researchers
• Libraries help researchers win research grants and contracts
• Libraries promote and exploit new technologies and new models of scholarly communications
• Repositories increase the visibility of the institution and raise its research profile
• Outward-facing libraries contribute to institution-wide initiatives
• Specialist staff work in partnership with academic departments
• Connecting with researchers enhances the value of the library’s services
• Dedicated spaces provide a better work environment for researchers
• Easy access to high-quality content is a key foundation for good research
• Libraries are a physical manifestation of the values of the academy and of scholarship

It is an interesting report to go through and apply certain findings to showcase the value of libraries to researchers and authorities in the present changing times.

The time for libraries is now

I always believe, libraries have a greater role to play in the present Internet era in spite of drop in the number of users. They can provide excellent services and help library users to sustain the information overload. I came across an excellent presentation entitled ‘The time for libraries is now’  by Ned Potter on Slide Share.

There is an urgent need to engage ourselves in advocating the role of libraries in the present information economy to the Google generation.

Social media for researchers

Social media as we all know are primarily Internet- and mobile-based tools such as blogs, micro-blogs, RSS, wikis etc for sharing and discussing information among the people. What many of us feel that these are useful only for general discussions. However, they can play an important role in setting communications and collaborations in the academia.

A guide entitled ‘ Social media: A guide for researchers’ just released by Research Information Network [RIN], points out that social media is an important technological trend that has big implications for how researchers (and people in general) communicate and collaborate. Researchers have a huge amount to gain from engaging with social media in various aspects of their work.  The guide discusses the use of social media for research and academic purposes.  As an intermediary, we also need to take serious note of social media and think how best these can be deployed in providing innovative services to the library users.

E-Books will they replace P-Books?

E-Books are in existence and available in the market since quite long time now, but could not gain momentum like E-Journals due to various reasons such as convenience of reading, privacy, size, sharing etc. In the initial years, there were no specialized gadgets available in the market to make reading of these books an eye soothing experience. However, due to the advent of E-Book readers such as Amazon’s Kindle, Sony’s E-Reader, Barnes and Noble’s Nook, etc, they slowly gained acceptance among the people. Over a period of time, sales revenue of e-books zoomed from mere US $ 1.5 million in 2002 to whopping US $ 88.7 million in quarter 2 of 2010, as reported by International Digital Publishing Forum [IDPF].  According to Smashwords, this may not depict the worldwide figures of sales as it covers only US wholesale e-books sales and do not include smaller publishers, who do publish e-books. Recently, New York Times reported that Amazon  has sold more Kindle e-books than hardbound volumes of books, for which no Kindle edition was available. Some attribute, this could be due to the reduction in prices of e-book readers and availability of open source software like Calibre. I think, in the near future, library collections will have more e-books to meet the users’ information requirements 24 x 7. Do these replace printed books (P-Books) is a question, which we all need to wait and watch to find an answer.

RSS: Mix and match multiple feeds

RSS [Really Simple Syndication] or [Rich Site Summary] feeds have become a defacto standard for most of the modern websites available on the Internet. More and more internet users are now aware of usefulness of RSS feeds in keeping updated themselves about latest news, articles, latest additions to websites, blogs etc. Libraries are also finding it as a useful tool to keep their clientele updated about news, articles, books, etc using internal or external content.

It would be interesting for library users if multiple feeds are mixed and matched in a particular area/s and made available such content on a website or portal or blog. Today, there are different tools available on the Internet to mix and match multiple feeds and post it as one feed on the web.  I experimented with several tools such as Xfruits, RSS Mix, RSS Mixer, Feed Informer and Yahoo Pipes. I found Yahoo Pipes a wonderful and an interesting tool to make use for creating a combined RSS feeds looking in to its features and sustainability. It enables you to add multiple feeds, filter, sort and translate the content in addition to whole lot of features to work with. The output from Pipes can be posted as RSS, JSON, KML and other formats. The output can be either kept as public or private and can be made available either on Yahoo or on your website using tools like feedburner [requires Google account to login] or feed2js.

The information intermediaries need to explore this type tools in order to provide content from multiple sources without being involved in developing the content. This will make your site rich and informative.