TechSoup for Libraries blogs

December 2019 Library Tech Newsbytes

Jim Lynch — Fri, 06 Dec 2019 14:55:49 +0000

What's new in library tech! Welcome to our monthly collection of fun and hopefully useful news items from our great twitter feed and wherever else we find them.

This month we offer news about unique gifts for readers in case you're a bit behind in your gift buying. We also cover some intriguing info on the life cycle of books and how to recycle your discards. Then there's what to consider when converting nonlibrary spaces into public libraries. You've got to love that huge converted Walmart in McAllen, Texas. We feature Literary Hub's selection of 18 of the most striking libraries around the world, the zany Jigsaw Sideways Dictionary, New York Public Library's latest stylish library of things offers, and 12 famous authors writing about the libraries they love.

Where else can you find such a warm-hearted collection of library tech news? Here's your library tech newsbytes for December.

50 Unique Gifts for Readers in 2019 That Aren't Books

A little behind in your gift shopping this year? Book Riot has an unusually creative list of affordable literary gifts for the holiday season. Some examples? Take a good-looking discard and hollow it out in 13 steps for stashing treasures. Or how about some Harry Potter Butterbeer Lip Balm? Or upcycling a hardbound book into a clock? Or how about some nice warm Shhhh I'm Reading Socks?

The Life Cycle of a Library Book

Speaking of book discards, the average age of books in the Luria Library collection in Santa Barbara, California, is over 20 years. Of course popular circulating paperbacks are the first to fall apart, but if any circulating book hasn't been checked out in the last five years or so, it's fair game for weeding out and discarding.

Of course it's easiest to throw discards into the dumpster, but it's also possible to recycle discards. Abby Hargreaves in her recent Book Riot piece on the Life Cycle of a Library Book talks about how the Chicago Public Library sends discarded books in fairly good shape to used book sellers for a second life beyond the library. Earth 911.com has a great piece on How to Recycle Books and Magazines, including a handy Recycling Locator for listings of places that recycle books near you.

What to Consider When Converting Nonlibrary Spaces into Public Libraries

American Libraries ran a nice piece called Repurpose with a Purpose on what works and doesn't work when libraries are considering converting existing buildings into libraries. The piece provides insight into experiences libraries have had trying to repurpose big-box stores, banks, schools, strip malls and abandoned government buildings. Even though the price may be right for vacant buildings, some conversions may well come with unacceptable limitations. It's a good quick intro into this tempting aspect of library tech.

18 of the World's Most Striking Libraries

Definitely worth a look is Literary Hub's selection of 18 great colored line drawings of some of the most striking libraries around the world — past and present. Am I overstating the case that the Rampur Raza Library in India looks like the Taj Mahal? Is the Information, Communications, and Media Center at Brandenburg University of Technology in Germany literally the most literate building out there?

The Sideways Dictionary

This is a project of the Washington Post and Jigsaw, which is a technology for good incubator within Alphabet (parent company of Google) that builds technology to tackle some of the toughest global security challenges facing the world today. The Sideways Dictionary is a dictionary of technology that uses analogies to explain complex technologies rather than definitions. Here's an example: "Artificial intelligence — It's like the generations-old secret family recipe but developed in a much shorter time. Everyone agrees it tastes better, but no individual family member knows all the reasons why."

New York Public Library Lends Out Ties and Other Accessories for Job Interviews

In our quest to report on all things "library of things," here's something fun. Mental Floss reports that the New York Public Library's Grow Up Work Fashion Library accessories collection allows library card holders to borrow ties, briefcases, and handbags for three-week periods. The new program was created as part of the NYPL's Innovation Project, which provides grant funding for new proposals by library staff for things like creating library greenhouses or implementing a job search program for the unemployed.

12 Authors Write About the Libraries They Love

The New York Times asked several authors to tell us about their local public library or to share a memory of a library from their past. Reminiscences by Barbara Kingsolver, Curtis Sittenfeld, Neil Gaiman, Amy Tan, Kiese Laymon, Diana Abu-Jaber, Chris Bohjalian, Annie Proulx, Julia Alvarez, Ramona Ausubel, Charles Frazier, and Jerry Pinkney are all detailed and heartfelt. Definitely worth a look.

Happy holidays! We hope you like our feel-good selection of newsbytes this month!

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Library Tech Newsbytes

How the Oakalla Public Library Raised $1,000 in a Week

John Chrastka — Thu, 05 Dec 2019 14:32:32 +0000

The Oakalla Public Library (OPL) is unlike most libraries you will encounter. Located in Burnett County, Texas, south of Waco, OPL has been described as "the most un-library, library" by its secretary, Ripleigh Degenhardt. Although the library resides in a community of fewer than 50 people, patrons from all over the county flock to this tiny un-library for books that other libraries have stopped carrying.

Where Would the Next Month's Rent Come From?

When the Oakalla Public Library reached out to FundLibraries.org to build their crowdsource fundraising campaign, they did so because they were unsure of where next month's rent would come from. Libraries in Texas must pay their own rent. Electricity and other small costs are covered by the county. When Ripleigh reached out to FundLibraries.org, she needed $800 pretty quickly.

After reading our guide on making campaigns, we designed a campaign page, and in just a few hours, we had it approved and running on the site. In seven days and just two social media posts, we were able to bring in $1,070 for the Oakalla Public Library. Because the Friends of Oakalla Public Library is a registered 501(c)(3) organization, we were able to include a direct donation button on our Facebook posts to collect donations from supporters.

FundLibraries.org — The First Crowdfunding Platform Just for Libraries

FundLibraries.org is the first and only crowdfunding platform designed specifically for libraries. Crowdfunding differs from traditional fundraising methods because it casts a wide net to bring in donations rather than just seeking one at a time. Crowdfunding invites people of all kinds to donate and participate in raising money.

Too often we see libraries fail in their funding missions because they cannot access enough people who believe in their mission or libraries in general. It is thanks to FundLibraries.org and our devoted following of library supporters that we can access and hopefully make an impact on these people.

Reaching 325,000 Library Supporters

Crowdfunding does not just happen by magic. You must make sure you find the right crowd with the right message. In the case of the OPL, the message was simple: This little library needs $800 or it will not be able to operate. With this message, we developed Facebook posts that highlighted this highly attainable goal.

The power of FundLibraries.org comes not from the amazingly customizable options of campaigns, though it does have that feature. Nor does it come from our one-on-one consultation for every campaign, though it has that too. Rather, its power comes from our ability to reach and connect with nearly 325,000 library supporters through our network and with untold thousands more through the power of internet ads. More than just connecting online with potential library supporters, FundLibraries.org will help you reach into your own community to find those members of your community who are willing to support you and join you in your funding journey.

The crowd is essential to any crowdfunding effort, but without a good strategy, it can only help so much. With every campaign on FundLibraries.org, you will receive one-on-one consultation in every aspect of your campaign. You will have our team in your corner, and you are one phone call away every step of the way to help in the design, creating the right language, and promoting your campaign.

How FundLibraries Works

To try out a crowdfunding campaign at your library, create a FundLibraries account here. FundLibraries crowdfunding projects should have three attributes:

A compelling idea
Clear benefits for your patrons and your community at large
Willingness to market the project directly with your community and also work with FundLibraries staff to publicize the project through our national network

There is no upfront cost to your library to post a crowdfunding project. Three percent of the proceeds goes to cover credit card processing, another 3 percent goes to FundLibraries for advertising costs, and an additional 4 percent also goes to FundLibraries for staffing costs for running the platform. FundLibraries is a nonprofit organization affiliated with EveryLibrary.org. Find some additional examples of recent projects here.

We are very proud of our work with Oakalla Public Library and look forward to helping hundreds of more libraries meet their funding goals one step at a time.

About the Author

John Chrastka is EveryLibrary and FundLibraries.org's founder and executive director. He is a former president and member of the Board of Trustees for the Berwyn, Illinois, Public Library and is a former president of the Reaching Across Illinois Libraries System (RAILS) multi-type library system. He has also served as Director for Membership Development at the American Library Association (ALA). He was named a 2014 Mover and Shaker by Library Journal. Find him on Twitter at @mrchrastka.

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Let's Build a 3D Printer — Sounds Easy, Doesn't It?

Peter Chandler — Wed, 04 Dec 2019 15:26:37 +0000

Editor's Note: The employees of the Globe Library in Stokesley, UK, inspired by a local IT enthusiast, were thinking about building a 3D printer from scratch. But they had no money to do it. A Meet and Code grant of Euro 500 allowed them to buy the parts to begin building the printer and involve local youth in the project. Meet and Code is a nonprofit project of TechSoup Europe that introduces children and teens to the world of technology and coding.

Peter Chandler was one of the organizers of the project, which won the Meet and Code Innovation Award in 2018. What follows is an interview between Peter and Meet and Code.

Q: Describe your project in one sentence.

Let’s build a 3D printer — sounds easy doesn’t it? But it was not as easy as we thought.

Q: Describe your nonprofit organization in one sentence.

The Globe Library is a volunteer-run community library which has been running for over two years, since the County Council withdrew funding from all local libraries in order to cut their running costs. We have well over 100 volunteers and just one part-time paid member of staff (the library manager) to make it all happen. Since becoming volunteer-run, we have massively increased the number of people using the library and added many clubs and events to increase our involvement in the local community.

Q: Where are you located?

Stokesley, North Yorkshire (the nearest big town is Middlesbrough), in England.

Q: What word best describes your role in the organization?

That someone who does everything.

Q: Describe yourself with five words.

Trustee, jack of all trades.

Q: When did you first decide to start your project? Will it be one among many?

The Meet and Code organization was brought to my attention in summer 2018, and I realized that a project we were considering could be a good fit with the Innovation category. I completed the application for initial funding, not expecting that we could actually achieve it. We already have the idea for our next project, which will focus on robotics and Raspberry Pi.

Q: What is the result of the 3D printer project?

The 3D printer will be used in the robotics project to build parts for the robots. The students, 80 percent of whom were beginners in coding, have learned about the components and assembly of a 3D printer, about the importance of its key parts, and also about working together as a team to make a finished product. Now, the working 3D printer can manufacture parts (up to 250 mm in length, height, and width) in a range of thermoplastic polymers.

Q: Where do you see the project in five years?

Our 3D printer is a new resource for the Globe Library. We can now offer library users the possibility of printing their own 3D models. Our first customer is a man who has a vintage motorbike and needs a new headlamp assembly, which we can print for him in ABS polymer. It will take some time to print, but he has agreed to pay the cost of the design, the polymer, and the printing. Who knows what we will be doing in five years' time!

Q: What tips would you give others on the way?

Just go for it. However unusual your idea may be, just give it a try.

Q: How much time did you spend on organizing the event?

Quite a lot, but I have enjoyed every minute.

Q: Who or what inspires you?

Seeing young people achieve more than they initially believe they can — building their self-confidence by working together as a team.

Q: Which tools do you need most in your everyday life?

The skill of working with other people — whatever their age or background.

Q: What do you say about the funding culture in your country?

There is not enough funding for communities and young people

Q: What do you think about Meet and Code?

Meet and Code is a great initiative. I wish there were more initiatives like it.

Q: If you had unlimited funds for your organization right now, what would you do?

Just what I am doing now. I always assume that whatever we want to do, we will somehow find the funding. We ask forgiveness, not permission.

Q: How would you describe your goals — "next week," "next year," "when I'm old"?

One step at a time; and never give up.

Q: What drives you?

Seeing other people succeed — especially the young.

Q: What experiences from your past have made you a better person?

Learning that failing the first time is just a learning experience, a necessary step towards success the next time.

Q: What is the best lunch in the working day?

The one we spend eating and talking together.

Q: If you had to emigrate tomorrow, where would you go?

The Moon?

More About Meet and Code

Meet and Code aims to introduce children and young people between the ages of 8 and 24 to the world of technology and coding. Events are designed to show young people how much fun coding can be and how it can help bring new ideas to life. Behind Meet and Code are the software company SAP, Haus des Stiftens gGmbH, and the respective country partners of the TechSoup Europe network. SAP enables the Meet and Code initiative through financial support and other resources for nonprofits. This post was adapted from a project description and an interview originally published on the Meet and Code website.

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The Best Games to Help You Learn Coding in 2019

Hannah Vicarage — Tue, 05 Nov 2019 13:46:23 +0000

We're told that coding is the saleable skill of the decade and also a pretty sweet pastime if you're into building your own apps or games. But traditional coding courses can be seriously dry (think the Sahara at midday in the dry season).

Luckily, the industry is always looking for ways to bring people into the fold and has developed a range of games that keep the process engaging.

Why do it the boring way when you can link into your Steam, download an app, or load up a website? There's a reason why we begin to learn with toys and games as children, and it's not just because we can't sit still for more than 20 seconds. It's because when something's more fun, it's more motivating. Plain and simple!

So, whether you're a total beginner or looking to level up your current skills, these games will help you skill up while living it up.

CodeCombat

Perfect for those with little to no experience in coding, CodeCombat teaches the basic principles of JavaScript, Python, and CoffeeScript.

In the game, you play as your chosen character. You'll adventure through dungeons, creepy forests, and battlegrounds and gain experience points as you advance. With hundreds of levels and quests to complete, you are kept entertained as you progress through each level.

CodeCombat has been developed as a classroom teaching aid, and this structured learning approach shows in its user-friendly interface. On a screen divided in two, you input your code on the left side and watch your character act out your instructions on the right.

The pacing of the game is well balanced. Each level allows you to advance without feeling overwhelmed by tasks or frustrated by slow progress.

Pros

Simple, easy-to-use interface
Genuinely fun and engaging to play

Cons

Only parts of the game are free; to access full content, you need to subscribe.
At $9.99 per month for full access, it's a little pricey compared to others.

CheckiO

If you are looking for a game to help build your JavaScript or Python skills, then look no further. The CheckiO world is built out of different islands, each more difficult to master than the last. To unlock a new level, you have to solve a puzzle.

Where CheckiO really excels is in its community-led approach to problem-solving. The forum is chock-full of coders of all levels who work to find solutions and offer newer players advice on their code. In their world, no coder is alone.

To solve puzzles, you need to know the basics. Although the game tries to teach some foundational stuff, the tutorials still assume a lot of the user, and you're moved quickly to more complicated scenarios.

Pros

Sharing and comparing puzzle solutions with other users
Gets your brain firing on all cylinders with complex puzzles

Cons

The interface can be confusing at times and often difficult to navigate for a beginner.

Programming Hero

This neat little game has been developed for android apps by Codinism and comes with a seal of approval from Code.org.

In Programming Hero, you get to build your own game (think Space Invaders), which creates a sense of achievement at the end. The developers have made the process fun by giving players the chance to win gems and surprise gifts along the way.

The game builds your skills at a steady pace. Each time you learn a new programming concept, you are given the opportunity to put it into action by adding a new element to your game.

The play can feel slightly repetitive, but for those totally new to coding, the example, action, and confirm formula helps to solidify the content of each lesson.

The main aim of the app is to teach the principles of code rather than a specific language, and so it only uses Python3. This is great for beginners but could leave more advanced users feeling shortchanged.

Pros

Simple, easy-to-use interface
Builds a very strong foundation in the basics

Cons

Currently only available on Google Play.
Typing script can feel slow on your mobile.

Swift Playgrounds

Swift Playgrounds has been developed to help users understand Apple's Swift programming language. Since Swift is the main language used in iOS and macOS development, any budding app developer should find it an easy and valuable leg up.

The game builds from the simple function of allowing players to move their character around the platform, to solving more complex puzzles, levels, and coding tasks. Because the game is custom-made to fit Apple products, tools such as QuickType and the coding keyboard or touch edit and a pop-up keypad remove the effort that is usually associated with the coding on a device.

Swift Playgrounds' standout feature is its community of leading programmers and developers, who create new challenges and puzzles for users to solve outside the main game.

Pros

A full and comprehensive guide to using Swift
Puzzles created by app developers

Cons

While aimed at all ages, the game can focus too heavily on pleasing younger players.

Human Resource Machine

In Human Resource Machine, the player is an office worker who is given tasks to complete by their boss. At each level, you have to find a way to automate your task before moving on to the next.

Rather than typing script, the game uses a drag-and-drop format, which encourages you to focus on the logic and flow of the code rather than the language. The setup may look simple, but the levels quickly become more difficult and require more sophisticated solutions.

Pros

Great for developing procedural language skills
Cheap at just $14.99 on Steam

Cons

Skill level requirements jump very quickly.

CodinGame

Generally considered to be the best coding game, paid or free, CodinGame has perfected gamified coding over many years and with the input of many industry-leading contributors.

The aim of the game is to hone your existing skills on both multiplayer and solo turn-based challenges.

With over 25 languages including Java, Rust, C#, and Lua, CodinGame offers huge potential to learn the skills of a full-fledged coder. Add in an almost endless stream of new challenges and puzzles (some provided by the developer, others by more experienced users) and you could be set for life.

This game, like others, is built on its strong community. It has a direct, in-game connection to Tech.io, a platform where developers share their knowledge with less experienced coders. So there's a wealth of knowledge here just waiting to be tapped into.

Pros

CodinGame allows headhunters to contact exceptional players with job offers.

Cons

You'll need to learn the basics before you play.

Codewars

Codewars is definitely not for newbies, but it's on this list because once a player gets past the beginner stage, no other game on the market is better at building pro skills.

In the game, the player needs to complete challenges (or kata) by finding the most efficient solution to any problem. There are many possible solutions to each challenge, so it's up to the community to vote for the "best practice" and agree as to which solution is the most sophisticated.

Pros

Over 20 different program languages
Huge and active community

Cons

Be prepared to have any skills you have learned tested to the max.

The Final Say …

This list is just a snapshot of the frankly pretty huge range of coding games available on the market, all of which cater to specific needs.

If you're learning code to build a personal website, there are many free website builders out there, most of which make learning to code a bonus rather than a necessity. But, if you're looking to get into gaming, app, or web development (and with the salaries I wouldn't blame you if you do), these entertaining games are a great place to start.

About the Author

Hannah Vicarage is a budding entrepreneur who runs a small cosmetic business. When she isn't out whipping up a buying frenzy at the local markets or selling online, she lends her hand writing for ukwebhostreview.

November 2019 Library Tech Newsbytes

Jim Lynch — Wed, 30 Oct 2019 11:37:36 +0000

What's new in library tech! Welcome to our monthly collection of fun and hopefully useful news items from our great twitter feed and wherever else we find them.

This month we offer news about the launch of the free GoFundMe Charity service, some non-obvious digital privacy techniques for your patrons from David Pogue, and breaking news on Vancouver Library's new canine library. What is a canine library, anyway? We also cover the latest in the saga of banned Harry Potter books, the food pantry library in Independence, Missouri, and librarian Betsy Kennedy's tips on how you can set one up too. Don't miss our coverage of what a public library ransomware attack looks like and Patrick Sweeney's useful hacks for making the library a comfy home office.

Where else can you find such a motley collection of library tech news? Here's your library tech newsbytes for November.

The New GoFundMe Charity: Free Crowdfunding for Your Library Foundation or Friends Group

Just in time for #GivingTuesday 2019, on December 3, GoFundMe is launching a new free-to-use fundraising platform for nonprofits of all sizes called GoFundMe Charity. The company has also created a donate button that can be integrated into any site to donate money wherever people want to do so. Both will roll out in November. If your library has an associated 501(c)(3) foundation or friends group, you can use this crowdfunding service at no cost.

David Pogue's 10 Tips to Avoid Leaving Tracks Around the Internet

Longtime New York Times personal computing columnist David Pogue has come out with some non-obvious digital privacy techniques to limit your digital footprint. He goes beyond the usual suggestions to use a program that memorizes your passwords, making every password different, and installing an ad blocker in your web browser. He suggests things like abandoning Google search in favor of a nontracking browser like DuckDuckGo and using the end-to-end encrypted email service ProtonMail. When you do sign up for things online, switch up personal details about yourself like your gender, age, and interests. He also counsels using a virtual private network program like the free TunnelBear when using public Wi-Fi — even in the library.

Vancouver Library's New Canine Library

The CBC reports that Vancouver Library patrons in British Columbia can borrow a very different kind of library material: a dog. Patrons can "take out" one of eight dogs at the "canine library" for a 15-minute session at Emery Barnes Park downtown. The dogs are specially trained therapy dogs that regularly participate in a children's reading program. "They are vetted with all kinds of people and stimuli," said Ashten Black, who oversees the therapy dog program at St. John Ambulance, the organization providing the dogs.

Harry Potter Banned Again?

Forbes reports that Nashville-area St. Edward Catholic School recently banned the Harry Potter books for their depiction of "actual curses and spells." However, censoring Harry Potter has been happening for decades and probably will keep happening. Harry Potter used to be the number one banned book in schools, according to Caldwell-Stone. These days, she said, books with LGBT themes are increasingly being targeted, both with lawsuits and with other extreme measures.

The Food Pantry Library in Independence Missouri

KSHB TV in Kansas City reported on the new food bank library opening up at Mid-Continent Public Library in Independence, Missouri. It all started with an empty building. The Mid-Continent Public Library and the nonprofit Community Services League decided to create a library and food pantry all in one. Organizers did lots of research to see if there is anything like this in the nation but weren't been able to find one. They believe that the library and food pantry combination in Independence is the first of its kind in the U.S.

Steven Potter with the Mid-Continent Library said, "We see a thousand families a month agency-wide. The pantry is the only source of food some people have. It allows them to put money towards that utility bill, towards daycare or other expenses. This gives them a little added safety net." Since June, the library-pantry has checked out more than 1,000 books and has seen the number of people using the pantry double each week.

This actually isn't the first of its kind. Betsy Kennedy, library director at Cazenovia Public Library in upstate New York near Syracuse, did a WebJunction webinar in 2015 on how they set up their successful food pantry library project. View the free webinar recording here to see how she set her program up.

What a Public Library Ransomware Attack Looks Like

Here's more news from upstate New York. The Onondaga County Library computers are finally restored after ransomware attack. Last summer, the library's computer systems were disabled by Ryuk ransomware. It was the same malware that infected the Syracuse City School District's computer system four days earlier. The library computer system was shut down as a precaution when an abnormality was detected. The county restored the library's system through an information technology company that was already under contract. The restoration work took about a week so that library users could browse online catalogs, obtain or replace library cards, download books, and use public Wi-Fi in branches. The library had to extend loan periods and waive late fees for overdue books until the branches could catch up with a backlog to check in returned books on the computer system.

Useful Hacks for Making the Library Your "Home" Office

EveryLibrary.org's Patrick Sweeney wrote an interesting how-to piece on some easy insider tips for making the library your home office. Here are some of them.

Find out where and how to use wireless printing, scanning, and fax machines for public use.
Bring a sweater for rooms that are a bit too cold plus headphones or earplugs if things get noisy.
Use study rooms to do meetings or phone calls.
Introduce yourself to the staff. They may well be willing to put aside useful library resources for you or make you aware of specialized collections.
When you need a break from work or want some inspiration, go and browse the stacks.

We hope you like our selection of newsbytes this month!

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Library Tech Newsbytes

How Microlearning Can Make Your Training More Effective (and Less Boring)

Amy Hooper — Fri, 25 Oct 2019 16:06:41 +0000

What Is Microlearning?

Microlearning is an approach to training that emphasizes the delivery of content in bite-sized chunks, taking around 3 to 6 minutes each. This integrates with employees' daily flow much more effectively than hourlong or even daylong training sessions and also helps to target the knowledge that employees really need to learn.

Why Does This Matter to Libraries?

Librarians tend to wear a lot of different hats. They often learn on the job, rely on volunteers, and have a small staff base, meaning that staff members can have broad and flexible job descriptions that in some cases take them outside of their expertise.

Microlearning is useful for all companies, but for libraries it allows a smooth and quick onboarding process and facilitates focused refresh training for staff members who step outside their comfort zone. It allows staff to easily jump between roles, performing them effectively without putting everything on pause for a day's worth of training.

A new training technique can feel like a daunting prospect. Maybe you're overwhelmed with the idea of all the admin required to update your training processes. You have better things to do, and your current training and onboarding program is working just fine. Well, here are some reasons why all that work might be worth your time.

Led by Learners

This aspect is crucial to the microlearning concept. Employees decide when they complete their modules, and they can choose to learn extra material outside of what is essential. This gives them ownership over their training. Plus, by only receiving content that is actually needed, they see a direct relation between what they learn and what they do in their work. Employees tend to be far more receptive to training when this is the case. Especially when sessions are so short, they are far less likely to resent the training as it is clear that their time is being respected and the content is directly relevant to them.

Rooted in Psychology

Microlearning has been around for a while. Its recent resurgence is, in part, due to a renewed interest in brain science, which indicates that we retain information best when it is delivered in short chunks. Our attention spans are very short nowadays, and so longer training events just aren't as efficient when it comes to retaining information. If we give people only the information they need, cutting out the fluff and dramatically reducing training time, we ensure that the information they retain is the information they need.

Workflow Compatible

Everyone is always busy, and nobody has time for three-day-long, whole-staff training events. Besides, most of that information is not going to stick, and it's not relevant to most people anyway. Rather than totally steamrolling your employees' workflow, microlearning fits right in. Are you waiting in line for your morning coffee, or have a quiet five minutes at work? That's plenty of time to complete a microlearning module.

How Can I Bring Microlearning into My Library?

Axonify gives some detailed guidelines on designing microlearning content, and there are plenty of services — Axonify included — that will provide learning content for your workplace. However, if you want to design your own, here are a few top tips.

Focus on Results

The big key to designing microlearning content is to be led by the overall changes you want to see in your organization. Do you want more efficient onboarding? Better management of disruptive patrons? From these wider goals, you can home in on what your employees actually need to do to realize those goals.

Only Teach What Is Necessary

Start with the behavior you want from your employees and design content to achieve that. Figure out what your employees actually need to know, versus useful but unnecessary information. You can make extra context and deeper learning about a topic available for employees to look into if they choose, but prioritize the bare essentials.

Make It Interactive

We maintain information better when we are forced to use it right away. Putting new knowledge to work helps to contextualize it, make its purpose clear to learners, and engage different learning styles. For these reasons, the use of quizzes, practice exercises, and other interactive content makes your microlearning modules more effective.

Additionally, the use of visual cues like videos, flashcards, and infographics can help learners to retain and recall information more effectively.

Accessibility Is Key

Try to have all of your content accessible to learners in one searchable database — perhaps even an app. This means that employees can get a quick refresh of content whenever they need it, such as a quick refresh of the labeling convention for new books. Consequently, there is less of a burden on supervisors to answer questions, and employees are more self-motivated in finding information.

A Training Revolution

We hope this sheds some light on where all the microlearning hype is coming from. There's plenty of material out there to help you develop your own microlearning content, as well as companies like Grovo and Axonify that will do the legwork for you. Here's to training that is more effective and less boring.

Additional Resources

TechSoup has launched the Digital Skills Center in partnership with Microsoft to develop microlearning content to help nonprofits adopt digital skills.

Other resources:

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Volunteer training

October 2019 Library Tech Newsbytes

Jim Lynch — Wed, 09 Oct 2019 13:32:05 +0000

What's new in library tech! Welcome to our monthly collection of fun and hopefully useful news items from our great twitter feed and wherever else we find them.

This month we offer news on the U.S. senators pushing back on the FCC's plan to cut funding for the Universal Service Fund and the E-Rate Program. We also bring news about Library Journal's best small library in America 2019. It's one in the troubled southern borderlands with Mexico. There's also former ALA president Loida Garcia-Febo's wellness resources for library workers, Wichita Public Library's fancy checkout receipts that tell patrons how much they save by borrowing instead of buying books, David Lee King's library tech predictions on 5G, and what e-books at the library mean for patron privacy.

It's an odd assortment, we know. Nonetheless, here's your library tech newsbytes for October and Cybersecurity Awareness Month.

Senator Ed Markey Leads the Charge to Save the Universal Service Fund

Multichannel.com reports that Senator Ed Markey (D-Mass.) and more than two dozen Senate Democrats — including the leading presidential candidates — are calling on the FCC to scrap its proposal to cut the Universal Service Fund. The fund provides subsidies for phone and broadband underwritten by ratepayers on their monthly bills. The senators maintain that the cap will harm healthcare, broadband deployment, and education. The fund is one of the primary programs used to close the digital divide. It also makes the E-Rate Program possible that so many public libraries use to get discounted broadband.

The Best Small Library in America 2019

At the ARSL Conference in Vermont in September, the Library Journal Best Small Library in America 2019 was announced. The winner is the Copper Queen Library in Bisbee, Arizona. It's located in the troubled Mexican borderlands and vigorously offers free and open access to its programs to everyone. They go to extraordinary lengths to engage an entire community. Finalists for the award included Honey Grove Library & Learning Center in Texas and Whitehall Public Library in Pittsburgh. See Library Journal's feature story here.

Wellness Resources for Library Workers from Loida Garcia-Febo

Former ALA president Loida Garcia-Febo found during her national library tour in 2019 that many library workers experience stress and anxiety brought by daily life and in their workplace with library patrons and coworkers. She worked with her ALA-APA staff members and her Presidential Advisory Board to develop resources to help library workers manage stress and anxiety. These include

A revamped ALA–APA wellness website
A free webinar, Strategies for wellness for those experiencing microaggressions plus workplace stress
Free courses on Wellness in the Library Workplace presented through a partnership with the National Network of Libraries of Medicine and taught by Bobbie Newman
A cooking demo where she shared healthy recipes on the Cooking Stage of the ALA Annual Conference exhibits floor
An article for American Libraries encouraging library workers to immerse themselves in wellness

Public Library Receipt Shows How Much Money Each Patron Saves by Borrowing Instead of Buying Books

Reddit user penguinska9 posted that their library "keeps track of how much you save by not buying books and borrowing instead" and shows the dollar amount on the receipt when you check out a book. Genius! I don't know how common this practice is, but the following is from a Wichita Public Library posting from last year:

"While libraries offer tremendous benefits to their communities, sometimes the benefits are more abstract or require long term studies to show the value of their programs," said Jennifer Lane, communication manager, Wichita Public Library. "Including this information is a way to easily quantify one of the ways the Library is a value to its users. …"

So far this year, the highest dollar amount saved by a customer's account is $64,734.12. And the highest dollar amount saved by a customer's account since this feature was implemented is $196,076.21.

The receipt is a feature of the Polaris Integrated Library System. This savings feature was added in 2016. According to a blog post from the Wichita Public Library, one of the libraries that uses Polaris, "The 'You Saved' feature calculates the amount saved based on the original price of the material when it was purchased by the Library."

What Will 5G Mobile Broadband Mean to Libraries?

Library tech forecaster David Lee King predicts that 5G or 5th Generation mobile cellular networks will provide more speed, better latency, and greater capacity to connect devices. What does this mean for libraries? Here are his thoughts:

Mobile usage will continue to grow. Make sure your websites and web services work well on mobile devices.
Smaller libraries that need better broadband or Wi-Fi might just make the move to a 5G setup.
As cities start thinking about becoming "smart cities" and using newer technology (like 5G), it's the perfect opportunity for the library to step in and take a leadership role in planning your community's future. That is, if you understand something about emerging technology trends and how they might be used locally.

He says that it will be a while yet before 5G really takes off, however.

What E-Books at the Library Mean for Patron Privacy

In recognition of Cybersecurity Awareness this month, we thought we'd mention Laura Hautala's insight on CNET on why e-books and audiobooks are a challenge to patron privacy. She boldly maintains that the new e-book and audiobook technology environment is at odds with the traditional role libraries have played as champions of privacy. Librarians stood up to the U.S. government over requirements in the 2001 USA Patriot Act to share records with law enforcement. They designed policies that require that records of the books you've checked out be deleted as soon as you return them. And they've pushed every U.S. state to adopt protections for patron records. Yet …

E-books and audiobooks make protecting privacy harder. Titles are usually provided through private companies, which can access your data. And today's software can create more comprehensive records about patrons than a simple list of the books they have checked out. Library apps create a list of everything you're reading. Patrons can also inadvertently leak their own information. OverDrive's apps let you transfer your library e-books to the Kindle app, which tips off Amazon to the library books you read. Some librarians have questioned whether patrons know that's happening and that there could be unintended consequences. What to do about this? You tell me. I'd love to know.

We hope you like our selection of newsbytes this month!

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A Journalist's Guide to Finding the Data You Need — Part Two

Amanda Hickman — Mon, 30 Sep 2019 14:31:32 +0000

Editor's Note: This is part two of our two-part series by graduate journalism teacher, Amanda Hickman of Factful. She researches ways to make contemporary state-of-the-art data processing and storage tools more accessible to investigative reporters. In this second part of the series, she completes her comprehensive roundup of data repositories, research guides, and other online tools that are valuable for reporters, investigators, and now librarians. In part one of the series, she told us about her tips and tricks from her Where to Find Data workshops, plus a list of newsroom data warehouses and newsroom collaborations. Here is the rest of the story.

This post originally appeared in Source, an OpenNews project designed to amplify the impact of journalism by connecting a network of developers, designers, journalists, and editors to collaborate on open technologies. It was originally written for journalists, but we thought the piece so unique and useful to librarians and library workers that we're reposting it on TechSoup for Libraries. Find the original here.

Data Repositories

In addition to newsroom data warehouses and newsroom collaborations, there are some far-reaching data warehouses and repositories and tools for publishing data that are pretty remarkable, as well as a few that kind of aren't. This is an A – Z list.

With Aleph, OCCRP, the Sarajevo-based Organized Crime and Corruption Reporting Project, is building a unified index of data. They have tackled a few important questions, including managing access to data that they can't advertise beyond a trusted network of reporters. Aleph is tightly focused on public accountability data and includes quite a few sources obtained through leaks. The data is well organized and includes a lot of accountability and anticorruption data that isn't available other places. Aleph is free and open-source software, so hosting your own instance is also an option.

Awesome Public Data is a great big list of public datasets on Github, organized into broad topics. Anyone can propose data for addition by submitting a pull request. Awesome Public Data does a good job of continuously checking links and flagging broken links. And they point out canonical sources rather than trying to aggregate and store data. Unfortunately, there's no descriptive information, so users can't skim a list and have a sense of what kind of data is available at a particular source.

Registry of Open Data on AWS is a roundup of publicly available data stored on Amazon Web Services, with great usage examples. The AWS Open Data team vets submissions, so the registry includes a range of actively maintained and clearly documented data. The collection is pretty random, however: Amazon Customer Reviews, IRS 990 forms, soil chemistry, and data from Hubble Space Telescope instruments are all there, tagged but not organized in any particular structure.

CKAN is free and open-source software for data publishers. They maintain a list of almost 200 known instances, including quite a few national and regional governments.

Data Portals bills itself as a comprehensive worldwide index of data portals, which it is not. At a glance, a lot of smaller cities, like Berkeley and Oakland, California, are not listed. Anyone can propose new portals, but the list definitely isn't comprehensive yet.

Datasette is free and open-source software for publishing data alongside a clean view of the data. They don't maintain a commons, but if you're looking for a good way to publish data and make it accessible for both skimming and analysis, Datasette might be a good fit.

Data.world is a data collaboration platform. They encourage users to add data, which many have done, but they don't enforce any particular policy about preserving provenance, and the site is cluttered with samples and tests. Data.world did identify a handful of sources and mirror them wholesale, for example, Uniform Crime Reports or US EPA, and some newsrooms including the Associated Press and NJ Advance keep their public data collections on data.world. Unfortunately, there's no hierarchy to the site, or structure of any sort. Anyone can add data, so there's definitely some outright spam on the site. It's an interesting place to search for data ideas, and maybe an interesting place to aggregate data you have worked with. But once you find something interesting, you're going to want to head upstream to make sure you've got current, complete records.

Enigma Public is a relatively comprehensive collection of public and semi-public structured data. Data they consider semi-public includes information that they obtained via Freedom of Information request. Enigma has improved their provenance metadata significantly in recent years, and the data they provide is well documented but scattershot. Coverage of major U.S. cities is much more complete than international data. Their list of governments includes a handful of countries outside the U.S., but in many cases only one or two datasets are actually available. A search for Oakland 311 turns up no Oakland results but does surface NYC 311 data, last updated eight months ago, as the top result. NYC's actual 311 call data is updated daily, but an Enigma user wouldn't necessarily know that more current data is available. Enigma can be a great resource, but users will want to manually check upstream if they need or want the most current data.

Global Open Data Index, compiled by Open Knowledge International (OKFN), aims to provide a comprehensive snapshot of published government data. Their data is tightly organized by nation and topic, so OKFN can show you the state of public access to national legislative or land ownership data around the world, or public data in a handful of key topic areas for any one country. It appears that the index was last updated in 2015, but their sources can help you connect with current data sources. The Global Open Data Index is particularly useful to English-speaking researchers who need to find non-English-language data and may not be able to skim a foreign language government site in search of a specific data source.

Google's Dataset Search tool launched in the fall of 2018. Google crawls the web for data sources that include schema.org microdata, and incorporates it into search results. The result is that the data they're searching isn't necessarily vetted, current, or accurate. Dataset Search results include a lot of data attributed to Kaggle (see that entry, below), which is all user submitted and often detached from its original source, making it difficult to find current data upstream. As more data publishers incorporate schema microdata, however, Dataset Search will get more comprehensive.

IRE's Database Library includes a few valuable business and transportation datasets that Investigative Reporters and Editors has compiled and cleaned, some dating back decades.

Kaggle bills itself as a project-based data science site, but the site includes a commons of user-contributed data — there were 14,000 datasets when I last looked. Kaggle's commons is an eclectic mashup of whatever users have supplied. They encourage users to supply provenance information and human-readable data dictionaries, but they don't support automatic updates, so their data isn't especially useful as source material. Their metadata includes the date data was added to Kaggle but doesn't indicate whether newer data might be available from the source — which it often is. Google recently acquired Kaggle, and (not surprisingly) Kaggle data shows up a lot in Google's Dataset Search tool.

Open Policing Project at Stanford has aggregated police stop data from 31 U.S. states and organized the data to facilitate comparisons across states. They're aiming to collect, clean, collate, and release data from all 50 U.S. states and have plans and funding to keep the data up to date.

ProPublica publishes and sometimes sells some data. Data they obtained through formal public records requests (i.e., FOIA) is generally available free of charge on request; data they've cleaned or reconciled is available for purchase and licensing. Their collection is scattered and reflects their reporting rather than a concerted effort to create a unified index of data, but they have a lot of very interesting data, and they do a very good job of being explicit about provenance and limitations.

Quilt is a Python package and business that facilitates Git-like data packaging that keeps provenance intact and supports tracking of any cleaning or transformation of data. Their commons includes any and all public data that users are storing there, so the quality and usefulness varies widely. Quilt is a super interesting option for reporters and newsrooms that want to publish data or share cleaned data, so if you're looking around for a better-than-GitHub way to publish data you've cleaned or transformed, Quilt is worth checking out.

Socrata, like CKAN, builds software that facilitates sharing public data. Socrata doesn't publish a list of instances, but many city, state, national, and regional governments publish public data through a Socrata portal.

Swirrl, or PublishMyData, is a U.K.-based linked data project with a lot of overlap with Socrata or CKAN. Swirrl primarily powers public data sites, such as Scottish Government. They include a cart functionality that facilitates cross-comparisons within a given data store. Swirrl doesn't publish a list of instances of their software, but quite a few local and national governments in the U.K. and Europe appear to use their software to publish public data.

Vigilant is a business that promises to track and compile public data and make it available to their customers in standardized formats. They don't publish any data publicly.

Still Looking? Try These Research Guides

Ally Jarmanning, a data reporter at WBUR in Boston, maintains a comprehensive guide to obtaining state court data (Google doc).

Charles Ornstein at ProPublica spent ten years covering healthcare. His guide to covering opioids with data (Google doc) is required reading if you're covering the opioid crisis, even if you don't think you're covering it with data.

Angilee Shaw compiled an extensive collection of sources for immigration data (Google sheet).

Jeremy Singer-Vine's newsletter, Data Is Plural, isn't strictly a research guide, but it's great. Jeremy is the data editor at BuzzFeed News, and every week he sends out a roundup of a few interesting datasets. He also maintains a structured archive (Google sheet) of recommendations that is a great place to look for inspiration, but probably not the best path if you already know what you want.

The Quartz Directory of Essential Data (Google sheet) is a handy and fairly comprehensive spreadsheet of important data sources that Chris Groskopf maintained while he was at QZ.

Berkeley Advanced Media Institute's roundup of US regulatory agencies is a great resource for looking into the data that federal and local regulatory agencies maintain.

The Newmark Graduate School of Journalism at CUNY maintains a series of research guides including a guide to using census data and a roundup of data resources. Their index of research databases is a great review of what is available if you have access to a library (you'll need a library barcode to access the databases themselves, but the index is a handy starting place).

Dan Nguyen keeps a thorough roundup of data reporting course syllabi that are definitely worth rooting around in — most data reporting classes (and sometimes a few CS courses) include a lesson on finding data.

It's People!

No data source roundup is complete without a loud reminder that data is only as good as the people who enter it. Before you rely on data for your reporting, you need to know who generated it and how the data you're looking at got into the database.

Data is almost always entered by people. The fastest way to reduce the number of felony robberies in a single police precinct is to start classifying incidents as misdemeanors, and there's good evidence that New York Police Department precincts did exactly that when the commissioner started rewarding precincts that got their serious crime rates down.

It isn't clear why the Baltimore County Police Department has more "unfounded" rape complaints than most departments nationwide, but BuzzFeed News found that many of those "unfounded" complaints were never really investigated.

Sometimes there are just quirks in the way data gets recorded. One report found that coroners don't have solid standards about how to decide whether to record a gun death as an accident or homicide, and as a result, accidental homicides are split between the two categories, making it hard to track down reliable data.

Data is powerful, but it is never a substitute for picking up the phone and making some calls. If you're just starting to think about where data fits in your reporting process, Samantha Sunne wrote an excellent introduction to the challenges and possible pitfalls of data journalism, and how you can you avoid them.

So What Do You Do with All This Data?

If you're really new to data, knowing where to find it is only the beginning. You also need to get a handle on the tools you'll use to clean, sort, and understand the data.

NICAR trainings are a great way to get your bearings.
Source's guide to Working with Data includes a few tips for beginners.
Workbench tutorials are a great resource.

If you've already got a handle on the basics, Source's regular roundups of Things You Made should inspire you to stretch your own wings a bit.

About the Author

Amanda Hickman led BuzzFeed's Open Lab for Journalism, Technology, and the Arts from its founding in 2015 until the lab wrapped up in 2017. She has taught reporting, data analysis and visualization, and audience engagement at graduate journalism programs at UC Berkeley, Columbia University, and the City University of New York, and was DocumentCloud's founding program director. Amanda has a long history of collaborating with both journalists, editors, and community organizers to design and create the tools they need to be more effective.

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PLA's Obamacare Open Enrollment Resources for 2019

Jim Lynch — Fri, 27 Sep 2019 12:12:09 +0000

Who doesn't need affordable healthcare coverage? Amidst all the debate about it, the Affordable Care Act (ACA), or Obamacare, is still in operation and still offers subsidized coverage to many in the country. The catch? The annual enrollment period is very short this year, just six weeks, and choosing a plan and enrolling in it is complicated. Open enrollment for 2020 begins November 1, 2019, and runs through December 15, 2019. Library patrons will undoubtedly need help, and the Public Library Association (PLA) has some free resources for you on this.

In-Person Assistance Is Key

A recent Kaiser Family Foundation survey of health insurance marketplace assister programs found that the need for in-person assistance remains strong. About 80 percent of assister programs reported that most to nearly all consumers sought help because they lacked confidence to apply for coverage and financial assistance on their own. As well, about eight in 10 programs said most to nearly all consumers needed help evaluating plan choices.

The Connecting You to Coverage Initiative

The PLA's free program to encourage enrollment in the ACA Health Insurance Marketplace this year is called Libraries Connecting You to Coverage. "Libraries have an opportunity to advance their work in equity, diversity, inclusion and social justice by helping reduce racial and ethnic disparities in health coverage," explains PLA executive director Barb Macikas. "Together we can provide education and support to help all members of our communities understand and take advantage of their rights."

Please note: Dates and enrollment periods may differ in the 23 states operating in partnership with the federal government that use a state-based marketplace that uses the federal platform or a standalone state-based marketplace.

How This Initiative Came About

PLA received a first grant last year from Community Catalyst (sourced from the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation) and was invited to participate again this year. The goal for this work is to help support libraries in their existing efforts to educate and build awareness of the ACA or to start new efforts. Libraries are seen as valued allies in this type of work. They know the health needs of their communities. They are key to providing education, training, and resources for people to live healthy lives. Most importantly, public libraries are beacons of trust. Making healthcare available to everyone is an equity issue that impacts us all.

Resources

Here are some highlights of the PLA resources and outreach materials for libraries to help patrons navigate choosing and enrolling in a plan.

Outreach Materials

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September 2019 Library Tech Newsbytes

Jim Lynch — Wed, 04 Sep 2019 17:25:24 +0000

What's new in library tech! Welcome to our monthly collection of fun and hopefully useful news items from our great Twitter feed and wherever else we find them.

This month we offer news on the free third annual library 2.0 virtual conference on emerging library technology, how the 2020 census will affect public libraries, the first IMLS grant for esports (that we know of), Microsoft closing its e-bookstore, Computerworld's Steven J. Vaughan-Nichols heralding the end of tablet computers, and the weirdest library of things collection in America. OK. We admit it. We like our library tech news to be useful but a bit on the weird side here at TechSoup for Libraries.

The Free Third Annual Library 2.0 Virtual Conference on Emerging Technology

The third annual Library 2.0 mini-conference, Emerging Technology, will be held online on Wednesday, October 30, 12:00 – 3:00 p.m, U.S. Pacific time. This is a free event and well worth checking out. Registering allows you to watch live and to access the recordings. The call for proposals is now open as well. If you'd like to present, you can submit a session idea. Learn what libraries are doing right now with cutting-edge technologies and what they're planning next. Register for this event here.

How the 2020 Census Will Affect Public Libraries

The Syracuse University iSchool publication Infospace reports that because 2020 will be the first year that the U.S. census will be administered online, public libraries will have a major role in collecting census information. This is simply because so many Americans do not have Internet access or computers at home. The work will entail much more than providing computers and Internet, however. Community outreach and also addressing any concerns about disclosure, violation of privacy, or technical difficulties will also be needed.

IMLS Grant for Esports

The scrappy rural public library in Pottsboro, Texas, has just been awarded a significant IMLS grant to implement a new technology program that blends esports and education for their teen patrons. The library will form an esports club through the North America Scholastic Esports Federation. Local students will compete in local and national esports tournaments They will access clinics and workshops about game skills and career options within the esports ecosystem and enter Beyond the Game Challenges based on analytics and creativity. The grant will cover the costs of faster broadband, new gaming computers, and monthly technology classes.

Library director Dianne Connery says, "I'm confident that this IMLS grant and the esports community we build will help our local kids develop technology, STEM, and life skills. This will help us equip them to leave high school with applicable knowledge, putting them on a level playing field with students from big cities with more options."

Microsoft Closes the E-Bookstore in the Microsoft Store

This snippet may be useful for your patrons. NPR reports that in July, Microsoft closed its e-book library and has erased all content purchased through the Microsoft e-bookstore from devices. The store launched in 2017 and was designed exclusively for the users of Microsoft's Windows 10 operating system, on which more than 600 million devices run. Consumers can receive a refund for every e-book bought. Anyone who wrote notes or marked up e-books can receive an additional $25 credit. The company has not provided a reason for the closure. Here is the official Microsoft FAQ on this.

Farewell to Tablets?

Computerworld writer Steven J. Vaughan-Nichols explains how it came about that just five years ago tablet computers including iPads were all the rage and expected to overtake the computer market. Yet they're now just 4.6 percent of that market and continuing to decline. What happened? In a nutshell, cellphones got bigger, and tablets could never work as well as laptops for work and school. Your older patrons may still like them, though. Requiescant in pace, tabulae.

The Weirdest Library of Things Collection in America: Taxidermic Specimens at Anchorage Library

We reported on innovation at the Anchorage, Alaska, Public Library a few years ago, and here they are back in the news. It's the latest find in our quest to discover the depth and breadth of "library of things" lending. Smithsonian magazine reports that since 1997, the Alaska Resources Library and Information Services has been amassing an extensive inventory of animal furs, skulls, bird and fish mounts, and skeletons. These are items that are typically displayed behind a glass case in a natural history museum. It is the only known library in the United States to hold such a trove, and the items can now be checked out with an Anchorage Public Library card. The majority of patrons taking advantage of the service are local teachers.

Hope you liked this month's batch of Library Tech Newsbytes!

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