Question of the Day: Alt tags and EXIF data (images)

Q: Do alt tags for images really matter? Does EXIF data really matter? What is EXIF data?

A: A group of us on facebook had an interesting discussion about EXIF data.

yes, alt tags are important, especially for reading machines for visually impaired and other technology that translates websites (esp. for 508 compliance), but I agree that spending alot of time fixing them is probably not worth it for what you do.
I think the jury is still out on blogger being a bad thing. When google first bought blogger, ... See Moreindividual posts were skewing higher than the actual websites... google looks after its own, so using blogger is probably a good thing in the long run.
Plus, it is becoming more and more about a collective approach, being everywhere, but not concentrating results anywhere. I'd say if all of your content was on your own domain that would be much worse in the long run. Wes, there is no need to worry with SEO (don't throw things at me, my SEO friends) because google changes its algorithms regularly.... and google is not the only browser is se land. Having good content that is relevant, have established presences on the web both in a namesake and social media (one of google's ranking algorithms at one point WAS length of domain presence), and making a reasonable use of metadata (exif, description, admin/rights, etc.) is probably the most important. We are moving towards RDF/semantic and tailored results, so one day ranking will be completely personalized and this notion of ranking as we know it will no longer exist. Of course, then the metadata will become even more important... but the tools have to get better first. Just my thoughts... ;-P

Notes from #gagetssocial / Social Media/Communications conference

Those of you who know me, know that if I'm not presenting or swamped with work, I like to take notes at conferences. If nothing else it gives me an opportunity to reflect on what I've learned. 

On that note, here are my notes from the #gagetssocial , Communications Conference on Social Media sponsored by TCSG and USG. 

I know it was a big effort and I LOVE (LOVE LOVE LOVE LOVE) the collaboration between TCSG and USG. We need more of this (I'd love to see a New Technologies in Education Conference that is a collaboration of both highlighting new technologies in use). Thank you to everyone involved.

My reflections:

• LOVE this conference scope
• LOVE this collaboration - we need more of this - the world is much smaller!
• All speakers mentioned 1) know your audience  2) quality content 3)Not all sites may work for everyone
• Mostly focused on twitter, facebook; smattering of instagram and youtube; less extent pinterest, vine; snapchat; no mention of tumblr, reddit
• Conference suggestions:
• Would like to have seen more stories of positive impact
• Tips for writing/finding quality content
• TCSG underrepresented in presentations but overall good representation at conference; Really would have loved a panel discussion with representation between TCSG/USG/big/small focused on success stories and case studies.
• Although very important and informative topics, the conference was a little heavy on policy, management, and enforcement 
  
  

One thing I have been reading about which is very different from the “unified voice” approach that many of the speakers mentioned was the concept of the liquid self as presented by Snapchat and most recently MIT’s article: https://ist.mit.edu/news/emergingtrends_socialmedia Very interesting thoughts...

Soundboard Social media/marketing event

I'm on tap to talk about the role of metadata in social media - hashtags, trend analysis, etc.but there will be tons of interesting topics and speakers. AND FREE! 
http://perfectpitchconcepts.com/soundboard/

GLAMLOD: Linked data, semantic web group meetup

Some of you may remember this group was formed last year after GLA. Please excuse crossposting: Interested in linked data? Interested in the semantic web? Not even sure what the heck that is or how it applies to libraries, archives, or museums? GLAMLOD: Georgia Libraries, Archives & Museums Linked Open Data (http://www.facebook.com/glamlod/) is hosting a meetup in atlanta in November. Please join our discussion group at google groups or like us on facebook for news and updates. If you're interested in the meetup, please contact a member of the group. Feel free to share this with colleagues who might be interested. Here is the proposed plan. What: This is a GLAMLOD meet-up with presentations and information sharing on tools, training, demos, potential uses, or emerging practices regarding linked data. When: (TBD) Sometime the week of November 11th 2013. 6:30pm - 9:00pm Where: Atlanta GA (Manuel's Tavern) Who: GLAMLOD members and guests How: In person (and we can explore using Skype for remote attendance) Please contact Laura Akerman (liblna@emory.edu), Robin Fay (georgiawebgurl@gmail.com ), or Doug Goans (doug.goans@library.gatech.edu): * If you are interested in attending and especially if you would like to attend virtually. * If you would like to give short presentations or information sharing about linked data. (We are looking for 2-minute lightning talks to about 15 minutes max for each presentation.) * If you have other suggestions for programming.

Training social media, identity, Drupal, and more - free!

Social Media Today

• What Defines True Online Influence - And How Should You Wield It?being presented on May 21st at 12:00PM ET / 9:00AM PT. http://socialmediatoday.com/Defining-online-influencer-webinar

• What Is a Social Media Expert? Professional Development in an Evolving Field  May 28th at 12pm EST / 9am PST
• What makes you or your colleagues more qualified than the next Facebook user to advise or execute on social media? A relatively new communication tool, which is itself built on the ability of of just about everyone to participate, creates challenges when it comes to defining expertise. How can you keep learning in order to stay ahead in the ever-evolving social media ecosystem?
• A growing number of courses and events promise credits and certifications in social media, and we often get asked to recommend the best resources in training and education. Join us as we help future-proof you as a social media expert, exploring issues like:
• How should social media professionals define and describe their qualifications?
• What are the advantages of online training vs. in-person?
• What about learning socially vs. one-on-one?
• Which conferences focus on training and development and not free cocktails?
• Which professional schools and graduate programs offer valuable social marketing and communications material?

ACQUIA (Drupal)

Drupal Training: Configure Accounts in Drupal

https://www.acquia.com/resources/acquia-tv/conference/drupal-essentials-how-configure-accounts-drupal

• Creating roles and adding users
• Account configuration
• Permissions best practices
• Improving login & permissions management
• Profile configuration and display

Global Change Queue (Batch edit) @ELUNA 2103 notes

Global Data Change Queue Notes

(Compiled by Robin Fay @georgiawebgurl ; http://www.contentdivergent.blogspot.com)

http://works.bepress.com/julene/ (many batch edit presentations)

Eluna presentation: http://works.bepress.com/julene/5/

What can GDC do?

• Can edit marc tags, fields
• can delete, edit, add
• can set preferences
• can limit by user names including create rules but not implement - so some one person could create rules but someone else has authority to run; can define by user role what can be edited (R note could be useful for a review/test  process)

Examples:

• all records must have ____ (specific criteria; R note in the case of POs 910 = PA + lacking 245 indicators )
• like a global find and replace (R note: YES! yes! So, could fix typos in 5xx fields! or invalid MARC tagging in PO ; looks useful)

How to do it:

• create record set (R note: we could use old provisional records with incorrect marc indicators as a test)
• RULE: create a rule use if/then statements
• further define rules through sets  - (R note: daisy chain together) to edit multiple fields - one rule for each field but then change them
• Preview /Review before change
• Will highlight changes
• Jump through set of records (e.g., 10 records at a time - your choice)
• If you find something that doesn't belong, you can remove it manually during preview
• If rule doesn't work, you will get a notice
• Update or review changes before you actually run

Run job or schedule

More powerful/easier to use than marcedit

More examples - updated authorized headings (RDA)

fixed fields

add OCLC #s

cleanup recon

add/remove standard notes

changed locations - pick and scan for item tho (of course you have to have the barcode.... but you don't have to have piece - R note) doesn't interfere with cataloging work - because whoever has record open has it (“locked” sort of) ; can schedule

How to have a successful conference (presenters, attendees, & coordinators)

I started writing this after the last conference I attended and I have discovered my list of best practices for conferences just keeps growing...
----------
I've been to a few conferences in my career from corporate to library, regional to national to international... I've attended, presented, facilitated, chaired, coordinated, and about every conference activity in between.On that note here is my advice for having a successful conference.

Registration

• Even if the conference is free, have registration. 
• Use online registration but accept walk-up registrations (if possible).
• Send confirmation emails for those who register online. 
• Provide receipts (name of conference, attendee name, date, and amount paid).  
• Registrars and information desk attendees should know where sessions are and how to get to those rooms (!!)
• Reception/reception area makes it easy for groups to meet up and can be a place for networking, too. Reception areas with free wifi are even better.

Materials

• Provide name tags and have extra ones at the check-in desk.
• Notepads and pens, are useful giveaways.
• Tote bags are useful (although just about every conference gives one...) 
• Provide LEGIBLE program lists, maps and directions for session rooms (include transportation if needed).
• Simple business cards are nice for networking.
• WIFI - we all need it. Make it available for free and tell people how to access it. 

Programming

• Tracks - Use them. Don't book similarly themed presentations and programs against each other. 
• It's not necessary to accept every presentation, especially if it mirrors another presentation.  
• Networking opportunities - mixers, receptions, meetups - provide some networking opportunities 
• Meals - If lunch/dinner is not at the conference, help attendees find lunch/dinner mates. One conference I attended asked presenters to coordinate a lunch, which was fun as it continued conversations beyond the presentation. 
• Don't schedule sessions before 8:30 AM nor after 4 PM. 
• Schedule breaks. Conference days are long enough. Schedule at least 2 breaks of 30 minutes (especially if there is no food provided at the conference).

Presenters

• Post the call for presentations early and often. Promote any presenter perks that you offer and on that note...   
• Offer some perk for presenters and speakers: free or discounted registration, coffee, food, parking pass -- something. Treat them well because without them your conference would not happen. (seriously)    
• Be clear about what technology you offer - let presenters know if you have projectors, screens, computers, wifi, and software. 
• Have tech support - none of us can predicate when our technology might fail.
• Send formal thank you letters to your presenters.

 Communication

• Send information about logistics before the conference including
• Parking (location, cost, etc.)
• Lodging (include a variety of options; not everyone can afford the high end conference center)
• Transportation
• Food (a whole separation discussion)
• Program, maps... how to access the wifi.
• Provide conference materials (see above) at registration.
• Hashtags, location check-in info, other social media stuff... 

Food

• Provide some sort of food even if just snacks.
• Water. Provide it. None of us can live without it
• Coffee. Almost as necessary as water...
• If not providing ANY food, make sure to include information about how to eat and where to eat. Allow ample time for going offsite or standing in line at the concession stand, if food is not provided.  

Post Conference

• THANK YOU. 
• Followup after the conference as needed (thank you letters including to conference organizers, any conference financial housekeeping, etc.)
• Collocate presentation materials online, if possible. 
• Survey. Survey the attendees and presenters to evaluate the conference success. 
• Celebrate! and then... 
• Have a plan in place for next conference.

For those presenting (or leading a discussion group or committee meeting):

• Write a clear description about your session. 
• Be prepared.
• Arrive early (you may need that extra time if you are stuck in a building that no one knows how to find -- even those at the registration desk).
• Have your presentation in multiple formats (if you need technology for it).
• Don't read your slides (if you have them).
• Know what technology is available to you (if at all possible); if unsure, bring your own. 
• Bring water and a snack. You might just need it.
• Share your resources.
• Put your presentation and/or materials online - if you can. Slideshare, Youtube, Scribd, etc.
• Have some handouts even if you do virtual handouts. (Some attendees like to take notes or need to share their conference materials when they return to their home institutions). 
• Followup with any questions or contacts made.
• Enjoy the conference, too. Don't forget to network. 

For those attending:

• Be on time to sessions (if possible). If you are late or know that you will need to leave early, sit near a perimeter and/or door if possible. Do not explain what you are doing to the audience. Do not walk in front of the speaker or projector, if at all possible. 
• You can leave. If a session is not interesting/wrong audience level for you/too crowded/room uncomfortable/presenter is bad/whatever reason, by all means, leave. It's your time, too. Just be quiet about it.
• Keep up with your stuff. Be aware of how much physical space you are taking up. 
• Be quiet when walking by rooms in session. Conversations in hallways can often be heard in conference rooms. 
• Do network. Bring your business cards. Write your email or twitter handle on your name tag. If there is a placement service or resume service, bring any materials you need. 
• Dress professionally and BE professional. You're representing yourself, your institution, and sometimes even your city and state. ;-)  
• When in groups, introduce people. Shake hands.
• Silence your mobile and/or computer. It's ok, to use devices to take notes or photos (if allowed) BUT make sure the sound is off. 
• Ask questions in sessions when appropriate. It's your session, too!
• Write about it in social media. Blog it, tweet it, discuss. Continue the conversation after the conference.
• Enjoy! Network! Fill up your brain.

Search terms (a case study: article on automation and staffing)

I always find it interesting to see what search terms people use to find what they are looking for (or not looking for). On that note, I thought I would share a quick behind the scenes of keyword searching for my article, The Effect of Automation on Academic Library Staffing: A Discussion . There is no abstract or keywords attached to this title, so the results are truly from within the fulltext searching. These stats are generated through the Bpress statistics tool.

The paper was  originally presented at COMO in Sept 2012; published as part of GL Quarterly in the Spring issue (April 2012). There have been 79 downloads of the article. Many of downloads were generated from direct links, such as via social media tools,   via the journal issue table of contents, emails, or other direct links.  

I've loosely grouped the searches together in terms of overall theme.

• Search queries include:
• on staffing:
• library staffing unit
• responsibility of cataloging unit in academic library
• the duties of automated staff in academic library (hmm... we are robots?)
• change (impact) in nature of work:
• the effect of automation on production  
• academic libraries maintaining shelf list cards why 
• library cataloging department academic making changes
• outsourcing cataloging in libraries 2012
• on academic libraries (general):
• recommendation given in an automated academic libraries
• academic library white paper or position paper
• URLS: 
• My library's URL (that's interesting - I guess they wanted to see what had been published from library staff and faculty from my library) 
• the paper URL  (did not download the paper)

Upcoming conferences, lectures & talks (& art)

On April 25, I will be doing a workshop for the Admin Professionals Conference - my topic is Social Media 4 Success. We will be looking at using social media effectively as a professional and digital literacy.

Here is the workshop details:
Social Media 4 Success Did you know that Social Media is being considered a digital age job skill
requirement?  Learn what social media is and why it is important; explore  Twitter, Google+, and Facebook, focusing on best practices, personal vs.  professional, and how to use tools to streamline your social media time.


To add to that:  We will look at a few examples of social media policies, privacy, and the features of Twitter, Pinterest/Bookmarking (I consider pinterest just visual bookmarking), Facebook, LinkedIn, and multimedia sites (Flickr, Youtube, etc.) We will not spend time going through each privacy setting, but I will include materials about privacy settings for each.

http://www.georgiacenter.uga.edu/sites/default/files/athens-admin-prof-day.pdf

On May 3: Opening reception at Artini's - several new pieces (medium size wall hangings)  and one never before exhibited work (mostly because I've reworked it 4 or 5 times now). I will not be teaching classes, just exhibiting through the month of May.

in June - Paper Dolls at the Defour Centre in Atlanta. More info about both exhibits forthcoming.

Various teachings + speaking engagements

This evening I'm doing hands-on database and cataloging training (focus on metadata/cataloging and quality control) for the Owens Library; Tuesday and Weds, I am teaching for Lyrasis on FRBR (get FRBRized!) and then another session on

Introducing RDA: 1, Structure, Principles and Core Elements (Live Online)

which makes for lots of time juggling and very early mornings so that I can be free to teach at 4 pm. ;-) yeah, it's true - I love it.  Saturday I am the session wrangler for thatCampSE  Finally, I am working out my session details for the Administrative Professionals Conference in Athens in April:

Social Media 4 Success:
Did you know that Social Media is being considered a digital age job skill requirement?  Learn what social media is and why it is important; explore Twitter, Google+ and Facebook, focusing on best practices, personal vs. professional engagement, and how to use tools to streamline your social media time. 

and I still need to schedule up summer - I seem to have an open schedule for the most part, other than possibly ALA. Remember, you can hire me for staff days, conferences, and presentations. I'm not free but I am reasonable (often it is just conference pass and travel) so drop me a line at georgiawebgurl@gmail.com 

Access services conferences seeks volunteers (libraries)

Georgia librarians (& any other interested parties):
If you're interested in volunteering for the 2011 Access Services Conference:
https://spreadsheets.google.com/viewform?formkey=dG12dXRveVJ3ZHZqd0FYUnRKaG82QXc6MQ

Information about the conference is available here:
http://www.accessservicesconference.org/

Question of the day: How do I delete a note in facebook?

Q: How do I delete a note in facebook?
A: Although not intuitive, this is easy to do.



Type Notes into the Search field at the top OR start with your home page (In the news feed list on the left side, click on More, if you do not immediately see 'Notes'). You may also be able to access notes via a button on your profile, if you have set it up to display that way.

Click on the Note you want to delete.




Click on the Edit button.
Click on Delete.









Do you want to delete? (Yes, right? If not cancel)

100 social media training programs, conferences, etc.

lots o' links!
wow, I'd love to go to all of these, ok, maybe not ALL of them.

Via mashable

http://mashable.com/2010/08/16/100-upcoming-social-media-tech-events-3/

Question of the day: where to find free stock footage

Internet archive has both moving images and stills including public
domain; others are licensed under creative commons (CC).
http://www.internetarchive.org

and here are the various searches by CC license type:
http://is.gd/dMHCl

Also searching flickr by CC license
http://www.flickr.com/search/advanced/?
flickr does have some very short film clips.

I'm sure there are other tools, even the creativecommons website has
searching functionality.

Youtube allows searching by license, too.

Also, fair use may come into play depending on what the footage is to be
used for.

Question of the Day: Delete or rename friends list in facebook

Q: How do I delete a friends list? I created one for a special event and I don't need it anymore.

A: Facebook always seems to be moving things around and deleting or editing a friends list is no different. It's easy enough to create a list (several ways, one being> Under the Friends link on the left menu, click on Friends and the first option is Create a list).

So, for those of you looking to delete list or rename it, go to:


Account>Edit Friends
On the left menu under> Lists
Click on the list to be deleted or updated. You're not deleting friends here, just deleting lists.

digital identity & professional networking; blogging & tweeting for academic libraries (upcoming presentations)

I'm on the slate for two preconferences at GLA/COMO 2010 in Athens in October:

One Voice, Many Channels: Blogging and Tweeting for Libraries
Amy Watts, Robin Fay
University of Georgia Libraries
Does your library blog or tweet? Interested in getting started? Wondering what all the buzz is about? We'll explore how libraries use Twitter and Blogger to share news, events, as well as a community building tool. If you would like to blog or tweet during the session or set up a blog or twitter account, please bring a laptop with a wifi connection.

and...
Your Voice: Professional Networking & Digital Identity
Robin Fay
University of Georgia

Do you effectively use social media to network? Are you cultivating your digital identity, or are you leaving it up to someone else? What’s your brand and what does it say about you? We’ll explore the uses of Facebook, Twitter and LinkedIn for networking, professional development, recruiting, employment opportunities and reputation development.

Question of the Day: Upsize a 72dpi to 300dpi?

Q: Can you take a 72 ppi photo and make it look good at 300 ppi? Or, is it only used for taking a 300 ppi image and making huge posters?

A: My first thought (depending on what the image is of and whether I could get a higher res one easily -- because that would seem to be the better choice) would be to edit in an image editor (e.g., photoshop) , then save at a higher dpi, and then re-edit to fix any problems, smooth out jaggyness, fix white balance, color correct, etc. at the pixel level...
It does seem like Genuine Fractals, a Photoshop plugin does some of this.

It would still be chancey and it might be easier to either re-do the image (take a new photo or get the original and resize...)

I really have never heard of a good way to upsize, given that the pixels are just not there to begin with. If anyone knows of a way to do this, I'm interested -- although I shoot in a raw format and scan in TIF, just to avoid this issue.

Google datasharing and what do about it

Institute of Disruptive Studies... love it... (sorry, I was having a monty python moment...)

-----

The project, called GoogleSharing, is a Firefox add-on that uses an anonymous proxy service that gives Google false information when someone uses services that don't require an account, such as its search, news, and images services, said Moxie Marlinspike , a security consultant and penetration tester with the Institute of Disruptive Studies.

Google collects a vast amount of information about its users, said Marlinspike, who gave a presentation at last week's Black Hat conference. The company collects IP (Internet protocol) addresses, search requests, browser type and more.

More here at yahoo news

About googlesharing: http://www.googlesharing.net/

---------

Also, for web editors who use google analytics, you might want to read Google's data sharing informational blurbage...

Question of the day: How to embed youtube videos & make them fit...

Depending on what browser and resolution you are using, you may find that your content (such as blog posts) which have embedded videos are running over your blog post area. You COULD change your stylesheet, but if everything works except for embedded Youtube videos, an easier answer might be to change the width of the Youtube player. This is super easy to do.

First you need to find a video that you want to use. ;-) Not all Youtube videos are embeddable and many copyrighted ones are not. If that is the case, you'll need to just link to them.

Get the code from Youtube

If you're looking at the main user channel, you may not see the embed links, but you can get to them in a number of ways.

Underneath each of the videos posted on the channel, is a tab/button which says Info. Click on Info and you will see
View comments, related videos, and more
Click on this get to the video with its embeddable info.


The Embed box holds the code for the embeddable video. If you look carefully in the Embed box, you can usually see what the size is -- object width is the width that the embeddable video will be.

If the pre-configured options will work, you can skip customizing the code; just grab a copy (Ctrl + A) of the code from the Embed box. You'll be ready for the blogger section then.

To customize the embeddable video:
Click on the tiny star icon (whoa, is that easy to miss!). Clicking on this will show you the different pre-configured sizes for an embedded video including size and color for the player.

Below the Embed box you will now see a bunch of options to configure your players.

Note: Include related videos may or may not include videos from the same user or necessarily on the same topic. If you want to create a group of videos, your better bet is to make a playlist, which can then be embedded.



In the Embed box, you will hit Ctrl + A (or right click Select All, if you have that functionality).

Embedding a video into a Blogger post
For Blogger (blogspot blogs) you MUST switch to the Edit Html button in order to embed the video. In any other blog service or product, you will need to somehow get to the html, unless you have embed Youtube functionality.

Edit Html
Find a spot in your post where you want to add your video.
Now hit Ctrl + P (paste) or right click paste if you have that functionality.

It will paste in something that looks
like this. Recognize that stuff? It is
indeed, the code from Youtube.


If you click on Compose, you will not see the video.Don't worry, the code is still there and if you click Edit Html you will see the code.


If for some reason, you need to edit the width and height even more you can do it by tweaking the height and width even more, directly in the code.

..and that's how to do it (or at least, one way to do it). I realize this question has probably been answered alot over the 'net, but it was a question asked to me, so there you go!

If you do it right, you'll get something like this... yes, I am in this movie... LOL

best of... secrets of the catalog / library metadata (presentation archives)

I decided to start digging out some of my old stuff that I either 1)haven't posted here before, or perhaps, 2)I posted it 5 years ago, but it is still relevant or 3) it is super popular (on twitter, on a blog, etc.) which makes me think it is worth a re-post. I promise my site is not about to become a re-hash and just like for the Question of the Day, these will have their own category and header. So, first up is a presentation from 2003(ish?) on the secrets of library databases (catalogs).

Secrets of the catalog / metadata

View more presentations from robinfay.