Muddiest Point from 12/06/10

I'm not really sure about the section with Checksum and Hash Codes.  I understand that, per my notes, a Hash Code is "a unique code based on content of material and is generated based on some mathematical formula."  I guess I just need a little more explanation on these two, since I'm looking over my notes from class and I'm stumped as to how to explain these two concepts to people.

Comments on others' blogs 12/1/2010

http://lostscribe459.blogspot.com/2010/11/week-13-reading-notes.html?showComment=1291257222800#c5703442175021003209

and


http://christyfic.blogspot.com/2010/11/reading-notes-week-13-dec-6-2010.html?showComment=1291257704885#c8167869926632286763

Readings for 12/06

Well, the YouTube video was unavailable.  The message I received when I tried to view it:

This video is no longer available due to a copyright claim by Viacom International Inc..

The No Place to Hide website was...scary.  I mean, I know that personal information is always being monitored.  But wow..."When you go to work, stop at the store, fly in a plane, or surf the web, you are being watched. They know where you live, the value of your home, the names of your friends and family, in some cases even what you read. Where the data revolution meets the needs of national security, there is no place to hide."  (from the website).  Sobering, truly sobering.  I guess I live in a state of semi-plausible denial about privacy violations and I hate it when I'm forced back into reality.


The section on the "Total 'Terrorism' Information Awareness (TIA)" was also disturbing.  I'd heard of data mining, but I prefer to pretend that it doesn't exist and that our government plays no part in it.  

Muddiest Point from 11/29

I have no muddiest point from this week.

My Website

Here is the URL for my website:


http://www.pitt.edu/~thg9/

Comments on others' blogs

http://maj66.blogspot.com/2010/11/week-12-readings.html?showComment=1290870580581#c1471750521571797185

and

http://barbcmblog.blogspot.com/2010/11/week-12-reading-notes.html?showComment=1290870838123#c8643404966697184115

Readings for 11/29

LOVED the clip about Wikipedia.  I use Wikipedia pretty frequently and found the video to be really interesting and I think the Wikibooks project sounds great.  The number of volunteers working on this is staggering.  Logically, it doesn't seem like any of this should work as well as it does.  I enjoyed hearing about the quality control measures in place.  I always kind of wondered exactly how that worked.

The article about librarians making their own wikis was also pretty cool.  I'd never thought about the possibilities for librarians before.  I'm sure I'll be making use of these in my career.

The social tagging article was also really interesting.  I think that would be a great innovation for libraries.  After all, we want people to be able to find information.  What better way than to have patrons come up with the tags that make the most sense to them?

The article about blogging was also helpful.  I think the idea of using blogs for collaboration is a cool one.  It does sound like it would be a lot easier to use for that than the seemingly endless stream of back-and-forth e-mails. 

Muddiest Point from 11/22

I thought that the BUBL link looked pretty cool.  I was wondering exactly why that never took off. 

Comments on others' blogs

http://rjs2600.blogspot.com/2010/11/readings-for-11-22-11-26.html?showComment=1290040002439#c7097249651523005350

and


http://jobeths2600blog.blogspot.com/2010/11/unit-11.html?showComment=1290040200704#c9016868948635311377

11/17/2010 Readings for 11/22/2010

The article "Current Developments and Future Trends for the OAI Protocol for Metadata Harvesting" was interesting to me, since I think that Open Archives Initiatives are such a cool device.  I thought it was interesting that the OAI protocol can provide some access to parts of the deep web.  I didn't know that was even possible!  I also appreciated how the protocol can be applicable to other areas, other than the one for which it was designed.

"Web Search Engines:  Part 1" was a little hard to find, but I was able to locate it for free after some effort on my part.  I wasn't about to pay 19 cents for it.  Anyway, I thought it was interesting that the number of servers for the largest search engines is estimated to be in the hundreds of thousands.  Wow!  I guess that makes sense, I'd just never really thought about what all would be required for such a gargantuan effort.  I liked how the process of the web crawlers was explained.

"Web Search Engines:  Part 2" reminded me of the project we did for LIS 2005, so yeah...I shuddered.  I thought it was spelled out pretty clearly.  I felt that both articles presented a pretty clear view of how web search engines operate.

11/17/2010 Muddiest Point

I don't have a muddiest point this week. 

Comments for readings from 11/15/2010

http://mfarina.blogspot.com/2010/11/readings-for-unit-10-m-farina.html?showComment=1289443097365#c251258152226881778

and

http://rjs2600.blogspot.com/2010/11/readings-for-11-15-11-19.html?showComment=1289443540902#c4360631563333480933

Readings for 11/15/10

"Dewey Meets Turing" was an interesting article, which presented a lot of information that I either didn't know or hadn't even considered.  I liked the interplay between what the computer scientists expected and the expectations of librarians.  I never really considered that the World Wide Web would have been a complicating factor in this mix.  I liked the point that while technology has altered the library profession, the author felt there were a lot of promising features in this new horizon.  I especially liked the part about the increased opportunity for librarians to work in conjunction with scholarly writers.  I like the idea of being partners with scholars and helping them in sharing their works with the world.

The Mischo article about Digital Libraries and their challenges was a nice history lesson.  I guess I hadn't realized that there were so many universities which played a part in the whole Digital Libraries Initiative.  I also hadn't really thought about just how far things have come in such a short period of time.  The author cites the fact that as of the writing of the article, over 80,000 unique full-text journal articles were online.  That's really amazing!

The final article about institutional repositories by Clifford A. Lynch was also really informative.  I appreciated the emphasis on how this needed to be a group effort among librarians, IT people, records and archives managers, faculty, and the policymakers and officials at the university.  I think this is something that is often overlooked.  It's a pretty big effort involving a LOT of people!  I think that Lynch maybe errs on the side of assuming that faculty aren't tech savvy at all.  I think that a lot of newer faculty members would be quite comfortable with working in this medium.  Yes, librarians would be a big asset, but I don't think that ALL academic scholars would be as clueless as Lynch suggests. 

Muddiest Point from 11/08/10 class

I'm not sure when we would use XML Document Type Declarations and when we would opt to use XML schema. 

Koha assignment

http://upitt01-staff.kwc.kohalibrary.com/cgi-bin/koha/virtualshelves/shelves.pl?viewshelf=95

My user name is thg9 and the name of the virtual bookshelf is "Iowa."

Comments on other posts 11/03

http://mfarina.blogspot.com/2010/11/reading-notes-for-week-9-m-farina.html?showComment=1288828173570#c5594645636579397631

and

http://bds46.blogspot.com/2010/10/reading-notes-week-9.html?showComment=1288828529022#c134503765765393313

Readings for 11/8

I thought that Martin Bryan's article entitled, "An Introducxtion to the Extensible Markup Language (XML)" was pretty informative.  I like the emphasis on how XML has so much more flexibility than its predecessors.  I also had no idea that XML would assign a default definition if no DTD was present. 

Uche Ogbuji's article on the core standards of XML was useful with its links and tutorials.  It would make a great reference tool for those working on XML. 

The XML Tutorial about Extending Your Markup was presented in a nice, user-friendly format, especially for beginners.  I liked the definition of DTD as context-free grammar.  That kind of made sense to me!  The Extensible Stylesheet Language part was also useful, though I had to read that section a few times to really understand it. 

The tutorial from w3schools.com was also helpful.  I know I'll be referring to it constantly on the final assignment...

Muddiest Point, November 3

As I look over my notes, I'm not sure why we can't use Microsoft Word when using HTML.  I have a note that says, "Creat a text file, don't use Microsoft Word.  Use Notepad to open."  I know that there has to be a good reason, but unfortunately I didn't put that down in my notes...

Comments on other's blogs

http://mfarina.blogspot.com/2010/10/week-8-readingviewing-notes-m-farina.html?showComment=1288228724142#c1436088190664947954
and

http://gemma2600.blogspot.com/2010/10/week-8-readings.html?showComment=1288228957682#c357048657070331247

Readings for November 1

Okay, I loved the HTML tutorial.  It was cool to see what all of those things with <word> really mean!  And I had fun actually playing around with stuff.  Do I think I could do this on my own?  With an unlimited amount of time and patience, yes. 

The cheatsheet was also very useful.  I think that these 2 resources, if used together, would maybe (hopefully) be of great use if I had to do something like this for a library.

With the CSS stuff, yeah...I'd need someone like Jiepu or Dr. He to walk me through it.  I don't find CSS as intuitive or user-friendly as the HTML stuff. 

The article about CMS and Georgia State was interesting, especially the part contrasting the open source option with the in-house option.  After reading this, I know that I would never make a good web development librarian.  Forget what I said in the 2nd paragraph.  :-)  However, I have a lot of respect for people who can do this stuff.

Muddiest Point, October 27th

I was a little confused about persistent URLs, specifically with the http://www.purl.org/ site by OCLC.  Do people have to let OCLC know that their URL has changed?  Is it required that people do this (register with OCLC) or is it just a good idea?  If it's not mandatory, about how many websites do this?  Thanks!

Comments for Week of October 25th

http://acovel.blogspot.com/2010/10/week-7-reading-notes.html?showComment=1287783236641#c8212472601878653719

and

http://saralis2600.blogspot.com/2010/10/reading-comments-for-1025.html?showComment=1287783475059#c1229294856721857283

Readings for October 25th

The Andrew Pace article "Dismantling Integrated Library Systems" brought up some interesting points.  I'd never really given much thought to how the old ILS wouldn't be ready to change with the advent of new technology and the explosive growth of the internet.  I really liked the point about open source software being so valuable to libraries.  I'd never really considered libraries as being one of the groups who would really be checking out open source software, so that was a real eye opener.

Jeff Tyson's article "How Internet Infrastructure Works" was yet another piece that made me aware of things I'd never considered.  I had no idea there was an Internet Society that oversees the Internet.  Likewise, I'd never heard of Point of Presence or Network Access Points before.  I loved the Domain Name Server example.  It was REALLY easy to understand.  The article was "dumbed down" just enough so that I felt really comfortable reading it.

The TED video with Sergey Brin and Larry Page was great.  How much did I love the cool rising dots on the spinning globe, showing Google's queries?  LOTS.  I was kind of surprised at the lack of queries coming from South America and Australia, though. Sure, there are fewer people there...but still.  I'd heard of the Google Foundation before, but it was still nice to hear about the kind of things its doing.  I was REALLY impressed with the innovation and fun culture (okay, so they SAY it's a fun culture) at Google.  I think letting employees engage in their own research interests for 20% of their time is a great idea! 

Assignment #4

Here is the URL for my CiteULike library:  http://www.citeulike.org/user/guybrariantim

I think this was REALLY useful!

Muddiest Point from FastTrack Weekend

When would someone want to use peer-to-peer networks?  I know that an example was given of Library Thing for something similar to p2p, but I'm still not clear when exactly using p2p would be most desirable. 

URLs for the Jing Assignment.

http://www.screencast.com/users/guybrariantim/folders/Jing/media/2ead353e-516f-4caa-9efc-04ea68ae71fa

(Note:  I don't have a microphone, so there is no audio.)  This is a demonstration on how to use the web page from the Barco Law Library database in order to do legal research.  I go through the various links found on the website. 

http://www.flickr.com/photos/54104639@N04/5062326448/

http://www.flickr.com/photos/54104639@N04/5062324066/

http://www.flickr.com/photos/54104639@N04/5061718409/

http://www.flickr.com/photos/54104639@N04/5062330612/

http://www.flickr.com/photos/54104639@N04/5061722059/

Comments on Michele F.'s Muddiest point and Gemma's reading.

http://mfarina.blogspot.com/2010/10/week-5s-muddiest-point-jing.html?showComment=1286417357193#c9070487627883977313

and

http://gemma2600.blogspot.com/2010/10/week-6-readings.html?showComment=1286417703115#c5336390848720411363

Reading for FastTrack Weekend

I thought that Karen Coyle's article was SO interesting!  Really.  I liked the way she explained RFIDs and how they are similar to, yet different from, bar codes.  Very nice and simple explanations!  I almost choked when she admitted that RFID tags can be circumvented, though.  Ha!  I found her idea that check-out functions might be turned over to patrons and virtually eliminating the circulation staff to be a chilling thought.  She pointed out (correctly, I might add) that for most patrons, the circulation staff is the face of the library and the only human contact those patrons might have in the building.  She's right--we cannot afford to overlook this technology and need to be prepared...one way or another.

The YouTube clip was quick, easy, and painless.  I thought he did a great job of explaining the LAN and PAN and MAN.  I had no idea there were such things like a PAN or MAN.  Wow.  I knew about LANs, of course. 

The Wikipedia article about Local Area Networks did a great job of explaining what exactly they are (I wasn't 100% sure before I saw the YouTube video and read the article). 

The Wikipedia article about the Computer Network was chock-full of new terms for me, yet they were all easy enough to understand.  I liked the part about the wired technologies and the wireless technologies.  I thought it did a good job of explaining each type.  And I really appreciated the explanations for the various type sof networks.  Who knew there were so many???  Okay, maybe everyone else already knew.  I did not.  As far as the basic hardware components, I'll add that to the list of things I never thought about before.  I had no clue what a repeater or a bridge really was.  Likewise, while I'd heard the terms switches and routers before, I wasn't quite sure what their functions were.  It was a very informative article.

Muddiest point for 10/04 class

I was a little confused by the entity discussion in class.  I wrote that entities are "anything about which data are to be collected and stored" and that an "entity can be anything, even abstract." 

But do entities HAVE to be abstract?  Is that a prerequisite?  This might not even matter, but it seemed like the lecture indicated at times that yes, entities are indeed abstract.

Thanks!

Response to Kelly's post

http://kel2600.blogspot.com/2010/09/reading-notes-september-28-2010.html?showComment=1285811592989#c4364239439249702493

Response to Michele F.'s blog

http://mfarina.blogspot.com/2010/09/week-5s-reading-notes-m-farina.html#comments

Readings for October 4th

I liked the Wikipedia article that explained databases.  I love how Wikipedia manages to "dumb down" a lot of concepts so that I can actually understand them.  Sure, some of it was over my head.  But a lot of it (the part about replication, security, etc.) made a lot of sense.

The Overview of the Dublin Core Data Model was probably a bit too "techie" for me.  However, I was able to get that it's about describing resources that have properties and that the values of these properties can have string-values.  I appreciated the discussion about the semantic refinement, since words and how they're interpreted have a HUGE impact on being able to retrieve that information easily.

And then we come to Anne J. Gilliland's article about Metadata.  I guess I was surprised to learn that metadata doesn't have to be digital.  I think I was all caught up in how metadata is all about computers. 

Muddiest Point from 09/27

I didn't really understand the discussion regarding raster v. vector graphics.  I looked over my notes and I think I just need some clarification.  Thanks!

Comment on someone's blog

http://mfarina.blogspot.com/2010/09/week-4-notes-multimedia-representation.html?showComment=1285206295147_AIe9_BG71Lh-Q6aXcHzpNMbewobbT7GTauvk42N9KPxR4rvs_6Jgol5gf-xQTlWv27QZRZpEvTYWjrT6XOKh516Ruuc2gGaRaWEuXxiwXJ3GQk6jGILnX33ACdadSw28LMIEbEZA2-8byJzyBG23kuMuXqw6V0Sr5jI0JHDx-Xt69IDcEq-cM1eE1zq89GqNT5jQLrQa-MLRkCJNlFxTCZaTqH2h7uw_9yI7QDvE0N8SwzKWY-6UTxN7qhaJ6XvSeQxtkeR3wYgz88o0PhcZGZtBd-ANh8ewGK8He__idYGP3zWgNpIEEgUQOZsPrpK4h6VJL5DH2iPQvmsaAyDIm7PhvzEZi2eCytBdlD0bRU1qb1qS5e-mAney8ke00zIwP8Oa__K0ISvjQXIRO_M9yPfelKtm4ySwXFeXjrd2gHaagJeXGr0Ae1PUWqNAOpBR974Hzl_n-2gjSOThfIlUKmfc8tgYyPiTrcmJJQAxWCHVHfznKJ1156mE0_Rt1zPH7Orn-AHxPOvehI9g7Usu94JbYSVXX6Z73JUkxgi57U6LjLXu2gy-Z4SYKiiyfC5_3pslEtjQ3YLkJEA0FgXYKVMll-JPvfC8Q5pGCFrreMdeN4AK_xylcbbFOYOmHhwB8rZfDi6BbR8U-z1syseDZBQuFvRnGMX92S0CrWhF0OD9c6WIjK_RsQegiergR0ueoukWfJzdX5IsT428g4POlHQ7BaYqS4Lpo8j5rt2v3Lm36-vCnZxiIcTZbl9se3oJfceKZDbTZfxVRRqjTFKjA0E3srqCYYmoSVoFhN7CEef8K_CSQ0rTRgfPMAIjxMp_slVR3d_3j6WB#c3014044376095720584

Muddiest Point 09/22/2010

I guess my biggest muddiest point involves the whole UNIX/Linux area.  Are UNIX and Linux being used now?  If so, how often and by whom?  I know that Mac OS is a UNIX-like operating system, but that means that it's not actually UNIX, right? 

Week 4 readings

I was pleasantly surprised to find that the Wikipedia article on Data Compression actually (gasp!) made some sense to me!  And how much did I love the example of the lossless vs. lossy compression?  Seriously, I gasped.  It made it 100% clear!  And I'm glad I read that prior to reading the article on Data Compresson Basics. That article wasn't that bad, armed with my newfound knowledge of lossless v. lossy compression...though it was still a little too "techie" for my comfort level. 

The YouTube and Libraries article was pretty insightful.  I'm seeing more and more libraries take advantage of various resources like that, and I think it's a GREAT way to reach out to patrons.  And who doesn't love a good YouTube video?

The article about Imaging Pittsburgh was also really interesting.  I love how these collections are available online now.  I thought the challenges noted by the author were pretty insightful.  He did a good job of discussing the communication issues and the different academic cultures involved in this collaborative effort. 

Flickr Assignment

Here is the URL for my Flickr page:  http://www.flickr.com/photos/54104639@N04/with/5010145517/

I identified my brother and sister in the pictures, but I was reluctant to tag my niece and her kids or my friends from high school, since I didn't know if any of them would be comfortable having that information in such a public forum.

Week 3 Reading, Part Deux

Duh.  I just figured out that I missed an article, and one that would have REALLY helped me to understand the others.  Introduction to Linux.  Hmmm.  I think I should have read this one first.  Now I know what a kernel is, what UNIX is, what Linux is, Open Source Software, etc.  This article was SO much easier for a layperson like me to comprehend.  The list of Linux pros and cons was really easy to follow.

Comment on Michele F.'s blog

http://www.blogger.com/profile/10001301845734298282

Week 3 Readings

The Wikipedia article on the Mac OS X was mostly over my head.  Linux, Unix, Posix...huh?  However, the Aqua GUI sounds really cool.  I've never had a Mac.  I'm a Windows user here, mostly because they're cheaper.  I'd be interested to hear from devoted Mac users about why the Mac is so awesome.

The beginning of the "What is Mac OS X?" article was also mostly over my head, other than the introductory history about Steve Jobs.  I think I'd actually have to see the Mac OS X System Startup in person, rather than read about the steps.  I just can't visualize it well enough for it to sink in, especially since I'm not a Mac owner.  I did like the section on "Why Mac OS X?" though.  I thought the author did a good job of explaining things about Windows v. Mac, with pros and cons to both.

I was able to understand the "Update on the Windows Roadmap" a little better, thanks to having only used Windows to this point.  I wasn't a big fan of Vista, so it was interesting to hear Microsoft crow about how great it was.  I especially enjoyed reading the feedback at the end.  Who knew people were so passionate about this topic?

This week's comment on someone's muddiest point

http://www.blogger.com/profile/10001301845734298282

Muddiest Point for Week 3 (or is it technically Week 2?)

My muddiest point involved the part of the lecture on Monday about the cylinder and hard drive.  Dr. He said that smoke and dust destroys the hard drive.  Is the hard drive actually destroyed?  Can't the smoke or dust be cleaned off?  Or is the hard drive rendered 100% useless immediately? 

Week 2 reading

I found the computer hardware section from Wikipedia to be EXTREMELY helpful.  Yes, I have a computer and know how to do the basic functions necessary for work and school and personal tasks.  However, I had no clue what most of those components on my computer really were or what they were called.  "That thingy" isn't nearly as informative as saying "The CPU" or "The Motherboard."  I know that I will be referring to this printout for some time to come.

I'd seen Moore's Law referred to in several readings, so it was nice to finally figure out what it was.  It amazes me that he came up with this back in 1965.  For some reason, I keep forgetting that computers have been around for so long.  The trend for not only components of integrated circuits doubling every two years, but seeing the same trend basically hold true for other areas (e.g. speed of processing, memory, etc.) just shows how rapid the technology is growing and evolving.

I also had no idea that anything like the Computer History Museum even existed.  The catalog search looks like it would be a fantastic reference tool!  It was also really interesting to see the evolution of the computer, from the monstrous behemoths of years past to the comparatively tiny personal computers of today.  I especially appreciated the online exhibits.  What a cool idea!

Thoughts on Week 1 readings

I thought that the position paper by Clifford Lynch presented a nice perspective on information literacy and information technology literacy.  I especially liked the emphasis on how both forms of literacy are essential.  His call for the understanding to have an appreciation for areas such as economics and history was also appreciated.  I think too often those areas are overlooked when discussing information technology literacy.  It doesn't exist in a vacuum, after all. 

The OCLC report had some excellent vocabulary definitions.  I'll be honest:  I'm not the most technologically savvy guybrarian out there.  I had no clue what a wiki was.  Wikipedia, yes.  Wiki, no.  It was interesting to see the trends in content and format. 

I think the article that I liked best, however, was the one by Jason Vaughan with the UNLV library.  I was struck by how straightforward he was regarding the challenges encountered by his library and I thought he did a good job of thinking about the challenges and opportunities of the future at that library.  I think that as librarians, we often don't consider future development and what some of those changes might mean in terms of technology, space limitations, and services.

My muddiest point:  While I enjoyed the Vaughan article, I didn't really understand the systems discussion on page 2 of that article.  For instance, when he discussed the DiMeMa/OCLC's CONTENTdm digital content management system for digital project development and access, he may as well have been speaking to me in ancient Greek.  I'm hoping that through this course, I will gain a better understanding of systems and won't just stare at the reading blankly when different operating systems are discussed.