Some of you all may be familiar with our popular training sessions open to both public and staff, where we provide hands-on training in the use of our fantastic eBook and eNews resources, (which as you all know by now are entirely free - al you do is register as a DRS member). This time round, we decided to opt for something slightly different

On the 15th December’, we rolled out the first of our eBooks and eNews Extravaganzas at Woodlands Regional Library. And we would not be doing justice to all those who attended, participated and helped out if we did not admit that it was quite successful.

Continue reading "eBooks & eNews Extravaganza @ WRL" »

Posted by digitalk team at 05:12 PM | Permalink | Comments (1)

Our first venture into schools, and the response was overwhelming. Droves of enthusiastic Dunman High School students rushed into the library to find out everything from “Rihanna to Raffles.”

That’s right, our eResources cover a wide array of subjects, ranging from Pop Culture to History. Students found the session to be useful for their project work. They were introduced to the many resources and services offered for free at NLB’s website, which are readily accessible 24/7.

Continue reading "On a High" »

Posted by digitalk team at 12:17 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

Chosen by members of the International Academy of Digital Arts and Sciences "based on a number of creative and functional criteria" - the Webbys are OUT. If you want to see the full list you need to drop by here or you can view the wonderful world of Webby gallery. For what it's worth these are the ones that caught our eye from the winner's list

Continue reading "Once more the wonderful Webbys ...." »

Posted by digi.talk team at 11:52 AM | Permalink | Comments (0)

Thanks to Google's Zeitgeist we can now take the temperature of the hottest things worldwide that people have been looking into Google for during the month of April
So in time-honoured fashion let's take a selection alphabetically around the world and check out the current Top 5

Afghanistan

Continue reading "What's cooking worldwide on the web" »

Posted by digi.talk team at 04:50 PM | Permalink | Comments (1)

In striving to be so hi-tech, so tuned in, so pumped to be "cutting edge" or "cool" or 24/7 connected. To have latest, fastest "best in show" devices for our palmtop, laptop or desktop is the ultimate techright of the tomorrow people. Planned obsolescence is the only verity and perpetual upgrades are the automatically downloaded rule.

But just for a moment, pause, and think what that means in terms of the the computer hardware and nifty electronics we habitually get rid of. Where do they go and who does what with them? It is being increasing understood that we are dumping a problem of epidemic proportions, estimations say that 20 to 50 million tons of digital waste is generated annually worldwide.

Most of this is shipped out to India, China and Kenya where "scavenger economies" have grown up - feeding off the vast mountains of our electronic detritus Families eke out a living from the harmful, the toxic and the downright deadly spare parts, rescuing the precious from the shells and casings of the unwanted, once desirable consumer toy.

Technology, they say, drives the forces of globalization. But at what cost? This photo essay provides a graphic insight into the people on the other end of our connected world

DIRECT LINKS
INSIDE THE DIGITAL DUMP. Foreign Policy, May/Jun2007 Issue 160, p74-79, 6p; (AN 24873868)
from EBSCOHost Academic Search Premier

Image courtesy of Foreign Policy via EBSCOHost

Posted by digi.talk team at 04:57 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

We all look for ways to brighten up our presentations or make our projects more appealing, don't we? Look no further than NLB e-Resources!
Our databases are full of a tremendous variety of images, contemporary and historical; serious and quirky, that you can use without worrying about copying rights. Check out these databases from our eResources today!

Continue reading "Looking for an image makeover?" »

Posted by digitalk team at 11:13 AM | Permalink | Comments (0)

If you are at all artisitically inclined then you will know that the Singapore Arts Festival is on now. We are not going to to do any previewing or overdo on the recommendations . All performances these days have a digital dimension of some sort but we have picked some which have an obvious digital element in their delivery or performance or execution.

...in the performing arts

Continue reading "SingArtFest 2007 - the digitalk point of view" »

Posted by digi.talk team at 12:41 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

Fifty years ago, there were about 1,000 animators in Hollywood - most likely employed by Disney, who worked in the Looney Tunes backlot of the movie industry. In the last few years everywhere you can throw a stick a digital animator jumps up and says "Hey you!", an effects specialist goes "Whatsup" , or a videogame maker gets very animated. The term "filmmaking professional" now covers the usual set designers and cinematographers, but have been joined or have morphed into computer-generated imagers, motion-capturers, and digital compositors. They are the spell-casters whose animated effects have even crawled into the "real world" of the documentary or the big budget blockbuster. There are some in the industry who are suggesting that it won't be too long before the Tom Cruises of today will be taken over by the an ultra-sophisticated improvement on the Shreks and Final Fantasists and only be paid those mega bucks for a voice over.

Continue reading ""Create me ..." said the digitally animated voice softly" »

Posted by digi.talk team at 03:13 PM | Permalink | Comments (1)

Between 26 MAY and 14 JULY 2007 all of you young guns between the ages of 15 to 35 are encouraged to get out there and video-express yourselves (in a strictly non-violent sense).
After registration (details at the bottom of this post) you are invited to "think passionately and articulate [your] opinions" whether you have a burning beef or a opinion dying to get out about your life in Singapore, your Asian universe and anything socially significant- and then if your idea is selected, you will be mentored through the whole process of creation..
So what are you waiting for - if you have admired from afar John Grierson, Agnes Varda or Michael Moore then this is your chance to step up to the plate. The Sundance Film Festival with its famous short film emphasis beckons .... So whether you do it all yourself or you want to get together with some friends (no more than 4, the rules stipulate) give yourself a break ...and dream big ... you have nothing to lose but your video virginity!
Some films have been uploaded online on Youtube for access by anyone, and you can get involved in discussions about them via the Youth.SG forums

Oh and did we forget to say there will be cash prizes in the student and open categories. and that the two first-prize winners will be awarded a further $2,500 prize to produce a short film.

Registration is SGD$10 per person, via Gatecrash from 2nd May to 25 May, or through The Substation Hotline, 6337 7800. For details and updates, visit reel revolution
or call 6337 7535 / 6734 9600.

DIRECT LINKS
1. The Battle for Authenticity': Perspectives on John Grierson and the National Film Board of Canada. - from EBSCOHost Academic Search Premier
Film.
http://search.ebscohost.com/login.aspx?direct=true&AuthType=ip,url,uid&db=aph&AN=9063087&site=ehost-live

2, "Varda, Agnès." Encyclopædia Britannica. 2007. Encyclopædia Britannica Online Library Edition. 11 May 2007 .

Posted by digi.talk team at 04:21 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

The "Give Me A Reason" campaign by Digital Resources & Services was launched in January 2007. This campaign is about exploring the resources, services and activities available at NLB online.

As part of this fun-filled campaign, online quizzes were held and fabulous prizes were given away. Just how fabulous you wonder? Winners walked away with sleek iPod nanos!

Here's one of our elated quiz winners for the "Give Me A Reason" online quiz, Ms Caroline Pang. Ms Pang had mentioned that she initially wanted to purchase an iPod nano for herself but decided to wait a little longer. Patience paid off in the end as she won what she wanted eventually.

There's more quizzes to come and more prizes to be won, so watch this space!

Ms Caroline Pang, showing off her prize.

Posted by digitalk team at 10:41 AM | Permalink | Comments (0)

Ever wondered if there was another planet, just like Earth, in existence?

We may not know what lies far away from us right now but we are sure inching closer to discovery.

A planet very similar to our mother earth might be in existence after all. Astronomers have discovered an, what they describe as, icy earth-like planet orbiting a distant extra-solar star. (1)

Dubbed a ‘super-Earth’, the international team of scientists said the planet, which they believe to be a bare, rocky world, weighs 13 times as much as Earth and is circling a star about 9,000 light-years away. ‘Super-Earth’ appears to be the most Earth-like of any of the more than 200 planets discovered outside the solar system. (2)

Continue reading "Life beyond Earth" »

Posted by digitalk team at 02:21 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

A small but select group of you folks turned up at Jurong Regional Library last Saturday and Sunday. You were drawn of course by the prizes but we like to think that you also partly came to try out the 2D barcode. NLB, working with iDA, iCell and TAG-IT wanted to test out the usefulness of the 2D barcode technology in a live public library environment.

So what is a 2D barcode? Also known as "matrix code", the main thing to grasp is that they are able to hold more information than conventional one dimensional barcodes. Conventional barcodes get longer as more data is encoded. 2D barcodes make use of the vertical dimension to squeeze in more data.

Continue reading "Not your ordinary barcode.." »

Posted by digi.talk team at 11:41 AM | Permalink | Comments (1)

I heard someone say recently that gamers, in order to make their experience feel more real, are requesting that the racing circuits, the mean streets and the alternative half-worlds they inhabit be populated with advertising. And here's me thinking that gaming was a brave attempt to get away from reality! So they asked for it, now they have got it - "in-game advertising"(1) is the latest ad person's dream.

Continue reading "The dream of the ad world and the reality of the gamer" »

Posted by digitalk team at 03:05 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

Another batch of databases for you to add to your diet plan - guaranteed non-fattening but definitely mind-enhancing and knowledge-developing.

First up is...

which focuses solely on Internet commerce. Business-to-consumer and business-to-business companies make use of its contents to make informed decisions in the complex and rapidly changing Internet economy.

Offering strategic analysis and insight of industry trends and forecasts as well as today's best practices. Jupiter's analysis is backed by proprietary data and emphasizes actionable findings.

Go to eDatabases and look under the letter "J"

AVAILABLE at all NLB branches and remote.

... and a little closer to home ...

The easy to access Singapore lowdown you have been waiting for! Annual audited financial performance of Singapore's top 1000 corporations and top 500 small & medium enterprises. Information includes corporate rankings by turnover and profit, as well as 5-year sales trend by industry and sales and net profit in terms of industry.

Go to eDatabases and look under the letter "S"

AVAILABLE at all NLB branches only.

Posted by digi.talk team at 12:33 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

OK, I know we missed out telling you - but trust me there were some good reasons and anyway it's not too late to let you in on the next few rounds of the “I am @ Youth.SG”the first -I venture to say- Singapore Blogging Festival (but not the first in the world as can be seen here).
The folks at youth.sg have been trying to get the young and older youths worked up about the creative potential of blogging - asking the Generation Youth of Singapore to put themselves on record - "who they are and what they do." - [that means YOU - if you consider yourself a "youth"]

The festival runs from January to March 2007 and the dates you need are:
12 Jan to 26 Jan - PRIZE - A Canon Ixus 60
26 Jan to 9 Feb - PRIZE Motorola KRZR K1
9 Feb and beyond - details were not available

So, of course, we think that blogging is a good thing and we say "get out there and express yourself!" All you need to know is here!

[cartoon courtesy of www.loiclemeur.com]

Posted by digitalk team at 04:24 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

Last month, the Digital Library Services Promotions Team (yours truly!) organised a database training session especially for young people, aged 10-15 years old. Training was conducted for six different databases that are useful to young people, for their schoolwork and even to build their general knowledge.

So just how did the training go? Why not let our exclusive photographs do the talking?

Continue reading "Caught in the Act " »

Posted by digitalk team at 05:04 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

That alluring aroma in your nostrils is coming from these newly baked additions to our e-databases.......

Business Resource Complete

Available at all libraries and from home

SPORTDiscus

(Limited to 20 concurrent access for both onsite and remote access)

Available at all libraries and from home

IMAGES
1. "Street vendors wait for customers near an outdoor market in Moscow"
Image courtesy of UPI via EBSCOHost Academic Search Premier;

2. Jian Tong, of China, tosses his partner Qiang Pang during the pairs free program at the World Figure Skating Championships 2001
Reuters Pictures courtesy Factiva

Posted by digi.talk team at 09:35 AM | Permalink | Comments (0)

Our sibling blog ASK! has some sage advice to offer budding bloggers and has particular relevance to the Singapore context. This provides a useful update to our more generic posts some time back on blogging and safety in the cybersurf.

Posted by digi.talk team at 09:59 AM | Permalink | Comments (0)

The dream of a Wireless Singapore came closer the other day and one of the places you can "get wireless" is through any of NLB's libraries

To sign up, all you need is a WiFi-enabled device, such as a laptop computer or a PDA, a web browser, and a registered Wireless@SG account. With a registered account, users are able to roam within any of Wireless@SG's coverage areas, regardless of the operators' network. Thereafter a single password allows you to get online at any Wireless@SG hot spot up at to 512 kilobits per second (Kbps).

So why not register online the next time you are in an NLB library with your laptop or call one of the three telecoms operators running the service - iCell Network, QMax Communications or SingTel. By the way of an incentive there are goodies to be won from most of these vendors when you sign up.

Wireless@SG is partially funded by the Singapore government and the number of hotspots will increase to 5,000 hotspots by next year.

So surfing the Web, making a phonecall(VoIP) or watching a video can be free wherever you are.

Any questions? You can check here or drop us a line

Posted by digi.talk team at 01:14 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

Here we are blowing our own trumpet again! Overdrive as you all know has a wealth of e-book and audio books but now the whole experience got more interesting with the addition of music and video titles
FROM

Handel Oxford Water Music Handel Oxford Water Music
by Brook Street Band

TO

Continue reading "Going into Overdrive with music and video" »

Posted by digi.talk team at 05:49 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

So the digi.talk team had a “jolly good time” at the Asian Children’s Festival last weekend meeting some of you, showcasing our eContent for our younger digital users and signing up nearly 400 new users over the three days.

We were showing off TumbleBook Library, NLB Overdrive eBook collection and Grolier: The New Book of Popular Science just to name a few.

TumbleBook Library was very popular with our visitors, with its colourful and extensive range of “read and hear” eBooks, catching everyone’s attention, young and old.

So just to show you how “happening” our booth was, let the pictures tell the story!

The Asian Children’s Festival continues until this Sunday, 26th of November. We won’t be there in person but it is still worth giving it a visit!

Posted by digi.talk team at 05:48 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

My have we been busy! Check out these new database additions for your digital wealth and pleasure!

This database offers research services from Informa Finance covering topics such as:
Regulation and Compliance, Tax and Accounting, International Trade Finance, International Payments and Pension.
(Instructions for use can be found at I-Financial.com type in any email address and click ‘enter’)
Available at all libraries and from home

Continue reading "Hot from the Oven 2" »

Posted by digi.talk team at 04:45 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

“Because the world is radically new, the ideal encyclopedia should be radical, too.” -Charles Van Doren (1)

‘The Singapore Encyclopedia’ was released recently. Weighing in at 3.2 kg, this comprehensive tome on everything and anything about Singapore features 2500 entries and about the same number of photos, maps and illustrations. (2) The encyclopedia is so popular that it is already on its second print run – the first 8000 copies having sold out in three weeks! (3)

While ‘The Singapore Encyclopedia’ might be the first of its kind here in Singapore, encyclopedias have been around for more than 2,000 years. (4) According to the Encyclopaedia Britannica, an encyclopedia refers to “a compendium of all available knowledge, complete with maps and a detailed index, as well as numerous adjuncts such as bibliographies, illustrations, lists of abbreviations and foreign expressions, gazetteers, and so on”.

There are various types of encyclopedias, ranging from a single volume on a specific subject or country, to giant multivolume sets on everything topic imaginable. For instance, there are encyclopedias specifically for children, the first of which appeared before the 19th century. It is interesting to note that in the past 2,000 years, at least 2,000 encyclopedias have been published in various parts of the world. Imagine the shelf space these volumes would take up if a library owned copies of them all!

Continue reading "Encyclopaedically Thinking" »

Posted by digi.talk team at 04:47 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

Social SciSearch
An international, multi-disciplinary index to the literature of the social, behavioural, and related sciences, produced by the Institute for Scientific Information (ISI®). It contains all of the records published in the Social Sciences Citation Index.
Business, Finance and Industry, Education, Health and Medicine, History, Language and Literature, Law and Government, Philosophy, Psychology and Religion

Arts & Humanities Search
Covers 1,300 of the world's leading arts and humanities journals, plus relevant social and natural science journals, and has additional records from the Current Contents series of publications.
Arts, History, Language and Literature, Philosophy, Psychology and Religion, Social Sciences and Humanities

Consumer Reports
Contains the complete text of all articles and product recalls from Consumer Reports magazine, plus articles from Consumer Reports Travel Letter and Consumer Reports on Health. Goods and services covered include appliances, cars, electronics, foods, health, home, personal and travel.
Business, Finance, Industry, Computers and Information Technology, Health and Medicine, Sports, Recreation and Travel

Asia Intelligence Wires
Contains an extensive collection of newswire stories, newspaper articles and journal articles from a wide variety of over 200 sources. Geographic coverage includes Cambodia, China, India, Hong Kong, Indochina, Indonesia, Japan, Korea, Malaysia, Myanmar, Philippines, Singapore, Taiwan, Thailand, and Vietnam.
Business, Finance, Industry, Computers and Information Technology, Law and Government News, Singapore and Southeast Asia, Sports, Recreation and Travel

[ALL THE ABOVE DATABASES ARE AVAILABLE
TO NLB STAFF AND PATRONS OF LEE KONG CHIEN REFERENCE LIBRARY]

DIRECT LINKS
1. Images courtesy of EBSCOHost Academic Search Premier

Posted by digi.talk team at 04:40 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

Condominiums located around town have always left me intrigued.

Just how much do those beautiful stylistic apartments cost?
Would I be able to afford it, some day maybe?
Just how exclusive are they in the market?

I never did get my answers, and that’s because I never searched for them.

I have to admit I do not understand anything about real estate information. But somehow, the articles in the newspapers last week caught my attention. Did you know one could search for newspapers articles in databases ProQuest Newspapers Complete, Newsbank and Factiva.com? You could access newspaper articles from newspapers all over the world using these databases.

So what’s all this fuss about private property prices in the newspapers lately?

Continue reading "Real estate information at your fingertips" »

Posted by digitalk team at 04:27 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

“Every individual creates and keeps information about their personal and business activities. Archivists identify and preserve portions of this recorded information that has lasting value” (5). This is exactly what Web Archive Singapore does to websites.

Web Archive Singapore (W.A.S) by the National Library Board, was launched successfully on the 18th of October.

So what’s an archive to begin with?
According to Encyclopaedia Britannica Online, “an archive is a repository for an organized body of records produced or received by a public, semipublic, institutional, or business entity in the transaction of its affairs and preserved by it or its successors.” The term “archives”, which also designates the body of records themselves, derives from French.

W.A.S is a repository of some 1,000 Singapore-related websites,
This archive collection showcases various facets of our local lives and websites were carefully selected to be part of the nation's documentary heritage. It seeks to provide both a research tool and a record of online content that may no longer exist on the original sites.

Continue reading "National Library Board starts to archive web" »

Posted by digitalk team at 04:32 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

Colours are used to symbolize the many things we use daily. The native Americans used colour symbology along with the other different types of symbology existing. The colours blue, white, red and black were used to represent the four directions; north, south, east and west respectively. Apart from representing the directions, these colours used also held specific meanings. For example, blue which represented north, also meant cold, defeat and trouble. While on the other hand, white which represented south, also represented warmth, peace and happiness.

In Singapore, colour symbology has also been used often. One common example would be the colours used to represent the various train lines at our MRT stations. Red is used to represent the north-south train line which green is used to represent the east-west train line.

To help you find your way around our blog, we too at digi.talk have used colour symbology. Colours are used to represent the various types of links found in our blog posts. Red is used for indicating links from internal webpages (at www.nlb.gov.sg). Blue is used for external links.

So, go on and explore without the fear of getting lost.

Direct Links:

1. Source: The Power of Place, 1993, p. 50
2. John Gage: 'Colour language [from OCWA]', Grove Art Online (Accessed 08 September 2006),
3. Image taken from: http://knsaber.com/upload/

Posted by digitalk team at 03:07 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

"It's just the same as the real world" - is now a well-worn phrase with regard to cyberspace, the virtual universe or whatever you choose to call it. Well, of course it isn't the real world - but there are ways in which it can intrude into your real world which can be quite disturbing. This is raising concerns worldwide, particularly for parents, who want to be sure that their online offspring are as safe on the Web as they are in their home. But fear not! help is at hand for parents, sons and daughters- without the need for round-the-clock surveillance.

Continue reading "Getting Savvy with Safe Surfing" »

Posted by digitalk team at 05:24 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

This notion of self-publishing, which is what .....blogging [is] really about, is the next big wave of human communication. The last big wave was Web activity. Before that one it was e-mail. Instant messaging is an extension of e-mail.
Eric Schmidt- CEO of Google

Posted by digitalk team at 01:39 PM | Permalink | Comments (1)

Many of you must have been wondering what's the sudden fuss about blogs. Let us the enlighten you about the current buzz.

Definition of Blog
Blog, which is a shorter term for weblog, is basically a journal that is available on the web. It is also known as a frequent, chronological publication of personal thoughts and Web links. The activity of updating a blog is "blogging" and someone who keeps a blog is a "blogger." Blogs are typically updated daily using software that allows people with little or no technical background to update and maintain the blog. Entries contain commentary and links to other Web sites, and images as well as a search facility may also be included. A blog with video clip entries instead of text is a "video Weblog". People maintained blogs long before the term was coined, but the trend gained momentum with the introduction of automated published systems, most notably Blogger at blogger.com.
Sourc