Fireworks for the Fourth July 2, 2009
Posted by v2plcmc in Uncategorized.Tags: animation, art, digital signage, fireworks, flat screens, fourth of july, libraries, library, PES, plcmc, stop-motion, technology, virtual village
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Although the library will be closed on the Fourth of July, that doesn’t mean that we can’t share in the celebration! PES, one of our favorite stop motion animation artists, has created a video that just explodes with fun and festivity! Last year around the Fourth of July we displayed a video of real fireworks on our flat screen TVs. This year the fireworks are of a very different variety but they are just as awe inspiring! Enjoy!
Fireworks by PES
New Ideas, Classic Technique June 22, 2009
Posted by v2plcmc in Uncategorized.Tags: animation, art, digital signage, flat screens, flatscreens, libraries, library, plcmc, stop-motion, technology, virtual village
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Stop motion animation is one of the oldest forms of animation. Since 1998 artists have been using this technique to tell a story. Full length feature films such as The Nightmare Before Christmas, Coraline, and Wallace and Gromit’s Curse of the Were Rabbit were all created using this labor-intensive process. Although films such as these took many artists and hours to create, film students all over the world are using this type of animation on a smaller scale to create innovative and interesting films. Since it is a technique that relies on the motion of the objects to tell the story rather than sound, stop motion animated shorts are ideal for display on the library’s flat screens. (We have already displayed several films on the TVs, including the work of the talented stop motion artist PEZ.) The two new shorts featured on the TVs are created using simple methods, but produce a charming result. These students prove that it doesn’t take much money or technology to create a great film – just imagination.
“Stop Motion With Wolf and Pig” by Takeuchi Taijin
“Deadline” by Bang-yao Liu
National Poetry Month April 27, 2009
Posted by v2plcmc in Uncategorized.Tags: animation, digital signage, flat screens, flatscreens, libraries, library, National Poetry Month, plcmc, poetry, technology, virtual village, youtube
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April is National Poetry Month and, while the Virtual Village is not the “book department” of the library, we would be remiss if we passed up this opportunity to merge technology literacy with language literacy.
The Poetry Foundation has created a series of videos called Poetry Everywhere which is “a series of short poetry films featuring poets reading their own work, animated interpretations of much-loved poems, and celebrities reading personal favorites, produced by WGBH and David Grubin Productions, and student filmmakers at the University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee’s docUWM media center.” These films can be found on the Poetry Foundation’s website or their YouTube channel.
In celebration of National Poetry Month, we are displaying several of these videos on the flat screen TVs here in Virtual Village.
“Those Winter Sundays” by Robert Hayden
“The Language” by Robert Creeley
And, of course,
“Branch Library” by Edward Hirsch
YouTube Goes to College April 8, 2009
Posted by v2plcmc in Uncategorized.Tags: digital signage, flat screens, flatscreens, libraries, library, plcmc, technology, virtual village, youtube, YouTube EDU
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On the flatscreens here in Virtual Village, we often add “Did You Know About” slides to the rotation of informational slides. These slides highlight new websites that would be useful to our library patrons. Our most recent addition to this list is YouTube EDU.
YouTube has launched YouTube EDU, “a hub for videos from over 100 of our leading university and college partners. Think campus tours, news about cutting-edge research, and lectures by professors and world-renowned thought leaders. There are also 200 full (and free!) courses, in a range of subjects, from some of the world’s most prestigious universities, including IIT/IISc, MIT, Stanford, UC Berkeley, UCLA, and Yale. There are over 20,000 videos on YouTube EDU and growing.”
YouTube EDU is an excellent resource for high school students deciding which college to attend or adults who are thinking about going back to school.
My Summer Vacation (I Wish!) March 26, 2009
Posted by v2plcmc in Uncategorized.Tags: animation, computers, digital signage, flat screens, libraries, library, technology, Vancouver Film School, VFS, virtual village
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As the spring begins, it is hard not to think ahead to summer and wish for warm days and, of course, vacation. With this in mind, we have found the ultimate “summer camp” for those who are interested in film and/or animation production. The Vancouver Film School is offering many classes in a 5-day intensive format that are open to anyone 17 and up. This would be an amazing opportunity for any college student interested in entering the field or a film or tech geek looking for a new learning opportunity! For more information and a list of classes, click here.
In my search for content to display on the flatscreen TVs here at the library, I have often come upon the work of VFS students and it is always of amazing quality. The animated shorts created by their students provide great content for our flat screens because they are always technically pristine and have a good storyline. If you are interested in seeing more of the work produced by the talented students at Vancouver Film School, visit their YouTube channel.
Fish Wish
Created by Vancouver Film School student Josephine Gutianjo through the VFS Digital Character Animation program.
Employment Resources February 27, 2009
Posted by v2plcmc in Uncategorized.Tags: economy, employment, flat screens, libraries, library, plcmc, technology
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As our community shifts its focus away from the entertaining and toward to the essential in this tough economic climate, the content on our flat screen TVs here at the library should reflect this shift. Whereas the focus of the content has been to entertain and provide information about technology and library programming, I feel the need now to add content that will provide information for our patrons on a topic that is bringing them to our computer lab in ever increasing numbers: job searching and employment resources.
Since the number of unemployed citizens is increasing here and across the country, a multitude of new websites have sprung up that gather job searching, interviewing and general employment information and make a variety of resources and links available on one website. Many of our patrons don’t know about these new websites. Also, I am always amazed at the number of patrons who focus on only one job search site to find and apply for jobs.
The following two PowerPoint slides were added to the flat screen displays in an effort to, in a minor way, supplement the vast array of resources we as a library provide for our job seeking patrons.
The library is more important than ever as a place of information, education and refuge for those suffering economic hardship. As demand increases and resources decrease, our flat screen TVs is an effective way to share information with minimal cost.
Let it Snow! January 2, 2009
Posted by v2plcmc in Uncategorized.Tags: flash, flat screens, libraries, library, plcmc, snowflakes, technology, virt, virtual village
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In addition to videos, we also display a series of slides on our flat screen TVs titled “Did You Know About…” These slides are interspersed between the videos and contain the URL and a screenshot of informative and fun new websites.
Since the temperature has regularly been in the 60’s these days here in Charlotte, there is little chance of seeing snow any time soon. To get everyone in the winter mood, the website Make-A-Flake has been recently added for holiday/winter rotation on the flat screens. This is a fun Flash site that lets you cut out your own “virtual” snowflake in the same manner as all kids in elementary school: with scissors and a piece of folded up paper. You can name your flake, add it to their snowflake gallery, and see the snowflakes others have created. This is a fun site for kids and adults.
If you are having fun with this site, there are a couple of other websites where you can create snowflakes:
Graph Art 2.0 December 17, 2008
Posted by v2plcmc in Uncategorized.Tags: Google, graph art, libraries, library, plcmc, technology, virtual village, web 2.0, youtube
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Google Docs recently posted a YouTube video in which four people created a collaborative spreadsheet and then worked together to create a beautiful image of snowflakes. In this time-lapse video, the four collaborators create the image using a 100 row x 186 col spreadsheet and 18 different colors. Google Docs then invites viewers to create their own spreadsheet art and post a video response.
You can find all of the information about the original spreadsheet and create your own spreadsheet art at docs.google.com/holiday.
Google’s ability to stay current and innovative is one of the reasons that they remain such an influential force on the web. As a library, we strive to engage our users and maintain relevancy in the modern world. Google has achieved an great balance of education, collaboration, engagement and computer literacy with this simple video post. It is this balance that we strive for every day in the Virtual Village.
Collaborative Spreadsheet Art by Google Docs
20,000 Leagues Under The Sea – The Pop-Up Book December 8, 2008
Posted by v2plcmc in Uncategorized.Tags: 20000 leagues under the sea, flat screens, libraries, library, plcmc, pop-up book, Sam Ita, technology, virtual village
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Sam Ita is an author, graphic designer and engineer. This combination of talents led him to create his second pop-up book, 20,ooo Leagues Under the Sea. This book can be categorized as both literature and art. The process by which he conceptualizes and creates the pop-up element of the book is fascinating. This video illustrates the detailed, multi-step process involved in creating the book.
Did You Know 3.0 November 25, 2008
Posted by v2plcmc in Uncategorized.Tags: flat screens, library, plcmc, Shift Happens, technology, virtual village
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Back in May I wrote about Karl Fisch’s “Did You Know” video and how it became a “viral video” that was viewed by thousands on YouTube. I won’t explain Karl and his original video again, but if you want to check it out, read this blog post. Well, a lot has changed in just two short years in the world of technology and the internet.
An updated version of the “Did You Know” (also called “Shift Happens”) video is now on YouTube after being shown at a conference in Rome. Many of the statistics are the same, but some are amazingly different. The number of registered Myspace users jumped from 106 million to 200 million in just two years. Also, the number of Google searches increased from 2.7 billion per year to 31 billion per year since the first video was made, which was just two years ago. As the video states, “we are living in exponential times.”
Did You Know 3.0 by Karl Fisch, Scott McLeod, Jeff Brenman
