SPLAT - Special Projects Library Action Team

SPLAT members Memo Cordova & Amy Vecchione will present at Reference Renaissance  on August 9, 2010. Why is this awesome? Well, for one, we’ll be talking about SPLAT at one of the best reference services conference in the U.S. Second, we’re using the power of Twitter to keep you up to date and to engage you and the wider conference attendants with our presentation. How? Intrepid SPLAT member Melody will keep track and answer questions from Twitter users about SPLAT who attend our presentation using the Twitter hashtag #refren10 . Awesome? You bet!

Our presentation will be in Session 2, number 5, between 1:30 and 3:00, under the “Report from the Field” entry:

You can find more information at the “Conference At-a-Glance” [PDF] link on the Reference Renaissance website.

If you want to keep tabs on what’s happening during our presentation, simply follow the hashtag #refren10. You can also find conference info on Facebook, or you can scan the code below:

Is your library in Google Maps? Want to add your own info to it? Then own up your library's listing on Google Maps and make it better by displaying your library's unique information in Google Places. Check out the video below on how to get started.

An added bonus to "owning" your library in Google Places is the QR Code generated for you (below is my Google-generated QR Code for my library). Google Places is easy to set up, you get some traffic data, and you get a say on what gets displayed on Google Maps.

There are always new technological tools being created and disseminated and, much like web memes, they can catch on fairly quickly and spread as more individuals make use of a service/tool/technology to make their lives, both personal & professional, enriched by experiences. For example, I've been noticing increased interest and use of QR Codes as a way to enhance the way one interacts with a 2 dimensional picture via a smart phone, be it a product like a Calvin Klein advert, to how they are being used in libraries.

More recently another concept is emerging to enhance this 2 dimensional interactivity to a more immersive, 3rd dimensional experience. Again, because today's smart phone technology (or rather, mini computers that happen to be able to make phone calls), a secondary (or is it tertiary?) level of interaction is becoming possible--this is augmented reality (AR). This is Wikipedia's entry on AR:

Augmented reality (AR) is a term for a live direct or indirect view of a physical real-world environment whose elements are augmented by virtual computer-generated imagery. It is related to a more general concept called mediated reality  in which a view of reality is modified (possibly even diminished rather than augmented) by a computer. As a result, the technology functions by enhancing one’s current perception of reality.

In the case of Augmented Reality, the augmentation is conventionally in real-time and in semantic context with environmental elements, such as sports scores on TV during a match. With the help of advanced AR technology (e.g. adding computer vision and object recognition) the information about the surrounding real world of the user becomes interactive and digitally usable. Artificial information about the environment and the objects in it can be stored and retrieved as an information layer on top of the real world view. The term augmented reality is believed to have been coined in 1990 by Thomas Caudell, an employee of Boeing at the time[1].

Augmented reality research explores the application of computer-generated imagery in live-video streams as a way to expand the real-world. Advanced research includes use of head-mounted displays and virtual retinal displays for visualization purposes, and construction of controlled environments containing any number of sensors and actuators.

If you don't want to read the whole thing, then check out Commoncraft's take on AR:

Remember the old "View-Master" toys, with the round cartridges of colorful slides of all sorts of wonderful things? You'd hit the lever and a new image would slide into place (gosh, those were fun, weren't they?) and boom, new wonders! Anyhow, AR is similar to the "View-Master" concept, only it's using your smart phone or a video camera (or both) to superimpose additional imagery unto a 2 dimensional space.

Want to do it yourself? You can! One tool you can use is a product called SnapDragonAR from York University ($149), other (free) options include SLARToolkit (see video below) and ARToolkit.

SLARToolkit - Silverlight Augmented Reality 3D projection sample from Rene Schulte on Vimeo.

How might you use it in a library? How would you enrich a patron's experience in your library? AR is a trend that will soon gain widespread adoption as more individuals seek to enhance their reality via their mobile gadgets.

It seems I have been seeing more and more mentions of QR (Quick Response) codes in my daily web intake. I've mentioned QR Codes before, but today I came across two instances where QR codes are being used to augment (see Amy's post about augmented reality & video link about it here) or enhance your interaction with a product/thing. The first mention incorporates QR codes into a physical book. Here's the video explaining how it works:

The other has to do with electronic retailer Best Buy, and how they're putting QR codes in their magazine adverts. This signifies a wider acceptance of the use of QR codes to facilitate product to consumer interaction. Similarly, some intrepid libraries are using QR codes to disseminate information and interact with patrons. We at Boise State Library are using QR codes in our blog and to showcase a new SMS reference service.

I have used code-creating websites to make my own QR codes based on specific uses, such as creating my virtual business card or to link to a web address. You will need to have a smart phone that can scan these codes using applications like Google Goggles or Barcode Scanner, but once you do, and you see a square pixelated graphic, give it a scan and see where it takes you.

How can libraries use this mobile shortcut-to-information to augment their patron's realities?

My v-card

Meet the QR Code: the square, black and white pixelated box on your left. It's a loaded barcode. An image meant to be read via laser by your smartphone. The image contains data much like a barcode, only think of it as a multidimensional accessory to a website or printed page, which when lasered by a smartphone, will download all sorts of information to your phone.

The type of information will vary, and there are several sites where you can create your own QR Code to contain your own product (or library) information. Google has facilitated this process via their Google Places service, where your business (and this can work for your library as well) information can be created and updated via an auto-generated QR Code for easy location access via Google Maps.

If you're interested in creating your own no-frills QR Code, they try out the QR-Code generator via Kaywa, or Adobe's own q-air, which also generates a QR Code based on your input. Once you have created a QR Code, you can upload that image to a webpage (yes, the laser can read it from your computer screen too), or print it to a poster or handout for easy scanning.

How may you use this for your library? Some librarians are using these services to download library info & location to your phone, as in this example for my library. Others are using them to include URLs to published materials (PDFs, PowerPoints, etc. available online). Others to access contact information (like a virtual business card).

So give it a try and let us know how you might use these nifty, and free, interfaces to add value to a growing segment of mobile library users.