Comments are complete but just added more.

December 10, 2010 10:10 PM

Muddiest Points for 12/6

I have no muddiest points for this week.

Assignment 6

Here is the link to my Web Site.

http://www.pitt.edu/~kcc18/index.html

Comments for Unit 13

December 4, 2010 8:05 PM

I have meet all the comment requirements and it seems others have as well. It was hard for me to find those I usually follow to make any more comments.

Unit 13 Reading Notes

Week 13: IT Issues: Security and Privacy

No Place to Hide

As a child of the sixties this is not unfamiliar territory and one I would prefer not to think about but none the less  a reality we must live with and be aware of

EPIC Terrorism Information Awareness
Really?!

YouTube videos,  This video was unavailable and therefore I am unable to comment, but the other videos are pretty crazy. Facebook is out there and we either allow or accept it or not. We have no privacy if we choose to be public. Make an informed choice. Don’t put what you want private online.

12/3 Muddiest points for 11/29

I have no muddiest points for this lecture.

Comments for Unit 12

November 27, 2010 8:56 PM

November 27, 2010 5:58 PM 

November 27, 2010 6:03 PM

Unit 12 Reading Notes

Week 12 Reading Notes

Unit 12: Social Software (11/29)
Required Readings:

1) Reichardt, R., & Harder, G. (2005). Weblogs: their use and application in science and technology libraries.
    Science & Technology Libraries, 25(3), 105-116.

The article explains a  history of blogging from the first website and discusses options for group projects and reference . Emails still seem to be a preferred method as I know I find following blogs tedious and of little interest to me. Credibility in reference based blogs is questionable. The article also offers web sites for a few commercial sites for creating your own wiki. Although I believe this to be out of date/

.  Charles Allan, "Using a wiki to manage a library instruction program: Sharing knowledge to better serve patrons"
    C&RL News, April 2007 Vol. 68, No. 4http://www.ala.org/ala/mgrps/divs/acrl/publications/crlnews/2007/apr/usingawiki.cfm

This article addresses the issues of what a wiki is, a way of sharing information and its use in the classroom.  Two advantages to library instruction wikis:  sharing knowledge and cooperating in creating resources.

3) Xan Arch, "Creating the academic library folksonomy: Put social tagging to work at your institution" C&RL News,
    February 2007 Vol. 68, No. 2http://www.ftrf.org/ala/mgrps/divs/acrl/publications/crlnews/2007/feb/libraryfolksonomy.cfm

Social tagging allows the user to create their own subject headings. Folksonomy created by library patrons can be problematic but allows for a wider range of dissemination of information.

4) Jimmy Wales: “How a ragtag band created Wikipedia”
    http://www.ted.com/index.php/talks/jimmy_wales_on_the_birth_of_wikipedia.html 

Jimmy Wales on the Birth of Wikipedia was a very interesting video.  I never knew about this Web site that I use every day.  It’s made possible by thousand of everyday lay people Wales says, "It isn't perfect, but it's better than you'd expect," and that is how I use  Wikipedia--as a start or a launching point. Wales discusses how the Wikipedia Foundation handles controversies, how they handle quality control, what types of software tools they use, and how they are governed.  It is interesting Wales see that teachers beginning to use Wikipedia, and that he sees free-license textbooks as the future in education.

Muddiest Points for 11/22/10

I have no muddiest points for this weeks class.

Unit 11: Web Search and OAI Protocol (11/22)

 ReadingsNotes:

David Hawking , Web Search Engines: Part 1 and Part 2 IEEE Computer, June 2006.

These articles were interesting gave a summary of how search engines work. Part one discussed how information is indexed and how crawlers work. The second part dealt with algorithms and how the searchers, Google, Yahoo and Microsoft are processing information faster than ever before. It is astonishing to me when I think of the magnitude and the capacity to process so quickly through so much information.

 Shreeves, S. L., Habing, T. O., Hagedorn, K., & Young, J. A. (2005). Current developments and future trends for the OAI protocol for metadata harvesting. Library Trends, 53(4), 576-589.

      The Open Archives Initiative, OAI was designed in 2001 to allow interoperability between various groups; to collect their own metadata and then share it. The idea was to have a standard among institution thereby allowing for the ease of sharing and accessing information.

3) MICHAEL K. BERGMAN,  “The Deep Web: Surfacing Hidden Value” http://www.press.umich.edu/jep/07-01/bergman.html

This article was fascinating to me.  I had never heard of such a thing as ‘The Deep Web”. I feel like the web is an infinite entity and now I learn through this article that the majority of information come from the ‘surface web’ and that the deep web is 500 times larger, most is public accessible, generally has a higher satisfaction rating, and a greater number of linked sites. I am left in awe and wonder.

Comments:

November 19, 2010 11:56 PM

November 19, 2010 8:59 PM

November 19, 2010 9:04 PM

Muddiest points for 11/15

I have no muddiest points at this time.

Unit 10: Digital Library, Institutional Repositories (11/15)

 Readings Notes:

    Mischo, W. (July/August 2005). Digital Libraries: challenges and influential work. D-Lib Magazine. 11(7/8). http://www.dlib.org/dlib/july05/mischo/07mischo.html

This was an interesting article to me. I had never heard of DLl-1 and DLl-2 before. The article gave a background for some of the early digital library projects. It went on and talked about the funding and how the internet was relatively new at the time and was instrumental in moving libraries forward into the technological age.

 Paepcke, A. et al. (July/August 2005). Dewey meets Turing: librarians, computer scientists and the digital libraries initiative. D-Lib Magazine. 11(7/8). http://www.dlib.org/dlib/july05/paepcke/07paepcke.html

This article looked at the relationship between computer scientists and librarians. The ‘rift’ between the two was interesting and can still be relevant today. The bottom line is that the two sciences are integrated to bring clear, concise and relevant information to the user.

Lynch, Clifford A. "Institutional Repositories: Essential Infrastructure for Scholarship in the Digital Age" ARL, no. 226 (February 2003): 1-7. http://www.arl.org/resources/pubs/br/br226/br226ir.shtml

This article discusses many of the issues we have touched on in all of our classes. The amount of information produced from institution is exponential and to organize and store it in a way that is easily retrievable is a monumental task.  Institutions must have or develop repositories that are adequate.

Comments:

November 19, 2010 6:14 PM

November 19, 2010 9:18 PM

Muddiest point:

I do not have any muddiest point for this week.

Unit 9: XML (11/8)

Muddiest point

I can not tell you how scary this is and I always hoped there would never be a need for me to learn it. Everything seems muddy to me at this point and I just hope I can get it enough to complete Assignment 6. Can you show me an example of what I might need to know this for as a librarian?

Comments 

November 19, 2010 4:24 PM

November 19, 2010 

Reading Notes

      Martin Bryan.  Introducing the Extensible Markup Language (XML) http://burks.bton.ac.uk/burks/internet/web/xmlintro.htm

 Thank you fellow classmates for helping me find and access this. The article was based on the background of XML and it structure. I was confused though ….what students according to the BURKS would need this? Is this entirely out of date?

 Uche Ogbuji. A survey of XML standards: Part 1. January 2004. http://www.ibm.com/developerworks/xml/library/x-stand1.html

Once again this article or should I say articles went way over my head. With no background in this it has managed to scare me even more should I need to prove capable. However there are good solid tutorials and did give use examples and I will store this away for future reference.

 Extending your Markup: a XML tutorial by Andre Bergholz PDF

This article had some great examples as well and made the differences between HTML and XML a little clearer. Of course one again for one with no background in this area it is so much to try and grasp all at once.

 XML Schema Tutorial http://www.w3schools.com/Schema/default.asp

The article like the one we read last week had clear and concise tutorials. I think the basics are here. I hope!

Assignment 5: Collection Building in Koha ILS

kcc18

Fungi Facts

http://upitt01-staff.kwc.kohalibrary.com/cgi-bin/koha/virtualshelves/shelves.pl?viewshelf=61

This task surprised me. Perhaps it was just me, but I wanted to save more than one book at a time and found I had to restart the search from the marc record and go through the search each time. It was really time consuming!  Did I miss a way to toggle back and forth or leave the search results up?

Muddiest points for 10/25

I don't have any muddiest points at this time.

Week 8 Comments

October 29, 2010 9:13 PM

October 29, 2010 9:16 PM

October 29, 2010 9:19 PM

Week 8 Reading Notes

W3 Schools HTML Tutorial - HTML Cheatsheet

These articles were clear and well written even for one that has a tendency to glaze over at the prospect of learning something in such a foreign area.  Hyper text Mark up Language (HTML) uses a set of mark up tags to describe web pages.

Web browsers ‘read’ documents and interprets them as web pages. I bookmarked the tutorial along with the list of tags for future reference. I can see where I might need to use this information in the future.

I really enjoyed being able to try out some of the examples and it demystified the process for me.

Beyond HTML Developing and re-imagining library web guides in a content management system
By: Doug Goans, Guy Leach & Teri M. Vogel

This article was about a study that was conducted at a large University Library on the benefits of using a content management system (CMS). There were many of the details that were lost on me, but the overarching theory is that the CMS model allows libraries to retain control of publishing their web sites while clients can tag content. The conclusion stated the transition to CMS was positive and that its use would expand to other areas.

Assignment # 4 Personal Bibliographic Management Systems

http://www.citeulike.org/user/kcc18

Wow! I had a really hard time with this assignment. The learning curve was huge for me. I think it still is faster with the method I have developed for myself over the years. It would really help if i could sit down with someone that uses these methods and see the advantages when I am not under pressure to produce an assignment.

Internet and WWW Technologies (10/25) Week 7

Sorry for the brevity I had this all typed out and went to search something and came back and it was gone! So now I am doing it over in word and will cut and paste.

 Tyson, Jeff. http://computer.howstuffworks.com/internet-infrastructure.htm/printable

Great graphics! Easy to understand and quick video. From the inception the Internet free and accessible by all has grown exponentially. Finally a nuts and bolts picture of how the Internet works.

 Andrew K. Pace (2004). Dismantling Integrated Library Systems. Library Journal, 129(2), p.34-36. Full Text

This was an interesting and timely article for me. My library system has just gone through the process of finding a new ILS and will begin the changeover, spending several months preparing for a smooth transition.

 Sergey Brin and Larry Page: Inside the Google machine.
    http://www.ted.com/index.php/talks/sergey_brin_and_larry_page_on_google.html 

Finally the answer to the burning question....Seriously, these guys clearly explain the Internet connections and what they are working on. This is a bit dated and I have seen it before  but it is a real concrete look at the Internet.  I would like to see what the Internet world looks like now.


 I think the company is incredible. What a dream job that would be. I did not realize the extent of their charitable contributions. Also this is a great example of project management and organization.

Lots of good humor and enjoyable to listen to.

October 22 Muddiest Points

This was FT weekend and I got my questions answered in class. I have no muddiest points this week.

Assignment 3 Jing

http://www.screencast.com/t/ceF81Yx2uwVz 


http://screencast.com/t/rLfYhxPsok

http://screencast.com/t/VJsdZKUP8r

http://screencast.com/t/pRLJlyi9Iqcm

http://screencast.com/t/z6j6Qouo

http://screencast.com/t/JsUvZuO05g8


http://screencast.com/t/Dl9cZMgwgvKk

Assignment 3 Jing

http://www.screencast.com/t/ceF81Yx2uwVz

Week 6 Muddiest Points

No muddiest points for this week.

Week 6 Reading Notes

Local Area Network (Wikipedia

A clear and concise explanation of what a LAN (local area network) is from it’s conception, development and it’s application. LAN is used in a smaller setting where the WAN (wide area network) is used in much larger settings like businesses and schools.

I was glad to know and understand this information. When my son was in high school, he and his friends would have an annual LAN Party on the New Years weekend lasting for days. It was obvious what a LAN party was, but I never knew or thought  about the technical physicality of it all.

Computer Network (Wikipedia):

The different types of computer networks were explained along with the necessary hardware. I had no knowledge of most of these and had only heard a few of the terms before.

Common Types of Computer Networks (Youtube):

Just what I needed! The basics without all the in-depth techno jargon. It made it easy to understand.

Management of RFID in Libraries: 

Karen Coyle’s article gave a great explanation in everyday basic terms of RIFD’s. I agree that anything that can prevent the loss of materials is great. Stewardship of libraries finances is certainly a primary concern and of course having the ‘bugs’ worked out. I like the idea that library users could have a choice and have contact with the circulation staff or not.

Week 6 Comments

October 9, 2010 4:46 PM 

October 9, 2010 1:54 

October 9, 2010 2:17 PM

Week 5 nformation Organization by Database, Metadata

      Database. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Database 

Whew! This Wiki article is not the kind I have come to know and love. What did it say? No really, this article really broke down the function of the database and how it recognizes and categorizes bits of information and stores it. I found it more technical than I was comfortable with and I am thankful there is no test.  Certainly this was a place to go to reference database structures and models.

  Anne J. Gilliland. Introduction to Metadata, pathways to Digital Information: 1: Setting the Stage 

http://www.getty.edu/research/conducting_research/standards/intrometadata/setting.html

Metadata “data about data” This writing, I could understand, although technical and more information than I ever wanted to know, it was broken down succinctly and clearly. All data whether complex or singular have three components “-content context and structure” These three features allow the data to be organized and retrieved because of standard structure of expression.  The author used cataloging as an example and one I could relate to. Never having to have made the decisions for cataloging it certainly is necessary for the retrieval process to have order and categories.

Metadata traditionally in museums has been largely by context, but consensus and collaboration using descriptors is rising. There is a wide array of standards and approaches. The Dublin Core Metadata Element Set (DCMES) using a smaller set of generic elements can be used by any group expert or non expert. Everyday users are contributing to the metadata form through various personal and social web content identifiers. Folksonomies and tagging are specialized tools that broaden the retrieval capabilities.

Metadata is important to us as future librarians and archivists in the way we search and use information.

  Eric J. Miller. An Overview of the Dublin Core Data Model 

http://dublincore.org/1999/06/06-overview/,

Miller’s article is a work in progress but he has laid out a concise description and breakdown of the DCMI. Essentially this system is based primarily on semantic identifiers and common qualifiers. There can never be one set of identifying descriptors. The DCMI is a continuation of  the resource  Description Language. I really don’t understand this well enough to discuss. I understand data and the need to categorize and retrieve but I don’t feel able to interpret this paper in a coherent way. To me it is referencing and cross referencing down to a minute format. 

Week 5 comments

October 2, 2010 12:06 AM 

October 2, 2010 3:14 AM

October 2, 2010 12:30 AM

Week 5 Muddiest Points

I am confused enough by this weeks readings that I don't think I can make a coherent question. Thank you for posting last weeks question and including it in your class discussion.

Assignment 2 Fickr Photos

http://www.flickr.com/photos/54358109@N06/

Week #4: Multimedia Representation and Storage

"Data Compression: Wikipedia" and "DVD-HQ: Compression"
These articles were interesting and accessible. The technical, for the most part was left out and I really liked the humor and the simplified examples used to explain some concepts.  Any time I hear, or read of algorithms I glaze over but thankfully the authors spare us the explanation reserved for programmers and give appropriate and practical techniques. This information is certainly not something I will retain but am thankful I know where to find it when I need it.

The basics…with more information on small storage devices and the demand for faster retrieval, compression is necessary. Although the files need to be decompressed in order for the data to be used it is a better storage option.

The process of compressing files divides the subject up into lossless data compression, lossy compression of still and audio and video compression. More information can be in the same space with less time and broadband used to transfer them.

"Imagining Pittsburgh"

(http://www.ala.org/ala/acrl/acrlpubs/crlnews/backissues2007/jun07/youtube.cfm)

This is a great example of digitization and the collaborative effort of three institutions, Archive service center of the University of Pittsburgh, Carnegie Museum of Art, and the Historical Society of Western PA. By combining their resources and efforts, one web site or portal allows users to view an amazing collection.

"YouTube and Libraries"

(http://www.firstmonday.org/issues/issue9_5/galloway/index.html)

This is simple and easy to access. Librarians can use it to the advantage of their users and it helps in meeting the needs of a diverse population. We can keep up with the times and use the “tools” available. This stands to be an economic advantage during our budgetary restraints. It is a chance for creativity.

Week Four Comments

Here is the link to comments

September 24, 2010 11:52 PM

September 25, 2010 12:44 AM

September 25, 2010 1:14 PM

Week Four Muddiest Points

Do I understand correctly that I can have two operating systems on my computer like Microsoft Windows and Linux, for example? If so, what are the advantages and how is it possible to "toggle" between the two?

Week Three Reading Notes

Machtelt Garrels. “Introduction to Linux: A Hands on Guide”    
    http://tldp.org/LDP/intro-linux/html/

What a tome! I focused on the first chapter, the What is Linux?  In doing so, I learned that Linux is an implementation or tool of Unix.  It was funny to me to have the author ask us to imagine computers as big as houses. I don’t have to imagine< I remember!  This article was clear and succinct and there was everything I ever wanted to know about UNIX and the creation of the Linux system.  It is evident that the success of technology is user driven and without all the geeks, (I say that in the most loving of terms, as my son is one), and hobbyist the complexion of today’s personal computer and it operating system would look substantially different today.

What is Mac OS X?

http://www.kernelthread.com/mac/osx/  

December 2003? You’re kidding right?  I am not sure I understand what it is I need to be getting from this article. In the intro the author states he will “attempt to give a hacker over-friendly answer to the question "What is Mac OS X?".  I don’t know if this is the current operating system, but the author did an overview but I came away not knowing the focus of the article.

Mac OS X

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

    http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mac_OS_X

Again this article had a ton of information. It is Wikipedia, after all so a great launching place for users to find what they are looking for and can go from there. It does however after reading these three articles bring me to my

Muddiest point.  As a non- computer hardware person and with eyes glazing over at the technical side of the readings and version of versions being explained in detail, what am I supposed to take away from the readings? Am I to focus on some aspect of the technology or marvel at the advancements at such a rapid rate or something entirely different?

Paul Thurott “An Update on the Windows Roadmap” 

Again, a 2008 blog so as a non geek, but acutely aware of the rapid changes I am not sure of the necessity of this article except from a historical background or overview. I still have issue with library users that have Vista as their operating system, and it struck me that new versions come out when the old one is just getting the bugs out.  I think this quote sums it up, “The architectural changes that improved security and resilience in Windows Vista led to compatibility issues with existing hardware and applications. Many hardware drivers and applications needed to be updated, and while the majority worked well when we launched Windows Vista, some key applications and drivers were not yet available”

Senior vice president, Bill Veghte memo makes flaws seem like a good thing and that users should be as happy to change and adopted the latest and greatest versions,, because it’s more, better, bigger, and faster.

A good and lively dialogue follows, with similar and supporting observations like my own. Users think alike. We want it to work and we don’t want to change if it’s working and if it’s not …don’t make us use it!

Week Three Comment on DB

I've just started to work on the assignment, but I have always had good luck with Google's Picasa. It is free, easy to use and download. 

http://picasa.google.com

Take a look and see what you think and let me know if I can help you with it.




Week Two Comments


http://pratt2600.blogspot.com/2010/09/week-2-reading-notes.html?showComment=1284827416962#c4797217319420343175

9/17 Muddiest points Reading Notes

Week Two Four Decades of Technological Advancement: Bigger is NOT Better!

Personal computer hardware

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

The basic nuts and bolts of todays personal computer...Motherboard to Mouse

Nicely labeled, succinct, clear definitions.

Moore's law

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

The doubling of transistors on an integrated circuit every two years projected to continue another 15 years.

Digital electronics tied to Moor's law ..processing speed, memory capacity, sensors, pixel size and numbers in cameras.

Gordon Moore - Intel Founder

Obsolescence - rapid improvement may = rapid obsolescence.  Not exactly a

MUDDIEST POIN

T

, but wouldn't the financial burden of a two year technological obsolescence deter advancement?

What is Moore's Law? (Video)

Episode 2 of our Instant Egghead series tackles the law behind ever more powerful computers

By The Editors   

Loved this 60 second video. The paper folding drove the point home.

This was so cool and I see virtual museums more and more especially connected to archives and preservation. One thing leads to another.

Week Two Muddiest Point

MUDDIEST POIN

T

, but wouldn't the financial burden of a two year technological obsolescence deter advancement?

Week One Reading Notes and Random Thoughts

Information Format Trends: Content, Not Containers (2004)

Legitimacy of open-source publishing (e.g. blogs)
Rapidly expanding economics of microcontent
Repurposing of "old" content for new media
Multimedia content as a service for an array of portable devices

It does not matter so much the package or delivery mechanism variations  but the content does.

Libraries have dealt with these variations and will continue.  “search, find
and obtain”
'commoditization of content and the growing array of technology that
underpins the personal and social publishing phenomenon'

  Librarian as experts must embrace ways to distribute content to users

  e-books, scholarly materials use increases due to digitally available material

  OA -open access and budget smaller or larger?

  "libraries should move beyond the role of collector and
  organizer of content, print and digital, to one that establishes the authenticity and
  provenance of content"

Information Literacy and Information Technology Literacy: New
Components in the Curriculum for a Digital Culture
Clifford Lynch

information technology literacy - understanding of basic foundation and the tools of technology
information literacy deals with content and understanding of information
both forms essential-distinct but inter conected
Teaching two sets must be coordinated- 2 perspectives
1. SKILLS use of tools...spread sheets, word processing...
2. UNDERSTANDING technologies, system, infrastructure work
including fluency


Muddiest Point
Not sure how understanding on a deep level the underpinnings of technology makes us better librarians. We can see just from these reports and what we know of the exponential growth and change in technology that what we learn today will be different tomorrow or when we are on the job, Can't we learn what we need to know when we need to know it for our job? It is only then that we would have an appreciation for the deeper workings of the technology.

Library Hi Tech

Library automation, Library networks, Library systems, Technology led strategy
 what constitutes “information technology”.
technology is constantly evolving

Week One Reading Notes and Random Thoughts

Information Format Trends: Content, Not Containers (2004)

Legitimacy of open-source publishing (e.g. blogs)
Rapidly expanding economics of microcontent
Repurposing of "old" content for new media
Multimedia content as a service for an array of portable devices

It does not matter so much the package or delivery mechanism variations  but the content does.

Libraries have dealt with these variations and will continue.  “search, find
and obtain”
'commoditization of content and the growing array of technology that
underpins the personal and social publishing phenomenon'

  Librarian as experts must embrace ways to distribute content to users

  e-books, scholarly materials use increases due to digitally available material

  OA -open access and budget smaller or larger?

  "libraries should move beyond the role of collector and
  organizer of content, print and digital, to one that establishes the authenticity and
  provenance of content"

Information Literacy and Information Technology Literacy: New
Components in the Curriculum for a Digital Culture
Clifford Lynch

information technology literacy - understanding of basic foundation and the tools of technology
information literacy deals with content and understanding of information
both forms essential-distinct but inter conected
Teaching two sets must be coordinated- 2 perspectives
1. SKILLS use of tools...spread sheets, word processing...
2. UNDERSTANDING technologies, system, infrastructure work
including fluency


Muddiest Point
Not sure how understanding on a deep level the underpinnings of technology makes us better librarians. We can see just from these reports and what we know of the exponential growth and change in technology that what we learn today will be different tomorrow or when we are on the job, Can't we learn what we need to know when we need to know it for our job? It is only then that we would have an appreciation for the deeper workings of the technology.

Library Hi Tech

Library automation, Library networks, Library systems, Technology led strategy
 what constitutes “information technology”.
technology is constantly evolving

9/10 Muddiest points