Digital Tidbits

An attempt at multitasking . . . can I create a blog entry while watching Frontline's Digital Nation tonight?

It has been a digital week and I feel like I'm learning so much and yet there is so much to learn. Tidbits from this week:

1. Harry Potter mania: Universal Studios is opening the Wizarding World of Harry Potter this spring (won't give a date, which is frustrating as I'm hoping it will be open when I'm in Orlando in late March, marketing ploy or do they just not know?). USA Today published an interactive marauder's map last Thursday: Peeking at Harry Potter's World as it Takes Shape. This is a brown and white map that you hold in front of your computer's digital camera and it becomes interactive. Music starts playing, voices of the characters are heard, and 3-D images take shape from the flat page of the map. It didn't work quite as easily for me as described in the article, but it was pretty amazing.

2. Article in School Library Journal about social networking: How 11 Intrepid Users Get the Most of Social Media. Really interesting uses of a variety of digital media, some with children and in school settings, some celebrating storytelling and books.

3. Release of the i-Pad and how it might relate to children's books: "Using the 2-page view, you can see both pages of a book. 9" screen, 1.5 lbs. This is really going to make picture eBooks possible. I think this is going to be a core strength of this device -- once the price comes down a bit, that is." - from a children's lit listserv. And some excitement from children's author and blogger Elizabeth O. Dulemba.

Note: Dulemba also has an i-phone application/book: Lula's Brew-- I don't have an i-phone yet so I haven't checked this out, but what a concept.

4. Even during my beloved respite for the week, watching Masterpiece Theatre's Emma on PBS, Emma Twitter parties (sponsored by PBS) are going on. I enjoy reading the tweets afterwards, but don't participate in real time. Jane Austen still gets my full attention!