Comments- 12/8-12/15

This week I commented on Rachel's blog here:

http://knivesnmatches.blogspot.com/2009/12/readings-for-1215.html

and Veronica's blog here:

http://infinitetechnology.blogspot.com/2009/12/reading-response-for-unit-13.html

Muddiest Point (12-1)

I did not have a muddies point from last week's lecture.

Unit 14 Reading Notes (12/15)

Unit 14 Reading Notes

1) Galen Gruman. “What cloud computing really means” InfoWorld, April 2008.

-This article explores cloud computing, a somewhat recent trend in the IT world that is difficult to define precisely because, according to the article, many users define it differently. It points out that it can be defined narrowly as "virtual servers available over the Internet" or more broadly as "anything you consume outside the firewall."

-The article offers this definition of cloud comuting: Cloud computing encompasses any subscription-based or pay-per-use service that, in real time over the Internet, extends IT's existing capabilities, and then breaks it down into more specific uses of cloud computing

1) SaaS (software as a service)

-delivers a single application through the browser to thousands of customers using a multitenant architecture.

-for the customer, this means no upfront investment in servers or software licensing

-for the provider, there is just one app to maintain so costs are low compared to conventional hosting

2) Utility Computing

-not a new idea, but it is gaining new life from users such as Amazon.com who now offer storage and virtual servers that IT can access on demand

3) Web Services in the Cloud

-closely related to Saas; enable developers to exploit functionality rather than delivering full-blown applications

4) Platform as a Service

-Another Saas variaton; delivers development environments as a service; build your own applications that run on the provider's infrastructure and are delivered to your user's via the Internet from the provider's servers

-the article compares this to Legos: you are limited by the vendor's design and capabilities, so you don't get complete freedom, but you do get predictability and pre-integration

5) MPS (Managed Service Providers)

"One of the oldest forms of cloud computing, a managed service is basically an application exposed to IT rather than to end-users" The article uses e-mail spam filtering as an example

6) Service Commerce Platforms

A hybrid of SaaS and MSP, this cloud computing service offers a service hub that users interact with

7) Internet Integration

-still in its early days, integration of cloud-based services

This article did help give me a general idea of what cloud computing is all about. What I mostly took from it is that instead of relying on your own servers and complicated, expensive hosting and development, cloud computing offers many different services on a pay-as-you-go basis, allowing you to easily integrate what you need to serve your users without paying for excess that will not be used. It seems that this is much easier, effective and cost efficient for the customer to take advantage of provider's services in this way.

2) Youtube Video- Explaining Cloud Computing

This video offers a very clear and concise explanation for what Cloud Computing is, how it is associated with Web 2.0, and what it means for both users and providers. It explains what it entails, gives examples such as Google Docs that I myself have used but did not even realize that it was considered an example of Cloud Computing, and generally does a very thorough job of making a somewhat complex topic far more approachable.

3) Thomas Frey. The Future of Libraries: Beginning the Great Transformation

This article discusses the traditional role of the library as a storehouse to archive manuscripts, art and important documents- the foundational building blocks of information for all of humanity. It then goes on to discuss how the role of libraries is changing. I thought one of the most succint points in the article was this:

"We have transitioned from a time where information was scarce and precious to today where information is vast and readily available, and in many cases, free." The article goes on to point out that many people who once visited the library to access this scarce and precious material can typically find it online and often for free. So where does that leave libraries? Frey goes on to discuss ten key trends that are influencing the future of the library.

Trend #1 – Communication systems are continually changing the way people access information

Trend #2 – All technology ends. All technologies commonly used today will be replaced by something new.

Trend #3 – We haven’t yet reached the ultimate small particle for storage. But soon.

Trend #4 – Search Technology will become increasingly more complicated

Trend #5 – Time compression is changing the lifestyle of library patrons

Trend #6 – Over time we will be transitioning to a verbal society

Trend #7 – The demand for global information is growing exponentially

Trend #8 – The Stage is being set for a new era of Global Systems

Trend #9 – We are transitioning from a product-based economy to an experience based economy

Trend #10 – Libraries will transition from a center of information to a center of culture

Frey also offers his recommendations for libraries, regarding how we can continue to adapt and grow in order to remain relevant in this digital age. I especially was interested in Trend 10- libraries will transition from a center of information to a center of culture. I think this is very true in many ways. The information we can offer, or more specifically in a digital age, the means of accessing information we can offer, will always be a central part of libraries. But to me, every library has a unique personality, directly related to the community it serves. The idea of a library becoming a center of culture is not unheard of in my opinion. We see this in some of

our libraries in our own county- for instance the Braddock Carnegie Library which is seeking to serve its community in new and innovative ways. If the services we once provided are rendered unnecessary through technology, we must seek to provide other services- such as interaction with culture and community- that cannot necessarily be offered strictly through a computer alone.

Assignment 6- Website

Here is the link to the website I made for assignment 6.

http://www.pitt.edu/~jac228

Unit 10 Comments

I commented on Rachel Nash's blog here

http://rachelnashintroit.blogspot.com/2009/11/unit-10-reading-notes.html

and Rachel Cannon's blog here

http://knivesnmatches.blogspot.com/2009/11/readings-for-1117.html

Unit 9 Muddiest Point

I did not have a muddiest point from this week.

Unit 10 Reading Notes- Web Search and OAI Protocol

Unit 10 Reading Notes- Web Search and OAI Protocol

1) David Hawking , Web Search Engines: Part 1 and Part 2

Part 1

-Hawking focuses on the data processing "miracle" of search engines that sort through hundreds of millions of queries every day, by examining the problems that whole-of-web search engines face, and techniques available to solve these problems

-infrastructure: large search engines operate multiple, geographically distributed data center; services built up from clusters of commodity PCs, the types of which are dependent on various factors; total number of servers for the largest engines is estimated to be in the hundreds of thousands; clusters or individual servers can be dedicated to specialized functions (e.g. crawling, indexing, etc.); largescale replication is required to handle the necessary throughput

-crawling algorithms: crawler initializes queue with one or more "seed" URLs; a good seed URL will link to many high quality websites; crawling proceeds by making an HTTP request to fetch the page at the first URL in the queue, then scans content for links to other URLs and adds each one to the queue

-crawling algorithm must address the following issues:

1) speed

2) politeness

3) excluded content

4) duplicate content

5) continuous crawling

6) spam rejection

-crawlers are highly complex parallel systems communicating with millions of Web servers, and as such there are many issues involved with engineering a Web-scale crawler

Part 2

-reviews algorithms and data structures necessary to index 400 terabytes of text on the Web and deliver high-quality results

-indexing algorithms: search engines use inverted file to rapidly identify indexing terms, using two phases (scanning and inversion)

-real indexers: store additional information in the postings, such as term frequency or position; aspects of real indexers include

-scaling up

-term look up

-compression

-phrases

-anchor text

-link popularity score

-query-independent score

Part 2 also includes an outline of the techniques real search engines use to 'speed things up' given the vast amount of information they have to sort through to produce quality results quickly

This 2 part series of articles is extremely helpful in explaining the basics of how search engines function. I thought they were easy to read and actually pretty interesting.

2) Current developments and future trends for the OAI protocol for metadata harvesting

OAI- Open Archives Initiative

I didn't fully understand what the OAI was at first, but as I read more of the article, it began to become clearer. The article did provide a brief explanation of the OIA, including its mission to "provide a worldwide virtual library of language resources" through developing of community based standards for archiving. The examples provided of the Sheet Music Consortium and National Science Digital Library were very interesting- I have never heard of either of these previous to reading the article. The article gave an overview of the standards and objectives for searching OAI repositories, and the future work necessary to further improve this.

3) “The Deep Web: Surfacing Hidden Value”

"Searching on the Internet today can be compared to dragging a net across the surface of the ocean. While a great deal may be caught in the net, there is still a wealth of information that is deep, and therefore, missed. "

I thought this analogy to describe searching on the Internet was a really great one. It really highlights the challenges of searching on the Web, as well as the incredible content that's buried out there and can be accessed with the development of the right technologies. The list of findings that BrightWeb published on their study of the Deep Web is somewhat astonishing; it is hard to believe that that amazing quantity of information is available on the web and is currently largely unaccessible to the average searcher. The thorough explanations of how search engines function, and what sort of technology is necessary to access the Deep Web, was truly interesting and helped increase my knowledge a good deal. Also, I shared the opinion of some of my other classmates that the illustrations and graphs in this article really helped make the point sink in for me.

Blog Comments- Week 9 XML

I commented on Veronica's blog here:

http://infinitetechnology.blogspot.com/2009/10/reading-notes-for-week-9-or-10.html

and Rachel's blog here:

http://knivesnmatches.blogspot.com/2009/11/readings-for-1110.html

Muddiest Point

No muddiest point from last week's class- though I'm sure I'll have plenty from next week's :)

Week 9 Readings- XML

1) Introduction to XML

2) A Survey of XML Standards

3) Extending Your Markup: an XML Tutorial

4) W3Schools XML Schema Tutorial

To be honest, I was somewhat confused about what exactly XML is and what it's used for even after reading all of the articles and tutorials. From what I understood, XML is somewhat similar to HTML except that you can use it for anything, as opposed to just using it for documents. Or, it's an easier way to describe hierarchical data, and in a form that is machine/human readable. I got very confused by all the acronyms the articles threw out- what I got of DTD is that it's an important element of XML because it tells you what format to expect and it can validate that it's in the proper form. SGML, I did not understand exactly what it was except that it was a precursor to XML and HTMl, etc. I thought all the articles and tutorials were thorough, but I don't feel like I had enough background knowledge to fully understand them. Maybe I'm wrong, but I felt like XML is supposed to be simple but seems to often be misused (as the articles kept stressing the differences between XML and "PROPER" XML), possibly because it is so strict. I'm looking forward to next week's lecture to learn more about what XML is and how it can be used.

Assignment 5: Koha

For my Koha topic, I chose to compile a list of books related to the topic of Victorian literature, one of my favorite literary genres. The link to my assignment is:

http://upitt04-staff.kwc.kohalibrary.com/cgi-bin/koha/virtualshelves/shelves.pl?viewshelf=31

Week 8 Comments-

This week I commented on Ken and Rachel's blogs,

here- http://ken-tsukuda.blogspot.com/2009/10/unit-8-html-and-web-authoring-software.html

and here- http://knivesnmatches.blogspot.com/2009/10/readings-for-1027.html

Muddiest Point Week 8

I didn't have a Muddiest Point from last week's lecture (on 10-20).

Week 8 Reading Notes

Reading Notes Week 8
1) W3schools HTML Tutorial-
I thought this tutorial on HTML was really well written. They covered the most basic ideas, as well as some more complex codes, and it was all very in depth and easy to understand. I haven't had any reason to use HTMl/web design since some classes I took back in high school, so it was a great refresher given that I have forgotten just about everything I've learned since then. Also, since everything is constantly changing, it was nice that they discussed many of the changing 'rules' of HTML that are different than when I learned the basics back in the day. I also really liked the Tryit Editor because for me, and many others I'm sure, hands on learning and messing around with the different codes are the easiest way to learn something like this.

2) HTML Cheatsheet
-I thought this cheatsheet was really handy, although it was probably not written for extreme beginners. It's really nice to have a list of all the basic codes in one place, but it didn't really explain how to use them as in depth as the other tutorial did. However, for just a resource you could bookmark or print out to have on hand once you've learned a little bit of the background knowledge, I think this would be great.

3) W3 School Cascading Style Sheet Tutorial
-Like their HTML tutorial, I think this tutorial on CSS is again very well written, easy to understand, and thorough. I haven't really used CSS before with the exception of an old blog I worked on that allowed you to use style-sheets, so I have much less experience with this than HTML (and pretty minimal experience with that as well.) However, once again, I felt like this website does a great job explaining the basics and the Tryit Editor is extremely helpful for this as well.

I bookmarked all 3 of these websites to refer back to in the future, because I think that as libraries continue to embrace technology to reach their communities in innovative ways, some basic web design skills will be very helpful for any librarian to have.

4) Beyond HTML: Developing and re-imagining library web guides in a content management system
-Content management (CM) can be defined as the process of collecting, managing and publishing content
-In a CMS, the content is disconnected from the layout and design elements of the page
-The article gives the example of GSU's librarians' attempts to create a website with research guides for their assigned subject areas, and the many problems that arose from not having any sort of guidelines or standards; the article goes on to describe how they rectified this situation by hiring a single web development librarian and implementing the use of a Content Management System
-covers how a CMS functions, its benefits and advantages, various options for implementing a CMS in your library, how to design templates for students and librarians, the findings from the GSU study, and future implications
-After reading this article, it's very easy to understand why and how a CMS could be useful and essential to the function of a library's digital content. The standards implemented by a CMS appear to make a huge difference to this. The example from GSU was very illustrative of how a CMS benefits both the librarians and their patrons, as it enables ease of both design and access to all the information the library wishes to publish in an online format. As librarians, this is likely something we will see in the future more and more in our careers as we continue the shift to a digital information environment, so I felt that this article was very beneficial.

Assignment 4- Jing/Flickr

For assignment 4, I created a video and screencaps to show how to search for music and create/play a queue on the website Grooveshark.

video link:
http://www.screencast.com/t/7hOQHJAgZ

screen captures:
http://www.flickr.com/photos/42533674@N06/4005517185/in/set-72157622447220729/
http://www.flickr.com/photos/42533674@N06/4005518975/in/set-72157622447220729/
http://www.flickr.com/photos/42533674@N06/4006288524/in/set-72157622447220729/
http://www.flickr.com/photos/42533674@N06/4005524067/in/set-72157622447220729/
http://www.flickr.com/photos/42533674@N06/4006291864/in/set-72157622447220729/

Comments

My comments for this week's reading notes are here:

http://suzydeucher2600.blogspot.com/2009/10/reading-notes-week-7.html

http://knivesnmatches.blogspot.com/2009/10/1020-readings.html

Week 7 Reading Notes

1) Tyson, Jeff. http://computer.howstuffworks.com/internet-infrastructure.htm/printable
internet- interconnected networks
-has grown from four host computers in the 1960s to tens of millions
-Internet Society, started in 1992, oversees formation of protocol and policies defining how we use and interact with the internet
-every computer connected to the internet is part of a network
-POP: Point of Presence
-NAP: Network Access Point
-networks rely on NAPs, backbones and routers to talk to each other
-routers determine where to send information from one computer to another (makes sure it doesn't go where it's not needed, and does make it to its intended destination)
-backbone: massive connections that have huge amounts of bandwith that link smaller networks
-IP Address: unique identifying number for every machine on the internet
-Domain Name System (DNS) maps text names to IP addresses automatically
-URL: Uniform Resource Locator
-servers: provide services to other machines; clients: machines connected to those services
This article provides a basic overview of several essential aspects of Internet technology. I appreciated that it was written in fairly simple language, and could be easily understood by the average reader. I thought it was really interesting that the article explains things I see and use every day (urls, etc.) but don't really give much thought to on any other level than, say, typing a url into the address bar to get where I want to go.

2) Andrew K. Pace (2004). Dismantling Integrated Library Systems. Library Journal, 129(2), p.34-36. Full Text
-issues concerning library automation in the U.S.
-explores what influences and factors have contributed to changes within ILSThese seeemed to be the primary focuses of Pace's article, but the author also provides examples of some of the
more prominent products and services in the area of library automation, as well as exploring the effects of past solutions devised to deal with interoperability within library systems. As I read this article, I found myself thinking that the topic was interesting (even if the writing was incredibly dry). I do think this is something all information professionals should make a serious effort to understand, because it affects all of us. Also the article gives the indication that there is really no simple, black and white answer to any of the questions raised, so it will become even more important to try to understand all sides in the event that we are ever making decisions
about this that will affect our libraries and communities.

3) Sergey Brin and Larry Page: Inside the Google machine. http://www.ted.com/index.php/talks/sergey_brin_and_larry_page_on_google.html
It's hard to describe Google in simple terms because as we all know, it has completely changed the way we organize and access information, and communicate and interact with the world around us. Seeing the founders of Google talk about how it is utilized all over the world, and how they are working to improve worldwide access, was definitely fascinating. I think the charitable arm of Google could even have a greater impact than the commercial aspect. I also think that, since access to technology is definitely not universal at this point, and yet free and equitable access to information is one of the goals of librarianship, their philanthropic goals could help change the world even more than they already have.

Muddiest Point- Week 6

I have heard some people indicate that some networks such as MAN and PAN don't really exist. I didn't know what to make of that because obviously we discussed in class and read in the readings that they do, so I would assume that they do in fact exist. What are some real life examples of these types of networks?

Assignment 3: Personal Bibliographic Management Systems

Here is the link to my CiteULike library created for assignment 3:

http://www.citeulike.org/user/jchaney

Week 6 Comments

My comments on classmates blogs for the week 6 reading notes can be found here:

http://shanlis2600libblog.blogspot.com/2009/10/rfid.html

http://knivesnmatches.blogspot.com/2009/10/readings-for-oct.html

Week 6 Reading Notes

Week 6 Reading Notes
1) Local Area Network: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Local_Area_Network
Local Area Network (LAN)- computer network covering a small physical area (such as home or office)
-in contrast with Wide Area Networks (WAN), have higher data-transfer rates, cover smaller geographic area, do not require use of leased telecommunication lines
-Ethernet over twisted pair cabling and Wi-Fi are most commonly used
-began developing in the 1960s as large universities and labs acquired more computers & there was a great need for highspeed interconnections
-structured cabling is the basis of most LANs today, and fiber-optic cabling is being used more frequently for high-bandwidth local networking

-This article provided a good overview of LANs. I found some of the technical aspects at the end to be a little confusing, but I think this is a good read for a very basic explanation of LANs, especially since we all make use of these in our personal and professional lives but a lot of us, myself included, may have limited technical experience related to LANs.

2) Computer network http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Computer_network
computer network- group of interconnected computers; allows computers to connect with others and to share resources and information
-ARPANET (funded by the The Advanced Research Projects Agency, for the DoD) was the first operational computer network in the world
-networks may be classified by a wide variety of characteristics, including connection method, wired technologies, and wireless technologies
-Networks are often classified as Local Area Network (LAN), Wide Area Network (WAN), Metropolitan Area Network (MAN), Personal Area Network (PAN), Virtual Private Network (VPN), Campus Area Network (CAN), Storage Area Network (SAN), etc. depending on their scale, scope and purpose.
-also Internet, Intranet, and Extranet
-All networks are made up of basic hardware building blocks to interconnect network nodes, such as Network Interface Cards (NICs), Bridges, Hubs, Switches, and Routers.
-router: networking device that forwards packets between networks using information in protocol headers and forwarding tables to determine the best next router for each packet

This article defined computer networks, and outlined several different types. I think everyone in the information field should have a general understanding of these, even if we aren't planning or receiving training to work in the IT field. One reason I feel this way is many smaller libraries (like the one I work in) don't have a designated IT department- we have to phone a helpdesk located elsewhere if technical issues arise. I think it's important to be familiar with the different types of network and technology so we can both accurately describe the problems to the IT professionals whose job it is to fix them, and in some cases, they may be able to provide us with enough assistance to fix the problem ourselves if we have at least a very basic understanding of the technologies. I have definitely been told I am "the worst person ever" at describing problems with my computer ("My Internet broke!" is apparently not a helpful statement) and while I do not fully agree with that harsh assertion made about me, I think it definitely highlights the need to understand at least enough about the technologies we're relying on at work to be able to not only use them but describe them when things go wrong.

3) Common types of computer networks http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1dpgqDdfUjQ
The Youtube video featured the CIO of Relativity explaining types of computer networks that we read about in the Wikipedia article. I felt like the video was really helpful because as someone who is not very familiar with this subject, hearing someone explain the topic in pretty simple terms made it a little easier to understand than when I was just reading dry technical articles.

4) Coyle, K. (2005). Management of RFID in libraries. Journal of Academic Librarianship, 31(5), 486-489.Karen Coyle briefly outlines what RFID (Radio Frequency Identifier) technology is, and how it can be used in libraries in terms of its being a more advanced technology than barcodesCoyle also briefly explains some of the other types of RIFD technology, such as on toll booths or office entry cards. If I am understanding correctly, I have a debit card (Visa Pay Wave) with RFID technology and it is wonderfully convenient and simple to use. After the brief introduction, Coyle mostly focuses on the management of RFID technology in libraries, asking questions such as whether they should use this technology, and pointing out some of the pros and cons. After reading the article, I felt like I learned a lot about this technology and the possible benefits in terms of inventory and statistical analysis in the library, but I would like to learn more about it because I wasn't sure whether or not I agreed with its use. I think one of the biggest issues right now would come back to the simple, practical issue of funding- it may pay off in the long run, but libraries are in such dire straits right now that it may not be wise to invest in new technology that doesn't have an immediate benefit towards helping libraries keep their doors open. I also dislike the idea of completely self-service library check out sytems, because I think that people have too many questions and issues and many people seem to look forward to intereacting with the library staff. I agree that libraries serve a social role in many communities and we should not completely eliminate that aspect of the library in favor of convenience. In the long run, however, it sounds as if RFID could be very beneficial to the library in many ways.

Week 5- muddiest point

I don't really have a muddiest point from last week, but I will be sure to add one if I think of something.

Week 5 Comments

http://suzydeucher2600.blogspot.com/2009/09/reading-notes-week-5.html?showComment=1254028660769#c3722426913118244838

Muddiest Point #4

We read about and discussed in class several different classifcations of metadata and their functions, and I was wondering whether typically a document will be organized with only one specific type of metadata or if it is common to see several different forms in use to organize and describe a single document or set of data.

Week 5 Readings

WEEK 5 READINGS
1) Data Compression-data compression or source coding is the process of encoding information using fewer bits (or other information-bearing units) than an unencoded representation would use, through use of specific encoding schemes.
-only works when both the sender and receiver of the information understand the encoding scheme
pros: -helps reduce the consumption of expensive resources, such as hard disk space or transmission bandwidth
cons:-compressed data must be decompressed to be used, and this extra processing may be detrimental to some applications
lossless vs. lossy compression-lossless is possible because most real-world data has statistical redundancy
-in lossy compression, some loss of fidelity will occur, but it's mostly guided by research on how people will perceive the data in question
-Lossless compression schemes are reversible so that the original data can be reconstructed, while lossy schemes accept some loss of data in order to achieve higher compression
-theoretical framework for compression is provided by information theory and rate-distortion theory
2) Data compression basics-data vs. information (I like the example that if someone sends you the same e-mail twice, you'll have two e-mails worth of data but only one e-mails worth of information)
-"The fundamental idea behind digital data compression is to take a given representation of information (a chunk of binary data) and replace it with a different representation (another chunk of binary data) that takes up less space (space here being measured in binary digits, better known as bits), and from which the original information can later be recovered."
-Run-length encoding: replaces "runs" (that is, sequences of identical characters) with a single character, followed by the "length of the run" (the number of characters in that sequence) in order to provide the same information in less space; if a file contained normal text such as a paragraph with few or no repetitions, RLE compression would not be useful
-The Lempel-Ziv compressor family: work by replacing redundant (i.e., repeated) source data with references to its previous appearance (LZ77) or by explicit references to a "dictionary" compiled from all the data in the source file (LZ78).
-Entropy coding: way to assign shorter codes to common data blocks, while assigning longer codes to rarer data blocks.

-The Wikipedia article provides a basic overview of data compression, and even though I had to read it a few times to really feel like I had the gist (I'm not the most technically inclined person to say the least) I thought it was written in such a way that it could be generally understood. The simple examples the article gave, such as the llustration of lossless and lossy compression through the use of the string 25.888888888 were very helpful in contributing to an understanding of how these types of compression compare and contrast. I felt like I got more out of the second article, because it went more in depth on what was covered in the Wikipedia article, and was written in far simpler language. This article also provided great examples and the pictures depicting differences in compression of JPG images also helped the ideas to sink in. At first, when I began reading these articles I sort of felt like I didn't see how they were useful to all of us. As I read further I began to see that's not the case at all. In terms of practical pplications within the library professions, as we continue to go more and more digital, I think many of us will need to familiarize ourselves with concepts such as image compression as we face issues such as providing images of print media and electronic content in ways that are efficient and cost effective for the library but still beneficial for the patrons. Moreover, much as we face challenges with physical space now in developing and maintaining collections, we will face similar challenges pertaining to digital space as we have more and more information to present and preserve electronically, and an understanding of data compression will likely be very necessary for anyone working in this profession.

3) Imaging Pittsburgh: Creating a shared gateway to digital image collections of the Pittsburgh region
This article is about Pitt's Digital Research Library and their reciept of a grant from the IMLS to provide online access to historical photo collections, containing over 7,000 images. The author included a summary of the project, challenges and accomplishments, and the project outcomes. It was really interesting to read about a practical application of the concepts we read about in the other articles, especially in light of the fact that it was a project right here at Pitt. I thought it tied in to the point I made earlier, that as we continue to work on increasing online access to materials, it will be more and more necessary to understand the nature of, as well as the possibilities and limitations of data compression. A project such as this is something that many of us could likely encounter as we enter into the library professions. It was also interesting how it tied into other concepts we've discussed recently, such as digitalization and metadata.

4) I couldn't find the 4th article, I kept receiving a 404 Error whenever I tried to access the link. I will try to search through other blogs to see if anyone found a working link to this reading.

Week 4- Links to Comments

http://shanlis2600libblog.blogspot.com/2009/09/week-4-readings.html

http://knivesnmatches.blogspot.com/2009/09/readings-for-922.html

Week 4 Reading Notes

WEEK 4 READINGS
1) Database-can be classified according to content
1) bibliographic
2) full-text
3) numeric
4) image
-organized according to database model; most common is relational but hierarchical and network are also used
-many databases use a combination of strategies of database architecture
-Database Management Sytem (DBMS): software that organizes the storage of data
-most present today are relational DBMS (RDBMS) with 5 main components but there are also ODBMS (object DBMS) with 4 main components
-primary tasks of DBMS packages are database devlopment, database interrogation, database maintenance, and application development
-Several types of databases including operational, analytical, data warehouse, distributed database, etc.
-indexing can increase database speed

2) Metadata-literally, data about data
-understood in different ways by those who design, create, describe, preserve and use information systems and resources
-typically in the past has been used in the information professions, especially in cataloging, classification, and indexing, but now information resources are increasingly being put online by the general public so it is no longer just the consideration of information professionals
-user contributed metadata includes things like webpage title tags, folksonomies, and social bookmarks
-students are now taught about the use of metadata in information literacy programs so it becomes even more critical that we are able to use and understand it
-all information objects have three features which can and should reflected through metadata
1) content- what the object contains or is about and is intrinsic to an information object
2) context- who, what, where, why, and how- extrinsic
3) structure- formal set of associations within or among information objects,
can be intrinsic, extrinsic, or both
-Library metadata includes indexes, abstracts, and bibliographic records created according to cataloging rules (data content standards) and data structure standards as well as data value standards
-key points:
1) metadata does not have to be digital
2) metadata relates to more than just the description of an object
3) metadata can come from a variety of sources
4) metadata continues to accrue through the life of an information object or system
5) One information object's metadata can simultaneously be another information object's data, depending on the kinds of aggregations of and dependencies between information objects and systems-metadata has many implications for consumers of information objects and resources, including increased accessibility, retention of content, expanding use, legal issues, preservation, etc.


Both of the readings about Databases and Metadata were extremely beneficial in my opinion. Students in my generation, myself included, have all used databases and many of us are not only active consumers but also creators of metadata, but prior to reading this, I had a very limited knowledge of all the different types, structures, and features of databases and metadata. For instance, I have used tagging features on social networking sites, and also tagged entries on blog postings etc. without any real awareness that what I was doing was part of the process of creating and applying metadata. These articles provided not only a good illustration of how these have been traditionally used in the information professions, which will obviously play a big role in our future careers, but how they are changing and adapting in the digital society, and how we will need to educate ourselves inside and outside of the professional atmosphere in order to be able to both organize and access information effectively.
I thought that the last reading about the Dublin Core Content Model was also very helpful, because it provided a nice illustration and easily understood practical application of the technical content covered in the first two readings.

Muddiest Point #3

I didn't really have a 'muddiest point' from this week's lecture.

Assignment 2- Digitalization

Here is the link to the photos I scanned for the digitalization assignment. My cousin took these photos, and I scanned and resized them for the assignment.

http://www.flickr.com/photos/42533674@N06/sets/72157622374147126/detail/

Blog Comments- Weeks 1, 2 & 3

I didn't realize we were required to comment and post links to these, I will make sure my comments are a little more timely from now on.

Week 3 comments- http://blnblog13.blogspot.com/2009/09/i-had-no-idea-that-basis-for-linux-was.html#comments

Week 2 comments- http://shanlis2600libblog.blogspot.com/2009/09/computer-hardware-week-2.html#comments

Week 1 comments- http://knivesnmatches.blogspot.com/2009/09/assignment-one.html#comments

Reading Notes- Week 3

WEEK 3 READINGS

1) Introduction to Linux
-development started in 1969, to address software compatibility issues
-code recycling features were especially important
-made computers much more usable because users could connect to the same network or use a different computer without the need for further education
-current applications: working to develop an easy user interface and offer MS compatible applications
-ideal for power users and programmers
-more 'expertise' is required but striving to make it more accessible for non-experienced users
-future of Linux: open source. code will mature if many programmers can access/adapt/fix etc.
-pros and cons: it is free, versatile and secure, but there are too many variations and it can be confusing for inexperienced users

2) MAC OS X
-UNIX based OS, developed by Apple and now comes standard on all new Macintosh computers
-contains tools to facilitate management of workgroups of Mac OS X machines and provide access to network services
-10th major version of Apple's OS for macs
-includes its own software development tools
-features: Aqua GUI (fluid graphical user interface), anti-aliasing technology for window elements, graphics, texts, widgets, etc., Automator, Dashboard, Front Row, Time Machine, Screen Sharing, etc.

These two readings were very useful to me as someone who is inexperienced in using any computer operating systems other than Windows. While I am surrounded by nerd friends who constantly debate the merits of various systems, I don't know much about either of these, and I thought that the articles were written in such a fashion as to be easily understood by someone with limited experience. I didn't know before reading this that before LINUX was developed, all computers ran different systems and that they could not only not connect to the same network, but that it would be very difficult to use another computer without education or training. I think this is especially important since we now take for granted the global network into which any of us with a computer and internet access are now connected 24/7 for communication, research, news, music and just about any other use you can think of, and the fact that so much of what goes on behind the scenes in the library is based on the ability to connect to libraries around the world to access and share materials and information.

3) An Update on the Windows Roadmap
-discusses the continued support for Windows XP, and the progress of Windows Vista
-Vista: improved security, compatibility, system performance improvements
-Future: Windows 7
I have found some things frustrating about Windows Vista since I started using it last year, and I like the fact that Microsoft continues to listen to their customers and strive to improve their systems based on what the average user wants out of their computer experience. Personally, as someone with little technological expertise, I appreciate Microsoft's great amount of hardware and software and think that this probably contributes a lot to the fact that many 'casual' computer users continue to run Windows. I don't have a lot of other comments on this reading because I don't know enough about the other systems mentioned to really compare or contrast, or offer an opinion as to which I think is 'best.'

Muddiest Point #2

1) Are the blog entries with reading notes to be posted by the Friday or Saturday before class? I thought it was mentioned in class that they were due by Saturday, but then in the e-mail we received from the TA, he said they were due by Friday, so I wanted to clarify.

2) Am I remembering correctly that we only need to have 10 sets of reading note entries, and that it was ok if we missed the second week since we were all getting caught up on the first week?

Thanks for any answers anyone can give.

Week 1 Reading Notes

1) OCLC Report- Information Format Trends: Content, Not Containers
-addresses trends of "unbundling" of content from traditional media to digital format, such as e-books, e-mails with content attached, etc.
-assesses effect on users, as well as on libraries-
-how can they compete with and continue to stay relevant in the world of mobile devices allowing users access to content anywhere, at any time?
-libraries are the traditional collectors of content- but how can their "just in case, cummunity collection" compete with the influx of personalized/dynamic content that digital formats, blogs, etc. offer

-micropayment for microcontent/tiered access- accessing part of content for free, but full content requires registration/payment
Where will we draw the line? At this point, many consumers are already willing to pay for content that they have traditionally been able to access for free through the library institution; ultimately, how much will they be willing to pay? What about Open Access, Fair Use and Digital Rights Management? Many consumers disagree with DRM, which already affects digital music downloads, how will it come into play and govern usage and sharing of information? Is it fair for the owners and publishers of digital content to dictate how and under what circumstances this content can be obtaind, used and shared, when traditional physical content can be shared freely?

2) Clifford Lynch, “Information Literacy and Information Technology Literacy: New Components in the Curriculum for a Digital Culture”
-Lynch offers a comparison and contrast of IT literacy and Information Literacy, commenting briefly on the great significance of both in our increasingly technological world-

It literacy- primarily the technology infrastructure and tools and their interaction with the infrastructure, as well as the issues that shape its development
-Information lteracy- content and communication, forms and purposes of content

-I think an especially valid point made in the article is that unlike in the past, when typing classes were offered in high school and these skills went on to serve students, relatively unchanging, for many years, it is now essential that students be taught both a fluency in current technologies, as well as the skills to learn new tools as technology improves rapdily. I thought this article also built slightly on what I considered in my entry for "the muddiest point," where I
considered IT's threat to libraries. I felt that IT both drastically changes and improves access to information in its many forms, and this article further influenced my belief through its discussion of computer-based searching and the fact that it is increasingly central to information finding and research. As IT continues to provide users the tools to access information on their own, both Information Literacy and IT Literacy become increasingly important- users must be able to not only successfully utilize the technology to access information and keep up with the rapid developments, but also, when they are responsible for finding information on their own, information literacy becomes essential to the ability to process and integrate information and apply it successfully as knowledge.

3) Vaughan, J. (2005). Lied Library @ four years: technology never stands still.
bottom line- technology never stands stilloffers a very in depth perspective on the technological improvements made in one library, as well as how this
affected the library and its constant efforts in continually adapting to new challenges-examples: new systems, improvements made to old systems, computer replacement
**Feeding the Beast: the author points out that there are not only direct, upfront costs in upgrading the technological services in a library, but also in the ongoing maintenance of these services
One question that arose when I read this article pertained to this point and the fact that some view increased technology services that eliminate some of the need for physical content and human services will lead to decreased funding of libraries. In some cases, especially smaller libraries that may receive less funding in the first place, will they end up installing new systems in order to retain their competitive edge, but not be able to afford maintenance, thus winding up with obsolete technology, decreased usage, and again, decreased funding? This article
stresses the constant challenges libraries face as technology improves, at times, faster than the public can keep up with.

The Muddiest Point #1

While I didn't consider this to be necessarily the most important point we discussed in the first LIS 2600 class, what stood out to me as 'the muddiest point' raised in class was whether or not IT should be considered a threat to our library system. In part, I felt the answer was so unclear to me because my initial reaction to this question surprised me- as a somewhat traditional 'bookworm' who may tend to romanticize the idea of books and the library, I would have been less surprised if my reaction was that yes, IT is a threat to the library. However, the more I considered it, the more I began to feel that if IT support was not made available to libraries, they would be much worse off in terms of support, patronage, and funding than some already consider them to be.

A very simple example of the incredible benefit to the library as a result of IT support came up at the library where I am completing an internship this year. One of the women in charge of holds and ILL explained the old process for requesting items from other libraries, which involved writing out by hand 3 copies of the request form for every single item being requested, and said that as a result, very few patrons at that particular branch took advantage of this service. Now that the library has the technology to allow patrons to request items online on their own, and has made it easy to do so, the library's circulation has increased immensely, especially with items such as music and movies that are available from other ACLA libraries in the county.

Obviously this is a simple example and only a very small part of the debate, but I really found this question to be thought provoking. Since there is no clear, definitive answer to this question, I'm very curious about both other people's perspectives on this issue, as well as how my own opinion will shift or broaden as we continue to examine the relationship between IT and the library in class.