Search Results for: "guide on the side"

Tech Sharecase, 5 May 2017

Posted on May 8, 2017 by Stephen Francoeur

Google Docs Phishing

We started off our meeting today with a discussion of the recent hack of Google Docs that saw millions of users getting email messages inviting them to view a fake Google Doc. We discussed how Google had taken the step of removing all the suspected phishing emails from people’s inboxes.

Guide on the Side for Library Tutorials

We returned to a topic that has come up in previous Tech Sharecases: the open source software, Guide on the Side, that libraries can use to design information literacy tutorials. Although the CUNY Office of Library Services set up the software on a server a few years ago at the recommendation of LILAC, Hunter College did the same on their own a few years earlier and has some tutorials online (not all of them seem to have been updated yet to match the new library website).

The larger context for the discussion of Guide on the Side are the Flash-based tutorials our library developed with Kognito a decade ago. Some of these continue to be used even though the content is a bit out of date (some of the databases have been canceled and some have been renamed or wholly redesigned). Some examples of our tutorials that could use some attention because they are still being used are the Beginner’s Guide to Business Research and Research for Oral Presentations.

Audio for Augmented Reality

We watched a video review of the Hear One wireless earbuds, which can automatically adjust sound levels in response to the environment you are in.

Next Meeting of the Tech Sharecase

Although we haven’t scheduled any meetings for the summer, it is likely we’ll try to meet up a few times (maybe on Thursdays once we get to the f0ur-day workweek). Stay tuned!

 

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Tech Sharecase, 8 March 2013

Posted on March 11, 2013 by Stephen Francoeur

Kaltura

We looked under the hood of Kaltura to see how tags and categories are set up and what analytics are available.

Draft of Wall Street Journal LibGuide

To make it easier to see all the print and online options for the Wall Street Journal, a new LibGuide is in the works. We previewed the new guide, which also features instructions with annotated screenshots of how to get to the News Pages feature in Factiva. We also discussed whether it would be worthwhile to do a similar page for the New York Times.

Screen Capture Software

We discussed the strengths and weaknesses of Captivate and Camtasia for video screen captures and SnagIt for image capture.

Guide on the Side

The library website for the University of Arizona features tutorials that appear to the left of selected databases. The libraries at the university developed their own open-source software (available for download) that others can use to design their own tutorials. Examples of some tutorials:

Factiva

We looked at examples in Factiva where the content found in search results actually links you out of the database and onto other parts of the web; some of those sites you are directed to are open, others are paywalled!

Google Sets

If you are creating a spreadsheet in Google Docs and want to create a list of similar items in a column, you can type two sample items in separate cells (such as pigeons and ducks) then easily have Google Sets supply in cells in the column additional items that are similar in nature. While the example on this page just shows days of the week as items you might want to auto-fill in a spreadsheet, it works with lots of other things as well (cities, colors, kinds of dogs, etc.) More details can be found on this post on the Google Operating System blog.

 

 

 

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A Better Approach to Database Tutorials

Posted on May 3, 2012 by Stephen Francoeur

There is an interesting column by Meredith Farkas in American Libraries about the approach that the University of Arizona is taking with database tutorials, which they call “Guide on the Side.” Basically, you get a slick looking tutorial right next to the database interface. This approach has been tried in the past at other colleges using frames to put the tutorial and database next to each other, but the design constraints of the past meant wonky vertical and horizontal scroll bars across the page. The U of AZ solution looks better.

It’s my understanding that the University of Arizona be releasing the software this summer that will enable libraries to make their own local versions of these tutorials. I was thinking these might be useful for us if we are trying to create some online instructional content that we might otherwise try to do in the classroom. I realize that these tutorials only hit the traditional, tool-based kind of instruction (click here, type that there, etc.), but it’s worth thinking about whether these play help a supporting role in our online instructional efforts.

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