The Kindle 2

As many of you may be aware, the Library at Bath Spa University bought two eBook readers last month. Library staff are being introduced to the readers, who are then encouraged to feedback via a questionnaire on how useful the technology will be for students and staff at the University.

However the more I play with the Sony PRS-505, the more I get distracted by all the talk surrounding the Kindle eBook reader. The PRS-505 has impressed me; the battery life is superb and the device can handle a number of document formats. The screen is comfortable to look at and overall the device is robust and attractive.

However I think the Kindle could could really be the product that could revolutionise the eBook market in the UK, providing real advantages beyond simply being able to store a large number of books on one device. Increasingly it is products that combine a number of technologies that have become successful,  a ‘mash-up’ of services that harnesses the  Web 2.0 culture.

The Kindle appears to hit the nail on the head: a WIFI/3G connection which allows to users to purchase books without connecting to a computer, removing the need to download software you didn’t want in the first place. Users are able to subscribe to RSS feeds freely, as well as purchase newspapers and magazines over the device.

This product brings eBook readers out of the category of the ‘gadget’, and actually provides technology that will actually make a difference to the culture of its users. Imagine waking up in the morning to find the Guardian has already been downloaded and available for you to read, as well as alerts to blog updates. You read a book review which interests you, pick up the Kindle and read it.

The major hold-up for potential UK Kindle users is the mobile networks. In America users pay a flat fee for the Kindle and nothing more; the 3G connection is provided free by the mobile network. This is clearly highly complex for Europe, which contains many networks spanning many countries. Amazon has to strike a deal with as many of these networks as they can before they can release the Kindle – I do not envy this task!

Extensis Portfolio

We have finally been given the go-ahead from computing services to purchase and install Extensis Portfolio here at the University.

The purchase of Portfolio ends the search for an image management system (IMS), also known as a digital image repository, to incorporate and build on the slide collection currently held at Somerset Place, and promote the responsible use of copyright-cleared images by staff and students.

The slide collection at Somerset Place has over 50,000 images, but despite being a superb resource its use has fallen as the convenience of Google/Flickr has risen. We will purchase a few clients to manage the collection, Portfolio Server to host the collection, as well as Netpublish; a piece of software allowing us to present our collection to students via the web. For stability we are going to try and purchase SQL connect, which will have the ability to support large collections and allow our Netpublish websites to be customised (eventually).

Once the finance for the system has been arranged, our biggest issue for the success of system is copyright. A huge majority of the slides are covered by DACS (Design and Artists Copyright Society),  which is yet to confirm their stance on digitising the slides bought under their licence. As a result we will be left with an initial collection of around 5,000 slides which have either been copyright cleared, or the copyright is owned by the University. I really hope that the DACS licences can be cleared up and quickly – this would unable Nigel Paine (our images Librarian) to provide an unbeatable service for students and staff.

I am really excited about this project particularly as it was one of the first I have been presented with since joining Bath Spa.

Tags: bath spa, images, library, software

I am extremely happy with Windows 7.

I downloaded the BETA version back in January when it came out, installing it on my old laptop as a direct replacement for Vista. Despite coming packaged with the Laptop I bought two years ago, Vista was running like Gordon Brown’s mind, slow and unable to react. This was despite numerous re-installs and a threat to retro step back to WinXP.

The installation of Windows 7 took forever, making me instantly regret making the choice. However after two months of using it, I haven’t looked back at all! It is important to point out that graphically the look of Windows 7 does not really differ to Vista. The themes are very similar and the Start Menu is near identical.

However everything is so much more smoother and customisable. As the screenshots show, I was able to make everything a glaring red with just a few clicks of the mouse. The quick launch toolbar found next to the start menu is also more user friendly; programs can be ‘pinned’ or ‘unpinned’ to it by a simple click and drag, removing the ‘open folder’ technique we all use in XP. The launch icons will also glow if the application is already open, as well as display small open application windows when you run your mouse over the icon.

Visually the system is Vista with a few improvements. However the major benefit is that it runs superbly even on system which struggled with Vista. My laptop runs on a 1.6 AMD dual core, 1gb ram, 120gb Sata HDD. This was only just good enough to run Vista effectively (despite having the Vista sticker!), but Windows 7 boots and runs twice as fast despite being the newer product.

I understand that Microsoft will release the same varience of systems that Vista provided, but will also turn their attentions to the Netbook world. If this product maintains its stability over to this platform, I really can’t see how anybody will be able to compete. It will really break my heart when I will have to stop using 7 in August, it means I will have three realistic choices: Buy a new laptop, revert back to Vista, or spend lots of money on the commercial release!

Posted on the Bath Spa Shibboleth project WIKI:

Yesterday I attended an Access Management Federation event in Bristol. The Federation promotes the use of the Shibboleth framework after the JISC withdrew its funding for Athens in July 2008.

One of the most useful documents provided on the day was the Uk Federation Quick Reference Guide, which presents an overview of useful documents available to Librarians and IT staff, from making a business case to installing and setting up your institution as an identity provider. Below is a URL to all of these resources:

http://www.ukfederation.org.uk/content/Documents

A lot of this information is highly useful; there are case studies of institutions that have implemented Shibboleth as well as technical documents detailing the installation method of Shibboleth.

Another superb resource is Janet’s EdLab, a portal containing a variety of media on a range of topics to support their events, as well as a discussion forum for users. The Federation now has its own dedicated space on the site, with a wide range of discussion and document download opportunities surrounding Shibboleth implementation.

One important point that came out of the event was how Shibboleth can benefit institutions as a whole. It has been easy thus far for me to consider single sign-on only as a direct benefit to Library services. However at Bath Spa there are many different systems that may benefit from the security that Shib provides. For example the University has been looking at a repository for some time. Once implememented, Shibboleth could be used to provide access for other institutions that may need to get involved. I understand also that our VLE is hosted elsewhere; Shib could control the amount of information on students that is transferred off campus for authentication.

By joining the Federation and opting with Shibboleth we are agreeing with the rules of membership. As a result we are required to consider how well we deal with personal data at the University:

all and any Data, when provided to the Federation Operator or
another Member (as the case may be), are accurate and up-todate
and any changes to Metadata are promptly provided to the
Federation Operator;

We should have the system in place to make sure that the information we hold is accurate an up to date; does the SITS system at the University update active directory? Many IT professionals at the event talked about the ease in which a simple script can update active directory via an export from an enrolment system.

A major theme was to consider how students/staff will be authenticated to use external resources. From the Library’s point of view we would need a service provider to be able to dicipher between user groups, as some resources are only available to staff at the University. If you the University continues to expand we may also need to assertain the school that as student belongs to. Service providers would also like to assertain whether a student is viable to access a resource, i.e enrolment may have taken place but the student is yet to pay tuition!

There may also need to be some change in our own authentication culture. The set-up of a single sign-on means that students and staff use only one username/password to access a very wide range of systems. As a result we may have to review how often passwords are changed at the University, as authentication relies so heavily on this one log-in.

From a technical point of view there were some interesting discussions, some of which I didn’t understand! However there exists a simple Windows (wizard-like) installer to set-up Shibboleth in a Windows environment, through which installation was presented as easy. This installs Shib 1.3 and therefore may only be useful for testing, as the federation has now moved on to support Shib 2.0. Apparently an installer for Shib 2 is being developed in the open source community. It was unclear whether Shib can run on Windows server 2008, so we may need to discuss whether this will become an issue.

Overall the Federation provided a clear message: if you choose to install Shibboleth they will hold our hand and support us through every step of implementation. If we opt for a third party solution (i.e OpenAthens LA 2.0), we are on our own!

The next step for me is to work out how many of our Electronic subscriptions are ‘Shibbolised’, as this will give us a very clear indication of how essential this project is overall.

Tags: Athens, Authentication, shibboleth

Two weeks ago we bought two eBook readers to trial at work. The intention is to see how viable technologies such as this are for University students of the future, particularly as we already buy eBooks through our supplier, Dawsonera.

After just under a week of playing of the device I have to admit I am suitably impressed; the PRS-505 to start with is beautiful to look at, housed in a leather wallet which provides the studious smell you get from leather bound books. Sony also provides 100 free classic books, but these can be accessed for free anyway!

The screen is superb; I have been able to read from it without any of the strain on the eyes experienced from LCD screens. The device can also be tilted at many different angles and the reader can still view the text, something near impossible when reading from a laptop screen.

Accessibility is good, users can simply zoom in and out of the text with the touch of a button. I was also able to bookmark without any issue, as the device will save multiple pages across multiple books. The battery is impressive to – I have used it now for around 4-5 hours with no visual drop in battery life, despite only having an hours’ charge time so far.

The only drawback is that Sony requires you to install software in order to transfer books onto the device, something which many have come to detest with some MP3 players. It would be nice to see an updated version at some point, providing a simple ‘drag and drop’ set-up in Windows explorer.

Seeing this as a viable alternative for students is very challenging. The eBooks we buy are hosted through our suppliers site, as licencing issues mean that a system has to be in place for digital rights management. Making eBook texbooks available on these devices would mean years of complex negotiation with publishers, but I am sure this negotiation has already started.

A full review of this product will follow shortly. All members of Library staff will have the opportunity to try them out over the next few months, with a short questionnaire to complete.

In the summer I stumbled across Camstudio, an open source program that allows you to record your desktop screen activity. This is an extremely useful product for those of us who are yet to invest in products like Adobe Captivate.

As a Librarian I feel products such as Camstudio will quickly become essential. The Internet has quickly become the only place users visit to find information, and the private nature of this activity means that many make simple mistakes. The creation of online tutorials using Camstudio allows Librarians to meet students online and provide clear visual instruction.

I have used Camstudio as a training tool for the number of online databases that we subscribe to, and have been hosting them on our Library website with additional plans to integrate them with our VLE.

Some basic examples of video tutorials that I have done can be found below. They took me minutes to do and were instantly converted to flash video files upon completion.

http://www.filton.ac.uk/lrc/howtoguides/flashtutorials/gmid.swf.html

http://www.filton.ac.uk/lrc/howtoguides/flashtutorials/sector%20briefing.swf.html

I launched the new LRC website at Filton College today. The whole thing was created using a HTML editor, so it took me long time to do! I am quite happy with it, particuarly the ‘good websites’ section which involved a decent amount thought and discussion.

In the coming months I plan to embed a video tour of the LRC, before trialling some instant messaging software often branded as ‘ask a Librarian’.

I would like to know what you all think, as it will not be officially be launched until the students return at the beginning of September.