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Author Archives: Michael Sauers
Recently on the NCompass Podcast
Have you listened the NCompass Podcast lately? Here are the episodes from August 2013. To get all of the episodes delivered to you automatically be sure to subscribe via RSS or iTunes.
Episode 245: Boopsie-Daisy, Easy-Peasy! One librarian’s experience with Boopsie mobile app development
Episode 246: EveryoneOn @your library®
Episode 247: Libraries Lending eReaders
Episode 248: Tech Talk with Michael Sauers: Building your own ILS from scratch
Posted in Education & Training
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Friday Video: Cedar and Silicon
Information technology is transforming the world. As First Nations try to overcome the “digital divide”, they face a critical challenge: can they embrace telecommunications to build a better future while still holding onto the rich heritage of their past? Through engaging portraits of aboriginal communities throughout British Columbia, this documentary explores how digital technologies are helping to preserve threatened languages and culture, improve health and education, and enhance economic development and governance. For First Nations struggling to join the information revolution, the film reveals how technology can enhance peoples’ lives and livelihoods.
Posted in Education & Training, Technology
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Recently on the NCompass Podcast
Have you listened the NCompass Podcast lately? Here are the episodes from July 2013. To get all of the episodes delivered to you automatically be sure to subscribe via RSS or iTunes.
Episode 240: What You Should Be ‘Subjecting’ Your Teens To: The Nonfiction Switch
Episode 241: Learning in the Learning Commons: How UNK Moved Out of the Silos and into a Dance Hall
Episode 242: Libraries and the New Health Insurance Marketplace
Episode 243: The Digital Public Library of America: A New Resource for Our Communities
Episode 244: Tech Talk with Michael Sauers: Ancient ones and Ender fun: Going beyond standard Young Adult events
Posted in Education & Training
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Friday Video: “Frankenstein’s Cat: Cuddling Up to Biotech’s Brave New Beasts”
In Frankenstein’s Cat: Cuddling Up to Biotech’s Brave New Beasts, Emily Anthes takes readers from Petri dish to pet store, exploring how the world’s fauna are being reinvented. She searches for the revolutionary breeds of beasts that are slowly taking their places in the world. What do these creatures look like? Who is behind creating them? What do these new scientific superpowers mean for animals? And what do the ways in which we’re choosing to shape animal bodies say about humans?
About the Author
Emily Anthes is a journalist whose articles have appeared in Wired, Discover, Psychology Today, Slate, Scientific American, and more. She holds a master’s degree in science writing from MIT and a bachelor’s degree in the history of science and medicine from Yale. She lives in Brooklyn, New York, with her dog, Milo.
Published on Jul 2, 2013
Posted in Education & Training
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Friday Video: Neil Gaiman: “The Ocean at the End of the Lane”
Published on Jul 9, 2013
Neil Gaiman stops by the Googleplex to discuss his latest book, “The Ocean at the End of the Lane.” This talk was moderated by Chris DiBona.
From the book description:
A major new work from “a writer to make readers rejoice” (Minneapolis Star Tribune)—a moving story of memory, magic, and survival
Sussex, England. A middle-aged man returns to his childhood home to attend a funeral. Although the house he lived in is long gone, he is drawn to the farm at the end of the road, where, when he was seven, he encountered a most remarkable girl, Lettie Hempstock, and her mother and grandmother. He hasn’t thought of Lettie in decades, and yet as he sits by the pond (a pond that she’d claimed was an ocean) behind the ramshackle old farmhouse, the unremembered past comes flooding back. And it is a past too strange, too frightening, too dangerous to have happened to anyone, let alone a small boy.
Forty years earlier, a man committed suicide in a stolen car at this farm at the end of the road. Like a fuse on a firework, his death lit a touchpaper and resonated in unimaginable ways. The darkness was unleashed, something scary and thoroughly incomprehensible to a little boy. And Lettie—magical, comforting, wise beyond her years—promised to protect him, no matter what.
A groundbreaking work from a master, The Ocean at the End of the Lane is told with a rare understanding of all that makes us human, and shows the power of stories to reveal and shelter us from the darkness inside and out. It is a stirring, terrifying, and elegiac fable as delicate as a butterfly’s wing and as menacing as a knife in the dark.
Friday Video: One Laptop Per Child
Rodrigo Arboleda, the CEO of One Laptop Per Child, tells the success story of how one laptop has revolutionized education through “non-profit entrepreneurship” and unveils its new Android tablet that will be available for sale in US Walmart stores – the 1st time OLPC goods are sold in America – in summer 2013.
Rodrigo Arboleda Halaby is currently Chairman and CEO, for One Laptop per Child Association and based in Miami, Florida. Born in Medellin, Colombia, he completed his Bachelor’s Degree in Architecture at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) in 1965 and was elected president of the Colombian Society of Architects in Medellín in 1975. He has worked with Nicholas Negroponte since 1982 on projects oriented towards bringing digital age technologies to educational systems in developing nations.
Published on May 6, 2013
Posted in Education & Training, Technology
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Friday Video: Bruce Schneier Talks Trust
Human society runs on trust. We all trust millions of people, organizations, and systems every day — and we do it so easily that we barely notice. But in any system of trust, there is an alternative, parasitic, strategy that involves abusing that trust. Making sure those defectors don’t destroy the cooperative systems they’re abusing is an age-old problem, one that we’ve solved through morals and ethics, laws, and all sort of security technologies. Understanding how these all work — and fail — is essential to understanding the problems we face in today’s increasingly technological and interconnected world.
Bruce Schneier is an internationally renowned security technologist and author. Described by The Economist as a “”security guru,”” he is best known as a refreshingly candid and lucid security critic and commentator. When people want to know how security really works, they turn to Schneier.
Published on Jun 19, 2013
Posted in Education & Training, Technology
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Bellevue eReader Workshop Scheduled
eBooks and eReaders are coming into your library even if your library doesn’t officially support them. In this full-day workshop, Commission trainers Michael Sauers and Susan Knisely will walk you through the ins and outs of today’s eBook technology including hands-on time with a Barnes & Noble Nook Simple Touch, Amazon Kindle 3, Amazon Kindle Fire, and Apple iPad along with the OverDrive eBook lending service. By the end of this day you’ll feel more comfortable with these devices and be more confident in your ability to give your patrons the help they need. (This workshop does focus on public libraries but school and academic librarians will also benefit by attending.)
August 20, 2013 Bellevue Public Library
http://nlc.nebraska.gov/scripts/calendar/eventshow.asp?ProgId=12363
Posted in Education & Training
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Three brand new workshops in August
I’m currently developing three brand new workshops that will be offered first here in Lincoln. (After these sessions we will be scheduling more throughout the state.) Some of these workshops are on the advanced-side so please be sure to read the descriptions carefully before registering.
Michael
Advanced eBooks & eReaders
August 15, 2013
You’ve been using your eReader for a while now, helping library customers, and are comfortable purchasing content from the store and borrowing content from OverDrive. But now you may be wondering what other sources of content are available and how to get it onto reading devices. In this workshop we’ll start there and then work our way through other advanced topics such as organizing eBooks with Calibre, converting eBooks from one format to another, and even how to set up a Web server so your library can wirelessly deliver free content to your users
Who should attend?
Librarians and library staff who are already users of, and familiar with, the main features of their eReader of choice.
IMPORTANT INFORMATION
Attendees will need to bring their own laptop and eReader of choice. Computers and eReaders will not be supplied to attendees. Additionally, basic operations such as purchasing content from the associated store, reading and annotating content, and borrowing content from OverDrive will not be covered in this workshop.
Creating Your Library’s Web Site with WordPress
August 15, 2013
For more than three years the Nebraska Library Commission has be using WordPress to run the Nebraska Libraries on the Web project which currently hosts, for free, more than fifty public library Web sites across the state. WordPress is a state-of-the-art content management system that allows anyone to create an amazing Web site with little to no coding experience. In this hands-on workshop, you’ll be introduced to the major features of WordPress and go home with a basic site to get you started.
Who should attend?
Librarians and library staff interested in, or already participating in, the Nebraska Libraries on the Web project or those wondering what WordPress can do for their library. Project participation is not required.
Library UX: Improving the User Experience
August 16, 2015
A single experience can influence the overall user experience (UX), so it’s important to provide good experience for your patrons in addition to materials and programs. In this workshop, we’ll take a look at the basics of UX and UX testing, from processes as simple as checking out an item, to signage, to your library’s Web site. Participants will leave with plenty of ideas as to how to improve the user experience in their library.
Who should attend?
Librarians, library staff, and board members who are interested in learning how to improve their library’s user experience.
Posted in Education & Training
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Recently on the NCompass Podcast
Have you listened the NCompass Podcast lately? Here are the episodes from June 2013. To get all of the episodes delivered to you automatically be sure to subscribe via RSS or iTunes.
[wpaudio url=”http://nlc.nebraska.gov/nlcpodcast/NCompassPodcast236.mp3″ text=”Episode 236: 2013 One Book One Nebraska: O Pioneers!”]
[wpaudio url=”http://nlc.nebraska.gov/nlcpodcast/NCompassPodcast237.mp3″ text=”Episode 237: Tech Talk with Michael Sauers: Working with Wikipedia”]
[wpaudio url=”http://nlc.nebraska.gov/nlcpodcast/NCompassPodcast238.mp3″ text=”Episode 238: eBooks – The Changing Landscape in South Dakota Schools”]
[wpaudio url=”http://nlc.nebraska.gov/nlcpodcast/NCompassPodcast239.mp3″ text=”Episode 239: Technology in Libraries: What’s Next?”]
Posted in Education & Training
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Scott Sigler, “Rewriting Publishing with Podcasts” | Talks At Google
Best selling author Scott Sigler discussed how he built his writing career by transforming his novels into free serialized podcasts. Scott started doing this over 7 years ago and over 15 million individual podcast episodes have been downloaded. This innovative idea helped him land a book deal and start his own publishing company. Scott will share how he used new techniques and technologies to successfully navigate the traditional publishing system. As social networks and other online forums have increased direct-to-consumer outreach, Scott is constantly embracing new technologies while also understanding the successes of the traditional methods.
Scott will also be sharing what its like to work with producer Lloyd Levin (Watchman, The Rocketeer, and Hellboy) to transform one of his books into a TV pilot.
Posted in Education & Training, Technology
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Packing Your Digital Go-Bag: Essential Disaster Health Information on Your Mobile Device
Former National Network/Libraries of Medicine MidContinental Region Coordinator, Siobhan Champ-Blackwell, now with the Disaster Information Management Research Center, U.S. National Library of Medicine will be introducing presenters Stacey Arnesen and Jennifer Pakiam as they tell us about mobile resources and apps available to assist responders, public health professionals and others in the disaster and preparedness workforce with information needs before and during emergencies and disasters.
This session will be recorded and posted a few days after the webinar at http://disasterinfo.nlm.nih.gov/dimrc/dismeetings.html and at: http://nnlm.gov/mcr/services/updates/spotlightresources.html. Captioning will be provided
REGISTRATION REQUIRED FOR THIS SESSION AT: http://tinyurl.com/mcrclasses . Equipment: connection to the Internet and a phone, Login: as a guest with your name. Instructions to connect to the audio will show up once you’ve logged in. Questions to mmagee@unmc.edu. (mm)
Posted in Education & Training
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Friday Video: Chris Kimball “The Science of Good Cooking”
Published on Apr 29, 2013
Chris Kimball stopped by the Googleplex for a discussion of his latest book, “The Science of Good Cooking.”
Posted in General
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Recently on the NCompass Podcast
Have you listened the NCompass Podcast lately? Here are the episodes from May 2013. To get all of the episodes delivered to you automatically be sure to subscribe via RSS or iTunes.
[wpaudio url=”http://nlc.nebraska.gov/nlcpodcast/NCompassPodcast231.mp3″ text=”Episode 231: What does a successful internship look like?”]
[wpaudio url=”http://nlc.nebraska.gov/nlcpodcast/NCompassPodcast232.mp3″ text=”Episode 232: Hastings StoryWalk: Walk, Read, Explore”]
[wpaudio url=”http://nlc.nebraska.gov/nlcpodcast/NCompassPodcast233.mp3″ text=”Episode 233: University of Nebraska in Your Neighborhood”]
[wpaudio url=”http://nlc.nebraska.gov/nlcpodcast/NCompassPodcast234.mp3″ text=”Episode 234: Library Planning: A Customized Program for Success”]
[wpaudio url=”http://nlc.nebraska.gov/nlcpodcast/NCompassPodcast235.mp3″ text=”Episode 235: Tech Talk with Michael Sauers: Free Technology for Teachers”]
Posted in Education & Training
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Two new eBook/eReader workshops scheduled
eBooks and eReaders are coming into your library even if your library doesn’t officially support them. In this full-day workshop, Commission trainers Michael Sauers and Susan Knisely will walk you through the ins and outs of today’s eBook technology including hands-on time with a Barnes & Noble Nook Color, Amazon Kindle 3, Amazon Kindle Fire, and Apple iPad along with the OverDrive eBook lending service. By the end of this day you’ll feel more comfortable with these devices and be more confident in your ability to give your patrons the help they need. (This workshop does focus on public libraries but school and academic librarians will also benefit by attending.)
June 4, 2013 Norfolk Public Library
http://nlc.nebraska.gov/scripts/calendar/eventshow.asp?ProgId=12230
June 7, 2013 Hastings Public Library
http://nlc.nebraska.gov/scripts/calendar/eventshow.asp?ProgId=12231
Registration is limited to twelve attendees per workshop so please sign up soon.
Posted in Education & Training
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Loving Lovecraft: Nebraska Teens Host Life-Size ‘Arkham Horror’ Game
Three cheers for Miskatonic University! That’s the rallying cry of the La Vista Public Library (NE)’s teen advisory board—who, under the exuberant guidance of youth librarian and advisor Lindsey Tomsu, a 2013 Library Journal Mover & Shaker—turned its 2012 Teen Read Week into a massive celebration of the works of H. P. Lovecraft, complete with crafts, workshops, and a life-sized version of the complex, cooperative Arkham Horror board game based on the Cthulhu Mythos. The event was so successful and engaging that the teens hope to repeat it every year.
“I like complex board games for teens because they teach a variety of different skills in a fun setting,” Tomsu tells School Library Journal. “Arkham involves teamwork (since it is players versus the board), lots of reading, mathematical skills, and critical thinking.”
In Arkham Horror, up to eight players take on the roles of investigators in 1920s Prohibition-era Arkham, MA, the fictional town where Lovecraft set many of his stories, Tomsu explains. Each investigator has a special occupation—such as chef, archeologist, explorer, and librarian—and his or her own special abilities and talents. “The goal of the game,” Tomsu says, “is for the players to work together to kill monsters and stop gates to other dimensions from opening. If they fail, the Ancient One (a super tough monster) will awaken and attempt to take over the world.”
Says teen advisory board member Keyahna Wood, “I like that we work as a team to win,” while Mary Bragg says, “It is more complex than most normal board games and a lot more challenging.” Huyen-Yen Hoang agrees: “It’s awesome. It is fun and complex but in an easy-to-understand way.”
Read the full article (especially to check out the foul Hounds of Tindalos,) @ SchoolLibraryJournal.
Posted in Public Relations
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Friday Video: BIG DATA: A Revolution That Will Transform How We Live, Work, and Think
“BIG DATA: A Revolution That Will Transform How We Live, Work, and Think,” is a revelatory exploration of the hottest trend in technology and the dramatic impact it will have on the economy, science, and society at large. Which paint color is most likely to tell you that a used car is in good shape? How can Con Edison catch the most dangerous New York City manholes before they explode? And how did YOU (well, Google) predict the spread of the H1N1 flu outbreak? The key to answering these questions, and many more, is big data, our newfound ability to crunch vast collections of information, analyze it instantly, and draw sometimes profoundly surprising conclusions from it. This emerging science can translate myriad phenomena—from the price of airline tickets to the text of millions of books—into searchable form, and uses our newfound computing power to unearth revelations that we never could have seen before.
A revolution on par with the Internet or perhaps even the printing press, big data will change the way we think about business, health, politics, education, and innovation in the years to come. It also poses fresh threats, especially the prospect of being penalized by for things we haven’t even done yet, based on big data’s ability to predict our future behavior.
Posted in Education & Training
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Most Social Media Friendly State Libraries for 2013
The folks over at LibraryScientist.com have ranked all 50 state libraries on their social media presence. According to them, the Nebraska Library’s Commission’s social media presence ranks 6th! So we’d like to take this opportunity to thank both the staff that help in posting such wonderful content to so many services and to all of you who follow us on platforms from Twitter to YouTube.
Read the full list and all the details @ LibraryScientist.com.
Friday Video: Triangulation 98: Brewster Kahle
Computer engineer and Internet activist, digital librarian Brewster Kahle is today’s guest on Triangulation.
Posted in Education & Training
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Recently on the NCompass Podcast
Have you listened the NCompass Podcast lately? Here are the episodes from April 2013. To get all of the episodes delivered to you automatically be sure to subscribe via RSS or iTunes.
[wpaudio url=”http://nlc.nebraska.gov/nlcpodcast/NCompassPodcast227.mp3″ text=”Episode 227: Dig Into Reading: Summer Reading Program 2013″]
[wpaudio url=”http://nlc.nebraska.gov/nlcpodcast/NCompassPodcast228.mp3″ text=”Episode 228: Customer Service Means Convenience”]
[wpaudio url=”http://nlc.nebraska.gov/nlcpodcast/NCompassPodcast229.mp3″ text=”Episode 229: Easing Information Anxiety: Teaching Information Literacy Strategies and Skills for College Readiness”]
[wpaudio url=”http://nlc.nebraska.gov/nlcpodcast/NCompassPodcast230.mp3″ text=”Episode 230: Tech Talk with Michael Sauers: Web Tools to Make You Look Cool!”]
Posted in Education & Training
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