http://upitt04-staff.kwc.kohalibrary.com/cgi-bin/koha/virtualshelves/shelves.pl?viewshelf=31
Thursday, October 29, 2009
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:
Friday, October 23, 2009
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
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
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.
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.
Monday, October 12, 2009
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/
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/
Saturday, October 10, 2009
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
http://suzydeucher2600.blogspot.com/2009/10/reading-notes-week-7.html
http://knivesnmatches.blogspot.com/2009/10/1020-readings.html
Friday, October 9, 2009
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.
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.
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