JISC Digital Media Blog Archive
April 2010

Death of the A: drive

Posted by Stephen Gray on Thursday 29 April 2010 at 8:36am
Tags: digital preservation | storage |

While browsing the shelves in well-known bookshop last week I noticed a lone pack of floppy discs, waiting patiently to be bought by a panic-stricken student with a deadline or perhaps a needy accountant preparing to compile those spreadsheets... This scenario isof course increasingly unlikely as the 'A:' drive fades slowly into memory.

Only this week Sony announced plans to do away with 3.5" discs. These iconic disks are now set to join the ranks of Zip, Syquest and DVD-Rom in the digital storage media retirement village in the sky.

But hang on, I've still got some floppies and they may very well contain the images I took on my (circa 1996) digital camera! With some sense of urgency I realise that in 2010 the search for a direct replacement for the 3.5" floppy would be fruitless.

Image compiled using Creative Commons licensed material

Optical discs like CD, DVD or even Blu-ray are now less commonly used as personal storage formats. Indeed my netbook not only has no 'a:' drive, but no optical drive either. After going through three USB flash memory sticks in one year, I'm reluctant to take that route. Similarly, internal hard drives have a habit of expiring when it's least convenient.

I could be extremely sensible and use multiple solutions. This sounds appealing for ‘work' but would I actually take the time to incrementally back up video clips of my cat?

I turn then, to the cloud and get a warm feeling as I realise that digital storage has become Someone Else's Problem. This is short lived however, as I'm reminded by a colleague that Yahoo! Images only became Flickr after purging all unclaimed photos.

So preserving my files, even on the cloud, turns out to be my responsibility after all. The reason there is no direct replacement for those floppies is that we have ceased to believe the claims of marketeers and now know that no media format is particularly long-lived.

Digital preservation is instead now recognised as an active process and so I begin to upload my images from floppy and into the cloud in the knowledge that if I want them to survive I'll have to keep a close eye on them. With the demise of the floppy, the romantic model of dusty (but secure) media in forgotten drawers also comes to an end.

New optical character recognition (OCR) document

Posted by Nigel Goldsmith on Wednesday 28 April 2010 at 8:11am
Tags: accessibility | analogue collections | digitisation | news | optical character recognition | photography |

We have just produced a new introductory document on OCR which includes advice on how to capture the highest quality output.

Screenshot of OCR application reading damaged page of type. Screenshot used with kind permission of ABBYY

HueTube

Posted by Gavin Brockis on Tuesday 27 April 2010 at 10:11am
Tags: colour management |

Here is an interesting test for those of us involved in digital image and colour management:

The FM100 Hue Test asks you to arrange a set of sometimes almost indiscernably similar coloured squares in order of hue, so that one colour blends smoothly into another. The lower you score, the better your ability to judge hue, with zero the perfect score.

I scored ten - pretty respectable for my age apparently. Also, one would imagine, a bit of a test of your computer monitor's performance (at least that's my excuse)!

You may also be interested in our overview of colour management.

Screencasting - lessons learned

Posted by Zak Mensah on Monday 26 April 2010 at 10:35am
Tags: e-learning | screen capture | screencast |

Photo by B Tal on Flickr - found using the search term(s) "directions". Used under a Creative Commons licence

Cameron Moll, a well-known designer, has branched out into producing the odd screencast and in a recent blog entry - Screencasting: Lessons Learned - he explains how he produced a recent screencast, and with what tools and equipment. He mentions that in the future he will try out the Rode Podcaster mic which is one that we at JISC Digital Media regularly use.

We also currently have two advice documents explaining what screencasting is and looking at some software that will get you started.

If you are thinking of giving screencasting a whirl, do get in touch as we'd love to help you.

If you produce screencasts, we would love to hear about your experiences in the comments.

Recording audiovisual teaching materials

Posted by Antony Theobald on Wednesday 21 April 2010 at 8:05am
Tags: audiovisual | news | powerpoint | presentations | screen capture | sound recordings |

The guide is intended for users who wish to record teaching materials such as those used during a lecture. This includes both projected materials, materials shown on a television screen and printed materials. It covers everything the novice should need to know from the first step to the last. Read the guide here.

PowerPoint tip - adding YouTube

Posted by Zak Mensah on Monday 19 April 2010 at 7:08am
Tags: delivery | e-learning | powerpoint | video | youtube |

Those of you considering adding your own videos may be interested in our advice on the following subjects:

Setting Up a Video of an Interview and Basic Guide to Videoing Lectures.

5th Plymouth e-learning conference

Posted by Zak Mensah on Friday 16 April 2010 at 7:00am
Tags: e-learning | event | news |

The 5th Plymouth e-Learning Conference will examine the theme of e-learning in a time of change, and will challenge notions of traditional boundaries, learning spaces and roles. We will focus on new practices, new technologies, new environments and new learning.

It was a great event with lots of food for thought. Others, listed below summed it up well so I will not tread over old ground. My session was (hopefully) well received and covered digital media strategy, looking at goals and producing workflows and can be found below:

In James Clay's summing up of the event I get a mention at the 9min 30sec point

Steve Wheeler's assessment on day 1 and day 2 should be of interest.

Recording video in the field

Posted by Antony Theobald on Wednesday 14 April 2010 at 9:49am
Tags: lighting | microphones | news | tripod | video |

The guide is intended for users who wish to record video 'in the field'. This includes both the videoing of resources (animals, plants, sculpture, buildings, etc.) and the videoing of people (students, interview subjects, crowds). The common thread is that the work occurs 'outside' in a number of environments.

When recording video outdoors, you have less control of your environment - you need to think about the equipment you take, plan how and what you will shoot, and be prepared for adverse weather conditions. Read the guide here.

New lens document and Adobe CS5 to be released soon

Posted by Nigel Goldsmith on Tuesday 13 April 2010 at 12:52pm
Tags: image editing | photography | photoshop |

While our document will provide an introduction to the camera lens and how you can get the most from it, Photoshop CS5 will offer an enhanced lens correction feature which will reduce or eliminate common photographic problems such as chromatic aberration and lens distortion. We look forward to testing the application on its release.

Switch and stamp your sound

Posted by Joel Eaton on Friday 09 April 2010 at 10:55am
Tags: audio editing | codec | delivery | digital collections | digitisation | file formats | podcasts |

Note - the link to the downloadable free version is in the bottom right of this page.

As an addition (or as a stand alone application) Stamp can be accessed directly via Switch to edit ID3 tags within MP3 files.

An ideal cost-free solution for creating delivery files.

Photo by greenhem on Flickr - used under a Creative Commons licence

Designing for the web

Posted by Zak Mensah on Thursday 08 April 2010 at 7:00am
Tags:

Until now the book was available as a PDF or paperbook form. Well now the book is available online for free. The book is based on five core topics (Getting Started, Research, Typography, Colour, and Layout) and whilst the book is primarily aimed at web designers, much of what is written about will be useful to anybody who creates resources for the web in any form.

Who will benefit from this book?

• If you make presentations (e.g. PowerPoint )
• Design resources for the web (VLE, blog, wiki, website)
• Those looking at improving their understanding of design in the modern world

Read the book online - Designing for the web

Font of all knowledge

Posted by Antony Theobald on Wednesday 07 April 2010 at 8:00am
Tags: copyright | fonts | news | typefaces |

Fonts are software for creating and displaying typefaces. As with any software, you need to license font software in order to use it. This document provides a simple guide to font licensing.

Our guide looks at what you're allowed to do with the fonts already on your computer, the fonts you buy and 'free' fonts.

Photo by jmtimages on Flickr - used under a Creative Commons licence