Feb. 11 -  Presentation on iMacros by Greg Nelson

March 11 – TBA

April  8 – GPS Instruction by Mark Jackson

May 13 – Mac Basics

June 10 – Note Taking Software

July 8 – PBworks

QR codes are two-dimensional bar codes that can contain any alphanumeric text and that often feature URLs that direct users to sites where they can learn about an object or place (a practice known as “mobile tagging”). Decoding software on tools such as camera phones interprets the codes, which are increasingly found in places such as product labels, billboards, and buildings, inviting passers-by to pull out their mobile phones and uncover the encoded information. QR codes link the physical world with the virtual by providing on-the-spot access to descriptive language and online resources for objects and locations. In this way, the codes support experiential learning, bringing scholarship out of the classroom and into physical experience. Read more at:

http://connect.educause.edu/Library/ELI/7ThingsYouShouldKnowAbout/48210?time=1236984517

For example, I created an AIM account for science reference text messaging called leescience.  So, if we all decided to use AIM for our SMS, we could then post messages within the library, in the Daily Universe, etc., telling students to:

For library help, send a text message to 265010

And enter the following text

(Standard Text Messaging rates apply)

Science and Maps

leescience:your question

General Reference

leegeneralref:your question

Fine Arts and Communications

leearts:your question

etc

For example:

leescience:what are yr hours?

It would be nice if there were some consistency with AIM names.  I tried sciref, science, with no luck (they were taken). Putting lee in front seemed to do the trick. So, what do you think? What suggestions, issues, etc.? Please forward this to anyone you think would be interested.

Peter Zuber

Engineering Librarian

2321 HBLL

Brigham Young University

Provo, Utah 84602

Mobile phone becomes train ticket:  http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/uk_news/england/4348849.stm

Prague public transport ticket paid by SMS:  http://www.czech-transport.com/index.php?id=337

And on a more creative use:

SMS opens doors to toilets in some rest areas along Highway 1 in Western Finland:

http://www.hs.fi/english/article/SMS+opens+doors+to+toilets+in+some+rest+areas++along+Highway+1+in+Western+Finland+/1135233727523

WebJunction, an online learning community for librarians and library staff, has launched new social and learning applications for the site. The site, first started with money and backing from the Online Computer Library Center and the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation, had 30,000 individual members even before the revamp. There are three new items of note:

• A “friending” utility allowing librarians to connect with friends, peers, and colleagues from across the library community. There are also public profiles, the ability to tag useful bits of information, and recommendations.
• Librarians can now create their own content with tools provided by the site.
• There are more flexible online courses covering business, technical, and library skills.

A report on Blogjunction, the site’s blog, says that since the new tools launched last week, the library site had had 15,000 unique visitors, a pace that, if it keeps up, will give them more traffic than in any other month of their 5-year existence. –Josh Fischman