North Carolina Library Association Blog Archive

Prep for the NCLA Conference with Two Free Webinars

Thu, 08 Aug 2019 15:31:55 GMT

The NCLA Technology & Trends Roundtable is pleased to announce TWO webinars to enhance your NCLA 2019 Conference experience.

Both webinars are free and open to all, but do require registration.

We’ll send out access links the evening before each webinar. Recordings will be available afterward.

Conference Prep, Part 1: Level Up Your NCLA Cred With Sched!

August 14th at 2 PM

For this conference, NCLA is using an online platform for the conference schedule called, SCHED. Julie Raynor, Readers’ Services Supervisor at High Point Public Library will provide tips and trips on how to navigate and use SCHED to connect with colleagues before and during Conference.

Conference Prep, Part 2: Poster Presentations & Design

September 19th at 2 PM

Congratulations on getting a poster accepted for a conference! Designing a poster that pops can often be the difference between folks stopping to talk to you or not. Join Amanda Glenn-Bradley, User Engagement Librarian & CrAFT Studio Coordinator at UNC Asheville for a breakdown of the basics of poster designing and discover how to make the best poster ever!

Questions?

Please contact Chad Haefele (chaefele@email.unc.edu) or Julie Raynor (julie.raynor@highpointnc.gov).

TNT 2019 Conference Offerings

Tue, 11 Jun 2019 15:34:41 GMT

The 63^rd NCLA Biennial Conference is just around the corner, and TNT has a great line up of events! See the details below or visit the NCLA Conference schedule for all events.

Pre-Conference

Libraries: Spaces for Everyone – Web Accessibility Basics and Beyond

Tuesday, October 15
1:30-4:30 PM
Ardmore 2, Embassy Suites

This will be an interactive workshop that allows attendees to learn about digital accessibility guidelines, laws, and practices and gain hands-on experience putting these into practice with their own platforms. We will also work to build empathy and better understanding of how our work can impact our users with accessibility needs and concerns. We will walk through the Web Content Accessibility Guidelines (WCAG 2.1), review how to use various tools and methods to audit a website, and provide time to work with colleagues or other workshop attendees on your websites and online tools. In addition, we will look at how accessibility can affect subscribed electronic resources, focusing on steps you can take to be aware of accessibility before you purchase a resource and methods you can employ to work with vendors after a resource is purchased.

Concurrent Sessions

Libraries: Spaces to Teach and Troubleshoot Technology

Wednesday, October 16
2:30-3:20 PM
Winston 3A

This interactive session focuses on the idea that technology support and teaching could become an integral dimension of reference and adult services work. The session starts with mini-talks of 10 minutes in which the three panelists each discuss their work related to this topic: Lenstra discusses results from a year-long community informatics study of tech support at adult services desks at three public libraries. House discusses building collaborations with campus Information Technology Services (ITS) such that ITS becomes embedded in every library space across the community college. Williams discusses the Library “Senior Geek Squad,” which exists to help older adults become familiar and comfortable with various types of technology and to become active users of their digital devices, with sessions both held at the library and off-site in the community.

The session will then transition into an interactive discussion of the perils and possibilities associated with bringing technology support and teaching into reference and adult services work. This session will prepare you to embed tech support and instruction into your library’s reference and information services.

TNT’s Library Tech Resource Networking Meetup

Thursday, October 17
11:00-11:50 AM
Salem 1B

The purpose of this session is for attendees to connect with fellow librarians and leave with knowledge about TNT’s Library Tech Resource List. This list provides a tech support network that everyone can use for tech advice and guidance. The session is open to everyone, but specifically to Early Career librarians and Students who want to learn from librarians who have manage technology day-to-day in their libraries. This session is also an opportunity to learn more about TNT’s Library Tech Resource List and how to participate, both as a “tech expert” and as a “tech learner”.

The format for this session is new, so it will be setup in “conversation stations” where “tech experts” who are included in the Library Tech Resource List will be available (at tech issue tables) and attendees will be invited to rotate among them and meet face-to-face. This format is reminiscent of the “speed dating” concept and very similar to the “Speed Interviewing” sessions that have been offered at previous conferences, just more focused and less about “speed”. The hope is that both “tech experts” and “tech learners” will leave with new contacts to reach out to as the need arises.

Tech Tools Lightning Talks from TNT

Thursday, October 17
1:30-2:20 PM
Salem 3A

In this fast-paced lightning round, presenters from a variety of libraries will show off their tech tool or service of choice. Each panelist will have 5-10 minutes to demonstrate their pick in a practical, lively session.

Presenters will be recruited by the TNT board closer to the conference dates. Depending on response, we’ll accept 4-6 speakers.

TNT Business Meeting

Thursday, October 17
4:30-5:50 PM
Re-Charge Space, Winston 2

In this meeting we will:

Hold the final election of the 2019-2021 Executive Committee Officers
Hear from the Outgoing and Incoming Chairs about the TNT’s accomplishments and goals going forward
Answer any questions from TNT members and potential members
Solicit feedback about new events/programs, etc. for the next Biennium

This meeting is open to all current and past members and any potential members.

Re-Charge Space

Co-sponsored with New Members Roundtable

Wednesday, October 16 to Friday, October 18
All Day
Winston 2

Are you looking for a quiet space to catch up on emails, re-connect with former co-workers and library school friends? Then the NCLA Re-Charge Space is for you! This space will be open to you for the majority of the conference and will be setup for informal conversations and time to “get away” from the conference hubbub. There will be plenty of round tables and chairs, extra outlets, and two charging towers to help you stay connected with the world outside the conference. Tech & Trends will be holding their “Library Tech Resource Networking Meetup” session and NMRT will setup a Career Center for resume review and interview help in the Re-Charge Space. This space is being sponsored by TNT and NMRT.

Save the Date: Emerging Technology Trends for Libraries

Fri, 29 Mar 2019 15:39:46 GMT

Technology has changed the face of libraries and is continuing to change how we work and how we deliver services to customers. This workshop introduces emerging technology trends, and how those trends are re-shaping library services. Examples of how to incorporate these emerging trends into libraries are provided.

Attendees will leave knowing what trends to look for, the difference between a technology trend and a fad, and will have new ideas on how their library can respond to emerging technology.

About the Presenter:

David Lee King is the Digital Services Director at Topeka & Shawnee County Public Library, where he plans, implements, and experiments with emerging technology trends. He speaks internationally about emerging trends, website management, digital experience, and social media, and has been published in many library-related journals. David is a Library Journal Mover and Shaker. His newest book is Face2Face: Using Facebook, Twitter, and Other Social Media Tools to Create Great Customer Connections. David blogs at davidleeking.com.

Register on the State Library’s Train Station:

Registration opens on Monday, April 1, 2019.

The library is located at 67 Haywood St., Asheville, NC 28801 (https://goo.gl/maps/LxiVN4h3FAJ2)

These workshops will run from 9:30 a.m. to 4:00 p.m., with time included to eat lunch on your own. There is no charge to attend these events. (We are no longer allowed to provide lunches or snacks at workshops, so please bring any snacks or liquids you may need with you.)

TNT will be able to offer .6 CEUs for workshop attendees.

If you have questions, feel free to contact Julie Raynor at: julie.raynor@highpointnc.gov or 336.883.3093.

This project is made possible by funding from the federal Institute of Museum and Library Services (IMLS) under the provisions of the Library Services and Technology Act (LSTA) as administered by the State Library of North Carolina, a division of the N.C. Department of Natural and Cultural Resources (IMLS grant number LS-00-18-0034-18).

Get Social with Us!

Tue, 04 Sep 2018 15:41:03 GMT

We’ve joined Facebook and Twitter to give you even more ways to stay in touch with NCLA Technology and Trends!

You can find out about our upcoming events by following us on Facebook. Or keep up-to-date on the latest tech news and events on Twitter.

We can’t wait for you to join us!

Tech to make the most of #NCLA17: Direct Communication and Networking Aids

Mon, 09 Oct 2017 15:41:38 GMT

Today’s contributor is Julie Raynor, your 2017 Technology and Trends Chair-Elect.

When I attend conferences I usually struggle with two challenges: how to easily keep in touch with other committee members and co-workers during the conference and anything pertaining to networking.

As I was seeking out tools to use next week I came across two apps that I thought would be worth sharing: GroupMe and Namerick.

GroupMe is a free communication app that allows you to easily message other people who have the app and are in your group. You can also setup private chat rooms. This would be perfect for working with co-presenters and coordinating a lunch spot with your co-workers.

It’s powered by Skype, so it works on all devices, tablets, smartphones, even computers–if you’ve forgotten something “mission critical” you can send messages to your co-workers who are at the library and not attending that day. You can even send SMS messages! This would definitely have potential uses beyond the conference.

Once you download the app you can easily create a group and add group members by phone numbers or email addresses.

Namerick is the type of tool that really comes in handy when knowing someone’s name and connections is vitally important. I have a really bad habit of forgetting a new person’s name almost immediately after meeting them. So, this tool was very appealing to me. Some limitations are that it only works on iPhones and it does cost $.99, but that seemed like a great value.

Namerick uses proven mnemonic techniques of association to aid in memory, especially of people’s names. It also employs repetition to enhance your memory. If memory is one of your weaknesses, this might just be the right tool for you.

At a conference where networking can lead to future career and partnership opportunities, being a successful networker is truly important.

These tools and many more are reviewed in the Sept. 7, 2015 Practical ECommerce article, “16 Mobile Apps for Networking Events” by Sig Ueland.

This post is part of a short series here on the TNT blog: Tech to make the most of the NCLA 2017 Biennial Conference. You’ll hear from TNT Board Members as well as guest authors about tech you can use as a conference presenter and participant to maximize your experience at #NCLA17. If you have an idea you’d like to contribute, email Jenny Dale at jedale2[at]uncg[dot]edu!

Tech to make the most of #NCLA17: Google Slides Q&A

Fri, 08 Sep 2017 15:43:50 GMT

Today’s guest author is Samantha Harlow, Online Learning Librarian at UNCG Libraries and Chair of NCLA’s newest section, the Distance Learning Section!

When presenting at conferences, engaging audience members through active learning and participation is key! At the 2017 NCLA conference, there are many presentations with co-presenters, as well as presenters using slide shows (PowerPoint, Google Slides, etc) to serve as visual aids. It can be challenging to engage audience members with two or more presenters, while also running a slide show. This is where Google Slides Q&A can help!

Google Slides Q&A is a way for “presenters to start a live Q&A session with an audience during a presentation with Google Slides. You can present questions at any time, and people can ask questions from any device.” Taken from “Accept and present audience questions.”

The way it works is that your presentation’s audience members can submit questions digitally to a speaker throughout a presentation. If you are co-presenting, one of you can speak while another monitors the questions coming in through Q&A. If you are solo presenting, be sure to look at the questions or comments at the end of your presentation.

Here’s how Google Slides Q&A works:
-Open up your Google Slides presentation and go to the Present button at the top. Click the arrow next to the Present button to go to Presenter View.
-You will be prompted to “start new” audience Q&A. Click that button.

-You will then see the URL that your audience members can go to ask questions. Note that if you work at a Google for Education (GAFE) library or business you will need to turn the “Accepting questions from ____” to “Anyone” in order for all conference audience members to participate:

Your audience members will then see the URL throughout your presentation, at the top of all of your Google Slides:

Once audience members go to the Q&A URL on your Google Slides presentation, they will be able to participate through asking a question on their device:

When you’re done or throughout your presentation, you can go to the Q&A screen at anytime, to monitor or present a question. You will find the Q&A icon at the bottom of your slides:

You can choose to “present” a question or comment, which means it will show up in your slideshow:

Presenter View:

Google Slide View:

Some notes about Google Slides Q&A:
-It’s always good to check your Q&A URL on a browser in which you are not logged into your Google Account to make sure it will work for all audience members.
-Like all presentation techniques at a conference, practicing helps work out kinks of Google Slides Q&A, as well as make you feel more prepared for how the process will run.
-Audience members can ask questions anonymously, so if you have fear of audience members being inappropriate, please keep this in mind.
-This does work on mobile devices, but if people in the audience do not have a device, it will also be good to accept questions verbally at the end of the presentation.
-The Q&A questions or comments will stay in your Google Account after you finish the slide show for a couple of days, but there is no export option of questions and comments. If you want to keep the questions or comments from your session, you will need to copy and paste them into another document or take a screenshot.

More tutorials:
Video: how to use the Q&A feature in Google Slides
Google Tutorials: Accept and present audience questions

New series: Tech to make the most of the NCLA 2017 Biennial Conference!

Fri, 08 Sep 2017 12:00:00 GMT

Good morning, loyal readers! Today marks the beginning of a new short blog series here on the TNT Blog: Tech to make the most of the NCLA 2017 Biennial Conference. You’ll hear from TNT Board Members as well as guest authors about tech you can use as a conference presenter and participant to maximize your experience at #NCLA17. Speaking of #NCLA17, registration is open at https://t.co/Mgf3mxW8aC. We hope to see you there!

Free Friday: Creating visual diagrams with LucidChart

Mon, 03 Oct 2016 15:45:04 GMT

Lucidchart is a web-based diagramming software, compatible with most web browsers (Google Chrome, Firefox, Safari, Internet Explorer, etc.) that allows users to collaborate in real-time to create flow charts, organizational charts, mind maps, floor plans, Venn diagrams and many other diagram types.

For all educational users (both K-12 and higher education), Lucidchart provides free premium accounts. Students and faculty can sign up individually for accounts with their .edu email address.

Users are able to create documents from a template or create custom diagrams from scratch. To begin, users just need to click on the “+ document” button:

In order to draw objects and lines; the user just needs to “select a shape” from the shape toolbox and drag it onto the page. To draw a line, “click on the line connection of the shape” and drag the line to another shape.

To format a line, select a line and choose a line formatting option, such as line type, style and arrow type.

There is also an option to insert an image, if you would like.

LucidChart also lets you import (to Visio, Gliffy, OmniGraffley, adn AWS files) and export your diagrams easily as PDF, PNG, JPEG, VDX, or SVG files. Alternatively, you can also share files and folders for real-time collaboration.

Even if I came across this tool by accident, I’m so glad that I did – as it has come in handy for several projects. I’ve used LucidChart to create flow charts when planning online tutorials with multiple modules. As it allows you to lay out the module step-by-step with goals, objectives, and activities. Additionally, I imagine that the flow chart would be useful in describing the project to other team members, such as programmers should you need their assistance in building the online module. Next, I plan to use LucidChart to create a Gnatt chart to visually diagram a project timeline.

Free Friday: Canva: Online Graphic Design Platform

Fri, 23 Sep 2016 15:48:10 GMT

If you find yourself needing to create a visually appealing presentation, social media graphic, or infographic; try using Canva. It is a free online platform that offers a wide assortment of design tools and options, as well as premium options for paying customers.

To get started, you just need to create an account using your email account. You also have the option to log-in with your Facebook or Google Plus account; if you don’t want to create a new account.

Once you are logged in – Canva offers many (free & fee-based) templates for you to get started with your project. Just select your project type: presentation, infographic, social media, banner, resume, and more. Canva provides the layout, and you just use the drag & drop feature to add images, shapes, text, etc. or even upload your own images/photos to customize the graphic to fit your marketing needs.

Canva also includes photo editing features, as well as other cool tools:

Photo straightener: Keep your photos in line with our photo straightener tool
Image cropper: Crop your photos for great framing and masterful composition
Add text to photos: Create a narrative for any photo
Speech bubble maker: Give your photos a voice with speech bubbles!
Give your photos a delicate fade with our transparency tool
Photo enhancer: Enhance your photos to save any “off” shots
Photo blur: Add artistry to your images with the blur slider
Photo vignette: Grant your pictures vintage flair with our photo vignette tool
Design grids: Looking for layout inspiration? Try a design grid
Free icons: Complement your designs with the crisp lines of our icons
Photo frames: Add photo frames to adorn your memories
Web wireframe: Begin with the basics and create a web wireframe
Stickers: Amp up your images with some surprise stickers
Badges: Build a better badge with Canva
Add texture: Give your designs texture and feeling from our image library

To learn more about these features, visit their web site: https://www.canva.com/features/

I like this tool, as it allows you to create professional looking graphics, without any prior experience. Once you have completed your design project, you will have the option to save, email, or upload your graphic to your web site. Canva also has a shared option, which allows you to be able to collaboratively work projects with your team members.

Free Friday: GIMP.COM: The Free and Open Source Image Editor

Fri, 16 Sep 2016 15:49:14 GMT

If you find yourself in the position of needing god quality screen shots for library handouts and tutorials, this is a great tool.

Like most image editing tools, there are a wide array of functions available for the more advanced user, but I like this tool because it isn’t intimidating to the beginner—they even have a set of tutorials just for beginners on their website: https://www.gimp.org/tutorials/

I also like this tool because it produces some very professional results. It also allows you to focus in on a specific detail on a screen so that you can focus your tutorial on individual steps more easily.

So, to give you a sense of how easy this is to use, I’ll review the steps I use to manipulate screen shots for use in tutorial-type handouts.

First, download the program from the Gimp.com website. Once the program is downloaded, open it up.

On your computer, go to the page you need and click Ctrl-Print Screen to get the screen shot (I’m using a Windows PC and I’ll use the Gimp program for my example).

Once there, open the Gimp program and choose File, Create, From Clipboard. A new window opens with the screen shot.

Next, if the Toolbox column is open click the Rectangle Select option, or choose from Tools, Selection Tools in the toolbar at the top of the page.

Click and drag the selection tool over the portion of the page that you want to use. Sometimes using the “zoom” function is useful in this step (From toolbar choose View, Zoom, 200%). If you aren’t happy with what you selected, click away from that part of the page and try again.

Once you’re happy choose Image from the top toolbar and click Crop to Selection.

Then you can choose to copy the image into your document (File, Copy, Paste) or you can save it for later use (File, Save As). If you save it, I suggest you save it as a .jpeg file (more compatible with websites and social media). At the bottom of the File, Save As box, click the “+” beside Select File Type (By Extension), choose JPEG image from the list, then click Save. It will ask you to confirm this file type, so just choose Yes.

Once it’s saved, go up to File, then Copy and follow the usual steps for copying an image into a document.

That’s all there is to it. If you want to try out the more advanced features, there are plenty of them. I believe you will find this to be a very useful tool for producing thorough, readable, and very professional handouts.

-Julie Raynor, Vice-Chair, TNT Roundtable

Come back Friday, September 16 for our next installment of Free Fridays!

Free Friday: Getting Organized with Zotero

Fri, 09 Sep 2016 15:50:01 GMT

I’m teaching an undergraduate IS course for this first time this semester that essentially boils down to a semester long version of a library one-shot course. It’s a librarian’s dream come true!

In amongst the information literacy skills that I’m trying to impart to these growing minds, I’ve included a class focused on managing all of this information that they’ll soon be finding through the library’s website. Cut to Zotero, a free citation management tool that also happens to be open source.

The first step to setup Zotero is twofold: download the Standalone client and install the browser extension. Visit the download page for all of the pertinent links and information about getting started. The Zotero site even adjusts the download buttons to your specific operating system and browser for ease of use.

Once you’ve installed the Zotero Standalone and the browser extension, you can begin importing citations right away. Using the browser extension, you can save websites, articles, videos, and more. The image below shows what the Zotero icon looks like when saving a web page. It changes depending on the content that it finds in your browser.

Importing content from the web will include PDF files and other related information as available. Free accounts have up to 300MB of storage, but there are premium options available if you need more that are quite affordable.

You have a few options regarding how to organize your Zotero library: collections (read: folders), tags, and saved searches. Any item can be added to as many collections as you like. It will also remain in your main Zotero library, in case need to remove it from a specific collection.

Zotero will automatically be added to Microsoft Word, if you use it as your word processor, making citing a breeze. It also integrates with other word processors like OpenOffice. Since it’s an open source tool, many different citation styles have been added including MLA’s 8th version.

In addition to these standard citation manager abilities, Zotero also works well for collaborative projects. You can set up groups and sync items to the Zotero servers. For more details and information about Zotero’s features, check out the Quick Start guide.

-Sarah Arnold, Director, TNT Roundtable

Come back Friday, September 16 for our next installment of Free Fridays!

Interactive learning with Pear Deck

Tue, 06 Sep 2016 15:50:48 GMT

Our tool this week is coming a bit late (apologies, I kind of forgot about Labor Day when I decided to write last week’s post!), but I hope to make up for it with how excellent Pear Deck is!

Pear Deck is, at its heart, a slide ware program, like Power Point or Google Slides. It is much simpler in layout and has fewer design templates that something like Power Point, but it is clean and effective. However, what Pear Deck offers that Power Point and Google Slides do not is audience interactivity. Think of it as a more powerful and more intuitive poll anywhere. I began using it in my classes last semester and had numerous professors decide to try it out in their own classes. I also felt that it increased the participation of students who might not want to raise their hand, but were willing to submit a short answer or check a box on a multiple choice question.

So, why does this work so well and what can it do?

This is the page you first access when you go to Pear Deck. It uses a gmail sign in to login and completely integrates with Google Drive. To get started, you just need to choose a google account and log in. You will then be taken to the Teacher page, where you can design new presentations.

This is the main teacher page. Here you can create a new deck or open up any of the decks you previously have used. Slides can do a lot of different things. Basic options include embedding an image, YouTube video, or simply writing text. However, as shown below, there are a lot more options available:

Note that the options with stars are only available to paying customers, but freely available types include your basic multiple choice slide but also free response text and number questions, which allow students to answer a question and then have their answers appear anonymously on the projected slide. You can also embed a website in the deck so that it opens up within the slide. This is great because if students have Pear Deck open on their phone or computer, projecting a website slide will automatically direct students to the chosen website. This lets students directly follow along on their computers without worrying about navigating to the right spot.

Once you have completed your deck, it is time to share it with students in your class. This is done through selecting the start presenting button (seen above). Once you start presenting, this screen should appear:

To join, students go to the website listed, log in with their Gmail accounts, and then enter the displayed code to make sure they are getting into the right session. As a google school, where all students have Gmail accounts, I have found this an extremely easy way for students to get into an interactive presentation. Students understood it quickly and it proved a much cleaner and more full featured process than other interactive slide wear tools I have used. The one downside is that this does require a google account. If you work for a library where you can’t assume this of your students, this might be a less attractive option. But if you do, I would highly recommend checking it out and reading reviews of it here or here.

Kate Hill, Secretary/Treasure, TNT.

Come back this Friday, September 9th for our next installment of Free Fridays!

Free Friday: DIY Coloring Pages with Pixlr

Fri, 26 Aug 2016 15:51:24 GMT

I absolutely love Pixlr, a completely web-based image editing program that you can use anywhere that has many of the functions of Photoshop and other high-end editors. Recently, I used Pixlr to create coloring book style versions of historical images from UNCG’s Digital Collections, like this one. Students are back at UNCG this week, and apparently they love coloring! Luckily for me, fabulous staff members from UNCG’s Martha Blakeney Hodges Special Collections and University Archives had already created coloring book versions of historical images, but I also wanted to figure out how to do it on my own.

After much Googling and testing out of different options, I came up with a good workflow using Pixlr. In the spirit of using Pixlr, get ready for lots of pictures below!

Visit Pixlr.com and choose Pixlr Editor.
Select Open image from computer.
If you’ve used Photoshop or other similar products, the workspace will look familiar to you.
Once you’ve opened the image you want to work with, click on the adjustment menu and select “desaturate.”
Now, in your layers menu on the right side of the page, right click and duplicate this background layer.
Next, go back to the adjustments menu and select “invert.” Your image should now look like a photo negative.
We’re in the home stretch now! Back on the layers menu, select the icon in the bottom left (it should say “Toggle layer settings” when you hover over it). Once you’ve clicked that, change the mode from “Normal” to “Add.”
Your picture now looks like a blank white canvas. Don’t worry! It’s supposed to!
Now, click on the Filter menu and select “Gaussian Blur.” Adjust the slider so that you get the level of detail you want.
And now, you’re done! You should have an image that looks something like:

For our coloring station, we provided a table, a chair, some crayons, colored pencils, and markers, and we printed the images on 11×17 paper. It’s been a hit!

They like it! They really like it!

-Jenny Dale, Chair, TNT RoundTable

Come back next Friday, September 2nd, for our next installment of Free Fridays!

Free Friday: Leveling up and staying organized!

Sun, 21 Aug 2016 15:52:13 GMT

At University of North Carolina at Greensboro, the new semester is upon us. For many academic librarians, this means running here and there, teaching classes, holding consultations, fixing electronic resources when they break, and just trying to keep one’s head above water. In honor of this crazy time of the year, and also of our upcoming webinar on the 29th of August on the organizational tools of Trello and Evernote, I am going to use this post to tell you about a to-do list and habit reinforcement site that I have found to be highly useful.

The tool I am talking about is called Habitica. Available both in browser and also as an App for iPhone and Android systems, this tool is at its heart a way to reinforce positive habits and keep track of to-dos. What is really genius about it is the way it keeps you motivated to stay on track. It takes completing tasks and turns them into a simple role playing/ questing game.

This is my avatar, a level 38 rogue (look at my adorable panda mount!):

You level up, gain more equipment, and collect new pets and mounts by completing the tasks you have put in your lists. You can make as many to-do lists or habits as you want. The most important list though is the list of “Dailies”, which are simply enough tasks that you want to perform every day. Not performing them all hurts your health and can eventually kill your character (don’t worry, you can come back easily but you lose some levels!). This is a fantastic way to build a daily routine. I use it to try and make myself remember to organize my email inbox, check UNCG’s electronic resource problems email, and write for one hour. The main interface looks like this:

For both habits and to-dos, the longer you ignore them, the brighter red they turn. When you complete a to-do, it vanishes, but when you complete a habit, it turns from red to green. Dailies turn gray once they are done for the day. To-Dos can also be given due dates or have their own mini checklists of steps attached to them. The more steps a task has, the more experience it is worth when finally completed.

Finally, on top of all the rewards and getting to make your avatar look cool and ride pandas, you can also join a party of friends and go on quests together. When you are questing, every time you complete a habit, to-do or daily, you deal damage to the big monster you are all fighting. But every time you miss a daily, the monster hurts everyone in your party. The extra peer pressure of not wanting to hurt your friends has really motivated me to complete my dailies and being able to help your friends has pushed me to complete my to-dos.

Habitica is free to use, though you can get extra equipment and prettier backgrounds if you subscribe on a monthly basis. While I have tried many other to-do list programs before, this tool, with is combination of working as a group and getting rewards for progress, is the first that has really clicked for me. As you enter into a new semester, I would encourage anyone interested in a better way to keep organized to try it out.

Free Friday: Infographic Design is for Everyone

Fri, 12 Aug 2016 15:52:54 GMT

In this installment of Free Fridays, let’s take a look at Piktochart. This tool makes it easy to quickly design professional looking banners, reports, infographics, and presentations.

Piktochart offers hundreds of templates that can be customizable with lots of icons, shapes, and designs that can be used. The tool also allows you to change colors and fonts to match your theme. So, anyone even those without a graphic design background will be able to create visually appealing content.

There are several versions of Piktochart – one at no cost and several that are fee-based. The free account does come with some limitations such as fewer templates and the Piktocchart logo at the bottom of all your creations. Piktochart also offers a purchase option for those that need to upgrade to the pro version for students and professionals.

While Piktochart is generally used as an infographic tool; however you can also use the tool to create dynamic presentations, providing an alternative to power point slides and prezi presentations. The tool is very user-friendly and easy to learn. Within minutes you can be designing your own infographic and presentation slide using Piktochart. I’ve often use this tool to create infographics; however just this week I used this tool to create a slide presentation for a student orientation. The audience loved the look of the presentation, and everyone wanted to know what platform I used to create it; as it provided a very different look from the traditional Power Point slides and Prezi presentations.

Some sample infographic templates:

Check out Piktochart — it’ll give you a new perspective to presenting information!

Suvanida Duangudom, Director, TNT RoundTable

Come back next Friday, August 19th for our next installment of Free Fridays!

Free Friday: Messaging Made Easy

Fri, 05 Aug 2016 15:53:54 GMT

Imagine a world with fewer emails flying into your inbox each day — Slack can help with that! Slack is a free (with premium options) instant messaging tool that does so much more.

Slack breaks team messaging into Channels, that can be public or private, and direct messages for one-on-one communication. Each Channel can be focused on a single topic or project. Once that project or topic is no longer relevant, the Channel can be archived. But don’t worry, you still have the ability to search your entire archive using the built-in search functionality which indexes all public messages and files.

Within your messages, you have the ability to blend other tools such as Google Drive, Trello, Jira, and many more. Add in the ability to drag-drop files for sharing and you’re set. And for those who need a little fun during the work day, there are plenty of add-ons like Giphy:

One caveat for the free version of Slack is the limitations put on the number of apps you can integrate and the number of messages that it archives. You can integrate 10 apps in the free version. And it will only archive up to 10,000 of your team’s most recent messages. You are also limited to only 5GB of document storage. It’s not all bad news though!

Slack provides mobile and desktop apps for both Windows and Apple products, so you can be connected to your team 24/7 if you want. If you prefer a nice work/life balance, there are Do Not Disturb options that can be set for specific times for yourself or your entire team.

If you’re not quite convinced that you need Slack in your life or don’t have colleagues willing to take the plunge, you can try out some fun library-related channels focused on user experience in libraries or that old library favorite, LibGuides.

Sarah Arnold, Director, TNT RoundTable

Come back next Friday, August 12th for our next installment of Free Fridays!

Free Friday: Time to Get Organized!

Fri, 29 Jul 2016 15:54:25 GMT

For this installment of Free Friday, we want to highlight one of the tools in our members only list, a personal organization tool called Cozi.

Cozi is a flexible tool that you can access for free as an app and website. It helps you manage your busy life with a shared calendar, shopping lists, to do lists and more–just as the end of summer/back-to-school season is in sight!

It allows you to keep track of everything from school schedules and sports activities to grocery lists, meals and chores — all in one place the whole family can access anytime, anywhere.

The plusses: it is a tool that the whole family can share and you can color code the calendar for each family member. You also can link calendars that you already use right to it (Google, Outlook, even Facebook)! It is very mobile-friendly with an app that is compatible with most devices.

When you go to the website, you can access some other cool features. They have a wealth of prepared lists that you can use for a wide variety of tasks, from packing to grocery shopping–they even have cleaning tips! There is also a section for Freebies and Downloads that offers free printable calendars.

Even though the free version is sufficient for most things, there is also the option to sign up for Cozi Gold at a low cost of $19.99 per year that is ad-free and offers more in-depth features.

So, if you’ve been looking for something to help keep yourself and your family organized, now is the time to try out Cozi!

Also, we want to hear from you! We’ve posted a poll on our Wiggio page asking for input on webinar topics for this fall. So, when you get a chance, go over to Wiggio.com and let us know what you’d like to see. It will take less than a minute to do and it will help us plan upcoming presentation on topics that YOU want. We’d love to hear from you by August 5th!

Julie Raynor, Vice-Chair, TNT RoundTable

Come back next Friday, August 3rd for our next installment of Free Fridays!

Free Friday: Engaging Library Users with Pokémon Go!

Fri, 22 Jul 2016 15:55:01 GMT

I’m sure you knew it was coming! Pokémon Go has exploded this month, and many libraries are getting in on the game. Whether or not you play, you can take advantage of this fad as a way to bring new people into your library and to engage with current users!

If you’re not familiar with it, Pokémon Go is a free app-based augmented reality game that has people of all ages out and exploring their environments this summer as they capture and train Pokémon. Chances are, you’ve seen patrons with smartphones exploring your library spaces in new ways while they search for digital creatures.

School Library Journal recently published a rundown of the game, how it works, the privacy and safety implications, and ways that libraries are getting in on the trend. There are easy and free ways for libraries to get involved, including posting about the game on social media. Academic and public libraries across North Carolina are using Facebook, Twitter, and Instagram to post about the game while also promoting their collections, spaces, events, and services.

Libraries are also creating digital content about Pokémon Go, like the PokéGuide: Pokémon GO @ FIULibraries, as well as physical displays of collections, like the San Jose Library PokéStop featured below that showcases Pokémon themed media from the collection.

Vineland PokeStop by San Jose Library on flickr.com [CC BY-SA 2.0]

-Jenny Dale, Chair, TNT RoundTable

Come back next Friday, July 29 for our next installment of Free Fridays!

Free Friday: Visual Readers Advisory Tool

Fri, 15 Jul 2016 15:55:49 GMT

As a public librarian, we are asked all the time for recommendations for books, movies, even music sometimes.

Here’s a free tool to use for this that’s very visual in nature (and fun, too).

If you don’t know about it already, check out GNOD: the global network of discovery (www.gnod.com). Today’s libraries are all about discovery, so this site will fit right into that aspect of library service!

This site is unique because it uses a mapping tool that allows you to see visually how similar books, music, movies, and even artists are with each other. There are ads on the pages that are only slightly distracting, but you can turn them off.

For books (gnooks) and movies (gnovies), you type in the name of an author and film, respectively, and the site produces a visual map of author names/movie titles with your selection in the center and a wide variety of options that are similar spaced around it. The names move around on the screen until they reach their final similarity map. The closer the options are to each other, the more similar they are. For this example, I chose JoJo Moyes. If you click on another author (or movie), the map shuffles the names to place that new choice in the center and adds in similar options around that one.

For the music (gnusic) and art (gnod art), you type in 3 groups/musicians or artists.

From that it displays options (“predictions”) and allows the viewer to “filter” their options based on their preferences (like, don’t like, or i don’t know). Not quite as visual, but definitely interactive.

I don’t know what criteria they use to make their recommendations, but the mapping and “predicitons” approaches are both very serendipitous (also desirable for discovery).

So the next time you’re faced with a patron wanting some quick recommendations, why not give gnod a try. They will be impressed by your access to such a unique tool and they’ll leave with some good suggestions. A win-win!

Julie Raynor, Vice-Chair, TNT RoundTable

Come back next Friday, July 22 for our next installment of Free Fridays!

Free Friday: Improving your Website with Optimal Workshop

Fri, 08 Jul 2016 15:56:55 GMT

Nowadays users are demanding more and more out of their online experiences. They develop certain expectations of what they can be d̶o̶ online based on their use of commercial websites and search engines. These experiences and expectations from users are a driving force behind library’s assessing and improving their websites and online tools. Users are our bread and butter in library land. Even if your library hasn’t dipped its toe in the user experience (UX) waters yet, you should be thinking about it.

But how do you get started?

Collecting input directly from your users whether through in-person interviews, online surveys, or usability testing is the best option for getting started. While the first method for interviewing users in-person can be difficult to organize when you’re first getting started, the next 2 methods are easily accomplished using Optimal Workshop.

While not 100% free, this suite of tools is too good to pass up when it comes to quick and easy online usability testing. There is a free plan available that provides access to the tools with some limitations. You are limited to 10 responses per study, which still provides you with enough feedback from users to be able to tell where their pain points are and why.

Optimal Workshop provides “a suite of usability tools that help improve your website navigation, define information architecture, understand first-clicks, and more” according to their website. There are 3 main tools that I want to highlight: Treejack, OptimalSort, and Chalkmark.

Treejack will help you identify where your users are getting lost on your site and why using tree testing. Tree testing helps assess the findability of content on your site by removing all visual queues. After using this tool, you will easily improve the information architecture of your site, which will allow users to navigate your content much easier.

The next tool is one of my personal favorites because it saves so much time and effort. OptimalSort is an online card sorting tool that shows you how your users would group different types of content on your website. Results can be reported in a similarity matrix providing a visual look into how users grouped your content.

Chalkmark provides insight into where your users are looking on a particular webpage using first click testing. Using a screenshot of the page, you can ask users where they would click to perform a specific task. This tool generates heat maps and density grids to illustrate how many users clicked on certain areas of the screenshot.

In addition to using these robust tools, you are able to create short surveys before and after that allow you to gather demographic and related information from your users. These results give you greater insight into what different sections of your users are doing on your site and what they think about it.

At UNC-Chapel Hill, we have been using Optimal Workshop’s premium version for a couple of years now and have no complaints. We’re able to quickly assess different parts of our site and even used these tools to update our top navigation and assess it after going live. Overall, the reports and information gathered from Optimal Workshop allow you to create a fuller picture of how users interact with your website, which can aid you when meeting with stakeholders or making decisions on updates to your site.

-Sarah Arnold, Director, TNT Roundtable

Come back Friday, July 15 for our next installment of Free Fridays!

Free Friday: Highlight and Annotate the Web with Hypothesis

Fri, 01 Jul 2016 15:57:29 GMT

Welcome to a new series here on the NCLA Technology and Trends blog: Free Fridays! For July and August of 2016 (and maybe beyond – let us know what you think!), Technology and Trends Board Members will share free tools that we use and love each and every Friday. Subscribe or add us to your feed to keep up with the series!

For our inaugural Free Friday, let’s take a look at Hypothesis! According to their About us page, Hypothesis “leverages annotation to enable sentence-level critique or note-taking on top of news, blogs, scientific articles, books, terms of service, ballot initiatives, legislation and more.” Here’s a screenshot of an annotation that a Hypothesis user added to their About Us page. Meta!

I started using this tool last summer when I was taking an online professional development course that involved lots of reading on the web – blogs posts, webpages, online articles, PDF documents, Word documents, etc. With Hypothesis, you can highlight and annotate all of these formats directly in your web browser.

I’m primarily a Google Chrome user, and Hypothesis is extra easy with Chrome – you can download a Chrome extension to launch anytime you want to annotate. In the image below, you can see the logo for the extension in the Chrome toolbar as well as the icons for annotation on the right, near the scroll bar.

Since it’s a web tool, Hypothesis works with other browsers as well – you can simply get a “bookmarklet” from their website and add it to your browser’s toolbar, then click it to launch the tool whenever you want to use it. If you have your own website and want to get feedback, you can also add Hypothesis to encourage people to highlight and annotate your site. Maybe something fun for all you usability testers out there to try!

Hypothesis does require an account, but it’s free and lets you keep track of your past annotations. You can see my annotation stream below:

The first two entries in my stream are simply highlights, while the third, from August 15, 2015, includes a highlight and my own personal note. You might notice the lock icon and the “Only me” designation. With Hypothesis, you can designate your highlights and annotations to be public or private. Public annotations are great for starting a conversation, but I often use the private setting so that I can easily keep track of my own notes.

Highlighting or annotating is a two-step process.

Step one: Select the text on the screen that you want to either highlight or annotate.

Step two: Choose either annotate or highlight. When you choose annotate, you get the option to add your notes and choose whether you want them to be public or private.

Hypothesis has been a great tool for me to use to keep track of professional reading. If you’ve tried it, share how you use it below!

-Jenny Dale, Chair, TNT RoundTable

Come back next Friday, July 8 for our next installment of Free Fridays!

Films on Demand webinar! 6/29 at 2pm

Fri, 17 Jun 2016 15:58:25 GMT

Exploring Films on Demand: Streaming Video from NC LIVE

Reels by Sonny Abesamis on Flickr [CC BY 2.0]

Do you want to learn more about NC LIVE’s Films on Demand streaming video

platform?

Participants will learn about the content provided, key features of the platform, and benefits to patrons, students, faculty, and library staff. After the webinar you should feel comfortable using the platform and informing your patrons and colleagues about the Films on Demand resource.

This webinar will be on Wed., June 29th at 2pm

If you’d like to register for this informative and FREE presentation, go to:

http://goo.gl/forms/ako6q8cUMgz3nhyu1

We hope to “see” you then!

Advocating for Usability Webinar

Mon, 22 Feb 2016 16:59:04 GMT

We kicked off our 2015-2017 biennium webinar series with a great one on usability and user experience. Thanks to Daniel Pshock & Sarah Arnold of UNC Chapel Hill for sharing their wisdom!

You can find the recording online here.

Their slides are up on TNT’s slideshare:

Advocating for Usability: When, Why, and How to Improve User Experiences from nclatechandtrends

Keep checking back for announcements on our next webinar!

Upcoming Infopeople Webinars

Thu, 19 Nov 2015 16:59:34 GMT

Thanks to newly minted TNT Vice-Chair/Chair-Elect Julie for sharing the details on this upcoming webinar series!

https://infopeople.org/civicrm/event/info?reset=1&id=536

Check out TNT Programming at the upcoming NCLA Conference!

Thu, 15 Oct 2015 16:00:08 GMT

Hi everyone,

The 2015 NCLA Conference is next week, and TNT has some great programming lined up. Check out full list of programs on the Conference website and log in to create your own personal schedule!

TNT has sponsored several programs at this year’s conference! Check out the list below or download the PDF here: TNT flyer NCLA 2015

Please note that we will be holding a business meeting on Thursday from 5:15-6:30, where we will be holding elections for next year’s executive board. Please come to vote and bring your ideas for programming, events, etc. We hope to see you there!

Tuesday, October 20 (Preconference)

1:30-4:30 – Social Media Hacks: Tips & Conversation for Enhancing Social Media Use in Libraries (Auditorium II)

Wednesday, October 21

8:45-9:45am Academic Library Websites as Information Gateways: Prioritizing User Needs in Website Evaluation and (Re)Design (Pebble Beach)

11:30-12:15 – Poster – The Top 10 Things I Wish I Had Known Before RFID; A Public Library’s View on RFID (Outside Exhibit Hall)

1:00-2:00 – Reaching Digital Readers Where They Are (Tanglewood)

2:15-3:15 – tl;dr: Enhancing Students’ Online Research, Reading, and Writing Practices with ProQuest Flow (Tidewater)

4:00-5:00 – Women in Technology in Libraries: A Panel Discussion (Co-Sponsored with WILR) (Arrowhead)

Thursday, October 22

4:00-5:00 – Top Tech Trends 2015 (Pebble Beach)

5:15-6:30 – Business Meeting (Augusta B)

Complete the Continuing Education Survey from the State Library!

Wed, 29 Jul 2015 16:00:45 GMT

The State Library and its Continuing Education Advisory Committee (CEAC) invite you to participate in a new Continuing Education survey. The purpose of this survey is to collect information that the CEAC will use to recommend a continuing education plan for 2015-2016. Your responses will help the State Library identify the most important topics and set training priorities for the coming year. The survey is anonymous, quick, and open to everyone in the NC library community!

We want to hear from NC library staff in all types of libraries so please share this announcement and the CE survey link with others in the NC library community. This year’s CE survey will close on Friday, August 14^th. Please contact CE Consultant, Kelly Brannock, at the State Library if you have any questions.

Thanks for sharing your opinion!

https://www.surveymonkey.com/r/CE_statewide2015

Share your webinar ideas!

Thu, 04 Dec 2014 17:01:05 GMT

Technology & Trends (TNT) Round table is gearing up for new series of webinars and we would love to hear from you! Please take a few minutes to complete our short survey at http://tinyurl.com/tntideas. Whether you have a topic to suggest or you would like volunteer to present, please let us know. Thanks!

Coming up: Top Sites Offering Free Online Courses for Higher Ed Level Instruction Webinar

Tue, 22 Jul 2014 16:01:43 GMT

The Technology and Trends Round Table would like to invite you to join us for the next installment in our webinar series – Top Sites Offering Free Online Courses for Higher Ed Level Instruction.

Presenter: Susan Bridgers

When: Wednesday, July 30 at Noon

This is a survey of the top free online learning providers currently offering university level or gateway instruction. The presentation provides a short description of each and the indication of their topic category strengths. Whether you are interested in furthering your own education, learning something new just for fun, or being better equipped to help your patrons in this area, you will be sure to find useful information in this webinar.

Please RSVP online before Wednesday, July 30 at 9am. Instructions and links will be sent out when registration is closed.

If you have any questions, please contact Jenny Dale at jedale2[at]uncg.edu.

We hope to see you there!

TNT Webinar Follow-Up: How to Be a Tumblarian

Mon, 21 Jul 2014 16:02:07 GMT

Thanks so much to Kate McNamara for presenting “How to be a Tumblarian” for TNT on July 9!

If you missed Kate’s presentation, never fear! There is a recording available online.

In addition to the presentation, Kate recommends these links:

nclibrarytest.tumblr.com (test blog used during the session)

thelifeguardlibrarian.tumblr.com (list of tumblarians)

http://www.tumblr.com/docs/en/google_analytics (add google analytics to your page)

http://themesbyeris.tumblr.com/tutorial01 (guide to coding and designing your own tumblr page with html (advanced))

https://chrome.google.com/webstore/detail/tumblr-savior/oefddkjnflmjbclpnnoegglmmdfkidip (tumblr savior add-on for Chrome (you can also get it for Firefox) allows you to block posts with certain tags).

TNT Webinar Follow-Up: Digital Learning Objects!

Tue, 08 Jul 2014 16:02:36 GMT

If you couldn’t make our most recent webinar, Creating and Using Digital Learning Objects for Library Instruction, presented by Marc Bess, don’t worry! We’ve got Marc’s slides up as well as a recording of the full session, including demonstrations and Q & A!

TNT Webinar: Creating and Using Digital Learning Objects for Library Instruction from nclatechandtrends

Join us for our next webinar, How to be a Tumblarian, coming at you on Wednesday, July 9 at 12noon!

Next TNT Webinar: Library Technology for People with Disabilities on 5/22 at noon!

Mon, 12 May 2014 16:03:00 GMT

Please join TNT for our next webinar, focused on Library Technology for People with Disabilities!

Who: Holly Mabry is a virtual reference librarian for NCknows and Chatstaff and has a strong interest in library services for people with disabilities.

What: This webinar will show how library technology (websites, mobile apps, assistive technology, and more) can be used to provide information services for people with vision, hearing, mobility, and cognitive disabilities.

When: Thursday, May 22 at 12 noon – 1pm.

Where: Online via Blackboard Collaborate! Please register at http://goo.gl/KQ4kGl by 5pm on Wednesday, May 21. Links and directions will be sent out after registration has closed.

Questions? Please contact Jenny Dale at jedale2[at]uncg[dot]edu.

TNT Webinar: Social Media Creation and Management for Libraries – 4/29

Mon, 21 Apr 2014 16:03:26 GMT

Who: Katie O’Connor, LIS student at UNC Greensboro and Reference Intern at UNCG Libraries

What: A TNT Webinar on Social Media Creation and Management for Libraries

Why: Last fall, Katie began managing UNCG Libraries’ social media accounts, including Facebook, Twitter, Pinterest, and Blogger. In this webinar, she will share her experience with social media content creation and management. She will give tips and tricks for best practices for social media, highlighting the benefits that a solid social media presence can bring to academic libraries.

When: Tuesday, April 29 at 3pm in Blackboard Collaborate

Questions? Contact Jenny Dale at jedale2[at]uncg[dot]edu.

Jason Griffey slides!

Wed, 09 Apr 2014 16:04:36 GMT

Many thanks to the State Library of North Carolina for asking us to participate in bringing Jason Griffey to NC back in March. If you attended, you were treated to an innovative, engaging look at mobile technologies as well as a look forward at the technologies that will be a part of our future. My apologies that this is getting up so late (where did the month of March go?) but we wanted to make srue to share Jason’s slides with anyone who was not able to attend or who may not have been able to download them from LibraryBox.

Jason’s slides are available online at: https://www.dropbox.com/s/j7t6fstwnpz6euw/NC%20Workshop.pdf

I want to say a special thanks to our TNT volunteers, who coordinated lunch, and to our host libraries, UNC Asheville, High Point Public, Wake Tech, and ECU.

Be on the lookout for more great events from TNT in the near future!

Catching up! Tag! You’re It: RFID in the NCSU Libraries webinar follow-up

Wed, 09 Apr 2014 16:03:55 GMT

If you had to miss our February 25 webinar, “Tag! You’re It: RFID in the NCSU Libraries,” never fear – your recording and slides are here!

Tag! You’re It: RFID in the NCSU Libraries from nclatechandtrends

The recording of the live session is also available here.

Thanks again to Christee and Mara from NCSU Libraries for sharing their RFID knowledge with us!

FREE workshops with Jason Griffey + TNT Members-Only Opportunity to have lunch with Jason! Registration closes today!

Mon, 03 Mar 2014 17:05:10 GMT

Technology and Trends is partnering with the State Library to bring Jason Griffey to North Carolina to do workshops in four locations around the state. If you’re not familiar with Jason, check out his website for more info: http://jasongriffey.net/. The workshops are FREE and this will be a fantastic learning opportunity, so please sign up for one or both of the half-day workshops at a location near you!

Registration closes TODAY so sign up now using the links below for one of the half day workshops or the full day.

We’re also providing a special perk for TNT members – Lunch with Jason! At each location, a select number of attendees will be able to have lunch with Jason between the morning and afternoon workshops. If selected, you would sit at a table in a separate area of the venue and get to talk to him in a more personal environment. The number of seats available at the table depends on the venue, and we will be drawing names at random.

Enter the drawing for Lunch with Jason here: https://docs.google.com/forms/d/1vAnOWjOIyr_MLCszXhLxE66EV_F4FW32tW-A5vrjPWk/viewform

You must be an active TNT member to enter this drawing. Lunch will be available to all attendees on site, but you will have to pay for your own lunch or bring one with you, if you choose. More information about food options will be available later. Entering this drawing does NOT register you for the workshops. Please follow the links below to register for the workshop(s) at the location nearest you.

Full announcement for more information:

In partnership with NCLA’s Technology and Trends Round Table, we’re excited to announce that internationally-known library technologist, writer, blogger, Head of Library Information Technology at the University of Tennessee-Chattanooga, and LibraryBox kickstarter Jason Griffey, is coming to North Carolina in March!

Jason will offer half-day workshops – Low Barrier Technologies: Mobile and Portable Technology in Your Library and Technology Trends and Issues – at each of the following locations:

March 10^th – University of North Carolina, Asheville

Low Barrier Technologies

Tech Trends

March 11^th – High Point Museum, High Point

Low Barrier Technologies

Tech Trends

March 12^th – Wake Tech Community College, Raleigh

Low Barrier Technologies

Tech Trends

March 13^th – East Carolina University, Greenville

Low Barrier Technologies

Tech Trends

We hope to see you there!

TNT Webinar: Tag, You’re It! RFID in the NCSU Libraries

Mon, 10 Feb 2014 17:06:01 GMT

Join us on Tuesday, 2/25 at 2:30pm in Blackboard Collaborate for the next installment in the TNT webinar series: Tag, You’re It! RFID in the NCSU Libraries!

New Hunt Library, NC State University by kmoliver on flickr.com (CC BY-NC-ND 2.0)

Who: Christee Pascale (Associate Head, Acquisitions & Discovery) and Mara Mathews (University Library Technician, User Experience), NCSU Libraries

What: Tag, You’re It! RFID in the NCSU Libraries

In January 2013, NCSU implemented RFID in the James B. Hunt Jr. Library. This webinar will consider practical technical and public service aspects of NCSU Libraries’ planning, rollout, and current RFID operations. Please join to learn more about RFID, how NCSU Libraries setup our installation, and what we’ve learned in our first year!

When: Tuesday, 2/25 at 2:30pm

Where: Online in Blackboard Collaborate! Sign up online by 12 midnight on Monday, 2/24. You’ll receive a link and instructions on Tuesday, 2/25 by 11am.

Questions? Contact Jenny Dale at jedale2[at]uncg[dot]edu.

Webinar on Best Practices for Presenting Online AND Submit a proposal for the NMRT/TNT Webinar Series!

Wed, 08 Jan 2014 17:06:37 GMT

The New Members Round Table and the Technology and Trends Round Table are partnering up to offer our members a unique opportunity to gain practice presenting, get some professional development, and share your ideas with other librarians! In the new year, we will start a series of webinars presented by YOU! This series is open to any member of NMRT OR TNT – you do not have to be a member of both organizations to submit a proposal.

Never presented online before? No worries! We’re kicking off the series on January 15 at noon with a webinar on “Best Practices for Presenting Online,” led by Beth Filar Williams, Coordinator of Library Services for Distance Learning at UNCG. Then, for the months of February, March, April, and May, we’ll enjoy webinars presented by you, the members of NMRT and TNT. This webinar is open to everyone.

Please RSVP for the Jan. 15 webinar here: http://bit.ly/1lzCjt2 We will send more information out about this webinar soon.

Here are the guidelines to participate in this series:

– must be a current member of NMRT OR TNT

– presentation must be related to technology in some way (best practices for using it, teaching it, applying it in a new way, emerging technologies……)

– each presentation will last no more than an hour, including time for questions

– webinars will be conducted via Google Hangout

– submit your proposal here: http://bit.ly/1dtzwdN

– deadline to submit: January 30, 2014

– participants will be informed of acceptance by: February 7, 2014

Please contact Kathy Shields (kshields[at]highpoint.edu) or Melanie Wood (melanie.wood[at]cpcc.edu) with questions.

We look forward to hearing all of your great ideas!

Submit a Proposal for the NMRT/TNT Webinar Series!

Fri, 06 Dec 2013 17:07:09 GMT

The New Members Round Table and the Technology and Trends Round Table are partnering up to offer our members a unique opportunity. Many new librarians and MLIS students are looking for ways to build their resumes and gain practice presenting, but our busy schedules and tight budgets can make this difficult. Webinars are becoming one of the most popular ways for many of us to participate in professional development. We also know that you, as new librarians and library school students, are learning about cutting edge technologies and coming up with amazing ideas, programs, and more.

So, we want to provide the opportunity for you to gain practice presenting, get some professional development, and share those ideas with other librarians! In the new year, we will start a series of webinars presented by YOU!

We’ll kick off the series in January with a webinar on best practices for presenting online, and then for the months of February, March, April, and May, we’ll enjoy webinars presented by you, the members of NMRT and TNT.

Here are the guidelines:

– must be a current member of NMRT & TNT

– presentation must be related to technology in some way (best practices for using it, teaching it, applying it in a new way, emerging technologies……)

– each presentation will last no more than an hour, including time for questions

– webinars will be conducted via Google Hangout

– deadline to submit: January 30, 2014

– participants will be informed of acceptance by: February 7, 2014

To participate, you’ll need to submit a proposal here:

https://docs.google.com/forms/d/1ovKWdblanm0M4g_uy3ix-nWaICAGzFWw0o0m5GrfvEg/viewform

Please contact Kathy Shields (kshields[at]highpoint.edu) or Melanie Wood (melanie.wood[at]cpcc.edu) with questions.

We look forward to hearing all of your great ideas!

P.S. This series is designed for new librarians and library school students. If you are not eligible for this series, but are interested in proposing a webinar for TNT, please contact me at kshields[at]highpoint.edu. We would love to have you present on a tool or trend for your fellow TNT and NCLA members!

TNT’s Favorite Technology Tools and Trends of 2013!

Wed, 04 Dec 2013 17:09:10 GMT

We asked our members to submit their favorite tech tools of 2013 and we’ve got an awesome list to share with you! We’ll be posting a list of the tools later in December, but in the meantime please join us on Friday, December 6 at 12pm for a live online roundup of our members’ top tools and trends of 2013! We’ll share and demo the different tools that were submitted and will also ask you to share your favorite tools and trends from 2013 if they weren’t included. Sign up now at http://tinyurl.com/tntwebinar9!

Questions? Email Jenny Dale at jedale2[at]uncg[dot]edu.

We hope to see you on Friday!

How to fail at a makerspace recap!

Thu, 14 Nov 2013 17:09:35 GMT

Thanks to everyone who joined us yesterday for our latest webinar: How to fail at a makerspace. Brown Biggers from UNCG University Libraries gave a great presentation about makerspaces and the magic that makes them happen.

For a more fully immersive experience, including Q&A from the session, take a look at the recording of the session.

And, just for fun, watch the UNCG University Libraries 3D printer at work!

Questions or comments about the webinar? Ideas for a future presentation? Want to lavish praise upon TNT? Email Jenny Dale at jedale2[at]uncg[dot]edu!

Upcoming webinar: How to fail at a makerspace

Wed, 06 Nov 2013 17:10:17 GMT

Thinking of starting a makerspace? Are you ready for events to go suddenly and tragically the wrong way? No? Then maybe you should be aiming for failure instead.

The webinar How To Fail At A Makerspace discusses the definition of failure and its fundamental importance to learning and investigation. Hopefully after this short session, you will begin to reevaluate the insignificance of success and enjoy the journey towards things-not-going-the-way-you-expected.

What: How to Fail at a Makerspace

Who: Brown Biggers and Armondo Collins, UNCG University Libraries

When: Wednesday, November 13 at 3pm

Where: Blackboard Collaborate (link to follow)

Sign up for this FREE webinar at http://goo.gl/Hzs0al. Sign up by Wednesday, November 13 at 9am. Link will be sent out to all participants when registration is closed.

Please contact Kathy Shields at dshields[at]highpoint.edu or Jenny Dale at jedale2[at]uncg.edu with any questions!

#NCLA13 Web Design for Libraries recap

Wed, 23 Oct 2013 16:10:43 GMT

Thanks to all who joined us for the Web Design for Libraries session last Friday! We had an almost full room. Here’s a brief recap:

Alan Unsworth from Surrey Community College talked about his experience using LibGuides to run his library’s website (http://libguides.surry.edu/home). He emphasized how easy the system made very complex tasks, like adding cover art from books and embedding a NC Knows chat widget. He also talked about how robust the libguides community and technical support is, and that if you get stuck there’s always someone to ask for help.

Chad Haefele and Emily King from UNC demoed WordPress, which runs both the UNC Libraries’ website (http://library.unc.edu) and the LAUNC-CH (launcch.web.unc.edu) site. They addressed the positives and negatives of WordPress. One main point is that while WordPress is extremely flexible, it can take significant work to get it to do exactly what you want. Their slides are available online.

Thanks again for joining us at the NCLA conference!

#NCLA13 Share Your App Recapp!

Mon, 21 Oct 2013 16:11:07 GMT

Thanks to everyone who joined us at NCLA! We’re so grateful for all of the friendly folks who presented and participated in our sessions, who came out for our social on Wednesday, and who stopped by and spun our prize wheel! We’ll be posting recaps of all of our #ncla13 sessions here on the blog, starting with Friday morning’s Share your app! panel.

Share your app!
We had great attendance bright and early Friday morning for the Share your app! panel. Here are some details about the apps and those who shared them!

Evernote and Skitch (presented by Emily King, UNC-Chapel Hill Libraries)
Evernote is a web based note-taking app that let you save just about anything and view it later on your computer, tablet,
or phone. Skitch extends the abilities of evernote to annotate images and pdfs you have saved in evernote. Emily shared information about how she uses Evernote and Skitch to collect information and track projects.
website: http://evernote.com/
iTunes app store (iOS): https://itunes.apple.com/us/app/evernote/id281796108
Google play (Android): https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=com.evernote&hl=en
Evernote on Twitter: https://twitter.com/evernote

MagLight (presented by Holly Mabry, NCKNOWS)
MagLight is an app that magically turns your device into a magnifier. Both the free and pro versions make it possible for your iPhone/iPad to magnify small text with an adjustable zoom and image capture. There was a lot of audience interest in this app, and luckily Holly will be leading a webinar for TNT in early 2014 (details to come) about assistive technology.
iTunes app store (iOS): https://itunes.apple.com/ca/app/magnifying-glass-light-digital/id406048120
Holly’s blog: http://www.accesstechgeek.com/

Biblioboard (presented by Samantha Harlow, High Point University Libraries)
Biblioboard is an app that provides access to curated digital archival collections. Anyone can download the free app and explore these collections, and libraries can also opt in as “creators” to get access to more content and to have the option to upload their own content.
website: http://www.biblioboard.com/
iTunes app store (iOS): https://itunes.apple.com/us/app/biblioboard/id497998887?mt=8 (free version)
iTunes app store (iOS): https://itunes.apple.com/us/app/biblioboard-library/id613149061?mt=8 (subscriber version)
Google play (Android): https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=com.biblioboard&hl=en (subscriber version)

Feedly (presented by Keeley Murray, Chef’s Academy)
Feedly is a tool for managing, organizing, and reading RSS feeds. Keeley shared tips for adding, organizing, and viewing blog feeds on the free (and very pretty) Feedly app.
website: http://feedly.com
iTunes app store (iOS): https://itunes.apple.com/us/app/feedly-your-google-reader/id396069556?mt=8
Google play (Android): https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=com.devhd.feedly

ToutApp (presented by Nathaniel King, UNC-Chapel Hill Libraries)
ToutApp is an email tracking, template and analytics application. With ToutApp, you can know exactly what happens after you hit “Send” on your outreach emails. ToutApp gives you real-time tracking by showing who has viewed your emails and clicked on your links/attachments.
website: http://www1.toutapp.com/
iTunes app store (iOS): https://itunes.apple.com/us/app/toutapp/id447007768?mt=8

Update! TNT Events at NCLA!

Mon, 14 Oct 2013 16:11:45 GMT

The opening session on the 2013 NCLA Biennial Conference in Winston-Salem, NC is just a couple days away! Here’s what TNT has lined up:

We have three conference sessions scheduled. There’s also an important business meeting where we’ll hold board elections, and we’re showing up at the pub crawl on Wednesday night. Join us!

We’ll also have a table set up. Stop by for your chance to spin a prize wheel and walk away with a souvenir!

Also make sure to stop by the Conference Store in the Exhibit Hall and check out our raffle basket full of tech goodies! Buy a raffle ticket and help support TNT!

Wednesday, 10/16:

4:00-5:00: Business meeting (with elections) (Meet at TNT Table)

7:00: Evening Social Event at Finnigan’s Wake

Join us at the NCLA Pub Crawl! We’ll be at Finnigan’s Wake at 7pm with an appetizer to share.

Friday, 10/18:

8:30-9:30: Share Your App! (Benton N Hall D)

Emily King & Nathaniel King, UNC; Samantha Leonard, High Point University; Holly Mabry, NCKnows; Keeley L’Esperance, The Chef’s Academy

This flash presentation will allow presenters to demonstrate their favorite apps for smartphone or tablet. Each presenter will be given 5 minutes to talk about the app and its application to libraries. The featured apps will cover a wide range of uses in libraries, from those that we may use with patrons to those that we use to keep our libraries and ourselves organized. Participants will have a chance to ask questions about the apps and will be given a list of all apps demonstrated with information on where to download them, device compatibility, and key features of each application.

11:45-12:45: Web Design for Libraries (Benton N Hall C)

Emily King & Chad Haefele, UNC; Alan Unsworth, Surry CC

Libraries state-wide are using a variety of free and low-cost tools to make their websites both functional and visually appealing. In this panel presentation, librarians from academic, public, school, and special libraries will highlight their website and discuss the nuts and bolts behind their websites (such as which content management platform/software they are using, why they chose it, or how they created their website). Whether you are currently in the process of redesigning your library website, making plans to do so in the near future, or want to learn more about different software available, this presentation will provide you with real-life examples and how-to advice.

11:45-12:45: Up With e-Books: Best Practices for Staff Training (Benton N Hall B)

Julie Raynor, High Point; Crystal Holland, Forsyth County

With the recent increase in demand for electronic books, libraries are trying to find the best ways to teach our community how to effectively use the library’s eBook collection. Some libraries have created staff training programs to better prepare staff to assist their patrons with eBook questions. Panelist will discuss their training programs and troubleshooting techniques, which can be easily adapted to meet the needs of your library’s staff and patrons.

Recent Webinars

Sat, 28 Sep 2013 16:12:20 GMT

The TNT Round Table has been busy, busy, busy recently! In the month of September, we offered two webinars: one on presentation design (to help you get ready for NCLA!) and one on mobile devices in libraries. If you missed either one, don’t fret! I’ve got a post chock-full of links for you!

TNT Webinar #6: A Decade of Presentation Lessons in One Hour, presented by Lauren Pressley of Virginia Tech University Libraries.

A Decade of Presentation Lessons in One Hour from Lauren Pressley

For links to many of the resources that Lauren mentions in her presentation, take a look at her Pinboard page on this topic!

A full recording of Lauren’s webinar can be found here.

TNT Webinar #7: Mobile Devices, presented by Crystal Holland of Forsyth County Public Library and Aislynn Denny of Guilford Middle School.

TNT Webinar #7: Mobile Devices from nclatechandtrends

Unfortunately, yours truly forgot to hit the record button, so we don’t have a recording of the session. Luckily, Crystal and Aislynn have great slides! Here are a few links to tools and sites that Crystal and Aislynn mentioned:

Overdrive Blog (for supporting OverDrive on patrons’ digital devices)

Class Dojo (behavior management app for teachers and students)

Socrative (student response system)

Khan Academy (free educational videos on a variety of subjects)

Do you have tech expertise that you’d like to share? We’re always looking for webinar presenters. Please contact Jenny Dale (jedale2 [at] uncg [dot] edu) if you’re interested!

We hope to see you all at NCLA!

TNT events at the 2013 NCLA Conference

Tue, 03 Sep 2013 16:13:03 GMT

We have three conference sessions scheduled at the upcoming 2013 NCLA Conference. There’s also an important business meeting where we’ll hold board elections, and we’re showing up at the pub crawl on Wednesday night. Join us!

We’ll also have a table set up in the exhibits. Stop by for your chance to spin a prize wheel and walk away with a souvenir!

Wednesday, 10/16:

4:00-5:00: Business meeting (with elections) (Room TBA)

7:00: Evening Social Event at Finnigan’s Wake

Join us at the NCLA Pub Crawl! We’ll be at Finnigan’s Wake at 7pm with an appetizer to share.

Friday, 10/18:

8:30-9:30: Share Your App! (Room TBA)

This flash presentation will allow presenters to demonstrate their favorite apps for smartphone or tablet. Each presenter will be given 5 minutes (up to 10 presenters) to talk about the app and its application to libraries. The featured apps will cover a wide range of uses in libraries, from those that we may use with patrons to those that we use to keep our libraries and ourselves organized. Participants will have a chance to ask questions about the apps and will be given a list of all apps demonstrated with information on where to download them, device compatibility, and key features of each application.

11:45-12:45: Web Design for Libraries (Room TBA)

11:45-12:45: Up With e-Books: Best Practices for Staff Training (Room TBA)

Upcoming Webinar on 8/21: RDA Basics for Non-Cataloging Librarians

Fri, 09 Aug 2013 16:13:32 GMT

Librarians have heard about the development of Resource Description and Access (RDA) for several years, but it is now quickly becoming a reality. While many catalogers have been studying RDA for some time, librarians in other areas have wondered what RDA really is and what it means for them and their patrons. This presentation will address the basics of RDA and how it relates to other standards, like AACR2 and MARC21. It will go on to explore how RDA might impact the work of librarians in a number of different areas and how you can use this new standard to improve service for your patrons.

What: RDA Basics for Non-Cataloging Librarians

Who: Dr. Sonia Archer-Capuzzo, DMA, MLIS

When: Wednesday, 8/21 at 3pm

Where: Blackboard Collaborate (link to follow)

Join us for this FREE webinar! Just RSVP here: http://tinyurl.com/tntwebinar5 by 9am on Wednesday, August 21

Please contact Kathy Shields at dshields[at]highpoint.edu or Jenny Dale at jedale2[at]uncg.edu with any questions!

An exCITE-ing webinar!

Wed, 31 Jul 2013 16:14:17 GMT

Hi TNT friends! As we move into August, many of us are ramping up for an influx of student patrons. To get yourself mentally prepared for all those citation questions that public services folks are bound to start getting soon, attend our next TNT webinar!

Let’s face it – we don’t enjoy citing sources any more than our patrons do. So why not start the new academic year armed with tools we can use to help our patrons manage and cite their sources effectively? Join us for NCLA Technology and Trends Round Table’s next webinar: Citation Management Tools. Your presenters, Chad Haefele (UNC Chapel Hill) and Jenny Dale (UNC Greensboro) will be demonstrating free citation management resources like Zotero and Mendeley, as well as fee-based services like EndNote and RefWorks. This webinar will take place next Tuesday, August 6 at 11am in Blackboard Collaborate. Sign up at http://goo.gl/uRVHBZ to join us for some citation excitation. Feel free to contact Jenny Dale at jedale2[at]uncg[dot]edu with any questions.

citation needed by Dan4th on flickr [CC BY 2.0]

So long and thanks for all the feeds, Google Reader!

Mon, 24 Jun 2013 16:14:51 GMT

If you’re like me, you’ve seen this message a few times. I’ve been a heavy user of Google Reader since 2007, and I use it with both my professional gmail address and my personal one (hey, those food blogs aren’t going to read themselves). Since I got this message for the first time a few months ago, I’ve cycled through the five stages of grief and I think I may have finally reached the acceptance phase. With a mere week to spare before my hundreds (thousands?) of Google Reader feeds are lost forever, I’ve decided to investigate a few other options. Luckily, many folks have already done the dirty work for me, so it looks like my procrastination paid off!

Libraries and librarians have been all over this transition offering colleagues and patrons useful posts and sites like these:

Google Reader Alternatives (from the Duke University Medical Center Library and Archives blog)
UIUC RSS Readers LibGuide (includes a great comparison chart of features)
Google Reader Retires July 1st: Options for When Google Sucks (a roundup of links to other posts/resources about moving your feeds)

Basically, there are lots of options out there. I’m currently trying two to see which one I like the best: Feedly and Old Reader. Feedly makes the import process from Google Reader incredibly easy, with just one click, but I’m not in love the with interface. I like the interface of Old Reader better, but I had some issues exporting my Google Reader subscriptions and importing to Old Reader. I’ll let these two duke it out for my RSS affections over the next few weeks and then decide which one I like best!

Here are a few more excellent resources that suggest and describe alternatives to Google reader:

Five Best Google Reader Alternatives (Lifehacker – this is the one I found most useful!)
Google Reader is Shutting Down; Here Are the Best Alternatives (Lifehacker post that features cloud-based and desktop alternatives)
Google Reader: what are the alternatives? (from The Guardian)
Google’s Reader is going away, but you have options to replace it (from The Denver Post)

What do you think?

Slides and Links from TNT’s Webinar: Teach Yourself How to Program

Thu, 28 Mar 2013 16:15:32 GMT

Thanks to everyone who was able to attend our recent webinar on teaching yourself how to program, and many thanks to Chad Haefele for a GREAT presentation!

Although we had an issue with the recording, Chad thankfully put together some detailed slides that will give you a pretty good idea of what he talked about. He’s also posted the slides and links to all the sites he mentioned on his blog: http://www.hiddenpeanuts.com/tnt/

If you have specific questions about anything that Chad covered, his email is available on his blog.

Stay tuned for more news about our next webinar!

Recent NCLA Tech and Trends presentations

Sun, 17 Mar 2013 16:16:35 GMT

Your NCLA Technology and Trends board has been busy!

Julie Raynor (Secretary/Treasurer) did a great job leading the first webinar in our series: E-Book Training: How to Get Started! If you missed it, you can find the link to the recorded session here, and her slides below:

TNT Webinar: E-Book Training from nclatechandtrends

After Julie kicked off our webinar series, our good friends at NCLA’s Reference and Adult Services Section (RASS) and the Distance Learning Interest Group (DLIG) graciously gave us a chance to present as part of their Virtual Conference on March 14. Yours truly (Jenny Dale – Vice-Chair) presented on tech tools for academic reference and instruction librarians.

Cool Tools for Academic Reference/Instruction Librarians from nclatechandtrends

Keep checking back here for more presentations! After Chad teaches us all how to teach ourselves to program, we’ll post his presentation slides as well. Click here for more information on TNT Webinar #2: Teach Yourself How to Program, and click here to register!

Recording from TNT Webinar #1: Ebook Training: How to Get Started

Fri, 15 Mar 2013 16:18:32 GMT

If you weren’t able to attend our first webinar, or just want to go back and hear it again, here is the link to the full recording of the session: https://sas.elluminate.com/p.jnlp?psid=2013-02-27.1235.M.669FDEC58C8549C611C2EC64F0EDEE.vcr&sid=315

Many thanks to Julie Raynor at High Point Public Library for putting together this fantastic webinar!

TNT Webinar #2: Teach Yourself How to Program

Fri, 15 Mar 2013 16:17:56 GMT

lease join the Technology and Trends Round Table for the next webinar in our series, coming up next week!

Wednesday, March 20, 3-4pm
Teach Yourself How to Program
Leader: Chad Haefele, UNC-Chapel Hill

Programming skills are in demand, but it often seems like an intimidating topic to learn. When we surveyed roundtable members, the number one thing we heard was that you wanted to learn to program. While we can’t quite do that in one short session, we can do the next best thing: teach you how to teach yourself. Many programmers have little or no formal training, and picked it up as they went along instead. You can do that too! We’ll talk about what it’s like to learn to program, provide some guidance on what language to learn, and look at a number of free web-based teaching tools and resources. No prior experience is necessary.

Please RSVP by Wednesday, March 20 at 8am using this link: http://tinyurl.com/tntwebinar2

All webinars will be conducted using Blackboard Collaborate. A link will be sent out to all participants on the morning of March 20.

If you have any questions, email Kathy Shields at kshields[at]highpoint.edu or Jenny Dale at jedale2[at]uncg.edu.

Interested in joining TNT? Visit nclaonline.org to add it to your NCLA membership! It’s just $5!

Mark your calendar for an upcoming TNT webinar!

Fri, 08 Feb 2013 17:18:56 GMT

Hi everyone!

You spoke, we listened! In this spring’s collection of webinars, we’ve done our best to reflect the topics you asked for in our survey last fall. We’ll continue to incorporate these ideas into our future programming efforts.

Coming up later this month:

Wednesday, February 27, 3-4pm

EBook Training: How to Get Started
Leader: Julie Raynor, High Point Public Library

With all the interest in EBooks recently, have you been wondering about the best ways to teach your community how to use your library’s eBook collection? And what about the best ways to train staff so they can assist patrons with eBook questions confidently? This webinar will cover the approach that the High Point Public Library took in doing both of these. The techniques involved can be adapted to any size public library or customized for academic library settings.

Please RSVP by Tuesday, February 26 at 5pm using this link: http://tinyurl.com/avyslqm

And, more great webinars are coming your way soon….

March (Date TBD)- Learning How to Program

April (Date TBD) – Free Image Editing Tools

All webinars will be conducted using Blackboard Collaborate.

We’ll be sending out more information on these webinars in the coming weeks. If you have any questions, email Kathy Shields at kshields[at]highpoint.edu or Jenny Dale at jedale2[at]uncg.edu.

North Carolina Library Association Blog Archive

Prep for the NCLA Conference with Two Free Webinars

Conference Prep, Part 1: Level Up Your NCLA Cred With Sched!

Conference Prep, Part 2: Poster Presentations & Design

Questions?

TNT 2019 Conference Offerings

Pre-Conference

Libraries: Spaces for Everyone – Web Accessibility Basics and Beyond

Concurrent Sessions

Libraries: Spaces to Teach and Troubleshoot Technology

TNT’s Library Tech Resource Networking Meetup

Tech Tools Lightning Talks from TNT

TNT Business Meeting

Re-Charge Space

Save the Date: Emerging Technology Trends for Libraries

About the Presenter:

Register on the State Library’s Train Station:

May 21st: Cumberland County PL, Fayetteville

May 22nd: High Point Museum (HP Library), High Point

May 23rd: Pack Memorial Library, Asheville

Get Social with Us!

Tech to make the most of #NCLA17: Direct Communication and Networking Aids

Tech to make the most of #NCLA17: Google Slides Q&A

New series: Tech to make the most of the NCLA 2017 Biennial Conference!

Free Friday: Creating visual diagrams with LucidChart

Free Friday: Canva: Online Graphic Design Platform

Free Friday: GIMP.COM: The Free and Open Source Image Editor

Free Friday: Getting Organized with Zotero

Interactive learning with Pear Deck

Free Friday: DIY Coloring Pages with Pixlr

Free Friday: Leveling up and staying organized!

Free Friday: Infographic Design is for Everyone

Free Friday: Messaging Made Easy

Free Friday: Time to Get Organized!

Free Friday: Engaging Library Users with Pokémon Go!

Free Friday: Visual Readers Advisory Tool

Free Friday: Improving your Website with Optimal Workshop

Free Friday: Highlight and Annotate the Web with Hypothesis

Films on Demand webinar! 6/29 at 2pm

Advocating for Usability Webinar

Upcoming Infopeople Webinars

Check out TNT Programming at the upcoming NCLA Conference!

Tuesday, October 20 (Preconference)

Wednesday, October 21

Thursday, October 22

Complete the Continuing Education Survey from the State Library!

Share your webinar ideas!

Coming up: Top Sites Offering Free Online Courses for Higher Ed Level Instruction Webinar

TNT Webinar Follow-Up: How to Be a Tumblarian

TNT Webinar Follow-Up: Digital Learning Objects!

Next TNT Webinar: Library Technology for People with Disabilities on 5/22 at noon!

TNT Webinar: Social Media Creation and Management for Libraries – 4/29

Jason Griffey slides!

Catching up! Tag! You’re It: RFID in the NCSU Libraries webinar follow-up

FREE workshops with Jason Griffey + TNT Members-Only Opportunity to have lunch with Jason! Registration closes today!

TNT Webinar: Tag, You’re It! RFID in the NCSU Libraries

Webinar on Best Practices for Presenting Online AND Submit a proposal for the NMRT/TNT Webinar Series!

Submit a Proposal for the NMRT/TNT Webinar Series!

TNT’s Favorite Technology Tools and Trends of 2013!

How to fail at a makerspace recap!

Upcoming webinar: How to fail at a makerspace

#NCLA13 Web Design for Libraries recap

#NCLA13 Share Your App Recapp!

Update! TNT Events at NCLA!

Recent Webinars

TNT events at the 2013 NCLA Conference

Wednesday, 10/16:

Friday, 10/18:

Upcoming Webinar on 8/21: RDA Basics for Non-Cataloging Librarians

An exCITE-ing webinar!

So long and thanks for all the feeds, Google Reader!

Slides and Links from TNT’s Webinar: Teach Yourself How to Program

Recent NCLA Tech and Trends presentations

Recording from TNT Webinar #1: Ebook Training: How to Get Started

TNT Webinar #2: Teach Yourself How to Program

Mark your calendar for an upcoming TNT webinar!

May 21^st: Cumberland County PL, Fayetteville

May 23^rd: Pack Memorial Library, Asheville