P3160046

Originally uploaded by planetneutral.

I’m sorry for the lack of audio content from the conference. I’m home safely and my sore throat has evolved into a full-fledged nastiness. In the meantime, be sure to check out all of the great photos from the conference at Flickr.com. Kudos to all who adopted the cil2005 tag.

Note: According to Flickr support, there is a known bug that prevents the basic search from providing complete results. You will get a slightly larger set of pics using the advanced search.

Looks like the next space for folksonomies will be in the music sphere. BBC Radio 6 is in a pre-alpha demo of Phonetags which will allow users to “bookmark” songs played on Radio 6 via text message and add keyword and rating tags. Tod Maffin of CBC notes that this could have interesting implications for the way both DJs and listeners interact with the music.

If you’ve ever wanted to get all of your bookmarks into del.icio.us, but didn’t want to engage the tedium of doing it one bookmark at a time, then you might like the del.icio.us loader for Firefox. Disclaimer: I have not used this, so I can’t assure you of its functionality. Seen at lifehacker.

Here it is: CIL Day 1 Recap

About 18 minutes in all. Sound quality is a bit rough between the recording set-up and my scratchy voice.

Some related links:
The CiL Blogdigger Group (great written recaps of Day 1)
Kansas City Public Library
KC Research
Andrea on presenting

Feedback is welcome.

OK, I’ve used my demo time to provide a very inept 3 minute explanation of how I go about recording my show. This post featuring a link to the audio file makes the audio syndication (that which is more commonly known as podcasting) happen.

Updated with one quick correction: In the audio, I equate encoding rate and sample rate. These terms do not typically refer to the same thing. The sample rate refers to the number of samples taken by the sound recorder as you are recording, as opposed to the encoding bitrate which affects the quality of the compression file put out by the sound editor. The higher both numbers are, the better quality end result and the larger the resultant files.

OK, I’m here at last. Had no problem finding the Blog People. And here’s another quick test cast to make sure everything is working properly.

Lori Bell passed along a press release announcing that OPAL: Online Programming for All Libraries is now providing a podcast feed for its archived online programs.

Although I’ve only taken a brief sample of the offerings, the decision to offer a podcast feed means I will be taking far more advantage of this seemingly wonderful service. Excellent work!

Update: Lori gave me the go-ahead to post the entire press release, so here ya go.

OPAL BEGINS PODCASTING ITS AUDIO ARCHIVES

OPAL: Online Programming for All Libraries (http://www.opal-online.org) has begun podcasting audio recordings of archived OPAL online events. Now you can listen to OPAL events on a wide variety of portable MP3 players. You also can link to the RSS feed so that you are notified whenever a new podcast becomes available.

To experience an OPAL podcast, please visit http://feeds.feedburner.com/OpalPodcast. An RSS link also has been added to the OPAL homepage.

OPAL is a collaborative effort by libraries of all types to provide cooperative web-based programming and training for library users and library staff members. These live, online events are held in an online auditorium where participants can interact via voice-over-IP, text chatting, and synchronized browsing. Examples of OPAL public online programs include book discussion programs, interviews, library training, memoir writing workshops, and virtual tours of special digital library collections.

Digital audio recordings of OPAL programs are placed in the OPAL Archive (http://www.opal-online.org/archive.htm) so that interested patrons who missed the live online event can listen at a convenient time.

In a related development, digital audio recordings of OPAL programs will become available in the popular MP3 format. Until now, audio recordings were available only in WMA (Windows Media Audio) format. Offering both formats will extend the reach and usability of OPAL programs.

Tom Peters, OPAL Coordinator, noted, “OPAL is one of the first library programs in the nation to podcast audio content of public access programming. Individual pioneering librarians have demonstrated the value and usefulness of podcasting. OPAL is pleased to begin mainstreaming into OPAL’s overall mission this innovative method of disseminating information.”

More About OPAL: OPAL utilizes software from Talking Communities (http://www.talkingcommunities.com/) featuring voice-over-IP, text chatting, and synchronized browsing. OPAL is administered by the Alliance Library System (http://www.alliancelibrarysystem.com/), the Mid-Illinois Talking Book Center (http://www.mitbc.org/), and the Illinois State Library Talking Book and Braille Service.

Libraries of all types and sizes may join OPAL. For more information, please contact Tom Peters, OPAL Coordinator, at tpeters@tapinformation.com or 1-816-228-6406.

In celebrating the naming of good friends Michael Stephens and Aaron Schmidt (see y’all tonight!) as LJ Movers and Shakers, I should note that Tom Peters of the OPAL project, about which I just posted, was also awarded this honor. Congrats to all. And thanks to Steven for the pointer.

The enclosed transmission is only a test of the equipment that’s coming with me to CiL this evening. I will probably run a similar test upon arrival in D.C. The sound quality is pretty poor, but it was worse with my other mic.