Wireless — this term evokes an array of feelings in technologists today. Even though the definition of the term is relatively simple, there are numerous protocols, standards, and methods that have been developed to perform wireless interactions. For example, by now, many of you have heard of the mobile applications, such as Apple Pay or Google Wallet, similarly, you might have a transit pass or badge for your gym or work. With a wave of your device or pass a scanner processes a “contactless transactions”. The tap-and-go experience of these technologies often utilize Near Field Communication, or NFC. NFC is a set of standards that allows devices to establish radio communication with each other by touching them together or bringing them into close proximity, an effective distance of 4 cm. A direct transmissions of specific information, separate from the open ended Wi-Fi access and seemingly limitless information resources it provides….
Year: 2015
Brave New Workplace: Start with a Survey
Brave New Workplace is an ongoing exploration of tech applications that can help new employees acculturate. While this series is aimed at empowering recent hires, managers could modify some of these suggestions in order to speed the acclimation process as well. In today’s first installment, I’ll discuss developing and administering a workplace survey as a tool for developing relationships and assessing needs. Plan: Survey Your New Workplace Tool: Google Forms Next Steps: Text Mining and CRM creation Starting a new job can be a daunting proposition, and in the first few weeks on the job information gathering is often priority number one. Learning about your workplace and your coworkers is the key to making a successful start. Developing a survey can speed your workplace acclimation. All the benefits of surveys generally- a standard set of questions, a functionally sized test group- translate well to developing workplace relationships and getting to…
Jobs in Information Technology: October 14, 2015
New vacancy listings are posted weekly on Wednesday at approximately 12 noon Central Time. They appear under New This Week and under the appropriate regional listing. Postings remain on the LITA Job Site for a minimum of four weeks. New This Week: Library Division Coordinator Digital Services / IT Support, Marion Public Library, Marion, IA Head, The Office of Scholarly Communications, University of Arkansas, Fayetteville, AR Web Services and Digital Environments Librarian, Temple University Libraries, Philadelphia, PA Visit the LITA Job Site for more available jobs and for information on submitting a job posting.
Gimme a B! Gimme an A! Gimme a D! Gimme a G! Gimme an E! Gimme an S! What’s That Spell? Learning!
The Chronicle of Higher Education recently released an entire report on credentialing. The Educause Learning Initiative has published several articles on the subject. Similarly, ACRL held a forum in September to discuss its role in a growing national conversation about badges and credentials. So what are they and how can you begin the conversation at your own institution? Credentials refer to a general body of certifications that are typically awarded outside of traditional degree programs. They include continuing education credits, certificates of achievements, and more recently, digital badges. More specifically, badges are digital tokens that appear as icons or logos on a web page or other online venue. Awarded by institutions, organizations, groups, or even individuals, badges signify accomplishments such as completion of a project, mastery of a skill, or marks of experience. Learners fulfill the issuer-specific criteria to earn the badge by attending classes, passing a quiz or exam, or…
The 2015 LITA Forum includes 3 amazing Keynotes
The 2015 LITA Forum Minneapolis, MN November 12-15, 2015 Registration is now open! Join your LITA and LLAMA colleagues in Minneapolis, November 12-15, 2015 for the 2015 LITA Forum The guaranteed discount hotel rate at the Hyatt Regency Minneapolis ends Wednesday October 21st, 2015, and as available thereafter. Online registration closes Sunday November 8th, 2015 This year’s Forum has three amazing keynotes you won’t want to miss: LISA WELCHMAN President of Digital Governance Solutions at ActiveStandards. In a 20-year career, Lisa Welchman has paved the way in the discipline of digital governance, helping organizations stabilize their complex, multi-stakeholder digital operations. Lisa’s focus centers on understanding and interpreting how the advent and prolific growth of digital impacts organizations, as well as the maturation of digital as a distinct vocational discipline in the enterprise. Her book Managing Chaos: Digital Governance by Design was published in February of 2015 by Rosenfeld Media. MX…
Digital Privacy Toolkit for Librarians, a LITA webinar
Attend this important new LITA webinar: Digital Privacy Toolkit for Librarians Tuesday October 20, 2015 1:30 pm – 3:00 pm Central Time Register Online, page arranged by session date (login required) This 90 minute webinar will include a discussion and demonstration of practical tools for online privacy that can be implemented in library PC environments or taught to patrons in classes/one-on-one tech sessions, including browsers for privacy and anonymity, tools for secure deletion of cookies, cache, and internet history, tools to prevent online tracking, and encryption for online communications. Attendees will: learn how to use privacy-protecting software learn best practices for library end user security https://libraryfreedomproject.org/resources/privacytoolkit/ learn some of the issues with web security and data collection in general learn important concepts in digital security Alison’s work for the Library Freedom Project and classes for patrons including tips on teaching patron privacy classes can be found at:https://libraryfreedomproject.org/resources/onlineprivacybasics/ Alison Macrina Is…
Jobs in Information Technology: October 7, 2015
New vacancy listings are posted weekly on Wednesday at approximately 12 noon Central Time. They appear under New This Week and under the appropriate regional listing. Postings remain on the LITA Job Site for a minimum of four weeks. New This Week: Head of Special Collections, Williams College, Williamstown, MA Visit the LITA Job Site for more available jobs and for information on submitting a job posting.
Agile Development: Sprint Retrospective
In my last two posts I’ve discussed how to carry out sprint review and sprint planning meetings. This month we’ll look at the final component of the sprint boundary process, the sprint retrospective, which is where the team analyzes its inner workings. Objective The sprint retrospective is an opportunity for the development team to review their performance over the previous sprint, identify strengths and weaknesses, and modify processes to increase productivity and well-being. Timing The retrospective should take place near the end of the iteration. It usually follows the sprint review, and can be held immediately following, but some sort of boundary should be established (take a short break, change the room, etc.) to make it clear that these are two very different meetings with very different purposes. The length of the meeting will change from sprint to sprint; budget as much time as you think you will need to fully explore team performance. If there isn’t much of substance…
LITA Forum Student Registration Rate Available
2015 LITA Forum Minneapolis, MN November 12-15, 2015 STUDENT REGISTRATION RATE AVAILABLE LITA is offering a special student registration rate to the 2015 LITA Forum to a limited number of graduate students enrolled in ALA-accredited programs. The Forum will be held November 12-15, 2015 at the Hyatt Regency Minneapolis in Minneapolis, MN. To learn more about the Forum, visit www.litaforum.org . In exchange for the discounted registration, students will assist the LITA organizers and the Forum presenters with the on-site operations for the Forum. We are anticipating an attendance of 300+ decision makers and implementers of new information technologies in libraries. The selected students will be expected to attend the full LITA Forum, Friday noon through Sunday noon, but attending during the pre-conferences on Thursday afternoon and Friday morning is not required. They will be assigned a variety of duties, but will be able to attend the Forum programs, which…
Great Library UX Ideas published at Weave
Announced today by Matthew Reidsma of Grand Valley State University and Editor-in-Chief of Weave, the Journal Of Library User Experience, the publication of the submissions of the winner and first two runners-up for the 2015 Great Library UX Ideas Under $100. In June 2015, the LITA’s President, Rachel Vacek, Program Planning Team partnered with Weave to hold a contest for great, affordable UX ideas for libraries. The winner won some fabulous prizes, but the committee had trouble choosing just one of the entries they received for recognition. Therefore they choose a winner and first two runners-up for the 2015 Great Library UX Ideas Under $100. Congratualations to all the winners: Conny Liegl, Designer for Web, Graphics and UX Robert E. Kennedy Library at California Polytechnic State University Rebecca Blakiston, User Experience Librarian, University of Arizona Libraries Shoshana Mayden, Content Strategist, University of Arizona Libraries Nattawan Wood, Administrative Associate, University of Arizona Libraries Aungelique Rodriguez, Library Communications Student Assistant, University of Arizona…