Below is my website URL for Assignment 6:
http://www.pitt.edu/~rjs91/
Friday, December 3, 2010
Thursday, December 2, 2010
Muddiest Point for 11-29 - 12-3
In order for libraries to incorporate Wikis into their services, they would have to significantly diminish their roles as "gatekeepers." Do you think that libraries will wilfully do this in order to increase the use of their various services? Or do you think librarians will oppose this idea, which would make it harder to achieve the idea of Wikis in the library?
Thursday, November 25, 2010
Monday, November 22, 2010
Muddiest Point for 11-22 - 11-26
Do you think that web search engines will evolve to the point that they will be able to retrieve results from the deep web on a consistent basis?
Readings for 11-29 - 12-3
Weblogs: Their Use and Application in Science and Technology Libraries
Simply speaking, a weblog (or blog) is a Web site that resembles a personal journal and is updated with entries and postings. What is really nice about blogs is that the entries/postings are dated, and sometimes are assigned category headings and keywords. Essentially, a blog is an online equivalent to a paper diary, reading list, newspaper, and address book all in one. One of the best things about blogging software is the ability to archive entries, which can be searched, browsed, and reviewed at any time in the future. The very first weblog was created by Tim Berners-Lee when he was working for CERN. Rebecca Blood laid the foundation for what blogs would become in 1993 by providing links to new Web sites. The term was coined by Jorn Barger in 1997 on his site, Robot Wisdom. Eventually, the "blogosphere" arose which describes the large community of webloggers that now number in the millions. Blogs are closely related to social software, which adhere to three key principles: support for interaction between individuals or groups, support for social feedbacl, and support for social networks.
Using a Wiki to Manage Library Instruction Program
A wiki is a multi-author, collaborative software program that helps people self-publish and share information. Libraries should strongly consider using this technology in order to create better information sharing, facilitate collaboration in the creation of resources, and divide the worklaods among librarians. The two chief uses for library instruction wikis include: sharing knowledge and the ability to cooperate in creating resources like guidelines and handouts. Libraries could create wikis and allow users to participate in the creation of them. However, libraries should be aware of the risk involved with lettinf users contribute to information. One way to get around this could be to assign a password in order to get into the wiki. Nevertheless, the benefits are numerous. Libraries could create wikis on various professors that include what those professors expect and want in their classes, guidelines on specific assigmnemts within various professors' classes, and updated changes to professors' assignments. The uses for wikis in libraries could be endless and should definitely be considered.
Creating the Academic Library Folksonomy
Social tagging is a new, but growing, phenomenon that allows individuals to create bookmarks (also known as tags) for Web sites and save them online. These tags include subject keywords chosen by the user and often a brief description of the site. Libraries could increase their use by allowing such practices to be included in their institutions. This could help students, professors, and researchers look for better information when doing various academic tasks. One of the great advantages of tagging is bringin "gray literature" into play. A lot of valuable information created by experts and scholars cannot be found easily if students are not connected to the associations or scholarly networks that share this literature. Tags that are created by curators who have access to this information would allow students to dive into these rich resources that they would have otherwise not been able to access. On the contrary, one of the great risks of tagging is "spagging," or spam tagging. Users could create tags to websites that are unsuitable for their own profit or just to cause havoc. Another problem is the variety of keywords chosen for tags, which could cause much confusion. Finally, allowing users to contribute to this process would significantly diminish the "gatekeeping" role of librarians. Are we willing to do this in order to bring more users into play, which would increase the use of the library?
Jimmy Wales and Wikipedia
I found this talk to be very interesting. I never knew the exact organizational qualities of Wikipedia. Jimmy Wales did a nice job of explaining the history of the website, and how it is managed. I found it interesting that Wikipedia is much more factual than many people have said. When I was in undergraduate school, I was constantly being told how never to use Wikipedia because anybody can edit it and there are thousands of mistakes. Wales pointed out that only about 18% of editing is done by anonymous users, and even if editing is done, it has to go through a process of determining if the information is correct. Naturally, with the size of the community Wlaes refers to, there are always going to be problems with certain pages. The talk about voting for the deletion of pages is an ingenious idea I think. People can vote whether or not to have certain pages deleted, and based upon new information, pages that are deemed certain for deletion may still have a chance to survive because of this new information. Wales mentioned many times about the policy of neutrality and Wikipedia. I appreciate his ardent ideals about being neutral when presenting information, but there is no possible way that any human being can be completely neutral about anything. Therefore, I see this as one of the downsides to the Wikipedia experiment. However, this is not Wikipedia's fault, it is just a fact of human nature.
Simply speaking, a weblog (or blog) is a Web site that resembles a personal journal and is updated with entries and postings. What is really nice about blogs is that the entries/postings are dated, and sometimes are assigned category headings and keywords. Essentially, a blog is an online equivalent to a paper diary, reading list, newspaper, and address book all in one. One of the best things about blogging software is the ability to archive entries, which can be searched, browsed, and reviewed at any time in the future. The very first weblog was created by Tim Berners-Lee when he was working for CERN. Rebecca Blood laid the foundation for what blogs would become in 1993 by providing links to new Web sites. The term was coined by Jorn Barger in 1997 on his site, Robot Wisdom. Eventually, the "blogosphere" arose which describes the large community of webloggers that now number in the millions. Blogs are closely related to social software, which adhere to three key principles: support for interaction between individuals or groups, support for social feedbacl, and support for social networks.
Using a Wiki to Manage Library Instruction Program
A wiki is a multi-author, collaborative software program that helps people self-publish and share information. Libraries should strongly consider using this technology in order to create better information sharing, facilitate collaboration in the creation of resources, and divide the worklaods among librarians. The two chief uses for library instruction wikis include: sharing knowledge and the ability to cooperate in creating resources like guidelines and handouts. Libraries could create wikis and allow users to participate in the creation of them. However, libraries should be aware of the risk involved with lettinf users contribute to information. One way to get around this could be to assign a password in order to get into the wiki. Nevertheless, the benefits are numerous. Libraries could create wikis on various professors that include what those professors expect and want in their classes, guidelines on specific assigmnemts within various professors' classes, and updated changes to professors' assignments. The uses for wikis in libraries could be endless and should definitely be considered.
Creating the Academic Library Folksonomy
Social tagging is a new, but growing, phenomenon that allows individuals to create bookmarks (also known as tags) for Web sites and save them online. These tags include subject keywords chosen by the user and often a brief description of the site. Libraries could increase their use by allowing such practices to be included in their institutions. This could help students, professors, and researchers look for better information when doing various academic tasks. One of the great advantages of tagging is bringin "gray literature" into play. A lot of valuable information created by experts and scholars cannot be found easily if students are not connected to the associations or scholarly networks that share this literature. Tags that are created by curators who have access to this information would allow students to dive into these rich resources that they would have otherwise not been able to access. On the contrary, one of the great risks of tagging is "spagging," or spam tagging. Users could create tags to websites that are unsuitable for their own profit or just to cause havoc. Another problem is the variety of keywords chosen for tags, which could cause much confusion. Finally, allowing users to contribute to this process would significantly diminish the "gatekeeping" role of librarians. Are we willing to do this in order to bring more users into play, which would increase the use of the library?
Jimmy Wales and Wikipedia
I found this talk to be very interesting. I never knew the exact organizational qualities of Wikipedia. Jimmy Wales did a nice job of explaining the history of the website, and how it is managed. I found it interesting that Wikipedia is much more factual than many people have said. When I was in undergraduate school, I was constantly being told how never to use Wikipedia because anybody can edit it and there are thousands of mistakes. Wales pointed out that only about 18% of editing is done by anonymous users, and even if editing is done, it has to go through a process of determining if the information is correct. Naturally, with the size of the community Wlaes refers to, there are always going to be problems with certain pages. The talk about voting for the deletion of pages is an ingenious idea I think. People can vote whether or not to have certain pages deleted, and based upon new information, pages that are deemed certain for deletion may still have a chance to survive because of this new information. Wales mentioned many times about the policy of neutrality and Wikipedia. I appreciate his ardent ideals about being neutral when presenting information, but there is no possible way that any human being can be completely neutral about anything. Therefore, I see this as one of the downsides to the Wikipedia experiment. However, this is not Wikipedia's fault, it is just a fact of human nature.
Saturday, November 20, 2010
Monday, November 15, 2010
Muddiest Point for 11-15 - 11-19
Since technology is always advancing and the general public is pushing for more digital and on-line information, does this mean the traditional library is in danger of becoming extinct? Will digital libraries and repositories take over the role that traditional libraries have provided for hundreds of years?
Readings for 11-22 - 11-26
Web Search Engine: Parts I & II
These articles provided a nice summary of the basic functions and set-ups of various web search engines. The first article discussed how web search engines indexed certain types of information. I found it both fascinating and discouraging that millions of pieces of information are constantly being put on the web and indexed. The GYM engines (Google, Yahoo, and Microsoft) are indexing pieces of information at a thousand times the rate at which they used too. The discussion about crawling and crawlers was useful as well. Crawlers save a lot of time because they eliminate duplicate resources, which is very much appreciated in a field that is always pressed for time in terms of doing things. Part II of the article discussed various algorithms and methods that are used for search queries. The most important thing I gathered about queries was the "clever assigment of document numbers" section. Instead of numbering documents arbitrarily, the indexer can number them to reflect their decreasing query score. This achieves effective postings compression, skipping (skipping certain words), and early termination.
Current Developments and Future Trends for the OAI Protocol for Metadata Harvesting
The Open Archives Initiative's basic mission is to "develop and promote interoperability standards that aim to facilitate the efficient dissemination of content." However, this initiative has spread to a wide variety of other communities who were looking to provide access and information about their respective interests. Three examples were used to show the diversity of this initiative. The AmericanSouth.org project, the UIUC project, and the OAIster project were all involved with preserving and organizing important information about hose particular organization's interests. Even though this initiative has given many benefits to various organizations, there are some challenges that must be tackled. These include the varieties of metadata, the different formats of metadata, and communication problems within the initiative. I would suggest that standars should be mandated by these organizations that will help counter these problems. I would use the Dublin Core Metadata standards to correct the metadata problems, and I would suggest coming up with a definitive vocabulary for the initiative so confusion can be minimized for future providers and users.
The Deep Web: Surfacing Hidden Value
This was, by far, one of the most surprising articles I have read since coming to the MLIS program. This article basically explained the main differences between surface web sites and deep web sites. Some of the statistical information this author points out is mind-boggling. For example, deep web documents are 27% smaller than surface web documents; deep web sites receive about half as much monthly traffic as surface sites; deep web sites are more highly linked to other sites than surface sites; 97.4% of deep web sites are publicly available (which was a surprise to me); and finally, the deep web is about 500 times larger than the surface web. There is also a great diversity of topics covered in the deep web from agriculture to humanities to shopping. The thing that surprised me the most was that the deep web has an overall higher quality rating (satisfaction) than the surface web by 7.6%! All of this information leads me to believe that there is a high quality amount of information in the deep web that is not accessed. Maybe information professionals should be pushing harder to "surface" some of this information. Also, there should be a greater effort to educate the public about this topic.
These articles provided a nice summary of the basic functions and set-ups of various web search engines. The first article discussed how web search engines indexed certain types of information. I found it both fascinating and discouraging that millions of pieces of information are constantly being put on the web and indexed. The GYM engines (Google, Yahoo, and Microsoft) are indexing pieces of information at a thousand times the rate at which they used too. The discussion about crawling and crawlers was useful as well. Crawlers save a lot of time because they eliminate duplicate resources, which is very much appreciated in a field that is always pressed for time in terms of doing things. Part II of the article discussed various algorithms and methods that are used for search queries. The most important thing I gathered about queries was the "clever assigment of document numbers" section. Instead of numbering documents arbitrarily, the indexer can number them to reflect their decreasing query score. This achieves effective postings compression, skipping (skipping certain words), and early termination.
Current Developments and Future Trends for the OAI Protocol for Metadata Harvesting
The Open Archives Initiative's basic mission is to "develop and promote interoperability standards that aim to facilitate the efficient dissemination of content." However, this initiative has spread to a wide variety of other communities who were looking to provide access and information about their respective interests. Three examples were used to show the diversity of this initiative. The AmericanSouth.org project, the UIUC project, and the OAIster project were all involved with preserving and organizing important information about hose particular organization's interests. Even though this initiative has given many benefits to various organizations, there are some challenges that must be tackled. These include the varieties of metadata, the different formats of metadata, and communication problems within the initiative. I would suggest that standars should be mandated by these organizations that will help counter these problems. I would use the Dublin Core Metadata standards to correct the metadata problems, and I would suggest coming up with a definitive vocabulary for the initiative so confusion can be minimized for future providers and users.
The Deep Web: Surfacing Hidden Value
This was, by far, one of the most surprising articles I have read since coming to the MLIS program. This article basically explained the main differences between surface web sites and deep web sites. Some of the statistical information this author points out is mind-boggling. For example, deep web documents are 27% smaller than surface web documents; deep web sites receive about half as much monthly traffic as surface sites; deep web sites are more highly linked to other sites than surface sites; 97.4% of deep web sites are publicly available (which was a surprise to me); and finally, the deep web is about 500 times larger than the surface web. There is also a great diversity of topics covered in the deep web from agriculture to humanities to shopping. The thing that surprised me the most was that the deep web has an overall higher quality rating (satisfaction) than the surface web by 7.6%! All of this information leads me to believe that there is a high quality amount of information in the deep web that is not accessed. Maybe information professionals should be pushing harder to "surface" some of this information. Also, there should be a greater effort to educate the public about this topic.
Wednesday, November 10, 2010
Monday, November 8, 2010
Readings for 11-15 - 11-19
Digital Libraries: Challenges and Influential Work
Being a history major in undergrad, I always find it nice to have some background historical information on subjects. This article was very helpful in discussing the background history of digital libraries. Basically, the first initiative to look into digital libraries occurred in 1994 with the Digital Libraries Initiative (DLI-1), which was sponsored by the National Science Foundation (NSF.) From 1994 to 1999, 68 million dollars was given in the form of research grants to explore this new phenomenon. The most important aspect of digital libraries and their founding was the joint efforts of combining computer scientists and librarians. It was a process that saw many challenges, but there were also great benefits. For librarians and libraries in general, it brought the unique expertise of computer science into the field. This was extremely important because it allowed librarians to keep doing their work while society continued to push for digital technologies. It was also an opportunity for computer scientists to develop new systems (which satiated their desire for creativity), as well as providing for the public user sector.
Dewey Meets Turing: Librarians, Computer Scientists, and the Digital Libraries Initiative
This was another useful article in explaining the early works of computer scientists and librarians with regards to digital libraries. The article explained some of the reasons for why librarians and computer scientists started working together on digital libraries. The librarians obviously needed a technology face-lift in order to continue providing for the user community. It was necessary that they started looking into digital technologies in order to stay relevant in the community. Also, librarians saw this as a wonderful opportunity to bring in much needed funding for their programs. Computer scientists were excited because it presented them with the opportunity to create new things that would serve the public good. This, in turn, could bolster their credentials, which could lead to tenure and other opportunities. Although they ran into bickering problems, the core function of librarianship remains with the advent of digital technologies. Information must still be organized, collated, and presented to the public for use. Therefore, librarianship has not changed, just evolved into the new digital age.
Association of Researhc Libraries: Institutional Repositories
This article was very useful in explaining the role and positive benefits of institutional repositiories. The author basically argues that every higher-learning institution should look into institutional repositories for the benefits of its students, faculty, etc. Some of the benefits to institutional repositories include: housing works of faculty, housing works of students, including documentation of institution works and decisions, etc. Another key component of institutional repositories is to preserve the works of the institution and its members. By oeganizing and saving the information of an institution, it will be easier to access and research information about the institution in the future. However, there are three dangers the author points out about institutional repositories: 1. assertion of administration control over author's works, 2. the possible overloading of repositories with policy baggage and political platforms (using repositories to solely counter the publishing industry), and 3. the possibility of repositories being offered hastily without much commitment on the institutions' part.
Being a history major in undergrad, I always find it nice to have some background historical information on subjects. This article was very helpful in discussing the background history of digital libraries. Basically, the first initiative to look into digital libraries occurred in 1994 with the Digital Libraries Initiative (DLI-1), which was sponsored by the National Science Foundation (NSF.) From 1994 to 1999, 68 million dollars was given in the form of research grants to explore this new phenomenon. The most important aspect of digital libraries and their founding was the joint efforts of combining computer scientists and librarians. It was a process that saw many challenges, but there were also great benefits. For librarians and libraries in general, it brought the unique expertise of computer science into the field. This was extremely important because it allowed librarians to keep doing their work while society continued to push for digital technologies. It was also an opportunity for computer scientists to develop new systems (which satiated their desire for creativity), as well as providing for the public user sector.
Dewey Meets Turing: Librarians, Computer Scientists, and the Digital Libraries Initiative
This was another useful article in explaining the early works of computer scientists and librarians with regards to digital libraries. The article explained some of the reasons for why librarians and computer scientists started working together on digital libraries. The librarians obviously needed a technology face-lift in order to continue providing for the user community. It was necessary that they started looking into digital technologies in order to stay relevant in the community. Also, librarians saw this as a wonderful opportunity to bring in much needed funding for their programs. Computer scientists were excited because it presented them with the opportunity to create new things that would serve the public good. This, in turn, could bolster their credentials, which could lead to tenure and other opportunities. Although they ran into bickering problems, the core function of librarianship remains with the advent of digital technologies. Information must still be organized, collated, and presented to the public for use. Therefore, librarianship has not changed, just evolved into the new digital age.
Association of Researhc Libraries: Institutional Repositories
This article was very useful in explaining the role and positive benefits of institutional repositiories. The author basically argues that every higher-learning institution should look into institutional repositories for the benefits of its students, faculty, etc. Some of the benefits to institutional repositories include: housing works of faculty, housing works of students, including documentation of institution works and decisions, etc. Another key component of institutional repositories is to preserve the works of the institution and its members. By oeganizing and saving the information of an institution, it will be easier to access and research information about the institution in the future. However, there are three dangers the author points out about institutional repositories: 1. assertion of administration control over author's works, 2. the possible overloading of repositories with policy baggage and political platforms (using repositories to solely counter the publishing industry), and 3. the possibility of repositories being offered hastily without much commitment on the institutions' part.
Thursday, November 4, 2010
Assignment 5 (Koha)
Here is the direct link to my virtual shelf/list:
http://upitt01-staff.kwc.kohalibrary.com/cgi-bin/koha/virtualshelves/shelves.pl?viewshelf=94
My username: RJS91
Name of virtual shelf/list: Notre Dame Football
http://upitt01-staff.kwc.kohalibrary.com/cgi-bin/koha/virtualshelves/shelves.pl?viewshelf=94
My username: RJS91
Name of virtual shelf/list: Notre Dame Football
Tuesday, November 2, 2010
Muddiest Point for 11-1 - 11-5
Since technology is always evolving and changing, will HTML eventually become obsolete? Or would it just merely die off because other, more advanced programming languages are probably being developed as we speak?
Readings for 11-8 - 11-13
An Introduction to the Extensible Markup Language (XML)
This article did a good job of explaining the basics of XML. Basically, from what I gather, XML is a subset of the Standard Generalized Markup Languare (SGML) that makes it easier to interchange structured documents over the Internet. XML files mark where the beginning and end of each parts of an interchanged document occurs. I thought the discussion on what XML allows users to do was important. (Ex. allows bringing multiple files together to form compound documents, allows the addition of editorial comments to a file, etc.) I thought one of the most important sections of the article was the discussion of what XML is not. It is not a predefined set of tags that can be used to markup documents, and it is not a standardized template for producing particular types of documents. A final note that I would like to touch on is the idea that XML sets out to clearly identify the boundaries of every part of a document, which is different than any other markup languare.
Extending Your Markup: An XML Tutorial
This tutorial was very good at providing the basic fundamentals of XML without getting overly technical. In this article, XML can be defined as a semantic language that lets people meaningfully annotate text. XML documents look a lot like HTML documents, but there are significant differences (Ex. different symbols and headings used for describing things.) The discussion on DTDs was very helpful. They basically define the structure of XML documents, and are easy to think of as context-free grammar. The most interesting part of the article, to me, was the addressing and linking section. Basically, in HTML documents, URLs only point to a document. In other words, they do not address specific information within the document. With XML, one can extend HTML's linking capabilities with three supporting languages: Xlink, XPointer, and XPath. This "upgrade," if you will, can make finding information within linked documents so much easier.
A Survey of XML Standards: Part 1
Although sometimes confusing, this article did present information about XML standards that were necessary in order to understand the general principles when using XML. Since this article deals mainly with the standards that are constantly being developed for XML, I would like to discuss the section about the many different standards organizations. For most standards organizations, the first thing to be addressed is a recommendation, which are suggestions for futher standardization. These recommendations usually become de facto standards in their own right. The recommendation becomes a working draft, which then becomes a candidate recommendation. The final step is for the candidate recommendation to become a proposed recommendation, which usually ensures its status as a full-blown standard after that. Some of the major standards organizations are the W3C, ISO, OASIS, IETF, and the basic XML community.
XML Schema Tutorial - W3Schools
The W3Schools tutorials are very good because they keep information to a minimum, while giving examples of what they are talking about in the text. Generally, an XML schems is an XML-based alternative to a Document Type Definition (DTD.) XML schemas describe structures of an XML document (just like a DTD.) The main reasons that XML schemas are better than DTDs is that they are extensible to future additions, they are richer and more powerful than DTDs, they are written in XML already, and they support data types. As mentioned earlier, the two most compelling reasons to switch to XML schemas over DTDs is because they are more powerful than DTDs and they are already written in XML (DTDs are not.) The future for XML schemas seems to be bright because on May 2, 2001, the W3C formally recommended that XML schemas should be used. This means that it will likely become the new standard.
This article did a good job of explaining the basics of XML. Basically, from what I gather, XML is a subset of the Standard Generalized Markup Languare (SGML) that makes it easier to interchange structured documents over the Internet. XML files mark where the beginning and end of each parts of an interchanged document occurs. I thought the discussion on what XML allows users to do was important. (Ex. allows bringing multiple files together to form compound documents, allows the addition of editorial comments to a file, etc.) I thought one of the most important sections of the article was the discussion of what XML is not. It is not a predefined set of tags that can be used to markup documents, and it is not a standardized template for producing particular types of documents. A final note that I would like to touch on is the idea that XML sets out to clearly identify the boundaries of every part of a document, which is different than any other markup languare.
Extending Your Markup: An XML Tutorial
This tutorial was very good at providing the basic fundamentals of XML without getting overly technical. In this article, XML can be defined as a semantic language that lets people meaningfully annotate text. XML documents look a lot like HTML documents, but there are significant differences (Ex. different symbols and headings used for describing things.) The discussion on DTDs was very helpful. They basically define the structure of XML documents, and are easy to think of as context-free grammar. The most interesting part of the article, to me, was the addressing and linking section. Basically, in HTML documents, URLs only point to a document. In other words, they do not address specific information within the document. With XML, one can extend HTML's linking capabilities with three supporting languages: Xlink, XPointer, and XPath. This "upgrade," if you will, can make finding information within linked documents so much easier.
A Survey of XML Standards: Part 1
Although sometimes confusing, this article did present information about XML standards that were necessary in order to understand the general principles when using XML. Since this article deals mainly with the standards that are constantly being developed for XML, I would like to discuss the section about the many different standards organizations. For most standards organizations, the first thing to be addressed is a recommendation, which are suggestions for futher standardization. These recommendations usually become de facto standards in their own right. The recommendation becomes a working draft, which then becomes a candidate recommendation. The final step is for the candidate recommendation to become a proposed recommendation, which usually ensures its status as a full-blown standard after that. Some of the major standards organizations are the W3C, ISO, OASIS, IETF, and the basic XML community.
XML Schema Tutorial - W3Schools
The W3Schools tutorials are very good because they keep information to a minimum, while giving examples of what they are talking about in the text. Generally, an XML schems is an XML-based alternative to a Document Type Definition (DTD.) XML schemas describe structures of an XML document (just like a DTD.) The main reasons that XML schemas are better than DTDs is that they are extensible to future additions, they are richer and more powerful than DTDs, they are written in XML already, and they support data types. As mentioned earlier, the two most compelling reasons to switch to XML schemas over DTDs is because they are more powerful than DTDs and they are already written in XML (DTDs are not.) The future for XML schemas seems to be bright because on May 2, 2001, the W3C formally recommended that XML schemas should be used. This means that it will likely become the new standard.
Wednesday, October 27, 2010
Muddiest Point for 10-25 - 10-29
When talking about the Internet in class, I am curious if there are any efforts by large corporations (Google I suppose) to takeover the Internet, which would mean that it would not be publis, cooperative, and independent anymore? I am curious about this because of Google's evergrowing domination of search engine websites.
Readings for 11-1 - 11-7
HTML Tutorial
Even though I have been exposed to the basic elements of HTML in at least two of my classes this semester, I found this tutorial to be helpful in further explaining the basics, as well as going into further detail about the components of HTML. I fully understand the concept of HTML as a markup language as opposed to a programming language. I found the examples within the tutrorial very useful because it provided a visual guide, which helps me understand the material even better. I also thought the tutorial did a good job of explaining the various tags, icluding citations, quotations, and definitions. For example, <abbr> for abbreviation, <address> fo contact information about authors or owners of a documents, etc. The only concern I have after reading this tutorial is that it seems very time consuming and tedious when actually writing the information.
CSS Tutorial
Cascadin Style Sheets are a completely new concept to me. However, this tutorial did a good job of explaining the basics of what CSS's are and what they do. The basic funtion of CSS's, from what I gather, are to help define how to display HTML elements. Since HTML was never intended to contain tags for formatting a document, Cascading Style Sheets are used to do this, which saves a lot of time. For example, when a large web site includes fonts and colors for each individual page, these sheets could remove the formatting from the HTML document and store them in separate sheets. Thus, when they need to format fonts and styles, they could just use the information within the sheets and easily upload them to the page. Finally, the tutorial explained the two main parts of CSS syntax: the selector and the declarations. The selector is usually the HTML element you want to style and the declarations include the properties and values of the fonts and colors you want to change.
HTML Cheatsheet Guide
The most important thing I can say about this document is that I will be using it throughout the rest of my time at the University of Pittsburgh (haha.) I love the fact that this cheatsheet presents all the basic elements when dealing with HTML. Also, I am almost sure that I will have to use HTML in the future (both at Pitt and at my job), so I am thankful a chestsheet like this exists that will help me when I encounter HTML in the future.
Beyond HTML Article
According to this article, CMS (content management systems) are starting to be used more frequently in libraries across the United States. Apparently, it is a better system for collecting, managing, and publishing content. Many libraries are adopting this method because they want to reduce the "gatekeeper" mentality by reducing barriers that limit library staff from contributing to various web sites. However, CMS also allows basic "gatekeeping" processes by restricting access to people as well. From what I gathered from the reading, CMS is important because it can give the system a level of customization that can help reduce the sense of the perceieved loss of creativity, professional expression, etc. It also seems to be much less structured than the HTML based systems, which could help in the creation of web sites. However, it seems that the major detraction of CMS is that there is additional training required in order to grasp the technology, especially if a person is used to the HTML-based systems.
Even though I have been exposed to the basic elements of HTML in at least two of my classes this semester, I found this tutorial to be helpful in further explaining the basics, as well as going into further detail about the components of HTML. I fully understand the concept of HTML as a markup language as opposed to a programming language. I found the examples within the tutrorial very useful because it provided a visual guide, which helps me understand the material even better. I also thought the tutorial did a good job of explaining the various tags, icluding citations, quotations, and definitions. For example, <abbr> for abbreviation, <address> fo contact information about authors or owners of a documents, etc. The only concern I have after reading this tutorial is that it seems very time consuming and tedious when actually writing the information.
CSS Tutorial
Cascadin Style Sheets are a completely new concept to me. However, this tutorial did a good job of explaining the basics of what CSS's are and what they do. The basic funtion of CSS's, from what I gather, are to help define how to display HTML elements. Since HTML was never intended to contain tags for formatting a document, Cascading Style Sheets are used to do this, which saves a lot of time. For example, when a large web site includes fonts and colors for each individual page, these sheets could remove the formatting from the HTML document and store them in separate sheets. Thus, when they need to format fonts and styles, they could just use the information within the sheets and easily upload them to the page. Finally, the tutorial explained the two main parts of CSS syntax: the selector and the declarations. The selector is usually the HTML element you want to style and the declarations include the properties and values of the fonts and colors you want to change.
HTML Cheatsheet Guide
The most important thing I can say about this document is that I will be using it throughout the rest of my time at the University of Pittsburgh (haha.) I love the fact that this cheatsheet presents all the basic elements when dealing with HTML. Also, I am almost sure that I will have to use HTML in the future (both at Pitt and at my job), so I am thankful a chestsheet like this exists that will help me when I encounter HTML in the future.
Beyond HTML Article
According to this article, CMS (content management systems) are starting to be used more frequently in libraries across the United States. Apparently, it is a better system for collecting, managing, and publishing content. Many libraries are adopting this method because they want to reduce the "gatekeeper" mentality by reducing barriers that limit library staff from contributing to various web sites. However, CMS also allows basic "gatekeeping" processes by restricting access to people as well. From what I gathered from the reading, CMS is important because it can give the system a level of customization that can help reduce the sense of the perceieved loss of creativity, professional expression, etc. It also seems to be much less structured than the HTML based systems, which could help in the creation of web sites. However, it seems that the major detraction of CMS is that there is additional training required in order to grasp the technology, especially if a person is used to the HTML-based systems.
Thursday, October 21, 2010
Muddiest Point for 10-11 - 10-15
I have no muddiest point for this week. It was nice to meet some of the on-line students though.
Monday, October 11, 2010
Assignment 3 (Jing)
Part I: Jing Video
http://www.screencast.com/users/ryansplenda477/folders/LIS%202600%20(Jing)/media/866abcb7-9508-4369-b3bb-a32375e60a41
Part II: Jing Screen Capture Images
1. Sporcle Home Page - http://www.flickr.com/photos/54075688@N03/5071611235/in/set-72157625141699436/
2. "50 Greatest Coaches Quiz" - http://www.flickr.com/photos/54075688@N03/5071645037/in/set-72157625141699436/
3. Post-Quiz Results 1 - http://www.flickr.com/photos/54075688@N03/5072293910/in/set-72157625141699436/
4. Post-Quiz Results 2 - http://www.flickr.com/photos/54075688@N03/5071732475/in/set-72157625141699436/
5. User Comments Section - http://www.flickr.com/photos/54075688@N03/5071767093/in/set-72157625141699436/
http://www.screencast.com/users/ryansplenda477/folders/LIS%202600%20(Jing)/media/866abcb7-9508-4369-b3bb-a32375e60a41
Part II: Jing Screen Capture Images
1. Sporcle Home Page - http://www.flickr.com/photos/54075688@N03/5071611235/in/set-72157625141699436/
2. "50 Greatest Coaches Quiz" - http://www.flickr.com/photos/54075688@N03/5071645037/in/set-72157625141699436/
3. Post-Quiz Results 1 - http://www.flickr.com/photos/54075688@N03/5072293910/in/set-72157625141699436/
4. Post-Quiz Results 2 - http://www.flickr.com/photos/54075688@N03/5071732475/in/set-72157625141699436/
5. User Comments Section - http://www.flickr.com/photos/54075688@N03/5071767093/in/set-72157625141699436/
Tuesday, October 5, 2010
Muddiest Point for 10-4 - 10-8
My muddiest point has to do with future class meetings. In the syllabus, it says that we do not meet on October 12, is this still true? Also, when is the date, time, and meeting place for fast-track weekend? Sorry for this inconvenience.
Readings for 10-11 - 10-15
Computer Network - Wikipedia
Although I have heard the term "computer networks" many times, this was the first time that I actually read anything about them. The Wikipedia article was very helpful in explaining what a computer network is, as well as defining different types of computer networks (LAN, PAN, HAN, WAN, MAN, etc.) I think one of the most important aspects of the article was its discussion on purposes of computer networks. The four basic purposes (facilitating communications, sharing hardware, sharing files, data, and information, and sharing software) really helped me understand why computer networks are important. I typically find that the "why" of any subject is the most important piece of information in trying to understand new concepts. The discussion of wired technologies and wireless technologies was also helpful in understanding how these computer networks actually work. Overall, this article was helpful in explaining basic concepts about computer networks that I have never known before.
Local Area Network - Wikipedia
Local area networks (LAN) are devices that connect computers to small surrounding areas. Places like one's home, school, or office buildings are good examples of places that utilize LANs. Two great benefits that LANs offer are their higher data-transfer rates and no need for leased telecommunication lines. Therefore, information can be transferred faster, which increases output, and people can save money by not having to pay for telephone lines. The one major detraction of LANs is the fact that they only work in smaller geographical areas. In this respect, a wide area network would be better for communication between larger geographical areas. A final aspect that was helpful in this article is the fact that LANs can work with wired technologies or wireless technologies. Overall, this article did a good job of explaining the basic characteristics of LANs for those who have little experience in this subject area.
Management of RFID in Libraries
This article helped me understand the basic concepts of "radio frequency identifiers" (RDIFs.) From what I gathered from the reading, it seems that RDIFs can be used like barcodes, which help identifiy products in various aspects. There potential use in libraries sounds intriguing, especially since they can store much more information about books and other mediums than traditional barcodes. It also sounds like RFIDs can benefit librarians in that they can be tracked very easily within the library (whether it be in the stacks or in the return bin.) RFIDs can even aid in user self-checkout methods, which can save librarians time and energy which they can devote to other projects within the library. However, I have a problem with this because it would completely diminish the face-to-face communication between patrons and librarians. I think that personal communication is a MUST in any service-based job. Eliminating that communication can lead to many problems, as well as deteriorating social skills over time. Call me a traditionalist, but that is just how I feel.
Common Types of Computer Networks - YouTube Video
This short video was a nice visual and audio aid in explaining the basic differences between different computer networks. The man explaining the information was concise and to-the-point, which is always helpful when someone is learning about something new they have never encountered before. Since I am, by no means, informed about various computer networks, his brief explanations on the differences between LANs, WANs, MANs, etc. was helpful. Basically, LANs are very small in range (ex. a house or a building.) WANs extend to a larger area (ex. a group of buildings.) Finally, MANs can include an entire city or metropolitan area. Overall, this video was helpful in further explaining the differences between computer networks that I learned about in the Wikipedia article.
Although I have heard the term "computer networks" many times, this was the first time that I actually read anything about them. The Wikipedia article was very helpful in explaining what a computer network is, as well as defining different types of computer networks (LAN, PAN, HAN, WAN, MAN, etc.) I think one of the most important aspects of the article was its discussion on purposes of computer networks. The four basic purposes (facilitating communications, sharing hardware, sharing files, data, and information, and sharing software) really helped me understand why computer networks are important. I typically find that the "why" of any subject is the most important piece of information in trying to understand new concepts. The discussion of wired technologies and wireless technologies was also helpful in understanding how these computer networks actually work. Overall, this article was helpful in explaining basic concepts about computer networks that I have never known before.
Local Area Network - Wikipedia
Local area networks (LAN) are devices that connect computers to small surrounding areas. Places like one's home, school, or office buildings are good examples of places that utilize LANs. Two great benefits that LANs offer are their higher data-transfer rates and no need for leased telecommunication lines. Therefore, information can be transferred faster, which increases output, and people can save money by not having to pay for telephone lines. The one major detraction of LANs is the fact that they only work in smaller geographical areas. In this respect, a wide area network would be better for communication between larger geographical areas. A final aspect that was helpful in this article is the fact that LANs can work with wired technologies or wireless technologies. Overall, this article did a good job of explaining the basic characteristics of LANs for those who have little experience in this subject area.
Management of RFID in Libraries
This article helped me understand the basic concepts of "radio frequency identifiers" (RDIFs.) From what I gathered from the reading, it seems that RDIFs can be used like barcodes, which help identifiy products in various aspects. There potential use in libraries sounds intriguing, especially since they can store much more information about books and other mediums than traditional barcodes. It also sounds like RFIDs can benefit librarians in that they can be tracked very easily within the library (whether it be in the stacks or in the return bin.) RFIDs can even aid in user self-checkout methods, which can save librarians time and energy which they can devote to other projects within the library. However, I have a problem with this because it would completely diminish the face-to-face communication between patrons and librarians. I think that personal communication is a MUST in any service-based job. Eliminating that communication can lead to many problems, as well as deteriorating social skills over time. Call me a traditionalist, but that is just how I feel.
Common Types of Computer Networks - YouTube Video
This short video was a nice visual and audio aid in explaining the basic differences between different computer networks. The man explaining the information was concise and to-the-point, which is always helpful when someone is learning about something new they have never encountered before. Since I am, by no means, informed about various computer networks, his brief explanations on the differences between LANs, WANs, MANs, etc. was helpful. Basically, LANs are very small in range (ex. a house or a building.) WANs extend to a larger area (ex. a group of buildings.) Finally, MANs can include an entire city or metropolitan area. Overall, this video was helpful in further explaining the differences between computer networks that I learned about in the Wikipedia article.
Tuesday, September 28, 2010
Muddiest Point for 9-27 - 10-1
My muddiest point for this week is more of a question than a misunderstanding. Since technology is always advancing, I wonder if the various formats (GIF, JPEG, TIFF, and PNG) will always be available in the future? If not, will they be able to be converted to newer forms so that the information stored in these files can be accessible to users in the future?
Readings for 10-4 - 10-8
Database - Wikipedia Article
I have known the concept of what a database is for awhile now (ever since I began my undergraduate career.) However, I never knew that they were as complicated as they seem to be, according to the Wikipedia article. I think the most interesting aspect of databases is how they can be classified by the types of their content, which includes: bibiographic, document-text, statistical, etc. It was also the first time I had encountered the concept of database management systems (DMS), which store database contents, allowing the creation and maintainence of data, and searching and other accessing. A final concept that was new to me was the three levels of database architecture: external, internal, and conceptual. The external level is for users and how they understand the organization of the data. The internal level consists of the physical storage of data and how it is processed in the computing system. Finally, the conceptual level seems to balance the internal and external levels.
Introduction to Metadata
I never knew what metadata was until I came to the University of Pittsburgh. In general, metadata is data about data. I thought the fact that all information objects have the three features of content, context, and structure was a very important theme in understanding metadata. Content relates to what the object contains, context relates to all the informational aspects of the objects creation, and structure relates to the associations of individual objects which can be contextual, content related, or both. Probably the most important thing to understand about metadata is that it identifies and describes the object, documents how the object behaves, the objects funtion and use, its relationship to other objects, and it has been managed over time.
An Overview of the Dublin Core Data Model
It seems to me that the Dublin Core Metadata Initiative (DCMI) is a large effort to discover diverse resources in an electronic environment that spans across many different disciplines. Since this is largely an international effort, I would expect that the funding of such a large initiative would be extremely difficult as it seems to be very expensive. Some functional requirements include: internationalization, extensibility, element identity, semantic refinement, identification of encoding schemes, specification of controlled vocabularies, and identification of structured compound values. These requirements seem difficult to develope, especially since there are many obstacles to get over when the international community is involved. I think this idea would take a long time to create, but hopefully, if it does succeed, it can bring other countries and cultures together in hopes of bettering communication and figuring out solutions to many problems.
I have known the concept of what a database is for awhile now (ever since I began my undergraduate career.) However, I never knew that they were as complicated as they seem to be, according to the Wikipedia article. I think the most interesting aspect of databases is how they can be classified by the types of their content, which includes: bibiographic, document-text, statistical, etc. It was also the first time I had encountered the concept of database management systems (DMS), which store database contents, allowing the creation and maintainence of data, and searching and other accessing. A final concept that was new to me was the three levels of database architecture: external, internal, and conceptual. The external level is for users and how they understand the organization of the data. The internal level consists of the physical storage of data and how it is processed in the computing system. Finally, the conceptual level seems to balance the internal and external levels.
Introduction to Metadata
I never knew what metadata was until I came to the University of Pittsburgh. In general, metadata is data about data. I thought the fact that all information objects have the three features of content, context, and structure was a very important theme in understanding metadata. Content relates to what the object contains, context relates to all the informational aspects of the objects creation, and structure relates to the associations of individual objects which can be contextual, content related, or both. Probably the most important thing to understand about metadata is that it identifies and describes the object, documents how the object behaves, the objects funtion and use, its relationship to other objects, and it has been managed over time.
An Overview of the Dublin Core Data Model
It seems to me that the Dublin Core Metadata Initiative (DCMI) is a large effort to discover diverse resources in an electronic environment that spans across many different disciplines. Since this is largely an international effort, I would expect that the funding of such a large initiative would be extremely difficult as it seems to be very expensive. Some functional requirements include: internationalization, extensibility, element identity, semantic refinement, identification of encoding schemes, specification of controlled vocabularies, and identification of structured compound values. These requirements seem difficult to develope, especially since there are many obstacles to get over when the international community is involved. I think this idea would take a long time to create, but hopefully, if it does succeed, it can bring other countries and cultures together in hopes of bettering communication and figuring out solutions to many problems.
Thursday, September 23, 2010
Tuesday, September 21, 2010
Muddiest Point for 9-20 - 9-24
I think the muddiest point from this week that I did not completely understand was the section on Graphical User Interface (GUI). I am not exactly sure what it does and how it works.
Readings for 9-27 - 10-1
Data Compression Basics
This was the very first time I have encountered the idea of data compression. I had no previous idea that anyone could compress data into smaller bits in order to have more room for more data. This article was very helpful in explaining some of the basics involved in data compression. It was also helpful that the author did not use technical language that I would not have understood. The author was also very helpful by illustrating his ideas with examples that made a lot of sense to me. The various algorithms (run-length encoding, Lempel-Ziv, entropy, and prediction and error) were somewhat confusing, but the author made sense out of them, for the most part. I think the run-length encoding made the most sense. For example, if you have this set of data: QQQRRSSSSSSSSSSTTTTTTTTTTTTUUV, the run-length encoding algorithm would be: 3Q 2R 10S 12T 2U 1V. Therefore, it went from 30 bits of information to 19 bits (including spaces).
Data Compression - Wikipedia
The Wikipedia articla for data compression was also very useful in explaining the various aspects of data compression. The difference between "lossless" and "lossy" was very nicely explained. Basically, if the information that has been decompressed after compression is the exact same as the original information, it is lossless. On the other hand, if the information that has been decompressed after compression is not exactly the same as the original information, it is lossy. I believe this is one of the fundamental aspects of data compression. I would also assume that lossless is a better scenario to have then lossy. I wonder if there is any way possible to get the identical information back if the decompressed information comes out lossy?
Imagining Pittsburgh
I found this article to be extremely enlightening for the sole purpose of having the community of Pittsburgh understand and actually see what their city was like in previous years. I wish that every city would have the opportunity to create a website that has thousands of photographs from the past. The collaboration between the Archives Service Center of the University of Pittsburgh, Carnegie Museum of Art, and the Historical Society of Western Pennsylvania produced a useful website filled with meaningful photographs that adds to the cultural heritage of the greater Pittsburgh area. Even though there were many challenges these "partners" had to overcome, including building a working dialogue between the institutions and coming up with meaningful and helpful metadata subject headings, they successfully completed a project that can be enjoyed by many generations down the road.
You Tube and Libraries
This article was eye-opening in respect to libraries using current technology to help further their usefulness to the general public. I never thought about using You Tube videos to help public users, students, and even faculty with various functions of the library. I think there would be a great advantage to libraries across the world by using instruction-based You Tube videos. They could have videos that deal with a number of important ares including: how to use databases, how to find books in the library's online catalog, how to request inter-library loans, etc. There could also be instructional videos that new employees of the library could find useful in learning their new job responsibilities. I think that You Tube videos are a good way to make the library more useful to those who do not know how to use the resources the library offers. Plus, the accounts are free!
This was the very first time I have encountered the idea of data compression. I had no previous idea that anyone could compress data into smaller bits in order to have more room for more data. This article was very helpful in explaining some of the basics involved in data compression. It was also helpful that the author did not use technical language that I would not have understood. The author was also very helpful by illustrating his ideas with examples that made a lot of sense to me. The various algorithms (run-length encoding, Lempel-Ziv, entropy, and prediction and error) were somewhat confusing, but the author made sense out of them, for the most part. I think the run-length encoding made the most sense. For example, if you have this set of data: QQQRRSSSSSSSSSSTTTTTTTTTTTTUUV, the run-length encoding algorithm would be: 3Q 2R 10S 12T 2U 1V. Therefore, it went from 30 bits of information to 19 bits (including spaces).
Data Compression - Wikipedia
The Wikipedia articla for data compression was also very useful in explaining the various aspects of data compression. The difference between "lossless" and "lossy" was very nicely explained. Basically, if the information that has been decompressed after compression is the exact same as the original information, it is lossless. On the other hand, if the information that has been decompressed after compression is not exactly the same as the original information, it is lossy. I believe this is one of the fundamental aspects of data compression. I would also assume that lossless is a better scenario to have then lossy. I wonder if there is any way possible to get the identical information back if the decompressed information comes out lossy?
Imagining Pittsburgh
I found this article to be extremely enlightening for the sole purpose of having the community of Pittsburgh understand and actually see what their city was like in previous years. I wish that every city would have the opportunity to create a website that has thousands of photographs from the past. The collaboration between the Archives Service Center of the University of Pittsburgh, Carnegie Museum of Art, and the Historical Society of Western Pennsylvania produced a useful website filled with meaningful photographs that adds to the cultural heritage of the greater Pittsburgh area. Even though there were many challenges these "partners" had to overcome, including building a working dialogue between the institutions and coming up with meaningful and helpful metadata subject headings, they successfully completed a project that can be enjoyed by many generations down the road.
You Tube and Libraries
This article was eye-opening in respect to libraries using current technology to help further their usefulness to the general public. I never thought about using You Tube videos to help public users, students, and even faculty with various functions of the library. I think there would be a great advantage to libraries across the world by using instruction-based You Tube videos. They could have videos that deal with a number of important ares including: how to use databases, how to find books in the library's online catalog, how to request inter-library loans, etc. There could also be instructional videos that new employees of the library could find useful in learning their new job responsibilities. I think that You Tube videos are a good way to make the library more useful to those who do not know how to use the resources the library offers. Plus, the accounts are free!
Sunday, September 19, 2010
Saturday, September 18, 2010
Wednesday, September 15, 2010
Readings for 9-20 - 9-24
Mac OS X
Although I have briefly used Mac computers in the past, I know relatively little about what the Mac OS X is. I think I have a basic understanding that it is a computer network design that differs from Windows and Linux. This reading presented me with a number of obstacles, especially since I am not technologically sound. Many of the acronyms were very new to my understanding (ex. APSL - Apple Public Source License, HFS - Hierarchical File System, etc.) Reading through this document took a long time for me and I am still very fuzzy about many of its ideas. I also understand that this program only accepts Apple applications. I guess this makes sense since the program is specifically designed for Mac computers.
LINUX
This article was on the operating system called Linux. It was very helpful in explaining the origins of the current Linux program. It started with the advent of UNIX and gradually transformed into Linux after the computer science student, Linus Torvalds, starting asking questions about setting up a freely available academic version of UNIX. One of the really nice things about the Linux software is that it is free, which in today's economic world, is a huge benefit. The other interesting aspect about Linux is that it is adaptable to things such as wristwatches. Of course, the largest negative for me would be that it is not very user friendly.
WINDOWS
I am most used to and most comfortable with the Windows operating system. Apparently, the majority of people with operating systems are as well, as this letter explains. Mr. Veghte states in the letter that Microsoft will continue to support Windows XP until 2014. He also states that Microsoft is working very hard to make Windows Vista better and more easy to use as well. Finally, Windows 7 has become available since January of 2010, but there are not many different changes to it. This letter, I believe, was full of a lot of "fluff" in order to show Windows users that the Microsoft Company was at least aware of their concerns. I agree with the very last statement by the person who made this letter available, there is not much new going on.
Although I have briefly used Mac computers in the past, I know relatively little about what the Mac OS X is. I think I have a basic understanding that it is a computer network design that differs from Windows and Linux. This reading presented me with a number of obstacles, especially since I am not technologically sound. Many of the acronyms were very new to my understanding (ex. APSL - Apple Public Source License, HFS - Hierarchical File System, etc.) Reading through this document took a long time for me and I am still very fuzzy about many of its ideas. I also understand that this program only accepts Apple applications. I guess this makes sense since the program is specifically designed for Mac computers.
LINUX
This article was on the operating system called Linux. It was very helpful in explaining the origins of the current Linux program. It started with the advent of UNIX and gradually transformed into Linux after the computer science student, Linus Torvalds, starting asking questions about setting up a freely available academic version of UNIX. One of the really nice things about the Linux software is that it is free, which in today's economic world, is a huge benefit. The other interesting aspect about Linux is that it is adaptable to things such as wristwatches. Of course, the largest negative for me would be that it is not very user friendly.
WINDOWS
I am most used to and most comfortable with the Windows operating system. Apparently, the majority of people with operating systems are as well, as this letter explains. Mr. Veghte states in the letter that Microsoft will continue to support Windows XP until 2014. He also states that Microsoft is working very hard to make Windows Vista better and more easy to use as well. Finally, Windows 7 has become available since January of 2010, but there are not many different changes to it. This letter, I believe, was full of a lot of "fluff" in order to show Windows users that the Microsoft Company was at least aware of their concerns. I agree with the very last statement by the person who made this letter available, there is not much new going on.
Muddiest Point for Sept. 13 - Sept. 17
My muddiest point has to do with cache. I know we touched on it in class, but I'm not exactly sure I understand the concept of it.
Wednesday, September 8, 2010
Week 2 Readings
Personal Computer Hardware
I am by no means a computer expert, but some of the components of the computer I already know (dashboard, monitor, mouse, tower.) However, there were many components of the computer I have never heard of before (internal buses, BIOS, RAM.) This article was very helpful in bringing my computer knowledge a little more up-to-date. It also helped me understand what some of the components of a computer I didn't understand do and how they work.
Moore's Law
I have never heard of Moore's Law before, and this article did help to explain what it is. Basically, it states that the number of transistors on an integrated circuit doubles every two years. I understand that this law means that the number of transistors will grow exponentially. However, I would expect that this phenomenon can not last forever. Everything must eventually end. Our capacity to produce such technologies that store more and more transistors must come to an end. Even Moore has said this.
Computer History Museum
This website was very interesting in that it showed many historical achievements within computer science history. I was particularly attracted to the "History of the Internet" exhibit, as well as the "Computer History Timeline." Both exhibits offered interesting information about both subjects, as well as images that complemented the text. It is always nice to SEE what the text is talking about.
I am by no means a computer expert, but some of the components of the computer I already know (dashboard, monitor, mouse, tower.) However, there were many components of the computer I have never heard of before (internal buses, BIOS, RAM.) This article was very helpful in bringing my computer knowledge a little more up-to-date. It also helped me understand what some of the components of a computer I didn't understand do and how they work.
Moore's Law
I have never heard of Moore's Law before, and this article did help to explain what it is. Basically, it states that the number of transistors on an integrated circuit doubles every two years. I understand that this law means that the number of transistors will grow exponentially. However, I would expect that this phenomenon can not last forever. Everything must eventually end. Our capacity to produce such technologies that store more and more transistors must come to an end. Even Moore has said this.
Computer History Museum
This website was very interesting in that it showed many historical achievements within computer science history. I was particularly attracted to the "History of the Internet" exhibit, as well as the "Computer History Timeline." Both exhibits offered interesting information about both subjects, as well as images that complemented the text. It is always nice to SEE what the text is talking about.
Muddiest Point - Week 1
I switched classes from Thursday to Monday. Therefore, I have no muddiest point.
Week 1 Readings
Lied Library @ Four Years
I found this article to be very interesting from a technological point-of-view. I never realized how up-to-date libraries had to be in order to satisfy the public's and student's (in the case of an academic library) needs. It seems to be that libraries will constantly be busy in regards to keeping up to date on the current technologies that are available. One problem I think libraries should worry about is the rapid pace at which new technologies are being developed. Since "technologies never stand still," libraries may find it extremely difficult to stay up to date on the current technologies. This is true, especially given the costs of the technologies.
2004 Information Format Trends: Content, Not Containers
This article showed the very rapid growth of electronics within the information field. People are more interested nowdays in the content of books and articles, rather than what "containers" (books, journals, etc.) they come in. I thoroughly agree with the article that libraries of all kinds should invest a great amount of time and money in the evergrowing smartphone technology. Libraries should look to enhance the public's desire for information with these technologies. If this were to happen, maybe the use of libraries would significantly increase, which would prove evidence that the library is a fundamental need for society. This would also maybe increase the amount of funding for libraries in general since the public would be using them more.
Information Literacy and Information Technology Literacy
Since we live in an evergrowing technological world, it is important that members of the community establish a well-based knowledge of technology literacy. Although older methods of information literacy (books, journals, card catalogs, etc.) are still useful, people need to learn how to use various forms of electronic media in order to stay up-to-date with the technology age. This article is very much concerned with the educational opportunities, or lack thereof, of that help people learn more about how technology works in information literacy.
I found this article to be very interesting from a technological point-of-view. I never realized how up-to-date libraries had to be in order to satisfy the public's and student's (in the case of an academic library) needs. It seems to be that libraries will constantly be busy in regards to keeping up to date on the current technologies that are available. One problem I think libraries should worry about is the rapid pace at which new technologies are being developed. Since "technologies never stand still," libraries may find it extremely difficult to stay up to date on the current technologies. This is true, especially given the costs of the technologies.
2004 Information Format Trends: Content, Not Containers
This article showed the very rapid growth of electronics within the information field. People are more interested nowdays in the content of books and articles, rather than what "containers" (books, journals, etc.) they come in. I thoroughly agree with the article that libraries of all kinds should invest a great amount of time and money in the evergrowing smartphone technology. Libraries should look to enhance the public's desire for information with these technologies. If this were to happen, maybe the use of libraries would significantly increase, which would prove evidence that the library is a fundamental need for society. This would also maybe increase the amount of funding for libraries in general since the public would be using them more.
Information Literacy and Information Technology Literacy
Since we live in an evergrowing technological world, it is important that members of the community establish a well-based knowledge of technology literacy. Although older methods of information literacy (books, journals, card catalogs, etc.) are still useful, people need to learn how to use various forms of electronic media in order to stay up-to-date with the technology age. This article is very much concerned with the educational opportunities, or lack thereof, of that help people learn more about how technology works in information literacy.
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