Thursday, September 29, 2011
Tuesday, September 27, 2011
Reading Notes #5
LAN
I have heard the term LAN before, especially in terms of LAN PARTIES, that computer geeks attend to play games. Plus, sometimes it says on the bottom of Windows machines LAN Not Detected, or something similar. According to this article, this also includes ethernet, which I had not realized was a part of this local area network. Using this all through college before wireless internet was available allowed all students to be connected to the school's server/internet. Both ethernet and Wifi create this local area network among a specific group, be it a party or a whole university (which could be debated, is a party). It is a critical part of how we connect to technology in the 21st century, and I think most people who use computers and connect to the internet don't think about what a LAN is, or even need to know, until the connection is lost.
Computer Network
A computer network is "is a collection of hardware components and computers interconnected by communications channels that allow sharing of resources and information." If I understand this article correctly, a LAN is a type of computer network, and there are also personal area networks and home networks, which can also facilitate DSL TV. A computer network allows us as users to send messages, files of documents/images, even making phone calls. There are campus networks, like I cited above, and other networks I had never heard of before, like a backbone network. There are also different configurations of networks, something I think as a single user, did not realize, including a bus, star, or ring network layouts. Routers and firewalls were also familiar terms, but I did not know anything about switches and bridges, devices that work "behind the scenes." A big factor in computer networks is security. This is a big topic that surely has its own wikipedia page that was not discussed here, and I can't say I am anything near an expert on that!
Management of RFID in Libraries
In this article by Karen Coyle in 2005, she addresses the use of RFIDs in libraries. RFIDs are radio frequency identifiers of a computer chip with an antenna that had contain information about the book as well as location. They are used in other industries, like livestock and warehouses, to keep track of many objects. The question in this article is its use in libraries. It could help manage large collections and tracking individual items. Anyone who has gone to look for a book by its call number, only to find out that it has been reported as missing, is very disappointed. Coyle cites circulation and security as two library functions that could be assisted with the use of RFIDS. It would be possible to know if a book had been checked out or just taken from the building if they were used. She also questions its "return on investment" or ROI of these devices. It depends, however, how much these devices make the check out process easy and placed on the user, so that a circulation staff would no longer be required, saving the library tons on salaries. However, the books would still need to be reshelved when they were returned. Coyle gives both pros and cons for this possibility. In conclusion, she advises readers not to ignore this new technology, and to see how it can help libraries become more efficient.
I have heard the term LAN before, especially in terms of LAN PARTIES, that computer geeks attend to play games. Plus, sometimes it says on the bottom of Windows machines LAN Not Detected, or something similar. According to this article, this also includes ethernet, which I had not realized was a part of this local area network. Using this all through college before wireless internet was available allowed all students to be connected to the school's server/internet. Both ethernet and Wifi create this local area network among a specific group, be it a party or a whole university (which could be debated, is a party). It is a critical part of how we connect to technology in the 21st century, and I think most people who use computers and connect to the internet don't think about what a LAN is, or even need to know, until the connection is lost.
Computer Network
A computer network is "is a collection of hardware components and computers interconnected by communications channels that allow sharing of resources and information." If I understand this article correctly, a LAN is a type of computer network, and there are also personal area networks and home networks, which can also facilitate DSL TV. A computer network allows us as users to send messages, files of documents/images, even making phone calls. There are campus networks, like I cited above, and other networks I had never heard of before, like a backbone network. There are also different configurations of networks, something I think as a single user, did not realize, including a bus, star, or ring network layouts. Routers and firewalls were also familiar terms, but I did not know anything about switches and bridges, devices that work "behind the scenes." A big factor in computer networks is security. This is a big topic that surely has its own wikipedia page that was not discussed here, and I can't say I am anything near an expert on that!
Management of RFID in Libraries
In this article by Karen Coyle in 2005, she addresses the use of RFIDs in libraries. RFIDs are radio frequency identifiers of a computer chip with an antenna that had contain information about the book as well as location. They are used in other industries, like livestock and warehouses, to keep track of many objects. The question in this article is its use in libraries. It could help manage large collections and tracking individual items. Anyone who has gone to look for a book by its call number, only to find out that it has been reported as missing, is very disappointed. Coyle cites circulation and security as two library functions that could be assisted with the use of RFIDS. It would be possible to know if a book had been checked out or just taken from the building if they were used. She also questions its "return on investment" or ROI of these devices. It depends, however, how much these devices make the check out process easy and placed on the user, so that a circulation staff would no longer be required, saving the library tons on salaries. However, the books would still need to be reshelved when they were returned. Coyle gives both pros and cons for this possibility. In conclusion, she advises readers not to ignore this new technology, and to see how it can help libraries become more efficient.
Thursday, September 22, 2011
Muddiest Point #3
I have no muddiest point for this week. But I am wondering when our assignment three information will be on courseweb... It made the lab session hard to understand when I didn't know what the endproduct of the assignment was supposed to be. Will there be more straightforward instructions available? The lab session went way too quickly from excel to access and how do we know what SQL words to use?
Tuesday, September 20, 2011
Reading Notes #4
Introduction to Metadata
Before library school, I had never heard of metadata. It made me think of some sort of programming code, and I was terrified I would have to learn some computer language! Instead, it was something I knew all along, I just didn't know the term for it. Gilliland summed up metadata as three things: content, context, and structure:
Before library school, I had never heard of metadata. It made me think of some sort of programming code, and I was terrified I would have to learn some computer language! Instead, it was something I knew all along, I just didn't know the term for it. Gilliland summed up metadata as three things: content, context, and structure:
- Content relates to what the object contains or is about and is intrinsic to an information object.
- Context indicates the who, what, why, where, and how aspects associated with the object's creation and is extrinsic to an information object.
- Structure relates to the formal set of associations within or among individual information objects and can be intrinsic or extrinsic or both.
She also provides a handy table of the standards and rules associated with each aspect of metadata. However, it is difficult to have one standards system or terms available to describe EVERYTHING that may need to be indexed, cataloged, or otherwise organized. Metadata, even though it sounds scary, is just information about an object, that tells you about its content, its context and the structure of the object., and standards make sure that every individual or organization uses the same terms. For instance, one person might assign the word "blue" to an object, but another, to the same object, could say "navy." Both are true, but it doesn't help a user try to find the information that they need.
Gilliland also discusses a new phenomenon of user-created metadata. We discussed in class the site Delicious, which I had never used before, but I think this is the same idea. Tagging has existed in other forms, be it Facebook or otherwise, that help to organize information, and it's done on an individual level.
She also talks about the life cycle of an information object, which resonates with my current 2220 class and records management readings. Citing multiple situations in which metadata can be highly useful, it will definitely remain a core aspect of the information profession.
Gilliland also discusses a new phenomenon of user-created metadata. We discussed in class the site Delicious, which I had never used before, but I think this is the same idea. Tagging has existed in other forms, be it Facebook or otherwise, that help to organize information, and it's done on an individual level.
She also talks about the life cycle of an information object, which resonates with my current 2220 class and records management readings. Citing multiple situations in which metadata can be highly useful, it will definitely remain a core aspect of the information profession.
Dublin Core Data Model
This model was completely unknown to me. It appears to be a metadata project begun in 1999, but I think this summarizes its mission: "The Dublin Core Element Set defines a set properties and associated semantics that are common to many resource description communities. The DCMI is declaring additional properties for richer descriptions (e.g. qualifiers) and domain specific needs (dc-education, dc-libraries, dc-government, dc-business, etc.). Each property defined will have unique identify along with at human readable labels and clear semantic definitions. Each property declared may additionally define permitted values, the types of resources it can describe, and/or its relationship (e.g. 'semantic refinement') with other properties." But honestly, I do not understand the computer-programming specific looking examples on this website! Hopefully it will be explained in class in laymens' terms.
Endnote
I thought EndNote was something like RefWorks, but I think it's a little more extensive and versatile. This site is presented by a university, so it appears to be written for the student/scholar and uses video to explain how to use it to create EndNote libraries and import citations from databases and the like. Not only does it create citations in a variety of styles for papers and other written work, it is a "personal library" of references that can be organized. I have tried to use RefWorks in the past, and just got frustrated with it. I felt more confident handwriting out all of my citations, but that was easy because I rarely had more than 20 and they only needed to be in one style. EndNote might have an easier-to-use interface, making me more likely to use it for personal reasons, but knowing both systems would help me as an information professional for sure.
Thursday, September 15, 2011
Assignment #2: Working with Jing
I created a video as well as images to explain to new users how to create a Gmail account.
How to Create a Gmail Account
How to Create a Gmail Account Step 1
How to Create a Gmail Account Step 2
How to Create a Gmail Account Step 3
How to Create a Gmail Account Step 4
How to Create a Gmail Account Step 5
How to Create a Gmail Account Step 6
How to Create a Gmail Account
How to Create a Gmail Account Step 1
How to Create a Gmail Account Step 2
How to Create a Gmail Account Step 3
How to Create a Gmail Account Step 4
How to Create a Gmail Account Step 5
How to Create a Gmail Account Step 6
Muddiest Point #2
De. He said that the new PNG format for images is better but simpler than TIFF. Other than small file sizes, why else would using PNG be superior to the "archival" quality of the TIFF?
Reading Notes #3
Databases and the Entity Relationship Model in Database
I have used many different databases in my career as a student, from high school to the present. The wikipedia page on databases is very technical, and I don't understand all of the software terms, but I have a better understanding of a database having used one. Requiring both database programmers and administrators, it requires a staff to be created and maintained. The one aspect I hadn't realized was the number of different types of databases-- cloud databases, graph databases, and knowledge databases, to name a few. Databases also have three different types of architecture- internal, external, and conceptual. One of the issues with databases is security and controlling who can access the information in a database. This is most obvious in the ULS holdings available online... one must either be signed on to the Internet on a campus computer, or you have to authenticate yourself with your Pitt ID-- showing the database you have permission to enter the database. A database also requires a large amount of space to store all the information-- so a large harddrive or server, but there are many different options depending on your needs and budget. Reading this article about databases definitely shows me that I know very little about computers or programming!
Entity-relationship Model is a part of software engineering, and coming from a humanities background, I had never heard of it before. It is very helpful to see information visually, especially organizationally. The ER Model helps you to achieve this and to determine what the needs will be of your database. Built of "entities," each part of the database is separate and related to other parts in sets. In order to demonstrate these relationships, different shapes and lines signify different relationships, but there are many different versions of these diagramming notations.
Database Normalization Process
Phlonx gives a good introduction to the database normalization process using diagrams. The hardest part was memorizing those three normal forms!:
I have used many different databases in my career as a student, from high school to the present. The wikipedia page on databases is very technical, and I don't understand all of the software terms, but I have a better understanding of a database having used one. Requiring both database programmers and administrators, it requires a staff to be created and maintained. The one aspect I hadn't realized was the number of different types of databases-- cloud databases, graph databases, and knowledge databases, to name a few. Databases also have three different types of architecture- internal, external, and conceptual. One of the issues with databases is security and controlling who can access the information in a database. This is most obvious in the ULS holdings available online... one must either be signed on to the Internet on a campus computer, or you have to authenticate yourself with your Pitt ID-- showing the database you have permission to enter the database. A database also requires a large amount of space to store all the information-- so a large harddrive or server, but there are many different options depending on your needs and budget. Reading this article about databases definitely shows me that I know very little about computers or programming!
Entity-relationship Model is a part of software engineering, and coming from a humanities background, I had never heard of it before. It is very helpful to see information visually, especially organizationally. The ER Model helps you to achieve this and to determine what the needs will be of your database. Built of "entities," each part of the database is separate and related to other parts in sets. In order to demonstrate these relationships, different shapes and lines signify different relationships, but there are many different versions of these diagramming notations.
Database Normalization Process
Phlonx gives a good introduction to the database normalization process using diagrams. The hardest part was memorizing those three normal forms!:
- No repeating elements or groups of elements
- No partial dependencies on a concatenated key
- No dependencies on non-key attributes
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