NLB Innovation Center

Haha ... finally got my Picassa to work with my blog.

All I need is to select the pictures and then click "Blog this" icon from my Picassa to upload those pictures. Its very convenient.

But one thing I find inadequate about Picassa is the lack of features in its editor and also I can't put any labels for my blog posting. Still, the ease with which photos are uploaded are unparalleled!

ok, below are the 3 pictures I took using my Sony Ericsson K800i in a visit in NLB. The first picture is like a vending machine where you can loan books. The second picture is a mobile book drop. NLB plans was to push the mobile library concept one step further by placing the vending machine (for loaning of books) and the mobile book drop (for return) close to their users, eg. around MRT station etc. Again, all uses RFID technology, which shows the extent RFID can be applied.

Haha ... This one is more for fun actually. The bus is converted into mobile library. This is of course nothing new but since I have never visited a library in a bus, I thought of capturing as well.

NEA - Website provide details on weather

Haha ... to NEA website provide very good info on weather. Thanks NEA!

http://app.nea.gov.sg/

haha ... learnt a new word today, someone mentions GE acquisition strategy is quintessential with Buffett teachings. I totally catch no ball. Went back to check dictionary and find that quintessential means "being the most typical". Cool. Can't pronounce it though and Dictionary.com is too pity to charge for users who want to hear the words out loud.

Woodlands Checkpoint Image

aiya, its raining at Woodlands, can't go JB already .... :(

http://www.onemotoring.com.sg/publish/onemotoring/en/on_the_roads/traffic_cameras0/woodlands.html

NBL - Singapore Slingers

Ever dream of watching an NBA live but find such entertainment financially and geographically impossible? There is a nice alternative around town - NBL. A basket ball league with teams from Australia, New Zealand and Singapore.

Check this out!

Picture taken from the first few rows of the stadium ok! Can you afford such seat in NBA games?

The players - look, they got the height, 1.9m to 2m.



Time out entertainment, kids playing slam dung. A tall dad carry his son so that he could do the slam dung. Notice the score board hanging in the middle of the court? It is just like NBA screens, the infrastructure is pretty professional! I find the strings of black speakers hanging from the screens particularly interesting - the whole thing (screen plus speaker) look like Octopus to me.


They also have cheer leaders giving out basket ball in addition to doing their classic cheer leading dance steps, my friend, the most eligible bachelor in town, Datuk Ji would love this.


Besides this, there are other entertainment such as "kiss cam" where the camera would zoom to a couple and the couple is requested to kiss in front of camera. They also invited a team from "do you think you can dance" to show their dance step during half time entertainment. You also have lucky draw, a chance to shoot at free throw lines to win prizes, nice music, funny sounds to boo the visiting team when they fail at their free-throws and interesting audience who try to distract the players when players throw their free-throws. Not forgetting a chance to hug the very cute and hairy mascot - Merlion, which I failed to take picture somehow.

Overall, quite a nice experience :)

check out their site for more : http://www.singaporeslingers.com

Innovative Advertisement

Saw this advertisement in SIM sometime back, but no time to post it here till now.

Basically, SIM placed several of such rubbish bins around its campus and its pretty eye catchy. The message? If you don't upgrade by signing up for their executive program, you would end up being a rubbish! keke ... interesting ... :)

Mashups

Mashups is essentially getting info from various sources and consolidate into a single place. iGoogle service is a kind of mashup. Mashup becomes so popular that techies invented the Mashup editor. Microsoft has a strong Mashup editor called Popfly.

Below is an interesting site on Mashup.

http://www.programmableweb.com/
http://www.popfly.ms/

Interesting reads on next generation of users

http://www.iabaustralia.com.au/Truly_Madly_Final_booklet.pdf

http://people-press.org/reports/display.php3?ReportID=300

http://www.pcworld.com/article/id,123950-page,1/article.html

http://plcmcl2-things.blogspot.com/

http://www.educause.edu/7ThingsYouShouldKnowAboutSeries/7495

http://www.blogwithoutalibrary.net/links/index.php?title=Welcome_to_the_Blogging_Libraries_Wiki

Innovative User Group Slides

There are many useful tips from these slides:

Europe
http://www.eiug.org/meetings.html
http://www.millennium-users.org/programme.php
The Europe & Irish user groups are particularly kind, they posted most of the slides to the public.

http://hkiug.ln.edu.hk/
Of course, HK group also did many interesting things there! :)
Some are viewable by public.

http://www.deakin.edu.au/library/aiug/reports/index.html
Australia Group has many practical implementation guides as well :)

http://www.innovativeusers.org/about/local.htm
Well, these belong to US sites, unfortunately, most slides need CSDirect password.

3M & Checkpoint

Interesting to read that 3M is working with Checkpoint to provide next gen library solutions.

--------------------

3M and Checkpoint Announce Strategic Sales and Marketing Alliance
Monday October 29, 9:00 am ET

- 3M to Distribute Checkpoint Products to Libraries Globally -

ST. PAUL, Minn. & THOROFARE, N.J.--(BUSINESS WIRE)--3M (NYSE:MMM - News) and Checkpoint Systems, Incorporated (NYSE:CKP - News) today announced a global strategic sales and marketing alliance that expands each company’s commitment to the library market.

Under terms of the alliance, 3M Library Systems will become the exclusive worldwide reseller and service provider for Checkpoint’s line of library security and productivity products. Checkpoint will continue to expand its patron-based marketing services portfolio and continue selling those offerings directly to libraries worldwide.

This alliance is effective January 1, 2008; 3M and Checkpoint will immediately begin the transition to ensure seamless support for their library customers.

With the addition of Checkpoint security and productivity products, 3M will be able to offer libraries an even broader portfolio. Products include: (EM) and radio frequency security systems and accessories, self-service solutions, RFID systems, media storage solutions, personal computer management software, and other library products. In 2008, 3M will also be launching a new web based library productivity software solution from Checkpoint, called The Library Advocate.

“Our team is very excited to have the opportunity to make Checkpoint’s innovative solutions available to additional libraries and to support current and future customers with 3M’s extensive service capabilities,” said Rory Yanchek, business manager, 3M Library Systems, Track and Trace Solutions. “This agreement further expands 3M’s long-term commitment to the library community.”

Checkpoint’s portfolio of library security products, coupled with 3M’s extensive sales, marketing, and service offerings, will provide libraries around the world with even greater product choice and unparalleled service capabilities. Moreover, 3M and Checkpoint customers will continue to experience the same reliable service that they have come to expect over the years.

“We are confident that Checkpoint’s library customers will receive excellent ongoing service and support from 3M in the future,” said Michael Jermyn, general manager and vice president of the Patron Services Group at Checkpoint Systems. “We will continue to focus on building an exciting new generation of revolutionary patron services products for the library community. These innovative patron-based marketing services enable libraries to better serve the specific needs of their patrons by offering them the option to connect to providers of relevant expertise, events and rewards.”

A global leader in library innovation for more than 35 years, 3M Library Systems provides security, productivity and information management solutions that harness technology to enable a more human library, freeing librarians to spend more time doing what they do best – helping people. 3M also partners with libraries to support their technological advancement and ensure their success through numerous industry sponsorships and programs. For more information about the 3M Library Systems solutions, visit http://www.3M.com/us/library

LibX - Toolbar for Browser

I chanced upon a cool tool -

http://www.libx.org/

which essentially allows you to search library catalogue from the web browser tool bar. This is very much like the "Google" tool bar on the browser.

Another cool thing you can do with the widget is that you can highlight certain text in web page, eg. the ISBN of a book you found in Amazon. You can right click the highlighted ISBN and a menu with the option to search for the book would be presented.

Would probably take a look at this when we implement the DL.

Web 2.0 tools

Read with great interest from Web 2.0 submit on the following tools available today.

http://www.webware.com/html/ww/100.html

Looks like the internet World is catching on in the second wave of attack !

More Primo sites

Iowa University

http://smartsearch.uiowa.edu/primo_library/libweb/action/search.do?vid=uiowa&reset_config=true

University of Minnesota

http://prime2.oit.umn.edu:1701/primo_library/libweb/action/search.do?vid=TWINCITIES

Google Maps - Street View

Haha …. Discovered something cool today -

With Google Maps – Street View, you can virtually walk in New York Times Square from Singapore …

http://maps.google.com/maps?f=q&hl=en&q=&layer=c&cbll=40.75859,-73.98509&cbp=1,16.9191318327974,0.5,0&ie=UTF8&om=1&ll=40.760366,-73.984584&spn=0.006079,0.01133&z=17&utm_campaign=en&utm_source=en-ha-na-us-google-svn&utm_medium=ha

If you can’t access the URL above, do the following:

http://maps.google.com
Click on “Street View”
Click on the camera icon

Enjoy! …

Digitool Demo Site

http://digitool-demo.exlibrisgroup.com:8881/R?RN=61341436

search for jpeg 2000 file, go for casablanca video streaming.

Ding Tai Fung

Hahaha ... this is the first time I tried Ding Tai Fung ... not bad.

The xiao long pao was juicy and very nice. :)

then, they have authentic chinese food also, i took a "hong shao niu rou mian" - which is beef noodles with soup. that was a chef recommendation ok!

shouldn't have sold my breadtalk stocks :P

Innovative Demo

Well, we have Neil Block, VP of World Wide Sales & Nathan James, Senior Systems Engineer from Innovative.

A couple of interesting thing were discussed and in particular, I would like to list some of these sites that Nathan mentioned.

For Symposia:
Colby did a really fantastic interface -
http://symposia.colby.edu/
and another one he refered to is of course IRis from Northeastern Library.

For Media Management Module:
San Francisco Public Library
http://sflib1.sfpl.org:82/search/i?SEARCH=aaf-0548

here they have a map and then when you click on each part of the map, it shows you the picture of that place.
http://sfpl.lib.ca.us/librarylocations/sfhistory/jamesscott/jamesscottmap.htm

Temple university, they have a separate search interface specifically for image.
http://diamond.temple.edu:81/

Leeds University -
Customization of ERM module
http://lib.leeds.ac.uk/search?/taba+journal/taba+journal/1%2C2%2C2%2CB/frameset&FF=taba+journal&1%2C1%2C

University of Misissippi
they embed the research pro search box into subject guides.
http://www.olemiss.edu/depts/general_library/files/subject/english-lit.html

Oh no - Lafayette College library - I can't remember what's special about them :P
http://www.library.lafayette.edu/screens/opacmenu.html

Haha ... this is even more valuable than anything else - their demo sites!
http://mill.iii.com:2080/

Haha, and the user id and password to login is printed on the example - "dan smith" / ***13***1
Symposia demo site
http://sym2.iii.com/

Another "iii - cube" customer - Webpac Pro, Research Pro, Encore

http://www.librarytechnology.org/ltg-displayarticle.pl?RC=12716
http://lib.ex.ac.uk/

ACRL Award - Geogia Institute of Tech

http://www.ala.org/ala/acrl/acrlawards/excellenceacademic.cfm

Princeton Review - Top 20 Academic Libraries

1 Harvard College

2 Princeton University

3 Brigham Young University (UT)

4 Cornell University

5 West Virginia University

6 Loyola University New Orleans

7 Whitman College

8 Columbia University--Columbia College

9 Saint Olaf College

10 Wesleyan University

11 University of Chicago

12 Dickinson College

13 Stanford University

14 Mount Holyoke College

15 Emory University

16 University of Virginia

17 The University of Texas at Austin

18 Valparaiso University

19 Furman University

20 University of Tennessee--Knoxville

More Webpac Pro, Research Pro, Webbridge

nice interface from the wellcome library.

http://library.wellcome.ac.uk/index.html

Research Pro

http://researchpro.iii.com:800/iii/mfrpro-welli/loadSearchPage.do?searchpage=simple&searchtype=simple&accountid=welli3&accountpassword=welli3&mfreturncookie=no&iiitoken=50f751ce436f0f2e2f1e99b3285ede0f2fd16e71135032d594492ea0c46b5540

Webpac Pro & Webbridge
http://catalogue.wellcome.ac.uk/

javascript and dynamic html resources

Javascript Resources

http://webdeveloper.earthweb.com/webjs
Offers a huge collection of JavaScript standards.

http://javascript.internet.com
Provides a solid catalog of 2,000 bread-and-butter scripts.

www.javascript-2.com
Tips the scales with a staggering 9,000 scripts.

www.dynamicdrive.com
Provides a smaller set of scripts that emphasize modern DHTML-based programming techniques. Includes exotic scripts like glowing green letters that tumble down the page, Matrix-style. Offers many scripts that are IE-only, but clearly indicates browser support for each script.

www.javascripter.net/faq
Unlike the other sites, this one doesn't offer a catalog of complete downloadable scripts. Instead, it's organized as a set of frequently asked JavaScript questions, with the relevant code for each answer.

http://webmonkey.wired.com/webmonkey/programming/javascript
Unlike the other sites, this one offers a smaller set of detailed JavaScript tutorials instead of a huge variety of standalone scripts. Useful if you want to learn more about some of the core JavaScript techniques.

free online link checker

Free online link checker.

http://validator.w3.org/checklink.

Enter the full URL for the page you want to check in the text box.

Hong Kong Universities

I am pleasantly surprised to see the Research Pro in action in Hong Kong Uni sites today!

http://lib.hku.hk/

simple and elegant. I really like the idea! =)

But that version is a little old

I found a better version of Research Pro
http://researchpro.iii.com:800/iii/mfrpro-welli/loadSearchPage.do?searchpage=simple&searchtype=simple&accountid=welli3&accountpassword=welli3&mfreturncookie=no&iiitoken=96f943c26604ca9918b017def2fd5089d8d9dbda9a0d404e880fb5d28c9984cf
but it is pointing to iii.com

anyway, somehow I think it's nothing like Metalib & SFX in terms of features etc. Perhaps it's easier to maintain for a small library like ours.

leisure - party

haha, felt so blessed & loved to have good friends celebrating my bday with me =)

Who else but the group from NUS - thank you kelvin, hui ping, soh soh, joey, kiang, wendy, ting hui for the well wishes.

wanna know who these good looking people are? check out the picture below where they are having luk luk!

and of course celebrating my bday with me is the most important person in my life, my dear. Look how blessed (fat??) I am with her in the picture below ... haha =)

library 2.0 - instituitional repository

haha ... finally got a copy of the dspace running on my desktop. Encountered some minor issue with the setup mainly because I install it on a windows xp while most documentation are more relevant to linux setup.

will go on to try out and see what I can do with it. =)

Leisure - petrol

ha ha ...

found a site which show how one can get better deal from petrol kiosk.

http://www.petrolwatch.com.sg/priceguru.htm

In general,

use HSBC with Caltex
use Citibank dividend card for Esso Mobil
use Citibank dividend card for Shell
use Citibank dividend card for SPC

library 2.0 - digitool

University of New Hampshire

http://watterston.unh.edu:8881/R/6VL6X8LB9TBAC377FT5IE3B641SBEGSR13CH5NV332UXN3E9TM-00722?func=search

Boston College

Write up on their experience, intro, etc.
http://www.bc.edu/bc_org/avp/ulib/staff/digilib/digitool/digitool.html
Unfortunately, there test site requires authentication.

The strange thing is that though Exlibris website claims University of Maryland & University of Curtin as Digitool development partner. Somehow University of Maryland is using Dspace & Unviersity of Curtin is using ePrint as their IR.

This is the URL of digitool of Univerisity of Maryland published from Exlibris site
http://umdigital.umd.edu:8882/F
but they are non-existent anymore.

library 2.0 - aqua browser

Aqua Browser - another way to present facets.

http://aqua.queenslibrary.org/

Simple idea, impressive effect ...

library 2.0 - other portals

some other portals to consider

Lippincott Library of the Wharton School
http://www.library.upenn.edu/lippincott/

Washinton University of St Louis
http://library.wustl.edu/

Boston University
http://www.bu.edu/library/index.shtml

National Australia University
http://anulib.anu.edu.au/lib_home.html

Drexel University Library
http://www.library.drexel.edu/

Non - Innovative Site
Emory
http://www.emory.edu/libraries.cfm

Vanderbilt University
http://www.library.vanderbilt.edu/

library 2.0 - sample library portal

Couple of reference portal (which are Encore development sites). I like Michigan, UQ, Grand Valley. Key criteria is that there should be a search box shown to user immediately when user first visited the page! This is internet age, I need my info fast, I can't wait for an additional click for that.

USA
-----
Michigan State Uni
http://www2.lib.msu.edu/

Georgetown Uni
http://library.georgetown.edu/

Grand Valley State University
http://www.gvsu.edu/library/

Yale Law Library
http://www.law.yale.edu/library/

Australia
---------

University of Queensland
http://www.library.uq.edu.au/

Deakin
http://www.deakin.edu.au/library/

Victoria University
http://library.vu.edu.au/

library 2.0 - webpac web refresher service, media management module

Found some recommended sites from Inn-Reach magazine.

http://library.ecok.edu/
This one uses Innovative Web Refresher service, in my view, not bad, simple and sweet.

http://othmerlib.chemheritage.org/search
This one has Media Management Module in it.
Do a search for "hermetical triumph"
Or click on the following URL
http://othmerlib.chemheritage.org/search/?searchtype=X&searcharg=hermetical+triumph&searchscope=6&sortdropdown=-&SORT=DZ&extended=0&searchlimits=&searchorigarg=Xrose

Do a search for "Atalanta fugiens" or click on the URL below
http://othmerlib.chemheritage.org/search?/Xatalanta+fugiens&searchscope=6&SORT=DZ/Xatalanta+fugiens&searchscope=6&SORT=DZ&extended=0&SUBKEY=atalanta%20fugiens/1%2C3%2C3%2CB/frameset&FF=Xatalanta+fugiens&searchscope=6&SORT=DZ&3%2C3%2C

library 2.0 - Instituitional Repository IR

Finally found one Symposia sites - the product for our instituitional repositories.

http://iris.lib.neu.edu/
http://www.lib.neu.edu/libraries_and_collections/iris/

library 2.0 - Preview Sites

Found more preview sites for library 2.0

Encore
http://nplencore.library.nashville.org/iii/encore/app
http://encore.law.yale.edu/iii/encore/app
http://discover.lib.msu.edu/iii/encore/app
http://1bing-mt.iii.com/iii/encore/app (ALEPH ILMS)

Primo
http://alphasearch.library.vanderbilt.edu/primo_library/libweb/action/search.do?vid=VANDERBILT&reset_config=true

VUFind
http://www.vufind.org/demo/

Web 2.0 - Silverlight, Ajax & Photosynth

sucks, I feel so old ... anyway, these are few of the web 2.0 tech i learnt today.

Photosynth
It allows you to dissect the picture in a lot of dimension and best part is that it display to you through a web browser, some says this is web 3.0

http://labs.live.com/photosynth/

Silverlight
It allows video, some hd video to be streamed across the web. You have all the mesh feature available that allows you to zoom in quickly into a particular scenes you are interested in.
http://silverlight.net/
http://darrensim.com/blogs/techbits/archive/2007/07/04/silverlight-learning-links.aspx
Got to download 1 2mb plugin file though.

Contoso University (sample app that uses silverlight)
http://contosouniversity.mslivelabs.com/

Contoso Bicycle Club
http://contosobicycleclub.mslivelabs.com/
This one shows you a map at the bottom and the video image on the top. As you move along the map, the video at the top changes correspondingly.

Popfly
Allow anyone to write web service
http://www.popfly.ms/

Ajax
Ok, this i know, but some cool stuff i learnt today. This would be useful to wow my users later on:
http://asp.net/ajax/control-toolkit/live/
Hope I can generate something out of it ... keke

Finally get down to try this

Aiya, I am so ashamed, being an IT pro, this is my very first post in Blogspot!

I must say I am very impressed with Blogspot. Easy to use, etc.

I should have tried Blogspot first instead of struggling with Windows Live. Not the best thing to say for someone who dabbles with .Net technology ... haha.

Anyway, i won't be posting much stuff here due to work commitment. This space is more for me to try out new ideas and serves as a links to sites I visit frequently.

Cheers,
Jacky