Week 15 Reading Notes

It’s electricity, Dear Watson

The You Tube video gave a great analogy between cloud computing and the state of electricity 100 years ago.  One hundred years ago, companies were responsible for producing their own source of electricity until a national network grid was established and organizations were able to “plug into” a network.  Cloud computing is analogous to this seemingly radical change with what is produced and where it is stored.  Being able to have access anywhere there is an internet connection is in many ways revolutionary and will be sure to change the future of collaborative work as we know it.

The Cloud Game

Many of us have laid on the ground and starred up at the sky and watched the clouds-and seen the clouds morph into different shapes…and no one seems to see the cloud the same.  The article, “What Cloud Computing Really Means,” speaks to its evolving definition.  It depends on who you ask and how they use cloud computing to what it truly means.  I use cloud computing differently than some of my colleagues and some of my work colleagues don’t even understand what cloud computing is able to accomplish.  As people become more tech saavy this notion of how the cloud works will continue to evolve and has the potential to change the way people work and interact.

Crystal Ball for Libraries

Quite often it has been said, to know where you are going is to know where you have been.  The article about “The Future of Libraries,” provides a very important perspective on the role that libraries have served throughout history: with the vast amount of work by Leonardo da Vinci not being discovered until 1966 in Madrid.  The writer makes the argument that books are technology and all technology has a limited life span.  I am not sure that I agree-he tried to draw a parallel with the 8 track, cassette tape, CD etc however I think it akin to saying that music will cease to exist.  So far the written word continues to be a significant way in which people communicate.  Sure, you are reading the words I wrote on a computer screen or tablet but you are still reading written words.  Perhaps the delivery system will change but I cannot imagine a world without books.  I can’t imagine the prediction coming true, that in 2050 literacy will be dead and we will become a mostly verbal society.  Seriously?  Technology has created Facebook, Twitter, texting which has become so pervasive that teens and many other people don’t talk to each other anymore.  Good luck doing away with social media and living in a noisy all verbal, all the time kind of world.  Me, I will investing in some earplugs! 

Week 14 Reading Notes

A sci-fi film come to life…

…and starring me!  While it is amazing all of the information that technology is able to capture, analyze and distribute, it is a bit unnerving at the same time.  “No Place to Hide,” couldn’t have been a more apt title.  Because I have a background in sales and marketing, having access to qualitative data is useful in helping clients to make informed decisions.  At the same time, how much is too much?  And what is to become of individuals like Nicole Robinson?  With all of the advances in technology, it is still not enough to be able to differentiate her from those who have stolen her identity.  Seems to be that all of this data collection is a double edged sword.

TIA-“too-much information awareness”?

The sheer number of organizations that collect data on virtually every possible transaction and action is staggering.  And I suppose like anything else, how much is too much?  Are agencies and organizations collecting too much information, or are there not appropriate guidelines in place with how to best utilize this information?  How do we pick and chose what information we want to know and who we want to know it about?  And how to we ensure that this information is distributed across agencies to prevent significant threats from falling through the cracks?  I recognize there are no easy answers for these questions but as society continues to gather more and more details, perhaps it is worth examining why and for what purpose.

Library as Guardian of Rights

“My Turn: Protecting Privacy Rights in Libraries” was an interesting article and I was encouraged that libraries uphold the right to privacy.  I was encouraged that despite the fact that it is a public facility, the library can serve as a haven for people who need to are searching for sensitive information that can improve their life.  The challenge is that this same philosophy it could also shelter some inappropriate, while not illegal activity as it relates to the computer.  It is a slippery slope and interesting times that we live in.

Week 13 Lab

http://liswiki.org/wiki/User:JLJ74

 http://www.pitt.edu/~jlj74/JLJAssignment4/4index.html

Week 13 Reading Notes

Sharing + Collaboration = Wiki

Patrons will benefit greatly from the use of wikis in the library.  Finding a way to share information and form a community which can enhance that knowledge in a collaborative process is a good solution; making the process to create a wiki is great and defining practical uses is best.  Allan’s article discusses that wikis can help to keep track of reference classes, assess databases and offer accessible library instruction.  The days of finding outdated and incorrect information will soon be a thing of the past due as wikis improve efficiency and productivity.   

Tag you’re it!

Social tagging has created a wonderfully collaborative environment in which “ordinary folks” have the opportunity to influence the quality of information that users retrieve.   Given that many people use the internet to conduct research, tagging helps to uncover information that would otherwise go unnoticed.  Arch’s article mentions how a social tagging site is relatively easy to fill with content and continue to grow as more people contribute to the information it contains.  Given the advantage of these “ordinary folks” tagging information there is still a bit of peril.  Concerns about spagging are valid and can be minimized by careful monitoring.  Another disadvantage to social tagging is a lack of established vocabulary and therefore may make searching and retrieving more difficult if a program isn’t designed to compensate for slight variances in language.

Totally Rad, man.

Watching Jimmy Wales speak about Wikipedia was inspiring.  Beginning with the idea that everyone on the planet should have free access to the sum of human knowledge, Wikipedia is well on its way to making that possible.  It is interesting that the people who are making that possible are mostly a dedicated core of volunteers and the monthly budget is basically $5000 for broadband access.  Despite the anonymity that the internet provides, only 18% of the edits to Wikipedia pages are made by anonymous users.  Wikipedia started as a truly radical idea but Wales describes that the passion for the quality of the work far exceeds the process used to generate it and now Wikipedia is nearly as ubiquitous as water.

Week 12 Reading Notes

Like the old adage “Crawl before you can walk and walk before you can run”

The two articles by David Hawking, “Web Search Engines” reminded me of the old adage that you need to learn how to crawl before you can walk and ultimately run.  Both articles explained the importance of crawlers and the type and process by which they gather information.  “Successful” crawling will lead to enhanced query results.  On an unrelated note, I was surprised to learn that the average query length is 2.3 words.  I would think that it would be difficult to find the most relevant results with that short and un-detailed of a query.

A lesson from childhood-“sharing is caring”

The Open Archives Initiative Protocol for Metadata Harvesting speaks to the power of sharing.  With a mission that seeks to “develop and promote interoperability standards that aim to facilitate the efficient dissemination of content,” the OAI ultimately enriches the work of researchers as well as those seeking to learn.  Constructing an environment that encourages sharing of information should help to accelerate discovery and yield better results in many disciplines and cross-disciplines.   Sharing important information could be seen as truly caring about the advancement and progress towards solutions within a collaborative and scholarly community.  Of course, there are many “rules” or guidelines that need to be agreed upon in order to make the searching process streamlined and minimize frustration.  As more researchers see the value in contributing to a repository, then better and richer the research becomes.

Future’s so Bright…

“The Deep Web: Surfacing Hidden Value” by Michael Bergman was an incredibly interesting article to read.  Given the relatively explosive growth of the internet and content on the web, I am no terribly surprised at the sheer volume of information that is available.  What is surprising is noting the disparity between the information of the surface web versus the deep web.  I was particularly struck by the section about the rate of search failure being close to 85%.  I am encouraged that BrightPlanet is working to diligently make the information of the deep web more accessible through the use of direct query technology.  I cannot wait for the day when that technology is fused with the information available on the entire web-surface and deep-and searches move towards a 85% success rate.

Lab 11-Google Scholar and Web of Knowledge

Query for Google Scholar and Web of Knowledge "digital library" (because requires exact phrase)
Query for Google Scholar and Web of Knowledge ~virtual reference (because requires synonyms)
I then selected the last four years or (2008-2012).  I didn't like Web of Knowledge as much as Google Scholar.

Week 11 Reading Notes

TEAM (Together Everyone Achieves More)

This week's readings contained a lot of information on the current state as well as the future of libraries and how they will work together within the digital environment.  I am encouraged that synergistic relationships are developing between librarians and computer scientists.  It is this type of collaborative approach that will continue to yield productive results such as DSpace.  As cross-discipline partnerships continue to populate the landscape as opposed to siloed endeavors, the progress will be fast and furious in terms of scholarly communication.

Week 10 Reading Notes:

Extra! Extra! Read All About It!

Those of you who have followed my blog entries from the beginning of the semester, will remember that I am far from being a computer guru.  However, I have learned a ton over the past couple of weeks.  Perhaps it is my stubborn nature that had me determined to learn HTML and CSS code.  So, I spent two painstaking weeks working on Assignment 4-writing the code directly for each of the four pages.  Despite the frequent frustrations and ridiculously steep learning curve, I completed the assignment and submitted it a couple of days ago.  My sense of accomplishment was quickly dashed when I tried to read about XML in the readings this week.  I am sure that this will come to make sense as we work on our lab this week and I watch the lecture from class.  All I can say is that technology is something that will continue to evolve and evolve quickly.  People will always look for a better way to do things.  For example, in an effort to bridge the gap between how humans think and how computers “see” information, XML is a great solution.  I was particularly struck by the title, title and title possibilities and realize that XML provides the tool to minimize confusion and increase efficiency.  I suppose I am looking forward, albeit with some mild trepidation to learning XML and all of the extra extra extra tags/attributes/elements necessary. 

Lab 9: Embedded Video and Google Map

http://www.pitt.edu/~jlj74/Lab9/JLJLab9.html

Week 9 Reading Notes

Making Sense

The development of HTML5 makes sense to allow for improved functionality in this increasingly connected and therefore shrinking world.  The trend of multimedia has forced the creation of a language that is universal and enables pieces and parts to run with all systems and browsers. 

Gone in a Flash

Steve Jobs offered insight into the alternative to using Flash has incented developers to design a language that competes within the market.  Because of the tremendous number of smartphones and tablets, Jobs is in effect looking to insure that content is still able to be consumed.  It is not just about the content but the medium in which users consume that content.

Lab 8 CSS

http://www.pitt.edu/~jlj74/index.html

Week 8 Reading Notes

Webster

The Merriam Webster dictionary defines cascade as “something arranged or occurring in a series or in a succession of stages so that each stage derives from or acts upon the product of the preceding.” It makes sense that this would be the term used to describe style sheets since one of the benefits is that changing a style sheet influences the entire document. 

How do you like your brain?

As usual, reading the tutorials for this week, regarding CSS, have scrambled my brain a bit.  Although one benefit, is that it makes HTML seems a whole lot easier.  I can continue re-reading these articles, however the true test will be in applying this knowledge to actually design or work on a CSS of my own.  I would venture to say that this week’s lab will involve CSS and that is probably the best way for me to learn the material.  

Week 7 Lab

http://www.pitt.edu/~jlj74

Week 7 Reading Notes

Secret Decoder Ring

Again this semester, I feel like I have lucked out and gotten two secret decoder rings in my cereal box!  Both the “What is HTML” and the “Webmonkey HTML Cheat Sheet” were a bit of a tough read.  However, these articles will be tremendous resources once it is time for practical application of this knowledge in the form of a lab or assignment.  I know that they will serve me well as I learn HTML.

Another clue

This is an amazing world of computers and technology which nearly everyone uses in some fashion on a daily basis to make our work lives or personal lives a little bit easier.  “Beyond HTML: Developing and re-imagining library web guides in a content management system” provided great insight to what lead to Gerogia State University’s development and successful implementation of a content management system.  It was encouraging to see that what was a seemingly unwieldy and disorganized system was able to be revised and reinvented in to order to increase usage and access not only by contributing staff but also by the end users.  Many lessons can be learned from this process; specifically that collaboration is paramount in creating a system that would meet the needs of the library users.  My only observation is that while web developers and library personnel worked together and then launched the initial program, most users did not find it to be successful.  Therefore, I would recommend that end users be involved on some level in the collaboration process.  Perhaps this wouldn’t have delayed the final roll out and personnel as well as end users would have been able to take advantage of the CMS earlier. 

Lab 6 MARC Record

Barcode is 02012-1049

Week 6 Reading Notes

Go Badgers!

After reading the article, “How Internet Infrastructure Works,” I became incredibly grateful to the Badgers at the University of Wisconsin for creating the Domain Name System (DNS).  While the IP Address is nice, I can only imagine trying to remember octets of numbers in order to log onto a particular website.  Pitt.edu is much easier to remember than a combination of numbers and decimal points.  As an aside, I work for a classical radio station and it is a challenge to try to remember a composer’s symphony since it is typically a number such as Beethoven’s Ninth Symphony.  However, it is easier for most people to remember that this is affectionately known as Ode to Joy.  Chances are more people will remember Ode to Joy than the particular number of this spectacular symphony.

Oxymoron

A Dismantled Integrated Library System?  I found this article to be intriguing and speak to the challenge posed by rapidly developing technologies.  This fast paced industry renders your most recent purchase outdated within a week.  Perhaps this is a strong statement but everyone wants the latest and greatest technology so that they can perform their work better and more efficiently.  I think the solution lies in the collaboration between librarians and developers in order to design software and programs that make sense within the scope of a library.  Since I lack the ability to design software, I would hope that future library programs could be designed to be more adaptive to future changes/updates/tweaks.

It’s a Small World After All

“A Few Thoughts on the Google Books Library Project” offers a perspective on the advantages to having books digitized.  Personally, I am still torn by the love of a printed book and the ability to see a historical text on my computer screen while sitting at my desk and sipping a cup of tea.  The argument for digitizing books seems to lie in the ability to make more objects accessible to a wider audience.  Having items more accessible should lead to increased knowledge and aside from not having an internet connection little excuse to not learn.  Perhaps we can have the best of both worlds by being able to see the original text within the context of a rare library connection or using a few keystrokes to be able to see the same image without leaving home.  Offering the information in different delivery systems helps to level the playing field for those seeking to learn and advancing the mission of libraries to make information accessible to everyone who seeks it.

New math=20%

I have always been a fan of the TED talks and have watched many compelling presentations on a variety of subjects.  Sergey Brin and Larry Page’s talk about Google was no exception.  What impressed me most was their focus on keeping information in context as well as their drive for innovation.  Their corporate structure which allows employees the opportunity to spend 20% of their time focusing on projects that the individual employee finds important will go a long way to continuing to create new and relevant ideas.  If only the rest of the corporate world would acknowledge and encourage this trend-where would we be?