Point, Shoot and Educate: Using QR Codes to Inform Your Patron

Library Technology Conference, Macalester College, St, Paul, MN.

14 March 2012

Louise Alcorn, Reference Technology Librarian at West Des Moines Public Library


http://digitalcommons.macalester.edu/libtech_conf/2012/sessions/4/http://digitalcommons.macalester.edu/libtech_conf/2012/sessions/4/

I have not had much experience with QR codes, so wanted to learn more about the possible uses for libraries.  When in Washington the previous week during spring break, I noticed the use in some of the Smithsonian museums and in the Nazi Propaganda exhibit at the United States Holocaust Museum.  At the beginning of her presentation, Louise Alcorn mentioned the use of QR codes in museums before giving us a brief background.  QR  (Quick Response) codes were developed in 1994 by Denso Wave, a Toyota subsidiary.  They are a two dimensional barcode originally used for logistics.  A web-enabled mobile device with a camera reads and decodes them.  Contact details need to be added to a phone for them to work.

                                                 Examples of QR Code Use

Sharing food recipes in grocery stores

Giving plant care instructions in nurseries

Special offers, coupons

Cereal boxes

Real estate

T-shirts

Movie trailers (Time Warner)

                                                Libraries - Free

1 Introduce QR Codes

2 Educate patrons on how to use them

3 Create and use

    Can put on website, Twitter feed, Facebook

Be creative in promoting

Save time for patrons and library staff

The best use of QR codes is using a virtual environment to attact to a physical space

If possible, send to a mobile-enabled webiste.  (Blackberry is unsupported)

QR Code Generators

qrcode.kaywa.com

qrstuff.com

Use shorteners.  Can use different colors, but black and white scans the best.

Steady hands are needed to create QR codes.  Scanning them can give access to webites and free tickets.  Some of the participants shared ideas used by their libraries.  All 60 branches of the Brooklyn Public Library use them.  A good example was using them on end panels and shelving to lead patrons to online subject guides.  For Readers Advisory, QR codes on web pages and advertising lead patrons to the physical collection.  They can also be used for giving new titles.  Louise Alcorn gave the example of the RAGBRI (bicycle race) in Iowa even using them on big signs along the road.  She said that there are lots of ideas on the Library Best Practices wiki.  QR codes can be used at transit stations, stencils on pavement, library book marks, wristbands and even rooftops.  Generally patrons have "caught on" to using them faster than e-book readers. 

There was a question about tracking QR codes for traffic numbers.  Being a code is actually a URL, it should be able to be tracked. 

                                         Advantages for Using QR Codes

Gets us thinking about physical and virtual tie-ins

Gives more 3D applications

A reason to explain to an employer why a smartphone is needed

Patrons today are on their phones anyway - so engage them!

Ideas for Colleges

For new student days - Put information from the library in bars near campus

Cooperate with admissions and student services

Louise Alcorn again stressed that the best use of QR codes is for anything that makes your mobile experience better, not just to give straight information.

Our libraries have not done anything with QR codes yet, but after attending the session the possibilities are interesting to explore. 

Wednesday Morning Keynote Speech at Library Technology Conference 2012

FIGHT FOR THE FUTURE: LIBRARIES, TECH POLICY AND THE FATE OF HUMAN KNOWLEDGE

March 14th was a lovely Spring day at Macalester College in St. Paul for the opening of the 4th annual Library Technology Conference. Andrew McLaughlin, who left his position as Deputy Chief Technology Officer for the Obama administration to become Vice President of Tumblr, gave a dynamic opening address. McLaughlin is also a fellow at Stanford University's Center for Internet and Society.

The importance of librarians was acknowledged at the beginning of the speech as McLaughlin shared his experience with Internet free speech as an attorney in the 1990's. He realized at that time that librarians do the work of civilization in spreading knowledge. It is important for librarians to "join the fights" that surround us and be engaged as possible. McLaughlin amazed his audience by telling them that their smartphones have more technology than NASA had in 1969 to put man on the moon. He spoke of Moore's Law which doubles the amount of technology for the amount of money. Prices to run cloud applications will continue to drop as global Internet traffic continues to boom. There is no scarcity in processing power. In 2001, Africa had a single fiber cable while in 2012 connectivity for Africa is booming. A problem with Internet is that it is not evenly distributed.

I appreciated the Internet background that McLaughlin gave in his presentation. While not just a telephone network, an accurate architectural description was available for the Internet as early as 1964. The Internet is a distributive network based on an end to end principle that any point can reach any other point. Due to the openess and lack of central controls, we do not need permission for communicating with anyone we wish to communicate with in the world. While "messy", the Internet is worth defending and fighting for as a "best efforts" network. The Internet dominates our information because it is fundamentally different from any past communication being any point can now communicate with any other point.

                                                    RECENT EXAMPLES

1.  airbnb.com    A site that was new to me.  Anyone ranks anywhere to stay.

2.  Khan Academy.  I had just watched an interesting segment on the previous Sunday on 60 Minutes.

3.  Egypt in 2011.  The dark side where communication was shut off.  Egypt was able to use one building as a "choking point."  An example where like anything available to mankind, tools can be used for good or evil.  Governments can officially use censorship or control to steer the way they want.  The Internet is borderless while nations are bordered.

4.  The 2008 Obama campaign which spearheaded the use of social media, now seems primitive.

5.  Experience with SKYPE while in the Obama White House during the Haiti earthquake.

6.  Iceland.  After economic problems there in 2007 and 2008, the whole government went into default.

7.  Latvia Petitions.  Coders set up a decentralized website.  Anyone with an idea can post, but only the creator has the URL.  After about 1,000 Latvians give the idea a thumbs up, the idea goes to a public site.  After enough support is generated there, the award is five minutes of time on the floor of the Latvian Parliament - real world movement in real world government!

dw.de/dw/article/0,,15343035,00.html

8.  United States.  We the People on the White House website. 

whitehouse.gov/petitions

(The examples show that technology does NOT solve anything, but gets into the government)



Internet is power

    Decentralization = Power

        Data, News, Culture and Politics 

Passive Consumption leads to Active Creation

         The Internet makes it possible to be an active presenter

Andrew McLaughlin next spoke about Hot Spots for Nerdy Librarians (and those who love them)

He spoke of the Open Internet
         Net Neutrality
         Wireless
         Competition (or lack)     
         Proposed SOPA/PIPA Legislation

Most "nerds" believe in government hands off of the Internet.  An example from the 1980's was when the U. S. government broke up "Ma Bell" and re-concentration took place with lots of different businesses.

McLaughlin also talked about concern with copyright infringement in the entertainment and music industries.   His company, Tumblr, was able to generate about 160,000 calls to Congress in one day during the time of the SOPA/PIPA debating on a cluster of issues around copyright and creativity.  The copyright system is difficult to access as it is still paper driven.  If it moves fully online, the system could be searchable, but the Copyright Office will only change with pressure from the public. Currently the National Institutes of Health is pioneering the move to public access, but for bills in Congress to move forward, there are also bills to move backward.

Before taking questions, Andrew McLaughlin challenged us to:

            Fight for the Future

                   for Freedom of Access and Freedom of Information   because they matter

The Center for Democracy and Technology is a fantastic organization in Washington, DC for public knowledge.

cdt.org

Andrew McLaughlin even surprised a few librarians by sending tweets during his presentation.  He showed the Twitter feed for #ltc2012 on the big screen so tweeters could even see what they had just tweeted during his speech.

Martin Luther King Memorial

4 March 2012. The Martin Luther King Jr. Memorial was a new attraction for us since our last time there in 2009 when we saw a small sign marking the site. We asked a National Park Service employee about it then, but there was not much information at the time. There is a good view of the Jefferson Memorial across the Tidal Basin from the King Memorial. A short walk away is the Franklin D. Roosevelt Memorial where we walked to again after seeing the King one. On the first Sunday in March, the King memorial was a popular attraction with many tourists taking photos and reading the quotations. A very powerful monument to Dr. King! Sometime I would like to see the cherry blossoms blooming in Washington as we were a few weeks too early.

The Joy of Books

Spring Break Time in Washington, DC - The Capitol Dome

Photo - March, 2009

Funny Library Montage - From YouTube

NBC Studios at Burbank

Before leaving California on 3 January, our last "tourist" appearance was at the taping of the Tonight Show with Jay Leno following an NBC Studio Tour.