Bruce Lawson was a great presenter, and is the author of Introducing HTML5

Much of the world is not using smart browsers, they are using browsers for their feature phones. Opera mini is a popular browser on feature phones around the world.

Radically different places access the same information.

People say mobile users are task focused- this is half true. Everyone is task focused. You don’t need a separate mobile site, just consider your content.

Three ways to handle mobile users:

1. Special mobile site
   • Almost always not the right way, but sometimes the quickest cheapest way.
   • You do not know what the user wants. If you do provide a separate mobile site, provide a way to get out!
   • No browser sniffing! – you can’t detect everything, browsers can lie.
2. Do nothing, serve up the same site to mobile and desktop
   • Use web standards
   • You can use new javascript methods, touchstart, touchmove, listen to touch events in addition to click.
   • CSS3/ graceful degradation
   • HTML5 – useful for webapps
   • Canvas/SVG – consider carefully, use SVG when possible. Canvas obscures information, SVG is more accessible. Don’t use canvas for UI elements. SVG can keep a DOM, so you can query/undo if necessary.
   • Geolocation – use for progressive enhancement, you won’t always have it available
   • HTML5 forms – < input type=”email” > other types, url, tel. These will give a different keyboard for input on the iphone, and they gracefully degrade.
   • Offline support – detect state, save the day by using local/session storage. Way easier than storing in cookies.
   • Web socket communication – sending information this way saves battery life
3. Optimise for Mobile
   • CSS Media queries – making sites that respond. “Can you do this?” “What’s your DPI?” “Landscape or portrait?” Responsive web development. See mediaqueri.es.
   • If you are using media queries, set the viewport.
   • Content should take center stage!
   • Give dimensions of images in HTMl. This makes sure the content doesn’t move after the images are downloaded, which can be annoying – especially for mobile users, because the content they were reading may get pushed off the screen.
   • Consider < a href=”tel:555.555.5555″ > because this will let phone users dial easily.
   • Make accessibility a priority. Follow accessibility guidelines.
   • Minimise HTTP requests. Combine CSS and javascript whenever possible. Use SVG or canvas for images if possible.
   • ems rather than pixels – pixels can fail on high resolution screens
   • fluid layouts
   • use CSS background-size property
   • turn off fancy backgrounds, shadows, etc. for mobile devices (using media queries) – they require processing power and are battery killers
   • Occasional use of data URL’s can be useful
   • Put javascript at the bottom of the page, or, if it must be in the head, put it after CSS so you don’t get a page flash
   • Use feature detection js like Modernizr

No web apps! laziness is wise

Widgets – zip file containing web standard goodness – uses the browser platform. Gives you a downloadable app, uses the browser widget engine, but has no chrome – installation through the start menu.

Of course, you can only get certain things through a native app. Access to the camera and mic, for instance. Soon, though, you will be able to do things comparable to what you can do with a native app – access things like: contacts, calendar, media, messaging, accelerometer. HTML5 < device > – access to camera and microphone in a specific device.

Lawson demonstrated an experimental app which detects where you are, your direction, and your speed, all in the browser.

Grids make sense of the world. Paper size – A1-A6 paper size system, each smaller size is half of the last.

The Grid = Harmony

The grid helps the user predict where the new information they seek will be found.

The simpler the grid, the more effective it is.

Steps in the design process:

• Research
  • Understand the constraints
• Wireframes or another activity that helps you figure out functionality and build agreement on whet needs to be to be built.
• Preparatory design Sketches, calculations, page sketches
  • Sketch throughout the project.
  • Problem solving should come before the aesthetics.
• Visual Design
• Code

On the golden rectangle

It is sometimes useful to divide things by 1.618, but in practice Vinh has never seen someone use the golden rectangle extensively when designing a website. The rule of thirds is more important.

Constructing the grid

• A viewport of 960×650 is still a good size to shoot for. (This talk focused on a fixed grid).
• Units in multiples of 8 are useful. People are most comfortable processing between 60 and 80 characters per line, so keep this in mind when laying out page.
• The grid is about constraint, and adding constraint can help with design.
• Use the grid to design a stream of information.

Responsive web design is really good, but a little showy. What is really important is satisfying what the user expects. What they want is access and speed, usefulness, and great content.

This session was sadly under attended. Majora Carter is an inspirational and upbeat speaker, and well worth seeing. I talked to some people afterwards who had purchased the SXSW ticket and drove from Houston just to see her talk!

You can see a couple of Majora Carter’s talks at TED.com, including her widely viewed talk on “Greening the Ghetto.”

You don’t have to move out of your neighborhood to live in a better one

The first part of the talk was bio information, read more at Majora Carter’s wikipedia page.

Carter grew up and lived in the Bronx, freeways were built over thriving working class communities. Red lining – red lines were built around area code no one would invest in. Landlords found it more profitable to burn their buildings than improve. This created something like a war zone. Carter’s brother Lenny spent two tours in Vietnam only to be gunned down in a nearby neighborhood. New York decides to place a sewage treatment plant in the area which would process 60% of NY’s sewage. Wealthier and largely white neighborhoods pushing onto the poorer ones. Young people who live near fossil fuel emissions are impacted – suffer learning disabilities.

The lower income neighborhood was targeted, because they had no political power or influence.

How do you create a more sustainable solid waste process?

What Majora has done

• Started the first green roof company run by a community organization
  • Working with plants reduces stress levels- plants require patience
• created the apparatus to create the kinds of jobs the community needed

Created Home(town) Security

Homeland security is about fear. Home(town) security is not based on fear.

People want to see things happen in their own home towns.

People see development and all they see is gentrification. How will they afford the change? (Karin’s note – I think the difference here is whether the change comes from inside or outside – gentrification is led by outside developers, productive neighborhood development comes from community initiative and involvement.)

Several examples:

In syracuse, the mayor put in blue lights in the dangerous neighborhoods, but what does that feel like to the people who live there? This is the drama of local community development, and it will make good TV.

Tree People – Andy Lipkus is unpaving paradise

Coal Mountain Watch – Judy Bonds died of cancer from breathing in the toxicity after mountain top removal mining. Worked to turn these areas into wind farms.

I missed a couple of other examples.

Carter saying “I should be advising president obama” was met with applause.

Question: (From AARP representative) – How can we get state offices to fund services which will help older americans stay in their homes – transportation, walkable neighborhoods, etc, instead of packing up and moving to florida?
Answer: The nice thing about older americans is they vote. Livable cities are the kind of thing which will keep people around.

Question: Would grant writing workshops be useful?
Answer: Probably not. There are already community organizations, we don’t need more of them, we need to build up the ones that are there.

Question: How to engage community? Would social media be effective?
Answer: This is one of the reasons to start with community based development, it is easier to build support around. Also, “feed them and they will come.”

Question: (I missed this question!)
Answer: Work a bit by bit, pursue market based solutions. A lot of our tax money is used for social services. If we can turn expensive people receiving social benefits into working taxpayers, everyone wins. Most people want to work.

Question: How to be involved locally when one can’t afford to live local? This is from someone who moved out to the suburbs because he didn’t feel safe raising his children where he lived.
Answer: Community Policing can be very useful. Working with the police to identify areas which could use more foot patrols. Job creation is key as well – sometimes people would rather have a job than sell weed.

Question: How to address criticism that [community development] is not realistic or too idealistic?
Answer: Follow the money. They can’t argue with results. The world has enough pessimists. (karin’s note: And ignore them! Who cares what they say?)

I am working on a series of posts of my notes from SXSW. Interspaced with those will be posts about what I learned in general and the value I see in SXSW.

I took 47 pages of handwritten notes. It’s gonna take a while to type them all up.

I will be headed to SXSW Interactive in Austin, TX next week, the 11th-16th. If you are going and would like to meet up, email me (karin at nirak dot net or nirak on twitter).

I’m pretty excited to go to SXSW, having listened to many of the podcasts and for a couple of years, sans visuals, and following the conversations. I’m sure I will learn a lot, and from what I hear, I will also be staying up way too late.

[awkward segue]

I had a long post written up once (one of many posts I have written which will probably stay in “draft” form) about why libraries should fund conference expenses for staff as well as faculty. I still think that is the case, but recognize that, with budgets being what they are, it probably is difficult to fund faculty travel to conferences right now, let alone staff. However, there is some advantage to paying my own way, which I neglected to mention in that post.

An excerpt from that post, written almost a year ago:

“The employee, and in turn the employer, gets much more from staff attendance at a conference besides continuing education. They get new professional contacts, new ways to solve problems, new resources to check, and, most importantly, an renewed excitement for the work they do. If a conference results in an employee that returns with new excitement and commitment to the work they are doing, everyone benefits.”

The nice thing about paying my own way to conferences (which I have done several times a year), is that since I don’t have to worry about publishing papers or giving presentations, I can choose the conferences that excite me rather than the ones that are likely to advance me towards tenure. I come back to work super exhausted and super excited about the work I am privileged to be able to do. I’m very lucky to have both the money and the available time off to be able to attend conferences.

Not really sure of my point here, except to say WOOO SXSW!!!!!

(Expect a few more awkward blog posts while I get back into this whole blogging thing).

Colors of San Pedro by my hovercraft is full of eels

The last few weeks have been a bit of a blur. Various house issues, preparing for vacation and ALA Annual, work, school, and life have been keeping me very busy. All my poor blogs are neglected. :(

I’m not going to post an ALA schedule yet, because I learned last year that it will just change anyway as ALA draws closer. I will probably post a few tentative plans next week, and will hopefully blog some sessions. Of course I will go to the sessions Cory Doctorow is at.

As for social activities, I will go to the Scholarship Bash Saturday night, and then some of us are trekking to San Pedro for the Rocky Horror Picture Show. I will go to the Blog Salon and the NMRT Social (I’m sad they’re not in the same hotel this year) most likely.

I’m heading for vacation in California before Annual- so if you are there beforehand too and want to do something, email me (karin@nirak.net.) If you want my cell phone # to contact me during Annual, just email me.

I will likely be posting vacation related stuff to my blog at os-agnostic, so check there if you want to read any of that. I’m also going to bring a painting to LA so I can give away a painting during my trip – hopefully to someone at the conference. It worked well at THATCamp.

I think that’s it. If you’re going to Annual, I’ll see you there, and if not, I hope I don’t annoy you too much with my conference postings and tweets. :)

First, though- the DC area is becoming a favorite destination of mine, even though I have only been here twice now. I spent 5 hours yesterday int he National Gallery of Art, and was, of course, awed the entire time. (The only annoying part was listening to people say ‘why is that art? I could do that!’ over and over. ) Fairfax is lovely, despite the occasional disappearing sidewalks (seems people don’t walk long distances here very often?)

THAT Camp began with a great breakfast and a whole group meeting where we planned out the schedule for the day. Participants posted their presenting ideas to the blog for a couple of weeks leading up to the unconference, so the task was a bit easier.

Session 1 – Art

The first session was a session on art- specifically digital art. There were only two others including me, David Rieder and Susan Harum. We had a great discussion of what digital art might look like and how it might be supported. David and Susan had many, many great links to share, and it was great to hear how other campuses are dealing with the emergence of digital art. I’d love to see more about this topic.

Lunch!

A fantastic lunch was accompanied by Dork Shorts- brief talks on technology topic. Presenters had 5 minutes to show off their site or idea. More good link goodness, although some of the sites were in production and not yet available to the public.

Session 2 – Alternative search

I started the session with a brief slide show that addressed some of the points I’ve made in my recent alternative search postings.

| View | Upload your own

After that, I left it up to the group to talk about what we could do to make search better. I was thrilled that the group contained a number of people with much more experience with search than me, and we talked about technologies, what the users want, and how to make search better. Josh Greenburg brought up the excellent point that some of what we think of as search problems are really user interface problems- so I am looking forward to attending the interface design tomorrow.

One of the developers of Blacklight (Bess Sadler), an open source OPAC enhancement, was there and the work that they have done is absolutely amazing. I particularly liked her ideas for allowing departments to customize search for different disciplines through an easy to use GUI interface. There were a lot of other great links mentioned, which, unfortunately I lost because of an errant keystroke.

Session 3 – Making things

Bill Turkle lead two sessions on the Arduino- I attended the second. I managed to make a light blink and alter a few programs, but what I am really excited about is getting an Arduino. I have never done anything with physical computing or electronics before, so it was a steep learning curve for me. I am the proud new owner of an Arduino, though, and I have several ideas of project I can’t wait to get started with.

Session 4 – Creative Commons/Copyright

I sort of led this session, too, through I felt a bit like an impostor because I am by no means an expert on copyright. I started with a discussion on creative commons, talked about why I use it, and what some of the advantages and disadvantages are. The group talked about some of the copyright issues they have had, and we tried to brainstorm some ways to get around them. I wish I had more answers for the frustrating issue of copyright. I believe in intellectual property, but also share the belief of many that the copyright system as it stands is as much of a hindrance as a help.

One of the frustrations the group expressed was the tendency of institutions to hold back higher resolution images from the web, opting instead to only allow very low resolution images to try and make money by selling higher resolution images. One solid idea we came up with is to try and collect studies that analyze the cost vs benefits of doing this and compile a list of advantages of making higher resolution images available and free to use. I’m going to work on this – I’m wondering if I can make it into an independent study project for school.

Andrea Ferguson talked a little bit about her experiences getting her MFA at the University at the University of South Florida, and I came away much more optimistic about Fine Art in Academia. I have been afraid that digital art was stifled many places, but many conversations have now led me to believe that that just isn’t so. Makes me want to go for an MFA even more.

Recap and dinner

At the end, the group met again and Josh Greenburg made a few final remarks. Then many of us went to dinner at Minerva, a fantastic Indian restaurant here in Fairfax. The dinner and the conversation were excellent.

I look forward to another great day tomorrow, though my brain feels about full already. I have a beautiful walk to CHNM tomorrow in the morning to look forward to, during which I can clear my thoughts.

Short for “The Humanities and Technology Camp”, THATCamp is a BarCamp-style, user-generated “unconference” on digital humanities. THATCamp is organized and hosted by the Center for History and New Media at George Mason University, Digital Campus, and THATPodcast.

I have been listening to Digital Campus for a while (since the 2nd episode, I think) and am, of course, a big fan of Zotero, so I’m thrilled to go to George Mason and hang with a bunch of super smart people. I’m hoping the smart will rub off a little on me.

I’m full of ideas for the unconference, but nothing concrete is forming in my brain yet. Luckily, THAT Camp will be after I have finished my spring semester but before I start my summer semester, so I will have some time to collect my thoughts, do a little research, and maybe make some more research LOL cats, just for fun.

This will be the first conference/event I have gone to that is directly related to digital humanities (I have been to library conferences), and I am looking forward to talking about DH things with people outside of work.

I am also excited to be heading back to Washington D.C., though the only time I have to visit museums will be Friday after my plane gets in at 11ish. I’ll be running over to the National Gallery of Art as soon as the plane lands. Last time I did my whirlwind tour of the national mall museums, I didn’t get to spend much time in the NGA. Though I won’t be able to make it this trip (I tried to fly out later Monday night, but it didn’t work out) I WILL see the National Building Museum someday. (Jenny Levine has recommended this to me at least twice, so I must see it!)

On another note, if anyone knows of a cheap place to stay in/near Fairfax or has a couch I can crash on for the nights of May 30, May 31, and June 1, let me know. Alternately, if anyone else is going and wants to share a room, let me know. I can get a hotel, but I’m trying to save money where possible. :)

The other reason I have not posted about these feelings and thoughts is because it is hard to do so without naming names. Much of what I want in a job depends on where that job is, and that has to do with family, friends, and of course, my husband who is both my family and my best friend. (OK, trying not to sound too mushy, but he really is.) Also, the library community is small. It’s not hard to determine who I am talking about, even if I don’t name names. This has mede me super careful about what I post, especially lately.

So please forgive me if my posts come off sounding a little awkward and vague- it’s where my brain is right now.

I recently withdrew my name from a job that I really, really wanted. I think I had a good chance at getting the position, but it was just too far from home, in a place my husband would have had a hard time relocating. I knew this when I applied, of course. The plan was that I would spend the week in this other place and then come home on the weekends. It sounds OK on paper, and in planning, but when we actually sat down to figure out costs and logistics, it sort of fell apart. There were a lot of little things that, if taken alone, would have been fine, but all together would make the job unmanageable.

Then there was the fact that I am, after all, still in school- still carrying a full coarse load while working full time. Travel would mean cutting 5-6 hours out of my week when I have little time to spare. I can’t help but feel I should have considered all these aspects of the job before I applied, and I feel bad for not doing so. On the other hand, sometimes it takes a face to face confrontation with a possibility before it feels real. I am very grateful to the search committee of the school I applied to. It sounds like they are doing wonderful things and I am disappointed I will not be a part of it. They asked really great questions that really showed they are thinking about many of the same things I am, and it will be hard to come by a job that would allow me the opportunities this one would have.

The whole experience has made me cautious about job applications. For a while now I have been adding more and more to my to do pile- applying for a job seemed like the logical next step. I realize now that I need to take a step back and reassess. Full time work and school is hard- when I add to that presenting and writing and conferences and serving as secretary for the NMRT of the NLA, I’m pretty much filled up to capacity.

At the same time all this was happening, or maybe because of it, I have found myself drifting back to art as a pastime. I sort of stopped making art after I finished my Bachelors in Fine Art. The preparation for the final show and my final classes were overwhelming (I was working near full time then, too). I was constantly making art, and that art was constantly evaluated and critiqued, and it got exhausting. I not only had to create, but I had to think very carefully and pointedly about what I was creating, how to explain it, how to defend it, and how to present it. The thought of making a living at as an artist started to take on an ominous tone- a life full of creating for someone else, and to base my living off that… well, let’s just say I’m glad I found librarianship as another option.

So I’ve been painting again, and it feels good. It’s been a while since I’ve had a hobby completely outside of library stuff. Even the “fun” books I read last summer almost all had to do with some aspect of libraries- technology, management, etc. To get my artwork out there I’ve started a “free artwork” photoset in Flickr- I will occasionally put up small paintings there for free (and I usually announce on Twitter). There is something immensely gratifying about giving things away for free.

I realize that when I push myself too hard, I end up wanting to turn away from the things I am most passionate about, so I am on a quest to regain some balance in my life. I was so sparky last semester- my thoughts seemed to mesh up with what I was learning in class and the blogosphere supported it all. Now my feed reader constantly taunts me with the little “1000+” unread posts signal. I’ve taken a laissez faire approach to that- not gonna weed or do anything, just read when I can. I feel like I’m constantly running to catch up, not sprinting ahead of the pack. I hope that this spring break I can emerge with new enthusiasm and vigor, and more purpose about what I want to do and how I can accomplish it.

Photos: splorp BugMan50 capturingJenn (last one mine)

Today, I’ll share a few do’s and do not’s I thought of- feel free to add more in the comments.

Do: Learn how each social network works. There are different ways to use each service, and it is likely you won’t use all of the features on any of them. For instance, I am not very active in groups on Flickr, but I always look at my contacts’ photos, comment where appropriate, and monitor my conversations. (Flickr makes this easy!)

Don’t: Use networks to spam people. Individualized messages are great, form letter sounding messages are not so great.

Do: Choose the networks that work for you. Twitter may not be your thing, and that’s fine. Find the networks that work for you and use them. (Hint: if you like Scrabble, join Facebook and challenge somebody to a Scrabulous game.)

Don’t: Join networks for the sole purpose of asking for a favor. Joining one day and then asking people if they know of any good jobs the next isn’t kosher. If you are going to use social networks, you have to be social- start early, and keep it up!

Do: Put up pictures of yourself. I use an icon for my profile pic (it is fairly distinctive) everywhere, but I also include another picture of myself if allowed. I also put my picture on my about page. People like to know who they are talking to, and it will increase the likelihood people will recognize you should you ever meet them.

Don’t: Put up potentially embarrassing pictures of yourself. I know this should go without saying, but it bears repeating. If you are already on social networks, you might want to clean up your profile a bit before you start friending professional contacts. (e.g. get rid of pictures of yourself surrounded by beer cans.) There’s always the option of maintaining a separate identity- that always seemed like a lot of work to me, but it is certainly do-able.

Do: Check your name in search engines. If you have a very common name, you might want to consider adding your middle initial or using a nick name to differentiate yourself from the other “Jane Smith’s” out there. If you do this, you have to be consistent and use it everywhere- resume, business card, website, social networks, etc. If nothing else, make sure that your name + library (or whatever industry keyword you want) brings up something about you.

Don’t: Fall for “Search Engine Optimization” offers. If you stick with a well known blogging platform (like WordPress, Blogger, Movable Type, Drupal, etc.), enable name based URL’s, and especially if you buy your own domain name, your site will already be optimized. You can increase your ranking by commenting on others’ blogs (real comments, not “mee toos”) linking from any other sites you own, and perhaps asking a few well known acquaintances to link to you, if appropriate. The absolute best thing you can do is develop content: i.e. write in your blog.

Do: Share your knowledge. Some might say that you don’t want to give everything away, but especially in the early part of your career you have to demonstrate that you have something to say before you can reasonably think of charging for your knowledge and skills.

Don’t: Become locked into your opinion. It’s perfectly OK to revisit something you wrote about before and say you changed your mind. That’s not wishy washy- that’s showing the ability to think in the face of new evidence and make an informed decision.

Do: Carry business cards with your web address at all times. I’m a student, so I don’t have professional cards- I just ordered some Moo Cards and use those. The point is to make yourself findable whether you meet someone online or off.

Don’t: Complain, gripe, be snarky, or otherwise be overly negative. I’m not saying everything has to be sunny and roses, but try to put a rational face on things and look at the bright side whenever possible. Try offering a suggestion for change or research how other institutions handle similar situations. If you’re not sure, get a second opinion or sit on a post for a day.

Do: Utilize a number of social networking sites in your “main” site. For instance, instead of uploading pictures to your private web space, put them on Flickr or another photo sharing site. You can incorporate books you are reading into your site through LibraryThing, or show the blogs you are reading using a Google Reader widget. Link back and forth to different services with wild abandon.

Do: Similar to above: Link early, link often. You might think that linking to another person’s website doesn’t really do anything, but it does. They might see that incoming link, and link back, or come visit your site.

Don’t: Limit your networking to online. OK, this probably doesn’t belong on this page, but it’s important. Try to make it to local conferences, write articles for your state library association publication, give local presentations and join mentoring programs. These are just a few examples of ways you can get involved locally. Online networking is great, but meeting someone face to face really solidifies a relationship. And dress nice when you attend the conferences- you never know when you might get an on the spot job interview or pre-interview.

Do: Use Creative Commons licensing whenever possible. You can get a license for your work here, and on some sites (like Flickr) you can set a license for the content you upload. I have most of my content under a CC By: license- which means anyone can use it, but they have to credit me. This does two things: it gives you more links back, and it just about guarantees your work will be spread more widely. If you are worried about stealing, think of it this way: If someone wants to steal your online content, they will. It’s happened to me. But some people will look for content they can use legally, and you want those people to find your content, because they are good about linking back. Besides, it’s just cool when you find one of your pictures on someone else’s blog header.