Brenda Hough's blog

I made a quick trip to Chicago for one meeting, but only had time for a taste of the vast ALA offerings. One session I really wish I could have attended is the popular LITA Top Technology Trends session. The next best thing to being there, luckily, is the recorded version available at http://www.ustream.tv/recorded/1797127.

Trying to understand ARRA, NOFA, BTOP, and all of the other lingo surrounding the broadband stimulus programs?

Earlier this week, Sharon Moreland blogged about the success the crew at the Northeast Kansas Library System has been having with Jing, a tool that allows you to capture content from a computer screen to create videos. It sounded so good that Cindi Hickey (at the State Library of Kansas) and I decided to try the tool out, too!

Starting today, there will be a new voice regularly heard here on the TechSoup for Libraries blog. Becky Wiegand is a staff writer with TechSoup, where she writes and edits articles, manages the TechSoup Blog team, and presents for area nonprofits about technology needs.

Lori Reed is most likely a familiar name to you. She's a regular contributor to TechSoup for Libraries and MaintainIT. She recently facilitated an online class for NEFLIN, "Gaming in Libraries", which was based on content from the MaintainIT Cookbook, Planning for Success. I talked to Lori after the session and asked her how it went. Here's her reply.

Winston Churchill said, “There is nothing wrong with change, if it is in the right direction”. If you're a regular visitor to this site, you may have noticed a few changes. You'll now find even more resources, in addition to the MaintainIT content. 

Outdated technologies have a certain appeal. My fiancé collects 8-track tapes. He has over 1000 of them. He sees them as a snapshot of another time and collecting them is a mission to recapture a piece of bygone days. With computers, I’ve found that almost everyone likes to talk about the equipment they used back in the day (Commodore, Apple IIe, Atari, etc). The Sweetwater Library System’s (WY) “On the Same Page” blog recently included a humorous take on a gadget graveyard article, analyzing technologies that are about to become extinct. In a culture in which it feels like we’re rushing to keep up with the latest and greatest, it’s refreshing to remember things that feel simpler.

Approximately 60 people participated in yesterday's "Technology Grants for Libraries 101" webinar. Stephanie Gerding, who co-wrote the book, Grants for Libraries, led the session. It's archived!

Kudos to the organizers for featuring an "Innovation in Smaller Libraries" track at this year's Computers in Libraries Conference in DC. It's great to see national level conferences including options like this.