Casual Friday: Secret Country
Librarian-gone-rogue/business researcher Michael Hill and his Austin-based band The New Maps (last chronicled in these pages in February 2012) are back to their off-the-clock ways with a new album for 2013. Titled “Secret Country,” it features 9 new original songs by Hill and a wistful, atmospheric cover of Mark Kozelek’s Red House Painters gem “Have
50 Apps in 50 Minutes Redux
Last year at the Texas Library Association’s Annual Conference, we presented 50 Apps in 50 Minutes. Lucky for us, the presentation was a hit and they’ve asked us back this year. Below you’ll find our new presentation “50 Apps in 50 Minutes Redux”. A note on pricing and availability: it’s been our experience that prices for
SEC Goes Social
Here at bizologie we’ve always been proponents of using social media for business research. This is usually how we find information on private companies, first hand customer service practices, and employee history. But now it is even more important to keep an eye on all your favorite social sites because the SEC has approved social
Cycling for Libraries 2013 – Amsterdam to Brussels
This summer Barbara Fullerton , Karen Holt, and April Kessler will embark on an international library adventure with Cycling For Libraries. This unconference offers a week of library workshops, debates, and tours with a diverse group of 100 international librarians from 22 countries cycling 250+ miles from Amsterdam to Brussels. Cycling for libraries is an international cycling
Will Do Research For Beer
We won’t help you move for beer but we will help you with your beer research. Just released this week, the “Beer Serves America” report, put together by the Beer Institute and the National Beer Wholesalers Association, takes a look at the economic impact of beer. According to the report, ”the beer industry employs more
Casual Friday: Secret Country
Librarian-gone-rogue/business researcher Michael Hill and his Austin-based band The New Maps (last chronicled in these pages in February 2012) are back to their off-the-clock ways with a new album for 2013. Titled “Secret Country,” it features 9 new original songs by Hill and a wistful, atmospheric cover of Mark Kozelek’s Red House Painters gem “Have You Forgotten.” Built on a foundation of guitar-and-drums-forward sonics and sturdy, power-roots-pop songcraft, “Secret Country” is largely a product of core members Hill (vocals, guitars, bass, keyboards, percussion) and Jeff Olson (drums, vibraphone), but one that also features contributions from cellist Dylan Rieck (Balmorhea) and pedal steel guitarist Phil Ajjarapu. Founded in 2011, The New Maps released their full-length debut “These Parts” in 2012. Original bassist Paul Grotevant exited the band later that year, but Dusty Rhodes (Mother Falcon, Sahara Smith) has since stepped in to fill that gap admirably. Now, with a new recording, a new member and new energy driving them, The New Maps are poised to keep pushing their musical boundaries – not to mention shattering a librarian stereotype or two – as they take listeners through the “Secret Country” and beyond. The album is available on iTunes and the title song may be streamed on the band’s Facebook page .
Social Media for Career Advancement
Last week at the Texas Library Association’s Annual Conference, Karen Landolt, Director for the University of Texas’ HireTexas Interview Center, presented “Social Media for Career Advancement”. She had great advice on managing your online reputation, developing a reputation as an expert, and using social media for job searching including helpful Twitter keyword job title searches. Think social media isn’t for you? Not only do 9 out of 10 employers use social media to screen prospective employees, 7 out of 10 have rejected candidates based on their social media presences. So it’s up to you to control the message . Karen suggests Googling your name to see what pops up. We suggest doing this from a computer other than your own so you’re sure to get the same results a potential employer would get. You’ll find more great tips in Karen’s presentation below.
50 Apps in 50 Minutes Redux
Last year at the Texas Library Association’s Annual Conference, we presented 50 Apps in 50 Minutes. Lucky for us, the presentation was a hit and they’ve asked us back this year. Below you’ll find our new presentation “50 Apps in 50 Minutes Redux”. A note on pricing and availability: it’s been our experience that prices for apps change often, so if you like something that’s a bit out of your budget, keep an eye on it as sometimes the prices drop temporarily or even permanently. Love something that’s only an iThing? We saw several notes along the way indicating that an app’s owner listed Android, etc. as “coming soon”. So make a note of what you like and you may see it soon on other platforms.
1. iNextBus “Ever wonder when will the next bus arrive and which bus route to choose? Do you prefer waiting it at the stop or a snug coffee shop nearby? With this Next Bus app you can visually pin-point the location of every incoming buses on map as well as an accurate estimate of arrival time.” Free for iPhone & Android
2. Tagg Tracker GPS tracker for lost pets. $100 for GPS device, $7.95 Monthly Service, Android & iPhone
3. Waze “Waze is the world’s fastest-growing community-based traffic and navigation app. Join other drivers in your area who share real-time traffic and road info, saving everyone time and gas money on their daily commute.” Free for iPhone & Android
4. BookBoard for iPad A storybook app for kids. What we like about this one is that the company employs a children’s librarian who helps with their collection, metadata and reading level assessment. Subscription based
5. SmartPark Parking app that includes altitude data for finding your car in a parking garage. Free for Android
6. Remind101 A safe way for teachers to message their class while keeping everyone’s cell numbers hidden. Free as a website or an app
7. Winston Reads a daily synopsis of news from your social media networks, headlines weather, etc. Free for iPad, iPhone with Android coming soon
8. TouchSurgery Tool for medical students learning surgery techniques. Free for iPad & iPhone
9. Reading Rainbow LeVar Burton’s new app recreating his famous television show. Subscription based for iPad
10. SunRise Combines your calendars from email and social networks. Free for iPhone
11. ProxToMe Send files from your phone to everyone within 250 feet without needing contact information. Great for transferring a presentation. Free for iPhone & iPad
12. SwiftKey Keyboard allows you to type without lifting your finger, predicts phrasing. $3.99 for Android. 13. Fleksy is free similar for iPhone.
14. Puzzle Alarm Alarm clock which has you complete a puzzle or equation to turn it off. Free for Android
15. Avast! Mobile Security Virus and theft protection. Free for Android. Lookout is similar for iPhone and is also free.
16. AppGarden Several utility apps (calculator, dictionary, area codes, etc) all in one. Free for Android
17. History Eraser Clears for calls, browser searches, texts, etc. Free for Android
18. SnapSeed Photo app that allows photo shopping. Free for iPhone, iPad & Android
19. JuiceDefender Monitors your apps to conserve battery life. Both a free and paid version
20. Pulse News aggregator which lets you import your Google Reader feeds. Free for iPad, iPhone and Android
21. PicStitch Photo app for collages. Free for iPhone
22. iOnRoad Personal driving assistant with dashboard camera. $4.99 for iPhone and Android
23. Yahoo! Weather App Combines Flickr photos with weather information. Free for iPhone
24. Fanhattan Search all your video apps (Netflix, Hulu, HBO, etc) in one place. Free for iPad & iPhone
25. Appreciate App rating tool. Free for Android, coming soon for iPhone
26. Pocket Save articles, videos and images for later viewing with no internet required. Free for iPad, iPhone & Android
27. Poetry Foundation App Search poems by category, share on social network sites. Free for iPhone & Android
28. Oscars View Oscar history, behind the scenes footage, and compare your ballot with friends. Free for iPad, iPhone & Android
29. Geocaching Find geocaching sites in your area. $9.99 for iPhone, Android & Windows Phone
30. Twitter Music New app for discovering music through Twitter. Connect with Spotify or rdio to listen. Free for iPhone
31. Vine 6 Second looping video app from Twitter. Free for iPhone & iPad
32. Prismatic News aggregator for iPhone & iPad
33. AllTrails Find hiking and skiing trails by location, difficulty and length. Free for iPhone, iPad & Android
34. Glasses.com 3D Fit Takes a 3D image of your head and then allows you to virtually try on glasses and compare. Coming soon for iPad with Android to follow
35. Storify Built a story board with articles, videos and images from multiple sources. Free for iPad
36. iTunes Movie Trailer View movie trailers by calendar date, find theaters, etc. Free for iPad & iPhone
37. Martha Stewart Cookies Cookie recipes, shopping lists, social network sharing. $3.99 for iPad & iPhone
38. Kings & Queens by David Starkey British Royal history, royal wedding footage. $2.99 for iPad & iPhone
39. Dr. Seuss Bookshelf Holds all of your Dr. Seuss books, games in one place. Bookshelf is free, with most inapps paid. iPad & iPhone
40. HealthTap Ask medical questions from a team of 36,000 doctors. Free for iPhone & iPad
41. Starbucks Pay with you app, but they also have a new feature called “Pick of the Week” which gives away free items in the store such as apps, music or NYT articles. Free for iPhone & Android though currently, only iPhone has “Pick of the Week”
42. Wanderable Chip in on the happy couple’s honeymoon. Couple can send easy thank you notes. Free app and website, and Wanderable takes 5% of the amount.
43. Asthmapolis “Experts recommend that people with asthma track their symptoms, triggers and use of asthma medications. The Asthmapolis sensor and mobile application can help you learn more about and better manage your asthma.” Cost TBD, possible insurance coverage
44. Yahoo! Mail for iPad New nicely designed mail app. Free for iPad
45. Rand McNally Road Atlas Digital version of an old favorite. Nice for road trips as it doesn’t require an internet connection. $4.99 for iPad
46. SnapChat “Snapchat is a new way to share moments with friends. Snap an ugly selfie or a video, add a caption, and send it to a friend (or maybe a few). They’ll receive it, laugh, and then the snap disappears.” Free for iPhone & Android
47. The Particles Channel your inner Sheldon Cooper and learn a bit of physics. iPad & Windows 8 ~$7
48. Concert Vault “In 2003, Wolfgang’s Vault acquired master recordings from the archives of Bill Graham Presents. These live concerts were recorded at legendary venues like the Fillmore East and Winterland between 1965 and 1999. Since then we’ve acquired over a dozen more collections – some large, some small, all of them compelling, spanning a wide spectrum of musical genres.” $3.99 a month for iPad, iPhone & Android.
49. LOCALSQR Find farmers markets in your area. Free for iPhone
50. Mango Tracks prescriptions and vitamins with reminders and records. Free for iPhone with Android Coming Soon.
SEC Goes Social
Here at bizologie we’ve always been proponents of using social media for business research. This is usually how we find information on private companies, first hand customer service practices, and employee history. But now it is even more important to keep an eye on all your favorite social sites because the SEC has approved social media as an outlet for public company announcements.
Back in December Netflix CEO Reed Hastings came under investigation by the SEC because of a Facebook post back in July when he mentioned that Netflix viewers had just surpassed over 1 billion hours of streaming content per month. The information about the growing hours had also appeared on the company’s blog, but no official press releases came out nor did Netflix file any forms with the SEC.
The SEC saw the writing on the (online) wall and decided that they could not fight the wave of social media any longer. No action was taken against Netflix or Hastings and the SEC made it clear in a report last week that companies can release information on social media sites. The social announcements are in compliance with Regulation Fair Disclosure (Regulation FD) if the company makes it well known where investors can find the information and it has to be accessible to all.
Not everyone thinks this is a great idea though. Check out Jon Friedman’s viewpoint on The Montley Fool.
Good or bad, more information is going to be out there in more places. You should definitely consider a tool like HootSuite to help you manage all the social news.
Cycling for Libraries 2013 – Amsterdam to Brussels
This summer Barbara Fullerton , Karen Holt, and April Kessler will embark on an international library adventure with Cycling For Libraries. This unconference offers a week of library workshops, debates, and tours with a diverse group of 100 international librarians from 22 countries cycling 250+ miles from Amsterdam to Brussels. Cycling for libraries is an international cycling conference that aims to advocate for libraries and increase awareness of the valuable services and resources that libraries offer to the community.
We could use your help
Your donation can help us cover registration fees which include room and board, bike rental, and travel expenses. Every little bit helps and we appreciate anything you can donate.
To Donate: http://www.indiegogo.com/projects/cycling-for-libraries-travel-funding
Expenses:
- Registration – $325 per person
- Bike Rental – $100 per person
- Flight – $1500 per person
Other Ways You Can Help
Even if you can’t donate, you can still help by spreading the word about our campaign. Thank you for helping us take this amazing adventure for libraries!
AND, if you are attending the TXLA annual meeting in Ft. Worth on April 24th-27th, visit our Booth #1013 in the Exhibit Hall!
A bit about us
Barbara Fullerton has been in the information professional field for over 15 years, with experience in vendor relations, and corporate and law libraries. She has a Master’s in Library and Information Science from Emporia State University in Kansas. Barbara is an active member in DALL, SLA, President of the Texas SLA Chapter, and is currently on the Advisory Board of UNT’s College of Information.
Karen Holt is the the founder and Editor-in-Chief of Librarian Lifestyle. She works as the Technical Services Librarian at Northwestern University in Qatar. Before moving to the Middle East Karen worked as the Communication Librarian at the University of Texas at Austin where she was the subject specialist for advertising, journalism, radio-television-film, and communication studies.
April Kessler is the Business Librarian at the University of Texas at Austin.She received her MSIS from UT and her MBA from Wichita State University. April is the Past President the Texas Chapter of the Special Libraries Association and serves on the Executive Board of the Texas Library Association. She is also the co-founder of bizologie .
Will Do Research For Beer
We won’t help you move for beer but we will help you with your beer research. Just released this week, the “Beer Serves America” report, put together by the Beer Institute and the National Beer Wholesalers Association, takes a look at the economic impact of beer. According to the report, ”the beer industry employs more than 2 million Americans, providing nearly $79 billion in wages and benefits. The industry pays over $49 billion in business, personal and consumption taxes.” They’ve got great infographics on their page that allow you to see the economic impact of beer by state and even by congressional district. You’ll also find several reports & presentations, as well as 2012 edition of the “Brewers Almanac” which includes “production, tax-paid withdrawals, tax collections, consumption (total, state-by-state and per capita), agricultural statistics, imports, exports, financial statistics, employment, excise tax rates and methods of collection, and draft/package trends.” And you can save your money for happy hour as all of this information is free!
E-commerce Landscape and Trends
Today in my Internet travels, I came across a great presentation from Josh Yang, a student at Harvard B-school. It’s about a year old but still great information on the e-commerce landscape. You can check it out below:
bizologie Favorite Tools: Speek
We love the new conference call tool from Speek. Speek lets you customize a link for your conference call so that no one needs a pin code or special number. You can also easily see who has joined the call, who’s currently speaking and share files between everyone on the call. And the best part? It’s free, of course. We’ve added Speek to our Favorite Resources page where you’ll find all of our favorite tools and sites for business research. To see Speek in action, check out the video below:
SXSW Interactive – The Virtual Experience
Inc. Magazine has highlighted the must-see tech companies this year at South by Southwest Interactive.So if you are here in Austin be sure to check out their demos. If you can’t make it to South By this year be sure to check them out online. Remember to visit one of our favorite resources to get the lowdown on their funding – Crunchbase.
Leap Motion: These guys have developed a device that lets you control your computer with hand gestures. Here’s the You Tube introduction so you can what the magic looks like
Memoto: A “life-logging” camera that you wear all day to document your life’s adventures. This might be pretty cool for my next Cycling for Libraries experience, but most Wednesdays are pretty uneventful.
OUYA: An open source gaming console that will cost just $99 and has free games. It has already earned $8 million on Kickstarter so it seems like an idea people are behind.
EEVZDROP: Inc. calls this social media app “the Instagram for audio”. You can use it record and share soundbites. This should be really popular with the SXSW music crowd.
And, speaking of SXSW Music you can catch the big Spotify concert streaming live on March 13. The show features hip-hop from Kendrick Lamar, indie pop from Youngblood Hawke, DJ duo Cazzette, and the house DJ Hesta Prynn.
Investing for the Long Run
Morningstar’s Library Services team is excited to announce a new book that they’ve created especially for the library community. Investing for the Long Run is a guide for new and experienced investors to help shape up personal finances. From creating a budget, merging finances with a significant other, to planning for retirement, they have information for individuals at every life stage. Good for both you and your customers.
It’s 119 pages of practical investment advice with worksheets and links to online tools:
- How to get started investing
- When and how to pick an investment adviser
- Mistakes to avoid when buying a house
- Ways to cut expenses
- Roth IRA or 401(k) - which do you fund first
- How to create an investment strategy for college saving
Enjoy the online book compliments of bizologie and Morningstar!
