Week 9 Reading Comments

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Assignment 5 - Koha Virtual Shelf

http://pitt5.kohawc.liblime.com/cgi-bin/koha/bookshelves/shelves.pl?viewshelf=28


For some reason I have two blank entries. They stay even if I check them and click remove. I had deleted some from the bibliographic record after I added them to my shelf, maybe that's why.

Week 8 Muddiest Point

If there was no class do we need a muddiest point entry? Why didn't LIS 2600 have class because of break but LIS 2000 did?

Week 9 Readings - XML Schema Tutorial

This article was a bit easier for me. I have designed databases and I am very comfortable with data types, default values, acceptable ranges of values, formats, etc. For that reason, I can agree with the author's statement that XML schemas should supplant Document Type Definitions since schemas allow more definition. I am still unclear on the namespace concept though, so I am not sure why that is cited as a reason for schema over DTD.

I'll be interested to hear Dr. He talk about XML and making the concept more clear for me.

Week 9 Readings - Extending your Markup: a XML tutorial by Andre Bergholz

Well, this is the third tutorial on XML and I still don't think I could start using it! I'm not sure that XML makes it easier for humans to read--computers, yes I agree with that. But I think I would have to have a purpose for XML first, and then a "learn by doing" session second before I can firmly grasp it. I do understand what it is, but I'm still not clear on how to do it, or where I would personally use it.

Week 9 Readings - A Survey of XML Standards Part 1

This article was really beyond my level of expertise. When it touched on database schemas, which I work with, I was much clearer on the concepts. This is not to say that it's a bad article. On the contrary it is extremely well written and the layout is very easy to follow. I liked that Mr. Ogbuji explained what his definition of a standard is in the article. Though most of the technical parts were difficult for me because I have no base knowledge, I was impressed with the voluntary effort that exists in the computing community to develop systems and standards that make communication across the web better and more accessible by more people. I admire their dedication to maintaining a rigorous process to develop standards; though more than one group exists, they all recognize that not every concept is a good one and won't be accepted but they are at least given a hearing. Mr Ogbuji provided some great resources to learn more which I plan to check out--probably in a year because I will never be caught up from all the reading in the two courses I am taking. Mr. Ogbuji even covers the time concern though; he provided cautions for complex developments that don't have a large following yet and warnings about training sites that may provide older information. At any rate, I've bookmarked his site!

Week 9 Readings - An Introduction to the Extensible Markup Language (XML)

I have been interested in learning more about XML. Up to reading this article I knew that it is used in WWW pages, it is a very good development for web page authors and that Microsoft Office products can save a document in XML format--that's all. Though I work in computing I am not a web programmer and I haven't done a lot with creating my own web pages or web site. I would certainly like to so I have learned some html and I do understand more than the average WWW user does. So, I've used the WWW long enough to know that the wide range of hardware platforms, operating systems and web browsers have meant that web pages don't always look as they were designed to look in every situation due to different handling and different html versions used by the authors. What I learned from this article is that XML addresses this problem, allowing web page features to retain their attributes in a much broader range of situations, and updating those attributes is a lot easier since it only has to be done in one place.

After reading this article, I can't say that I could originate an XML document myself. Clearly some knowledge of creating web pages is prerequisite, but I did get a clear picture of what XML does to make web pages more widely usable.

Comment Links for Week 8 Readings

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Week 7 Muddiest Point

I'm a little confused when discussing wireless. I understand that radio waves are used for the transmission so no wires are needed, but you also used the term protcol to describe Bluetooth. I think of protocol as a list of specifications. Does the protocol specify that the communication is via radio waves--and does the device itself produce the radio waves?

Week 8 Readings - Content Management System article

This article shows what can be accomplished when IT staff and librarians collaborate. I was very impressed that the GSU staff decided to develop their own system, and I continue to be amazed that vendors aren't providing off the shelf integrated systems for libraries. Robust and mature integrated systems are common in just about every industry but libraries, it seems. I think they paid attention to the important details - lots of user input, and an emphasis on removing design conceptualization and implementation from the users so they could concentrate on content. Even more importantly, they realized the necessity of a coherently designed web page. It is very difficult to navigate a web site with too many different design standards. I was also impressed that they were willing to objectively identify where they need to improve--in training, for example, and that ongoing assessment will be done to keep the system usable and relevant. All in all, an excellent reading on how technology is improving library content management.

Week 8 Readings - HTML Tutorials and Cheat Sheet Items

I'm commenting on all three of the html information sites together. First, I continue to be impressed about how much free training on web tools is a available. The creators seem to be motivated by passion for their craft, and a competitive spirit; they want to be the best web resource available. And there are clearly differences. The W3Schools site has a professional look and functionality. It's forums have postings in the last week and appear to be extremely active. The home page provides links to articles about the latest web developments. For example one of the front page articles discusses HTML5 that was published in January 2008. The webmonkey training site on the other hand, appears not to have been updated very recently. There are only four user comments and one claims that the Html cheat sheet is the same one he read eight years ago. It's important to check a training website out thoroughly to determine whether or not it meets your needs. Certainly the basics could be learned on webmonkey, but you'd need to search for the next steps yourself, whereas the W3Schools seem to take great care to stay current, and be responsive to their users. The webmonkey page, too, while providing necessary data, isn't as well laid out and feels more difficult to use.

Assignment 4 - Jing Video and Flickr Images

I don't have a microphone for this PC (it needs an external one), so my video does not have audio. It is my attempt to show how to create a custom walking or running map in a specific area, using the main library in Erie as the focal point of the route.

http://www.screencast.com/t/CIDrxU9IB

Flickr Images (also show how to use Runningmap.com):

http://www.flickr.com/photos/30546727@N07/2922688199/
http://www.flickr.com/photos/30546727@N07/2922694175/
http://www.flickr.com/photos/30546727@N07/2923553866/
http://www.flickr.com/photos/30546727@N07/2922726655/
http://www.flickr.com/photos/30546727@N07/2923581018/

Week 7 Comments Links

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Week 7 Readings - Dismantling Integrated Library Systems

This article is clearly written for the library community - I'm not familiar enough witl the vendors to comment. But the intent of the article was clear - to highlight the problem of managing library resources and users in an environment where the resources and tools are not integrated. Not being integrates is not the norm in other institutional settings. And from a user standpoint, I find this lack of integration somewhat maddening. It's difficult to determine what resources a library has unless there is very well written documentation about it. Academic libraries seem to do a better job on their web pages than public libraries, but the ones I have experience with don't provide the most clear documentation on what they hyave to offer and how to use it.

Week 7 Readings - Brin and Page Interview

I enjoyed this video--Brin and Page are obviously both smart and funny, and creative people. Google must be a really fun place to work! I'm not surprised that they went to Montessori school; they follow concepts where they naturally go and are willing to let their people work that way.

I like the way they change something if they don't like it. So many organizations are so rigid that the kind of innovtion they practice is stifled.

Week 7 Readings - How Internet Infrastructure Works

I thought this article was very well written. I never knew why IP addresses are considered 32 bit numbers until I read this. This article made a complicated subject easy to understand, and interesting, too. Like the author, it amazes me how powerful the system is behind the scenes, but I also find it amazing at the initiative taken by entities such as the University of Wisconsin to create the DNS system, and how quickly these concepts are accepted world wide.