Gifts for Archivists!

Some very cute gifts for that special archivist in your life (or even yourself!)... Just don't forget this is the last week to ensure delivery by Christmas!





More from CafePress.com ...

Embed Slideshows, sans Flash

I am a huge fan of iPods, iPads, and iPhones. But, there's no ignoring the fact that they are not Flash compatible. Unfortunately, until recently embedding slideshows has always been a Flash game, resulting in Apple mobile device users being left in the dust. But now, there is a website (http://icant.co.uk/slidesharehtml/) that will convert your slideshows that are on SlideShare into HTML that can be embedded into your page and read on any device.

Here's an example of a recent presentation I did about my digitization project at The Ohio State University's Byrd Polar Research Center Archival Program:





As you can see, the essential features are still there (next/previous) and it's completely viewable on an iPad or other Apple device.

Granted, if your Apple end-user really wants Flash capability, there is Skyfire, an Apple-approved web browser available in the iTunes store, that will convert Flash content into HTML5. But as someone who is trying to share information, this is just another part of ensuring accessibility.

Back from an unintentional break!

So the last 3-4 weeks has been filled with packing up our posessions, moving halfway across the country, finding a new place to live, and starting a new job. No longer based in Ohio, I've accepted a position at Luther College in Iowa as the new Project Cataloging Archivist.

This will mean that I probably won't be blogging as frequently as I was in October, but hopefully will try to write at least once or twice a month.

That being said, I am elated to be at Luther and I look forward to the many new experiences I'll have and I'm sure it will help this blog become a bit broader in scope!

Just another portal?

Last month, CNET's The Social discussed the new Starbucks landing page when using their wi-fi.


This, like the new Launchpad features on Mac OSX Lion, is showing an increasing trend toward a portal-like hub. Not only is it an aesthetically pleasing front page, it is giving users instant access to content that would be found on a "community corkboard". Additionally, they're collaborating with big boys such as Yahoo, Wall Street Journal, iTunes, LinkedIN, and Foursquare. Pretty smart and exclusive.

Though I mentioned a similar approach a few months back when talking about Flipboard, streamlining visually interesting access points into the collection on a portal-like landing page could be a great way to get people interested in what you have. When we find text-heavy pages or lists, it's more common to scan the text block, then click somewhere else. But, videos, photos, and other multimedia usually mean lingering longer and processing information faster. In fact, Dr. Lynell Burmack makes a point that youth today averages 22,000 hours of television before they graduate from high school and that "we process visuals 60,000 times faster than text" due to processing data from images simultaneously versus processing data in text in a sequential fashion.

Though I don't think a content inventory of an entire site needs to be focused on visual (especially when considering universal accessibility issues), I do think it's an important approach to keep in mind. Plus, it helps give a fresh and modern feeling to archival collections that may initially be seen as archaic.

Follow An Archive Day!

Today is Follow An Archive Day!

Here's some great info about it: http://followanarchive.blogspot.com/

So what are you waiting for? Follow An Archive!

Erm, scratch that ...

In my first Freeview, I mentioned Drop.io - a great site that allows for real-time file sharing. Well, scratch that - a great site that allowed for real-time file sharing.

Last week, it was announced that Drop.io is no more. Acquired by Facebook, the site's technology, assets, and front-man Sam Lessin will be moving to the Facebook HQ to work on some secret, yet probably amazing, features for FB. Content on Drop.io will be download-able until Dec. 15, at which time it will then be gone.

In CEO Mark Zuckerberg's own words, Facebook does not buy companies for the company- they buy them for the people behind the companies. I understand that FB's competitors are Google and Apple and that the big boys' table is a bit of dog-eat-dog. But, what about the beauty behind users' choice? Drop.io is so unique and innovative and with this acquisition, will that mean to get this technology we must use via Facebook?

Call me a cheerleader for the Mom-And-Pop, but it's seeming to be more difficult to support independent developing sites and applications. But, so goes the world. All the little fish are hoping to jump on the big fish for a ride, even if it means into their mouths!

Oh, how far we've come!

Photo correction à la 1980's Soviet Russia?



It's hard to believe how far we've come. I know, personally, whenever I modify images, I grumble if I have to use Photoshop CS3 instead of CS4 or CS5!