Monday, September 27, 2010
Unit 4: Muddiest Point
Saturday, September 25, 2010
Assignment 2: Flickr
Unit 4, Multimedia Representation & Storage: Reading Notes
YouTube and libraries: It could be a beautiful relationship, by Paula L. Webb
This article offers great suggests for ways that libraries can use YouTube. As a free service, YouTube could be useful in expanding services. It would help patrons learn new things about library services without necessarily needing the one-on-one assistance of staff. This would free library employees to work on projects helpful to a bigger number of patrons.
Also, YouTube could be a great way for libraries to show off their less traditional assets to people who think libraries are just about books. The examples cited in the article would be great starting points for all culture and knowledge-based institutions looking to extend their reach.
This article doesn’t really take into account how difficult it is to make quality videos, though, or how expensive film equipment can be. That seems like a huge oversight.
Before reading this article, I thought all kinds of compression resulted in some loss of data. This article was helpful for pointing out the difference between lossy and lossless compression, especially that lossless compression does not actually destroy any information to make a smaller file. The difference between the two kinds of compression is good to know.
A long but useful article about compression. The practical information will be helpful in the future, especially as it regards the compression of text documents. In archives, it’s important to keep data as pure as possible while also saving on space; it was good to read about how compression can help to meet those needs.
The point that lossy compression preserves information but not data is an interesting distinction.
This was my favorite of this week’s articles. I enjoyed seeing the practical application of online databases, and it was easy to see how compression makes it possible to share so many images in one place. I actually visited the project’s website and looked through the historic photos of my neighborhood, which was a lot of fun. It was useful to experience the user end of the database with the case study knowledge in mind.
Friday, September 24, 2010
Unit 4: Comments
On Nancy’s Blog:
I think the issues you're raising are very important. It seems like the best instructional videos are made with expensive equipment and by people with a lot of experience. I'm not convinced either resource is easily available to libraries. An academic library would probably have access to film departments and film students, but it doesn't seem likely that public libraries would have the same set of resources.
On Barbara’s Blog:
I completely agree about the usefulness of online databases. Obviously, going to the Louvre's website can't compare to visiting the actual museum, but that's not an option for most people. It's nice that technology is helping bring the world closer together.
There are a few museums with iPhone apps that showcase their exhibits. These are a lot of fun and very useful because of their accessibility. It would be great if archives started making apps, too - it might help with funding and outreach, and potentially even be a good aid for the researchers using the archives.
Friday, September 17, 2010
Unit 3: Comments
Unit 3, Computer Software: Reading Notes
Machtelt Garrels. “Introduction to Linux: A Hands on Guide”
I find it interesting that Linux has so many well-known users, from Amazon to the German military. Its adoption by Hollywood cinema is also fascinating to me. I had no idea that the system was so well used, especially by corporations and for expensive operations like movie making. The pros listed in the article (free, portable, keeps running, secure & versatile, scalable, short de-bug times) are obviously what makes is such a popular tool in those environments.
My dad was one of those early users of Linux that the article calls nerds (ha!) so I’ve been hearing about Linux for a long time. The first time I saw it was when it was still in the early, tough-for-beginners stage, so I’ve always had sort of a pathological dislike of Linux. This article has convinced me to take another look. Dad will be so happy!
The open source conversation is another interesting thing about this article. The degree of cooperation that propels Linux seems like an anomaly in the grand scheme of Progress. And, of course, open source was necessary for the development of the system, so I’d guess that Linux is a big example for the pro-open source way of thinking.
I read the Kernel Thread article first and will admit that I felt in a little over my head. Namely, the booting and startup pages were confusing to me.
I was glad to read that Mac OS X organizes information by context, something we’ve talked about in all my classes this semester as being very important. The list of available software was also valuable.
The Wikipedia article was, predictably, much more readable though less in-depth. I found the article's discussion of the different versions of the system very helpful.
I hadn’t paid much attention to the bad press surrounding Windows Vista, so Bill Veghte’s letter was quite illuminating to me. The sentence “Windows Vista is a very significant step forward, but our customers have made it clear to us that they want broader support for devices and applications in order to enjoy the overall experience,” is a pretty direct admission that the system’s release was poorly planned. The demand for an optional downgrade feature must have been very embarrassing and disappointing for the company.
Wednesday, September 15, 2010
Unit 2: Muddiest Point
Unit 2: Comments
Response to a comment on my blog:
Hopefully we'll both become more comfortable as the semester progresses. I'm glad I at least understand what the parts of my computer are now. Maybe a more bottom-up approach to technology - learning what a motherboard does before attempting to troubleshoot - would make it easier for us to understand technological advances as they happen.
On Nan’s blog:
Nan, Your muddiest point is very interesting! I agree with the other comments posted here, but I'll add that we've also got a huge population of public librarians who didn't grow up with computers, much less smart phones. I believe some of the apprehension about digitization comes from a fear of what will happen to those people's jobs. My mom, for example, is a children's librarian who has a great working knowledge of computers, but she's the first to admit that her younger coworkers are much more technologically adept than she is. It's hard to compete with someone who grew up using that technology - not impossible, but it's hard. She's not worried about her job, though, because she's still one of the only librarians in her district who knows how to use Facebook.
On Anthony Lindenmuth’s blog:
The question of whether technology could advance faster than Moore's Law suggests is interesting to me, too. I wonder if corporations follow that timeline because of manufacturing costs, or if they're actually going as fast as they can?
Unit 1: Comments
On Jobeth Larkin’s blog:
Hi Jobeth, I'm curious about the question you raise near the end of your post as to whether or not libraries should "move away" from technology for budgetary reasons. I wasn't aware that libraries actually consider this an option; it seems like it would be hard for public libraries to make a case for government funding if they were not able to offer information technology services to a very technology-dependent community. In my experience, libraries are cutting staff and the acquisition budget for traditional materials in favor of obtaining more electronic materials and computers. How do your experiences differ? Were you speaking about private libraries in particular?
On Emily Davis’ blog:
Hi Emily! I'm with you in wishing there were more financial details included in the Lied Library article, though of course the article is fairly old and it might be difficult to compare those costs to present-day library budgets. Wireless technology alone must have had a huge impact on Lied's spending. I wonder if the Lied librarians have published anything more recent about their efforts?
Saturday, September 4, 2010
Unit 2: Computer Hardware Reading Notes
Personal Computer Hardware (Wikipedia)
This article does a great job of explaining the basics of PC hardware. Having heard most the terms used before, I was surprised by how few of the definitions I was familiar with. For example, on my old laptop the motherboard failed three times before I finally had to replace the computer completely. Even so, until I read this article, I honestly had no idea what that piece of hardware actually did.
This relates significantly to the Lynch article we read for the first week of class. I wonder if part of the reason people only have “rote-skill” computer knowledge is that, for many of us, technology is something we take for granted until it stops working. Once a computer goes from being helpful to frustrating, all my interest in that technology goes completely out the window. I don’t care how technology works precisely because it does work, consistently and on demand. This leaves me very unprepared to fix – or even understand – any problems that come along.
Moore’s Law (Wikipedia & Video)
The example in the video about Moore’s Law applying to cars was especially helpful in showing how unique the law is in applying to transistors. The “constant doubling” is clearly something not many mediums can sustain. I was most interested, in both the article and the video, in what happens when the law stops being true. Though eventually the doubling effect will decrease the rate of defects to a point where further advances become impractical, it will be interesting to see if the exponentially increasing cost ever gets so high as to be prohibitive to advancement. That seems unlikely to me, but is it responsible to put billions of dollars into technological advances when the disadvantages start getting so close to the advantages?
Computer History Museum
What an interesting museum! The Revolution exhibit in particular looks like something I’d enjoy seeing. As a student in the Archives and Preservation track, it’s great to see museum archives at work in the different exhibits.
Wednesday, September 1, 2010
Unit 1: Reading Notes
2004 Information Format Trends: Content, Not Containers
Wendy Pradt Lougee is quoted at the end of the report, stating that the “library’s role as archive or steward of information goods is being transformed as a collaborator and, potentially, a catalyst within interest-based communities.”
Most of my personal experiences with online interest-based communities involve rare books, poetry, and food. I’m very interested in the future of libraries acting as a collaborator and catalyst in those contexts.
I’ll write more about poetry, though collaboration lends itself well to all fields. The Internet is immensely valuable to writers, not only for research but also for inspiration, opportunities to publish, and access to a support network of similarly pre-occupied people. For all its value, though, the information relevant to poets is vast and jumbled. It can be very difficult to navigate. Many poets refuse to use the Internet as an information source, sometimes because of a general discomfort with technology but often because it appears messy and therefore time consuming. But add libraries-as-collaborators into the mix, providing context and helping to organize relevant information, and I imagine the community would grow even more productive and valuable to its members. Reference materials would be more usefully connected, independent publications would be more easily found by writers hoping to publish and readers hoping for something new, and the community would be broadened by new members and easier access to one another: all of those things are important and nearly impossible to accomplish without the input of libraries. More easily accessed information would of course then act as a catalyst for new work, and new work is always exciting.
Lied Library @ four years: technology never stands still
Reading this article, I was impressed by how much effort is required to keep a library’s technology current. It’s clear that the Lied Library staff has been quick and creative in dealing with problems, as well as very organized in coordinating repairs and software updates.
What I found most interesting were the ways the library deals with having both student and community patrons. Although most libraries have issues with security and limited computers, I would imagine that when some of your users have paid a fee for their computer access while others have not, there might be some conflicts when it comes to materials and access to technology.
I would also be interested to see what changes Lied Library has undergone in the last 6 years since the article was published.
Information Literacy and Information Technology Literacy: New Components in the Curriculum for a Digital Culture
This is a very useful article for its straightforward definition of information literacy and information technology literacy.
According to Lynch, “information technology literacy deals with an understanding of the technology infrastructure that underpins much of today’s life; an understanding of the tools technology provides and their interaction with this infrastructure; and an understanding of the legal, social, economic and public policy issues that shape the development of the infrastructure and the applications and use of the technologies. Information literacy, on the other hand, deals with content and communication: it encompasses authoring, informative finding and organization, the research process, and information analysis, assessment and evaluation.”
I agree with Lynch’s assessment that information technology literacy should not be limited to using a word processer or checking one’s email, that in order to be responsible members of society we must have an understanding of how technology shapes our lives. It’s impossible to be an informed citizen with just “rote skills” supplying one’s knowledge about technology, though I’d guess that most people would disagree with that statement. I think librarians will play a big role in changing the way people think about information technology literacy.
Unit 1: Muddiest Point
I’m a bit uncertain on the issue of the textbook. If my experience with technology includes basic html knowledge, proficiency in navigating the Internet, a working knowledge of computers, and other skills I assume are fairly standard, would it be in my best interest to buy the book? Or will there likely be few enough instances where I’m lost that I can ask Jiepu for help or look online?