Unit 5 Comments

Comment

Unit 5 Muddiest Point

I do not have any questions about the class.  I just want to clarify a few things:

1) Class on October 18, after the Fast-Track weekend, is cancelled.
2) Coming to the Fast-Track class is optional for on-site students.

I believe that what I have stated is true but just want to clarify them so that I do the right thing.

Thanks!

Unit 5 Readings

An Overview of the Dublin Core Data Model

            This allowed me to gain an understanding of what the Dublin Core Data Model is and how it came about.  It lost me though when it started to show examples of the behind the scenes stuff. 

Ie: ...

<!-- declarations in resource http://purl.org/dc/elements/1.1/ -->

<rdfs:Property rdf:ID = "contributor">

  <rdfs:label> Contributor </rdfs:label>

  <rdfs:comment> An entity responsible for making contributions to the content of the resource. </comment>

</rdfs:Property>

...

I understand that this is just one way of trying to coordinate standards and that it is making some headway, or has already taken place.  The author said that it was just his opinion of the relationship between RDF and DCMI, but I did not see his opinion anywhere.  I may have just missed it, though. 

Introduction to Metadata, pathways to Digital Information: 1: Setting the Stage

            If metadata is like the Internet, then how do we contain it?  This is the major question that, I think, will be asked throughout the semester if not the time we spend here at Pitt.  This article does a good job of showing how it is trying to be contained, but agrees that it is ever growing and that some things can not all be contained or described the same way.  Which is the problem.  Our job as future librarians is to help solve this problem.  I personally have no solution.  I think that because it is so vast that there is no way to contain it all.  Once we think it is all contained, something will come along and screw this system up.  I do think that there has to be a way to at least make sense of all the information out there and create some kind of system to organize it all.  What that system is, I have no idea.

Database

            I did not know that there were various types of databases.  After reading this article though, I now realize that there are many of them, but that they all try to do the same thing. Locking the various databases seems like a good and bad idea.  If you lock it so no one sees it, then how do you gain advice on it?  I do agree that some things need to be locked so other people don’t edit them unnecessarily.  I agree with what was said by the author about indexing.  If indexes can speed data access but slow data maintenance, it is worth it to index?

Unit 4 Readings, Part 2

Imaging Pittsburgh

            This is a great idea.  I’d really be interested to know if other communities were doing this same thing.  I think it is a great idea to put photo’s of the community up on the web for those who grew up in the area to see old photographs or for people doing research.  My own community has done this, except they put the photos into a two-volume book series.  After reading a previous article about the cost of digitizing though, I wonder how much this cost.  With cost in mind, I also wonder if that means that certain photographs were not digitized.  How, as and archivists or curator, do you decide what gets digitized and what doesn’t? It must be a very difficult question and one I do not wish to make and one I do not wish to make.

YouTube and the Library

            This is another great idea.  I know as an incoming student at various stages, I hated sitting through those “This is the library” speeches.  Having a video of this and other resource videos would be great.  Students and visitors would be able to watch the video on a need-to-know basis.  It would also show that the library was not ignoring the technology available or the fact that we are in the technology age.  As someone who has an Internet phone and uses it regularly around Pittsburgh, having this option would be a great one.  Reading and walking is very hard to do, but if someone were talking to me while it walked, going places would be much easier.  With these instructional videos, students would also be able to pause, rewind, and watch it as many times as they would need.  I’m in full support of this option.

Unit 4 Comment

Posted on Adam's Blog

Unit 3 Muddiest Point

At this time I do not have any questions about the last class.

As I stated in my blog though, I am having some trouble connecting data compression to the library.  I understand why it is done, but not the connection between it and the library. I'm probably being really dense about it but I'm not getting it.

Unit 4 Readings

Data Compression (both the Wiki document and the Data compression basis document)

         I understand the reasoning behind compressing data.  It saves room in the computers hard drive and memory for more things to be put in.  I just don’t understand how this can be related to the library.  Maybe it can be related to libraries because library computers have many different programs on them, especially the ones used in the children’s department, and by compressing the data it enables librarians to put more programs on the computer.  But, that’s the only way I can relate it to the library.  If anyone else can explain this to me, it be greatly appreciated.

 ATTN: At this time I am having problems getting the last two links (First Monday and ALA) to work, hence why I have not commented on them in this posting.  I have posted in the Discussion Board a question regarding this and am waiting for a response.  I wanted to get what I had done so far posted though, just to get something out there.  Thanks for the understanding!

Flickr Assignment

Flickr Assignment

Week 3 Readings

Introduction to Linux

I know this has been stated before, but this system is something that should be used in libraries.  It is free, so it would cut down on costs.  The system is also not difficult to learn to use.  Yes, it is not Windows and what everyone is used to, but I believe it is easier to use then Windows.  Things are easier to find and use in the Linux system.  But the main reason this system should be used in the library is that it is free.  It runs in the background, updates on its own, and would not cost the library anything to run.  If this is the cheaper system to run, then why are we not using it in libraries now?

Mac OS X

     To combine comments on both the Mac OS X articles, I would like to say first that I am a Mac user and have always been a Mac user.  I know how to do things on the Windows interface, but I like coming home to my Mac.  In my opinion, Mac’s last longer.  I have owned my current Mac for five years, where as my mom has been through two PC laptops in that same time period.  I agree that Mac’s are not cheap, but in the long run, they are worth their price for their longevity. 

      The system is easier to use for programmers and are harder for hackers to get in.  According to a friend of mine who uses a PC for his personal computer but a Mac for work, using the Mac/Linux system for everyday things is pointless.  It is easier to use a Windows interface for those things.  I can agree with him on this point to a certain point.  I do not program anything or create viruses, and I would spend my money on another Mac in a heartbeat then on a PC.  The things that Windows advertises, such as the drop down screens (like when you click File and a thing comes down), the ability to switch between programs with a simple keystroke (ALT-TAB), or the quit programs without clicking a mouse (ALT + F4) are all things that have been created on Mac’s.  Some things are uniquely Windows, but other things they have gotten from Mac’s. So, why not use the system that created these things instead of the system that copied them?

Comment Link

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Week 2 Muddiest Point

I have no question about the lecture that was given.  I am still a little confused about where to post things and when to use Course Web and when not to use Course Web.  I understand that the comments about the readings and the muddiest point going into the blog, but what about the things posted on the discussion board? Are we supposed to respond in the discussion board or the blog? I also have something that needs clarification, the blog.  From what I understand, were supposed to write in the blog, publish it, and then put the link on the blog discussion board...? I just need some clarification so I can understand it better.

Week 2 Readings

Moore’s Law

            I understand how this Law has allowed for the technology expansion during the 20^th and early 21^st century, but I am not sure exactly how this has happened.  After reading this article several times, I am still not 100% sure what exactly this law is.  I’m hoping that this will be further explained in class on Monday, or someone can point me to a simpler definition. 

Personal Computer Hardware

            I have taken a computer technology course before where we were taught all of these terms and how they worked.  Sadly, I am the type of person who does not really know how her computer works, just as long as it does.  So, it is useful to have relearned all of these terms and to hopefully better understand all of it, especially how it all makes my computer work. 

Computer History Museum

            My first two thoughts on seeing this were (1) there’s a museum about computers? and (2) can I visit it? Then I looked further into the website.  Sadly it is located in California, so I cannot visit it readily at this moment.  The thought that there is a museum about computers though should have been a “duh” thought.  There are museums about everything: torture, spying, sports.  Having one about computers should be nothing. The fact that computers are something that has only evolved during the last 50 odd years is what gave me pause.  Most museums feature “old” items, ones that were created 100 or more years ago.  A museum with a subject that is only 50 years old is shocking, yet exciting at the same time.  I really hoped looking at the website that it was located in Pittsburgh because seeing some of these exhibits would have been interesting to see.  I may not fully understand how computers work, but am interested in their evolution.

Week 1 readings, part 2

I feel that the Lied Library has done an awesome job in keeping updated with the current technology and has a good system in place from doing this.  The OCLC article has some good points to it and is very true, especially about email and SMS messaging.  The world around us is changing and we either have to change with it or get left behind.  One article shows how the technology is changing at an increased rate, and the other shows how one library is keeping up with this problem.  Libraries around the world have had to change their view on what it means to be a library and how to share their information to the masses.  Some have not survived this transition, which is sad.  Those libraries who have survived now have economical issues to look at keeping themselves afloat.  Books and libraries have never been cheap things. With the printing press, making books became cheaper and more people could afford purchasing them.  Now that the world has become fixated on computers and technology, the price has risen again. Whether libraries should move away from technology for the sake of their funding or move ahead with technology is unsure. Libraries have to look at their own resources and make this decision for themselves.

Week 1 Readings and Muddiest Point

The article from OCLC had very good points about the expansion of technology and the cost these technologies are going to be for consumers.  There is no limit to how many new programs will be coming out in the coming years and how much these are going to cost for consumers.  The article on the Lied Library shows how this problem can be solved.  The library has revamped itself in past years to try and solve this technology problem and to stay updated with the technology.  Although problems have arisen since the opening of the new library, these problems have been solved to the best of the libraries abilities.

The article by Clifford Lynch had some good points to it, I guess, but I am not sure what these are or what they have to do with the technology overload and libraries.

Muddiest Point: I do not have any questions from the first class. I do have some questions about the Lynch article and how it relates to this class, libraries, or other two articles.

Testing, Testing

Hi,

Just testing this out and making sure it works.