Cool tools for libraries...QR codes

You know about Stickybits (see older posts), and I'm betting you'll find cool uses for QR codes in your library as well.

QR (quick response) codes are two-dimensional barcodes that have been around in Japan since 1994. You can generate your own codes on such sites as Kaywa and then read these barcodes with your smartphone.

Text and URLs may be attached to QR codes.  They're not quite as flashy as Stickybits, but the QR codes themselves are awesome looking and are beginning to pop up in U.S. advertising. 

Start to look for QR codes on movie posters, ads, and in magazines.  Scan them with your phone using an app such as Inigma, and generally you'll be taken to the URL associated with with product.

I learned about QR codes at the recent TASLA conference, and several great ideas for library use were generated by folks in our group.  How can you use them in your library?

• Post them around your campus to advertise for your upcoming book fair.  The code can bring up text with dates for book fair.
• Generate interest in your reading program such as Read it Forward or One Book.  Text associated with the code can offer pertinent information about your event.
• Print QR codes on labels and place them inside the covers of books so that the code takes you to the author's website.
• Put a QR code on your business card.  When the code is scanned, it can link to your blog or website.
• Host a scavenger hunt around the library or school with QR codes providing clues when scanned.

Have you scanned the QR code above?  If so, I hope you are Shelf Consumed!