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Today Erik, Mary S., Barry, Sarah, Ellen D., Lauren P., Kaeley, Molly K., Leslie, JP, and Erik attended the ALA techsource webinar. Although the high point of the session was a ‘shout-out’ to our very own Lauren P’ there were alot of intersting trends discussed. Lots of folks focused on mobile/social apps, augmented reality apps and there was a fascinating discussion about foursquare. I think we should start rewarding students who spend lots of time in the library with extra free-prints (or perhaps just a broom to sweep up or something).
Among the many examples of iphone apps (one person used the phrase “all iphone all the time” – which sounds about right 🙂 ) there was a demonstration of the integration of the RedLaser app with OCLC. Discussion of Ebooks was somewhat scarce but there was a presentation about a platform called blio
3 Comments on ‘ALA Techsource Emerging Trends Webinar’
This sounds like a good one. Good stuff presented there.
I thought Jason Griffey’s observation about the lack of vendor representation for products/services our patrons use (e.g., no Google, ebook readers, etc.) was spot-on. As our post-viewing conversation illuminated, Google simply doesn’t see us (us = libraries/librarians) as anything: not as collaborators, not as customers, not as competition.
A few misc and random thoughts as I watched this from home (trying to keep illness to myself):
* I wondered if computer vendors aren’t interested in ALA conferences because the contracts are done through county/city governments or Universities instead of through the libraries.
* LOVED the demo on the mobile interfaces for the catalog.
*I used the Boopsie app’s next meeting feature at ALA Annual in Chicago with my Samsung Propel (not a smartphone) in case that’s a helpful tidbit for planning.
* the brief mention of e-books was solely focused on the trade publishers (like Random House)that recently made deals with Apple’s e-bookstore (see http://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=123184867)