I have curated and embedded playlists of YouTube videos into my research and instruction guides for years, both our old custom guide solution and the LibGuides solution my library migrated to last year.

Custom YouTube playlists are a great way to hand-pick a selection of topic-specific videos that gets updated each time you add a new video or remove an outdated one, like an iTunes playlist. And embedded playlists take up much less guide real estate than individually adding each of these related videos to a guide — one LibGuides box versus possibly 10 to 12 individual LibGuides boxes stacked on to a single crowded guide page. The process is identical to embedding a single YouTube video via the LibGuides “Embedded Media & Widgets” box. Your playlist must be set to Public.

Note the following example, a YouTube playlist box from my Genealogy LibGuide.

I keep a regular set of “work-related” YouTube playlists in my YouTube account, for which I routinely seek updated videos to add anytime I come across a good related tutorial, and when I am doing my start-of-the-new-semester guides cleanup chores (adding newer content and removing outdated content).

I append the titles of all my work-related YouTube playlists with a “work” prefix so that I can more easily identify them from any personal playlists.

A few months ago, I noticed that my embedded YouTube playlists quit displaying the thumbnails for each included video. Without these thumbnails, it is very difficult for guide users to even tell that more than one video is available to watch in the embedded player, much less actually access the additional videos. YouTube’s old format custom players used to make playlists very visible, with thumbnails as well as back and forward buttons displayed next to each video allowing the user to scroll through each included video. But Google did away with that helpful feature about a year ago. Now, thumbnails are the only way to immediately identify that more than one video is embedded in the player.

Video thumbnails are displayed at the bottom of the playlist player for all videos included in the playlist. Note the instructions I include in my LibGuides box to help patrons recognize how to use the playlist.

My playlist video thumbnails are no longer visible in the embedded player when using YouTube’s HTML5 Video Player.

However, on its updated playlist embed code, Google doesn’t even provide any settings that allow a playlist manager to add or remove video thumbnails to a playlist player. There is no “show thumbnails” checkbox available on the Embed playlist option from your channel’s Video Manager, like there is to “Use HTTPS” or to “Enable privacy-enhanced mode”.

YouTube playlists can be shared and embedded from the “Video Manager” tool associated with your YouTube channel. Note that there is no option to display or hide video thumbnails in the embedded playlist.

I kept coming across tutorials and articles indicating that since Google’s transition to the new playlist player, one can only display video thumbnails via a hack, by adding the API parameter “&showinfo=1″ to the embed code’s iframe src code immediately after the playlist URL (see screenshot below). I kept applying this hack to all of the YouTube playlists embedded in my LibGuides, but the thumbnails still would not display. After several weeks of racking my brain, I discovered the answer in a Google Products forum post…this hack only works on the Flash Video Player, not the beta HTML5 Video Player. I have been using the beta HTML5 Video Player for months, hence, no playlist thumbnails for months.

Here I have added the “&showinfo=1″ hack to the playlist embed code in my LibGuides box.

If you want playlist thumbnails to display in our embedded YouTube playlist, you must (for now) use the older Flash Video Player. Hopefully, Google will start supporting this functionality in its beta HTML5 Video Player since the HTML5 player is what Google is pushing for the move forward as Flash gets deprecated. To check which type of Video Player is associated with your YouTube account, go to http://www.youtube.com/html5. If you see a big blue “Join the HTML5 Trial” button, you are already using the Flash player. If you see a big black “Leave the HTML5 Trail” button, you are using the HTML5 player and need to switch if you want to display playlist thumbnails.

Check and adjust your Video Player type at: http://www.youtube.com/html5.

Hopefully these tips will help you build out better LibGuides or web pages utilizing YouTube playlists.

A couple weeks ago, as part of a larger multi-library tour hosted by the Southern California chapter of the Evangelical Church Library Association (ECLA) on Saturday, April 13th, I visited the new Old Town Newhall Library — a branch of the Santa Clarita Library System, located in Newhall, California, which opened last September.

The Old Town Newhall (OTN) Library is spectacular, beautifully designed, and equipped with the latest and greatest of library technologies. Situated right in the heart of Newhall’s charming old town district, OTN’s architecture blends well into the historic feel of the area while still mixing in pieces of contemporary architecture in an aesthetically pleasing manner. The new library is extremely popular with area residents and quite busy. They currently issue about 1,000 new library cards per month, and receive an average daily attendance of 1,300 to 1,500 people.

Our hosts, Shannon (left) and Chris (right) greet us at the back entrance.

Our tour bus was greeted at the back entrance by our guides for the next hour, Shannon Vonnegut (digital services librarian) and Chris Baker (youth services librarian). These two highly personal librarians (both very passionate about their patrons and work) walked our group through every public area of the library and behind the scenes in the collection processing staff area.

Since our tour bus dropped us off at the back entrance, I grabbed some photos of the front “Old Town” entrance from the city’s Flickr channel.

Front entrance to the library, right on the busy main old town frontage road.
Photo courtesy of the City of Santa Clarita.

Opening Day, September 29, 2012.
Photo courtesy of the City of Santa Clarita.

Opening Day, September 29, 2012.
Photo courtesy of the City of Santa Clarita.

Library Entryway

Both entrances flank a cathedral ceiling entryway that bisects the building. This entryway is decorated with historic photographs from the area (shout out to the local historical society!), paying tribute to the city’s real life western heritage as well as its cinematic western heritage.

A famous old hotel.

More local history photos.

I just love this mural in the community meeting room.

Howdy Doody greets us as we prepare to tour the Children’s Library.

The Children’s Library

Although I worked as an adult public services librarian in my public library days, I have a huge soft spot for energetic well designed children’s areas. OTP’s children’s library is adorable, high energy, and high traffic. We visited on a Saturday morning and were told that this area is jam-packed after school.

A video feed of library and local events and announcements is on display outside of the homework center.

Toddler computer stations pre-loaded with educational games. All library computers are filtered.

Check out the cowboy chairs! The shelves aren’t empty due to lack of materials; their children’s books fly off the shelves.

Extremely high circulation rates in their children’s Spanish language collection.

Storytime is held in the library tower space that faces the old town frontage area and lights up at night. Photo courtesy of the City of Santa Clarita.

The Teen Library

Teen patrons at OTN Library also have their very own super cool dedicated space, across the library entryway still on the first floor. We were told that, like the children’s area, the Teen Zone is quite busy after school. It is also home to the only computer stations in the library (visible behind the shelves in the left side of the photo) that are accessible to both youth and adult patrons.

The OTN Library Teen Zone.

The Teen Zone hosts one of two self-check laptop vending machines, all equipped for wireless printing.

The teen gaming area.

Paying tribute to the locally filmed TV western classic, “Gunsmoke”.

The Adult Library

The entire upstairs is dedicated to adult services, with one half of the upper floor housing the adult stacks and a very comfy reading room. The adult technology center, smart technology-enabled study rooms, and the local history room are located in the opposite wing.

Adult circulating stacks.

Love the roof, makes it feel like an older building.

The adult reading lounge. It’s much larger…I shot around all the people relaxing and reading. Too hot for a fire this day.

Part of the public computers (I shot around those in use). Note the local history room straight ahead, and the second self-check laptop vending machine to the right.

Smart study rooms (I didn’t want to photo directly into any of them, as all were in use). Each has a projection screen. Patrons just need to plug their laptop into the power pack on each table to project on to the screen.

The airport style seating throughout the technology center. Each set has a laptop table that folds up into the armest, and a charger located between each pair of seats.

RFID Automated Check-In and Sorter

And the OTN Library feature that garnered the most “ooohs” and “ahhhs” from our group? The RFID enabled check-in and sorter. Patrons drop their materials off at the Returns station and get to watch their returned materials get processed on the conveyor belt. As return materials fall on to the conveyor belt, the materials are automatically checked back into the library via an RFID reader. The RFID scanner also determines which sorting bin each item belongs in, and the conveyor belt delivers that item into the correct sorting bin. There is a “problem” bin at the very end for materials the RFID scanner cannot identify.

The RFID-enabled Returns station in the library entryway.

Our tour group checking out the automated sorter.

In addition to our OTN Library tour guides, I have to give a bit shout-out and thank you to our ECLA hosts from nearby Grace Baptist Church Library, who coordinated the entire day and tour.

I am not sure how I missed this Lifehacker article a couple of months ago (PCWorld shared it first, a few days earlier), but they provide an excellent short tutorial for finding “free” Kindle Lending Library books from the web browser.

I have been racking my brain for a good year trying to figure out an easy way to find Lending Library books on Amazon’s website (I do my Kindle book shopping on a computer since Apple quit allowing in-app Kindle purchases). There are curated lists of Lendable books on GoodReads, but they grow stagnant since it requires manual updates. The aforementioned solution is dynamic, so it gets automatically updated as Amazon updates available titles.

Bookmark the direct Lending Library link here.

If you aren’t familiar with the Kindle Lending Library, it is a “free” service that Amazon started providing to its Prime members ($79 per year) in November 2011 allowing them to borrow a Kindle book from Amazon instead of having to purchase it. Prime members may borrow one book at a time, with no due dates, but can only borrow one book per month… if you read fast, you’re stuck waiting until the next month to borrow another book. Not all Kindle books are available through the Lending Library. And (here’s the part that frustrates me), the Kindle Lending Library ONLY works on actual Kindle device — not Kindle apps. This means you can’t borrow books to read on your smartphone, tablet, or computer (I have to snag my husband’s Kindle Fire to read Lendable books). Hence the official name “Amazon Kindle Owners’ Lending Library”.

NOTE: I don’t subscribe to Prime simply for the Lending Library; there aren’t enough titles of interest to me and I primarily read on my iPad, but we use Prime heavily at home for shipping (especially at Christmas) and for watching “free” movies on Amazon Instant Video.

Amazon makes it much easier and faster to identify Lendable titles from within an actual Kindle, providing how-to instructions and screenshots for each Kindle device. Now with this tip from Lifehacker and PCWorld, it’s just as easy for those of us browsing on a computer.

I have been compiling a web guide for the Southern California chapter of the Evangelical Church Library Association on where to find Christian ebooks (free, subscription, or for purchase), so filtering that direct URL on Amazon’s “Christian Books & Bibles” category gives me a dynamic list of just their Lendable Christian Kindle books.

Filtering on just those Kindle Lendable books in the “Christian Books & Bibles” category.

If you live/work in Southern California, and the digital humanities are your thing, don’t miss out on the first every DH SoCal Research Slam! The event takes place on Saturday, May 4th at Cal State Northridge.

The event is being coordinated by my CSUF colleague Scott Kleinman (@sekleinman), who explains “This one-day event will be designed to showcase Digital Humanities work and work in progress by, and to create opportunities for interaction between digital humanists from around the region.”

Program details are still being finalized, but I suspect it will somewhat resemble a THATCamp in format and tone.

The call for proposals ends this Monday, April 15th…so you have this weekend to scramble and pull something together.  The event invites, “proposals for poster presentations, short talks, and issue-based discussion panels in any area of the Digital Humanities.” See details and register on DH SoCal.

This past Monday through Thursday, I attended the OmniUpdate User Training Conference in Anaheim, California. OmniUpdate is the company behind OU Campus, the content management system my library uses to publish our new website. On Tuesday, I presented in their Customer Showcase on how the Pollak Library mashes Springshare’s LibGuides and LibAnswers into our OU Campus site. I’ll post on that this week, after finishing up my video tutorial.

In the mean time, I have curated some highlights of the conference through the eyes of its participants via social media. The Storify is too long to share in its entirety in this post, so you can view the full item on the Storify site…particularly if you attended.