Alexa in the library
I'm part of the the Advanced Innovative Learning team led by Kerri Stoffel and Kim Young. This group gives me the time and support to explore new technology. I have a split focus for this year: understanding and making Alexa skills for the library, and integrating geospatial data into freshman history classes with Kim Young. Last week I attended the tinkering day at the Weston Arts and Innovation Center with the entire group. I worked on the Alexa project. Alexa is the voice assistant for the Amazon Echo. There are a bunch of other products like this on the market, like Google Assistant , Siri and Cortana . I became interested in working on this because I had heard a lot of talk online about voice assistants in the library, some against because of privacy issues, and other pro, because of the additional services they can offer patrons about the library program. Some people believe voice assistants are the next wave of library services. Personally I'm horrified b