Friday, November 27, 2009

Muddiest Point

I have no muddiest point for this week.

Saturday, November 21, 2009

Saturday, November 14, 2009

Comments for Week 13

Comment One

Comment Two

Muddiest Point Week 13

I have no muddiest point for this week.

Readings for Week 13

1. Web Search Engines:
This article is about the evolution of the search engine and how google, yahoo etc. search through millions of information and data constantly. This article discusses how web search engines are able to search through all of this data. They ignore a lot of low value data and there are a lot of confidential pages on the web that they cannot search. This would weed out a lot of stuff but there is still a lot of information on the web. Crawlers have a lot to decode and sort through so they often crash or burn out

2. Current Developments and Future Trends for the OAI protocol
OAI stands for Open Archives Initiative. It is used to create access for e-print articles but as expanded to other communities. This article was very repetitive. I got that the OAI did something with metadata and data harvesting but beyond that, I really didn't get it. This is another article that dropped a lot of big words but didn't really say much, at least for me.

3. The Deep Web: Surfacing Hidden Value
This article goes into the expansiveness of the web and how search engines very often just skim the surface of what's available. It seems very crazy that there is so much on the web that we never see. I just picture in the dark corners of the web, there's a balrog or two lurking or one of those fishes with lights hanging off of it's head. At first it seems like a really good idea to explore that unknown expanse of information but if it's not important or useful, is it really that imperative that we find it? We have information overload already (I experience this feeling everyday) and I don't really feel like adding to it.

Saturday, November 7, 2009

Comments for Week 11..12?

Comment One

Comment Two

Muddiest Point Week 11...maybe 12

I have no muddiest point this week.

Readings for Week 11...or perhaps it's 12 now..?

An Introduction to XML: XML, from reading the article, seems to be a way to show information on the web and share that information with others. It doesn't use tags like HTML and instead organizes information with elements. The article goes into what XML is used for and how to use it. XML tags are based on the actual format of the document so they are easier to understand. XML is ideal for database use, as mentioned in the article.

A Survey of XML standards part 1
This article is obviously a survey of information about XML. The website provides resources for the different versions of XML and the standards. There are lots of links to software that can help you with using XML. There are tutorials, videos, and references, most of the resources seem to be professional and technical about the actual workings of the software and applications. I didn't really understand a lot of it.

Extending your Markup
This article was a more straightforward discussion of XML. It explained the difference between XML and HTML. HTML is used for web layout while XML relates to the content of the data on the website. XML is also easier to read for humans, as well as computers. The article put it well when it gave the different examples of HTML and XML and showed that the first was more layout oriented while the second dealt more with structure.

XML Schema Tutorial
The last website was similar to the HTML tutorials we looked at in a previous week. The tutorials and explanations were helpful in understanding how XML works. I understand it a little better after looking at this website. XML seems to be more concerned with databases then HTML.

Thursday, October 29, 2009

Muddiest Point Week Ten

It's been so long since I've made a web page and I know that the page was being editing in Notepad but how did you get the page to display in a web browser to check to see how your edits look?

Assignment #5

My Koha Shelf

Sunday, October 25, 2009

Muddiest Point Week Nine

Honestly, you explain everything too well in class. I wish I had a muddiest point for you.

Let me think of something...

How can they keep making so many new IP addresses? Will they someday run out? What exactly does it mean when a website logs your IP address?

Comments For Week Nine

Comment One

Comment Two

Friday, October 23, 2009

Readings For Week Nine

w3schools HTML tutorials:
This was a very straight forward guide to HTML and how it works. I used to use HTML a lot but the blogs and things I was using it for starting incorporating those tags as buttons so I haven't had to do it for awhile. I have also used FrontPage to make websites in a previous computer science class. This guide is really good for refreshing your memory and also, if you have zero clue of what HTML is and what it does.

HTML Cheatsheet
This site is a just a list of HTML tags. It is really good for quick reference if you forgot how to write something. It doesn't go into as much detail as the first site so it's probably more helpful for people who already know the basics and just need to remind themselves of something.

CSS Tutorial
I don't know that much about CSS so it was good to read a basic article about it. It is for more advanced options about formatting the website and changing the background and colors. I was never very good at this and never really figured out how to make a whole layout for a website without using software of some kind. I'm better at editing pre-existing things rather than creating my own entirely. A lot of the more complicated stuff, I didn't really understand but it was useful for making the basics of CSS a little more clear to me.

Beyond HTML
This article was about the development of a management system that would maintain the special research websites the Georgia State library created. They wanted to create a system that would allow for easier access for the librarians so they could edit the content they wanted on the website and make it available for the public. They wanted to make a system that would support images, pdf's, word documents, and powerpoint presentation among other things. They are different options librarians could pursue with this software depending on what they wanted to do with the system. It seemed like a option for libraries to consider if they wanted to have something that could be edited and provide a lot of resources to their patrons.

Sunday, October 18, 2009

Thursday, October 15, 2009

Readings for Week Seven... or is it eight now...

How Internet Infrastructure Works:
This was an informative article on how the internet works. It was very accessible to the average reader and explained everything really well. I liked the diagrams. They were helpful with seeing how connections are established between networks. It really clears up how the internet infrastructure actually works because we've been discussing this idea in other classes and it never entirely made sense to me.

Dismantling Integrated Library Systems:
This article addresses the problem of reassembling a new library system. Libraries serve a larger amount of people because of the internet so they must find a way to accommodate the online users. Changes in this system can be difficult and many times libraries want to build their system from scratch rather than adjust the previously existing system. I didn't entirely understand the whole article but I can see that libraries have a lot to think about when it comes to changing their systems.

Inside the Google Machine:
This talk was very interesting. I enjoyed hearing about the different projects that google works on. The world map of all of the people using google was very cool. They seemed they were very supportive of creativity and making information available to people, just like libraries. Maybe I'm naive, but I don't think google necessarily has to threaten the existence of libraries and I don't think it takes away from them. I was surprised by how interesting was and I ended up watching quite a few of the other talks. They were all eye-opening.

Sunday, October 4, 2009

Saturday, October 3, 2009

Readings For Week Six

1. Local Area Network Wikipedia- A LAN is a computer network covering a particular area that provides internet or cable. It is used by regular folks for cable and internet and also universities and businesses. I used ethernet to connect to the internet at my undergrad colleges. The dorm I lived in during my senior year had terrible wireless so I had to use ethernet in my room. The co-axial cable I used for my television fell out of the screw thingy on the wall where you put it all the time. I don't know why I could never find one that fit.

2. Computer Network Wiki-A group of interconnected computer networks, which I never would have guessed. Networks allow the computers to communicate with each other about the downfalls of being made of numerous electrical parts. It isn't all rainbows and unicorns being a computer for a business man or college student. There are many ways for the computers to be connected such as through ethernet or wireless. I knew a lot of the basic information about computer networks but the article filled in some gaps such as the various different types of networks and how exactly they are connected. I didn't know a whole lot about the hardware either so that was good to know.

3. Common Types of Networks- This is a video version of the two wikipedia articles, basically summarizing computer networks and how they work with LAN connections.

4. Management of RFID in Libraries- an RFID is a radio frequency identifier which in this case, would mean that books wouldn't have to have barcodes attached to them and would just be waved over a scanner. It would be nice to not have to stick things on books anymore. There is the idea that information like the call number and the title of the book can be stored in the RFID as well. The tags would have to be a little more durable to be used in a library, as they have to be used more than once. It is an interesting idea and an option that could be used by libraries in the future.

Thursday, September 24, 2009

Readings For Week Five

1. Data Compression Wikipedia Entry- This article is about the specifics of data compression, a method in which information is encoded in order to take up a smaller amount of space. The person receiving the compressed data must have a means of un-encoding the data so it can be read. There are two different types of data compression, Lossless and lossy. Lossless compresses the data so information is not lost, whereas lossy compresses information less subjectively and information is "rounded off" so that some quality is lost. Lossless compression is used when a degradation in quality cannot be afforded, such as with graphs or charts. Lossless tends to be used for audio and visual files. The article was informative and explained compression in terms that the average user could understand.

2. Data Compression Basics: This article is a basic run through of data compression and how the particular method it uses to encode information. I thought that the first example it gave of Run-Line Encoding was useful but also raised the question of what it can be used for if more often than not, it doesn't decrease the space but makes it bigger. I have noticed when I compress information on my computer that it often doesn't make much difference size wise but instead is useful for when you have a lot of items that you want someone to be able to download as a single file. It is easy to upload a zipped file of all of the items, rather than upload each one separately.
I thought Entropy coding would be more exciting because of it's name but sadly, no.

3. Imaging Pittsburgh: This article is a discussion of the University of Pittsburgh's efforts to digitize their catalog of photographs taken in Pittsburgh in the mid 19th and 20th centuries. The purpose of this project was so the public could have access to the photos. The pictures featured in the article are from that collection and they are very interesting to look at. These photographs are representative of Pittsburgh's history and of the way the neighborhoods looked back then. It is interesting to compare them to now and see the changes that have happened. The challenges faced by the three institutions involved in the project included having a good method of communication between them and creating metadata that would work with their extensive collection.

4. Youtube & Libraries- This article discusses the benefits Youtube could have for libraries. It presents the idea that libraries could record their services, like events or readings and put them on the web for people to watch in the hopes of encouraging people to become more interested in libraries and what they do. The videos could be also be used to answer questions or to help people find things within the library like the check out or reference desk. I have to admit the idea of a virtual library tour does make me laugh a little. I just picture this tiny librarian fairy like something from Harry Potter directing you to the Circulation desk in a really cheerful voice.

Sunday, September 20, 2009

Muddiest Point Week Four

My Muddiest point for this week is how exactly can metadata be organized and how do people use it to help find information

Comments For Week Four

Comment One

Comment Two

Thursday, September 17, 2009

Readings For Week Four

1. This article was a wikipedia entry on Databases. It goes into how they are made and how they function. There are a lot of different types of database models that organize data. I sort of understand how all of this works but with computers, the actual programming and steps taken to do something like create a program go over my head. Someone can tell me that this are the way it works but I don't think I'd entirely understand how all of this works.

2. Introduction To Metadata:
I find it vaguely amusing that there is data about data. There has to be some obsessive compulsive person out there coming up with these things. This article is about the use of metadata and how it is becoming increasingly digitized as are most things these days. People have been trying to find a way to catalog all of this data and make it accessible to the public. While I read this article, I sort of lost track of which data was which. In the section where it mentions that students are taught to look for metadata when looking at a website to authenticate it, it almost sounds like Metadata could be something like a stamp of approval from a trusted source of information as well. Metadata could also be things like catalogs. The charts in the article helped in understanding what they were discussing.

3. An Overview of The Dublin Core Data Model
I have to admit that in the first sentence when the author described the purpose of the Dublin Core Data Model, it sounded like a lot of buzz words to me. It didn't actually say anything that I could ascertain except that they deal with information in some way or another. I'm assuming they are a company that creates databases for other companies but I could be wrong as I didn't entirely understand the article.

Monday, September 14, 2009

Sunday, September 13, 2009

Week Three Muddiest Point

I was confused by the article on Linux and how exactly it worked. The article mentioned that it could be installed on any machine for free and I wondered if it was a separate operating system how that would work. Would you be able to boot both like a mac? Also, how exactly do people go about editing the system.

Comments For Week Three And Two

Week Three:
Comment One

Comment Two

Week Two:

Comment One

Wednesday, September 9, 2009

Readings For Week Three

1. Introduction to Linux: A Hands On Guide:
The first reading was about the Linux operating system which I don't know that much about. I've heard that Linux and Apple are similar but I could (and probably am) totally wrong on that account. After reading the article, it seems like it was a system most often used by programmers. I thought it was very interesting that the system can be downloaded from the internet for free without buying a CD or anything like that. Also, that it can edited and changed by anyone though I don't quite understand how that works, probably because I have never done any computer programming. Some of the cons of Linux mentioned in the article are that, while so many people are able to edit the system, this leads to many options and being confused as to which one to explore. It seems more of a system that would be easily adaptable to people who had more computer and programming experience. I saw the mention of OpenOffice and GIMP software, both of which I use on my computer and did not know were created by Linux.

2. What is Mac OS?
The article on Mac OS X was very interesting to me, as I use a mac. I used to have a windows computer and I can say that I am a lot happier with my mac. I have never had such fondness for a computer in my life. This is all beside the point though. The article goes into a lot of technical aspects of the system, it's evolution from it's original program and it's different command processes. I would agree with writers comments about the operating system in general. I find that Windows tends to be "busy" as the author puts it, though I never thought to put it like that but after I read it, it is a very good word choice to describe it because windows is always doing something, usually something I don't want it to do.

3. Mac OS: Wikipedia
This article was very similar to the last article with an emphasis on the features and history of apple. There was a description of the different versions of Apple, leading up to newest version recently released.

4. An Update on the Windows Roadmap
This article was an update (obviously) on Windows progress with Vista and XP operating systems. There was some clarification on security and capability with these programs. Security updates were made to Windows Vista. There is work being done on Windows 7 which is a new version of the operating system. The focus seems to be to make more applications available and usable on the system and to increase stability and security.

Readings For Week Two

1. Computer Hardware: Wikipedia
This wikipedia article explained the different parts of a computer and how they worked. I've had a previous computer science class that went into some detail on this topic but not as much on how the parts worked together. It was interesting the inside of the system unit. In the discussion of the fan cooling the CPU, I was reminded of my first laptop which died due to overheating and also a virus that OIT had never seen before.

2. Moore's Law Wikipedia and Video:
This article was a wikipedia entry on Moore's law and a video explaining it. I understood the concept of Moore's Law a lot better after I watched the video. I am still not entirely sure how all of these transmitters can keep getting smaller and smaller and still produce the same results but I'm not much of a computer person. I also do not think I would want a cell phone the size of a paperclip. I would definitely lose it somewhere. Aren't bluetooths kind of like that though? I hate when someone is talking on one of those and I think they are talking to me and say hi but they are actually on the phone. I feel really stupid.

3. Computer History Museum:
The Computer History Museum was especially interesting to me. The evolution of a computer from a large room-sized machine to being able to fit in the palm of your hand is fascinating to me. I looked in particular at the evolution of the apple computer. I liked looking at the old ads and what computers looked like then. It is amazing to think that in such a short time, they have advanced to what they are now.

Friday, September 4, 2009

Readings For Week One

1. "Information Format Trends: Content; Not Containers"
This article highlights information format trends, specifically that things like books, CD's, and movies are available in digital formats over the internet rather than in physical packages. The public cares more about the actual content rather than the packaging. Information can now be more easily shared with other people. In reading this article, I can see that many of the predictions of how people would use and share information have come true in the years since it's been published and it just emphasizes how fast technology changes.


2. "Information Literacy and Information Technology Literacy"

This article was about the difference between Information literacy and Information technology literacy. Information Literacy, according to the article is the understanding of the information and technology literacy is the understanding of how the technology works that generates the information. The article stresses the importance of being able to not only use technology but to understand how, for example, a website is coded or a database is created, as well as how to use the website and the database.
I think that while knowing how to create a website and all of the coding that goes into it is interesting and can be useful, it's not really practical for the average person using a computer.

3. "Lied Library @ Four Years"

This article detailed Lied Libraries technology updates over the course of four years. The article shows how important it is for libraries to keep on top of new technology for the public and how they organized their materials to allow for access. There is a lot of work involved in updating and maintaining a library and the article shows the reader how important this work is for the public.
This is my Information Technology blog for Library Science.
:)