In a couple of weeks, the Library IT team at Imperial is running a couple of sessions where library staff can come and play with ‘new technology’ – we are focussing on ‘kit’ rather than software or services in this session.
The session is both a chance for staff to see things that the library has for staff use, and also to see some of the latest ‘toys’ that students may be using, or a relevant to libraries.
So far, the list is as follows:
- Smart Board
- Digital Cameras (SLR and point-and-click)
- e-book reader
- Portable PA system
- Video Camera
- Laser pointer/mouse
- Dictation microphone (plus Audacity recording software)
I’ve suggested we also show
- Samsung Q1 Ultra (Palmtop)
- Asus EeePC
- iPhone
- eBeam (Smartboard type tech, but without the board)
If anyone has any other suggestions of things we ought to be showing people, please leave a comment.
might be a bit obvious, but I’d include an iPOD or mp3 player too.
I’m not sure if you’ve got access to an Audience Response System (ARS), but it has Library-related applications, particularly if librarians are running training sessions for more students.
The e-Learning team at the University of Bath are currently working up a project website which might be of interest, http://blogs.bath.ac.uk/ARS/
How about getting people to bring their mobile phones along? There are lots of applications for m-libraries and I find that our staff are sometimes surprised to discover that their phones can be used for quick reference as they didn’t know they could access the internet.
For a mobile information literacy exercise see Mobile Safari: http://digilab.open.ac.uk/testarea/mobileSafari/
For examples of useful mobile sites see http://delicious.com/OU_MTech/mobile+mobi