Archives
Monday, April 30, 2007
Economist slams DRM
Boing Boing: Economist slams DRM
The Economist has come out against DRM in a tell-it-like-it-is editorial that explains why anti-copying technology is bad for the entertainment industry.
Copyright — laura
Thursday, April 26, 2007
RSS in Plain English
Video: RSS in Plain English | Common Craft - Social Design for the Web
We made this video for our friends (and yours) that haven’t yet felt the power of our friend the RSS reader. We want to convert people… if you know someone who would love RSS and hasn’t yet tried it, point them here for 3.5 minutes of RSS in Plain English.
I ran this by a less tech savvy librarian and she assured me that it was indeed in plain English. It requires the viewer be familiar with blogs and have a desire to keep up with them. I could wish for a mention of the number of other types of websites that have feeds these days. But if I ever do another feed class I’ll come here for ideas.
Web Tools — laura
Tuesday, April 24, 2007
The Web Design Survey
Jeffrey Zeldman Presents : The Web Design Survey
Presenting A List Apart’s first annual web design survey. The information it collects will help us form a long overdue picture of the ways web design is really practiced around the globe. The more people who complete the survey, the richer and more detailed the picture will become.
Depending on how you answer it, the survey has up to 37 questions, nearly all of them multiple choice. A fluent English speaker should be able to complete the survey in ten minutes or less.
They do want to hear from those of us who are only part-time web designers so go ahead and take the survey if that’s you.
Website Design — laura
Saturday, April 14, 2007
Complete Color Matching Guide
Complete Color Matching Guide | E Logo Design
We’ve all finally gotten the go ahead for a web site redesign or even a print project. Then been faced with the organizations official color(s) and been stymied. A quick browse of the color guide could give you ideas for something to offset, tone down, or brighten that default choice.
Web Tools — laura
OPAC Survey results
- OPAC Survey results - part 1 » “Self-plagiarism is style”
- OPAC Survey results - part 2 » “Self-plagiarism is style”
Library Links — laura
Tuesday, April 10, 2007
LibraryThing for Libraries
LibrarianInBlack: LibraryThing for Libraries (w00t!)
Tim Spalding, the creator of LibraryThing, has given a sneak preview of a version of LibraryThing just for libraries. I can’t wait to see this puppy in action, real-time. From the explanation of how it works:
LibraryThing for Libraries is composed of a series of widgets, designed to enhance library catalogs with LibraryThing data and functionality. The achievement is that the widgets require NO back-end integration.
We’re serious. Just add a single Javascript tag, and one tag for every widget you want to display and we do the rest.
You can view a demo page (an overlay on NYPL’s catalog), and here’s what the page looks like without the LibraryThing addition. The additions are the nice entries for similar books and related editions. Sweet useful goodness! Over the next few months, various widgets will be released, some free and some on a for-pay basis.
Tag-browsing and ratings without needing access to our opac. Hallelujah! Oh, I hope this takes off. It’s still lipstick on the pig but at least it’s a prettier color.
Library Links — laura
Thursday, April 5, 2007
Information Design for the New Web
InfoTangle :: Information Design for the New Web :: April :: 2007
People are changing the way that they consume online information, as well as their expectations about its delivery. The social nature of the Web brings with it an expectation of interaction with information and modern Web design is reflecting that. There are now alternate forms of navigation including the ability to browse by user, tag clouds, tabbed navigation etc. Advances in technology along with these shifts in user expectations are affecting the way that information is laid out on a webpage. Today’s websites are aiming for intuitive and usable interfaces which are continuously evolving in response to user needs. Website designers are approaching information design differently and designing simple, interactive websites which incorporate advancements in Web interface design, current Web philosophies, and user needs. Information design for the New Web is simple, it is social, and it embraces alternate forms of navigation.
Website Design — laura
Everything You Need to Know About Web 2.0
Everything You Need to Know About Web 2.0
Web 2.0 is a category of new Internet tools and technologies created around the idea that the people who consume media, access the Internet, and use the Web shouldn’t passively absorb what’s available; rather, they should be active contributors, helping customize media and technology for their own purposes, as well as those of their communities.
But Web 2.0 isn’t just the latest set of toys for geeks, it’s the beginning of a new era in technology — one that promises to help nonprofits operate more efficiently, generate more funding, and affect more lives.
These new tools include, but are by no means limited to, blogs, social networking applications, RSS, social networking tools, and wikis. On this page, you’ll find articles on a variety of Web 2.0 tools and technologies. We’ll continue to update this page, so be sure to check back to learn about the latest technologies for your organization.
Web Tools — laura
