11/29
http://acovel.blogspot.com/2010/11/assignment-6-website.html?showComment=1291089226242#c7536339157570354205
12/3
http://batlis2600.blogspot.com/2010/12/assignment-6-website.html?showComment=1291426286059#c7521968562238808075
12/4
http://acovel.blogspot.com/2010/12/week-13-reading-post.html?showComment=1291443908708#c3761634869158881451
Friday, December 3, 2010
No Place to Hide
In a world where more and more information is being created, it is not surprising that there is more and more information being created about people. What is most intriguing is that, while many of us struggle with keeping up with commerical technology, there is so much being created that is kept in secret or not public knowledge. It is this technology illiteracy that can be taken advantage of because you can't guard against what you don't know is there.
TIA
It's like the ultimate search engine for people. While I think it is a good thing that this project fell through, I am not comforted. So much of what we do is automated now that we do not give it a second thought. We live in a database society and our lives function based on which ones our names appear in. The website shows that it is important to remember who you are giving your information to and why. What really bothers me though is the number of people who think it is okay to collect information about you that you don't know about or that you are not privileged to see.
"Explosion in commercial collection, use, and sharing of personal data."
Discussion Youtube Videos
Lacking the required reading video, I watched the discussion board videos. I really get the impression from these videos that the Internet is the Wild West, the lawless land. We try to put our laws into it but the virtual world is so different from the actual one that the laws do not apply. If you try to impose laws, someone will simply work around it. This is why it is so hard to maintain one's privacy.
In a world where more and more information is being created, it is not surprising that there is more and more information being created about people. What is most intriguing is that, while many of us struggle with keeping up with commerical technology, there is so much being created that is kept in secret or not public knowledge. It is this technology illiteracy that can be taken advantage of because you can't guard against what you don't know is there.
TIA
It's like the ultimate search engine for people. While I think it is a good thing that this project fell through, I am not comforted. So much of what we do is automated now that we do not give it a second thought. We live in a database society and our lives function based on which ones our names appear in. The website shows that it is important to remember who you are giving your information to and why. What really bothers me though is the number of people who think it is okay to collect information about you that you don't know about or that you are not privileged to see.
"Explosion in commercial collection, use, and sharing of personal data."
Discussion Youtube Videos
Lacking the required reading video, I watched the discussion board videos. I really get the impression from these videos that the Internet is the Wild West, the lawless land. We try to put our laws into it but the virtual world is so different from the actual one that the laws do not apply. If you try to impose laws, someone will simply work around it. This is why it is so hard to maintain one's privacy.
Tuesday, November 30, 2010
Assignment #6
Here is the link to my website:
http://www.pitt.edu/~jvp3/index.htm
It was driving me insane because I was typing it in without the "index.htm" part and wondering why my pages were not there! After an hour or so of banging my head against the keyboard, I looked at other people's sites and realized I wasn't typing the complete address.
Anyways, comments and constructive criticism (not that anyone would be mean) always appreciated. I'm particulary interested to know if the colors look okay. They look fine on my computer but I know other screens may be different.
http://www.pitt.edu/~jvp3/index.htm
It was driving me insane because I was typing it in without the "index.htm" part and wondering why my pages were not there! After an hour or so of banging my head against the keyboard, I looked at other people's sites and realized I wasn't typing the complete address.
Anyways, comments and constructive criticism (not that anyone would be mean) always appreciated. I'm particulary interested to know if the colors look okay. They look fine on my computer but I know other screens may be different.
Saturday, November 27, 2010
Comments for 11/21 to 11/27
Comments for the days including and falling in between November the twenty first and November the twenty seventh, two thousand and ten.
11/26
http://lostscribe459.blogspot.com/2010/11/assignment-6-website.html?showComment=1290823294017#c2403492476335415426
11/27
http://archivist-amy-in-training.blogspot.com/2010/11/week-12-social-software.html?showComment=1290912238117#c4089830660148872951
http://lostscribe459.blogspot.com/2010/11/week-12-reading-notes.html?showComment=1290913355450#c7285430667825782658
11/26
http://lostscribe459.blogspot.com/2010/11/assignment-6-website.html?showComment=1290823294017#c2403492476335415426
11/27
http://archivist-amy-in-training.blogspot.com/2010/11/week-12-social-software.html?showComment=1290912238117#c4089830660148872951
http://lostscribe459.blogspot.com/2010/11/week-12-reading-notes.html?showComment=1290913355450#c7285430667825782658
Friday, November 26, 2010
11/22/11 Muddiest Points
Google History
How does Google keep a record of search queries? Does it follow IP addresses? I would imagine that there are privacy issues concerning this especially if Google can keep records of search queries for years. I would also assume that this history would be less useful in a library setting where you have multiple patrons using the same computer and making a variety of queries.
Web Crawling
If web crawlers only have a certain amount of time to go through pages before they have to start over, what happens to the pages at the end of the queue? Are they part of the massive list of web pages the search engine can never cover or does the crawler send out an "alert" indicating that it either needs to be given more time or that the other pages need to be picked up by another crawler?
How does Google keep a record of search queries? Does it follow IP addresses? I would imagine that there are privacy issues concerning this especially if Google can keep records of search queries for years. I would also assume that this history would be less useful in a library setting where you have multiple patrons using the same computer and making a variety of queries.
Web Crawling
If web crawlers only have a certain amount of time to go through pages before they have to start over, what happens to the pages at the end of the queue? Are they part of the massive list of web pages the search engine can never cover or does the crawler send out an "alert" indicating that it either needs to be given more time or that the other pages need to be picked up by another crawler?
Saturday, November 20, 2010
Comments for 11/14-11/20
11/15
http://pratt2600.blogspot.com/2010/11/1115-reading-notes.html?showComment=1289835684953#c8519360147575111377
11/20
http://mszewczak.blogspot.com/2010/11/reading-notes-week-11.html?showComment=1290309366089#c3817390433239058446
http://archivist-amy-in-training.blogspot.com/2010/11/week-11-web-search-and-oai-protocol.html?showComment=1290309928178#c901832122227664093
http://pratt2600.blogspot.com/2010/11/1115-reading-notes.html?showComment=1289835684953#c8519360147575111377
11/20
http://mszewczak.blogspot.com/2010/11/reading-notes-week-11.html?showComment=1290309366089#c3817390433239058446
http://archivist-amy-in-training.blogspot.com/2010/11/week-11-web-search-and-oai-protocol.html?showComment=1290309928178#c901832122227664093
Saturday, November 13, 2010
11/15 Reading Notes
Lynch’s “Institutional Repositories: Essential Infrastructure for Scholarship in the Digital Age”
In archives and records management, I often hear the words “institutional repository” being used to describe places where records are stored, preserved, and managed. Lynch has developed his own definition that is similar in purpose but broader in what is managed (digital materials) and in who maintains it (librarians, information technologists, archives and records managers, faculty, administrators, etc.) It takes the responsibilities of records management and applies it directly to digital material (and specifically universities.) Scholarship has certainly evolved in the digital age and it offers both opportunities to document these changes as well as challenges in figuring out how to do so, especially when those scholars doing the communicating are less concerned with managing it themselves. While I agree with Lynch that the “complex, cumbersome ‘gate keeping’” policies can be a deterrent, I disagree that “simple, low-barrier-to-submission” is the solution. Simple, yes; low-barrier, no. As archives and records managers have already learned, ambiguous collection policies can lead to a glut of unnecessary and unusable information. Lynch’s foreboding conclusion that future failures are likely to lead to a great loss of information also does not offer much confidence in the system.
Mischo’s “Digital Libraries: Challenges and influential Works”
This article shows that, while there are still many challenges to effective search and discovery of digital resources, there are many institutions and companies trying to tackle the problem and in many different ways. It is impressive how many publishers now provide online journal titles which I would assume means that, despite worries that online versions are killing print sources, publishers do see this as a valid and useful dissemination tool. I also find it interesting how search and retrieval techniques are being compared to Google which says a lot about how people like to search and the power of Google.
Paepcke, Garcia-Molina, and Wesley’s “Dewey Meets Turning: Librarians, Computer Scientists, and the Digital Libraries initiative”
I found this article both informative and entertaining. It is interesting to read about both sides of the story between librarians and computer scientist after “And then the Web happened…” particularly about how both sides viewed the same issues (such as information retrieval) from different points of view. The Web caused an explosion of information to scatter across the far reaches of the globe. Librarians and computers scientist are trying to find ways to organize this chaos into something we can use. Librarians do it the traditional way with categorization and computer scientists do it with linking. While this has lead to some tensions between the two, this article makes me believe that we are trying to work things out.
Monday, November 8, 2010
Assignment 5
User Name: JVP3
Bookshelf: JVP3-Forgeries
http://upitt01-staff.kwc.kohalibrary.com/cgi-bin/koha/virtualshelves/shelves.pl?viewshelf=128
I personally found the Koha MARC record search feature a little problematic. For one thing, it would not let me search for only an author's name. I tried to add the book price to all of my records and in the process discovered that it is rather difficult to find that information online. The creating of the virtual bookshelf was quite simple except for having to keep a separate list of barcodes. Is there a way of looking up barcodes in Koha if, heavens forbid, you loose the barcodes?
And just a side note: I got a kick out of the Jing video when, upon getting search results for the title "python", the top result was titled "And now for something completely trivial."
Bookshelf: JVP3-Forgeries
http://upitt01-staff.kwc.kohalibrary.com/cgi-bin/koha/virtualshelves/shelves.pl?viewshelf=128
I personally found the Koha MARC record search feature a little problematic. For one thing, it would not let me search for only an author's name. I tried to add the book price to all of my records and in the process discovered that it is rather difficult to find that information online. The creating of the virtual bookshelf was quite simple except for having to keep a separate list of barcodes. Is there a way of looking up barcodes in Koha if, heavens forbid, you loose the barcodes?
And just a side note: I got a kick out of the Jing video when, upon getting search results for the title "python", the top result was titled "And now for something completely trivial."
Saturday, October 30, 2010
Unit 8 Readings
The two tutorials
I found the two tutorials both entertaining and informative. They took a language that looked Greek to me and made it look easy (well almost, there were a few confusing points in the tutorials.) When I have a chance I would like to take the advice of the html tutorial and test it out in notepad or something. The way I understand it, CSS is there so that you don't have to keep writing the same things over again in html, correct?
Cheat Sheet
Is this an indication of things to come? Perhaps I should play around with those tutorials a bit more...
Goans
I've had some experience with CMS and I have found some of the structure rather limiting. However, after reading the background in this article, it does make sense why it is structured. It helps to create a unified system that is easy for librarians to update and users to understand. It is a simple way for all librarians to maintain a website without having to understand webpage building.
I found the two tutorials both entertaining and informative. They took a language that looked Greek to me and made it look easy (well almost, there were a few confusing points in the tutorials.) When I have a chance I would like to take the advice of the html tutorial and test it out in notepad or something. The way I understand it, CSS is there so that you don't have to keep writing the same things over again in html, correct?
Cheat Sheet
Is this an indication of things to come? Perhaps I should play around with those tutorials a bit more...
Goans
I've had some experience with CMS and I have found some of the structure rather limiting. However, after reading the background in this article, it does make sense why it is structured. It helps to create a unified system that is easy for librarians to update and users to understand. It is a simple way for all librarians to maintain a website without having to understand webpage building.
Monday, October 25, 2010
Assignment #4
Here is my link for Assignment #4:
http://www.citeulike.org/user/jvp3
My subject areas were paper conservation, RFID in libraries, and, for something completely different, gynandromorphs.
My Zotero sites are tagged with zotero and scholar while my CiteULike sites are tagged with citeulike (actually it was "my zotero" but it made the two words separate tags."
While I liked Zotero's sorting features, I was frustrated by the fact that it did not like to save certain webpages thus making it difficult to make this a comprehensive list. I did not like the search feature on CiteULike; it either produced hundreds of irrelevant results or, as in the case of gynandromorph, almost no results. But while it does not sort everything the way Zotero does, it does have a much more open design making it easier to read.
http://www.citeulike.org/user/jvp3
My subject areas were paper conservation, RFID in libraries, and, for something completely different, gynandromorphs.
My Zotero sites are tagged with zotero and scholar while my CiteULike sites are tagged with citeulike (actually it was "my zotero" but it made the two words separate tags."
While I liked Zotero's sorting features, I was frustrated by the fact that it did not like to save certain webpages thus making it difficult to make this a comprehensive list. I did not like the search feature on CiteULike; it either produced hundreds of irrelevant results or, as in the case of gynandromorph, almost no results. But while it does not sort everything the way Zotero does, it does have a much more open design making it easier to read.
Saturday, October 23, 2010
10/17-10/23 Comments
Discussion Board Comments
RE: Using RFID in Libraries
From my experience with barcodes is that errors that occur are both human and technological. A person can accidentally miss a barcode or scan too quickly, missing messages or the barcode completely. However, the scanner can also be finicky and refuse to read the barcode or misread it. Plus, if a person thinks that barcode is what is making their DVD skip, they will rip that thing right off with no remorse. RFID have the potential to remove the human error in scanning. However, it also removes the human ability to detect errors that the technology might miss.
You make a good point about patrons putting their private information in our hands. We already do keep personal information in a database as well as a history of their checkouts. We are being trusted to keep this information private. Because of this, I am wondering if it is possible to make tags that can only be read by certain scanners and thus not outside of the building or buildings if it is a system. Unfortunately, I think this would be rather challenging and possibly outside of library budgets.
http://mfarina.blogspot.com/2010/10/1023-notes-for-readingsviewings-week-7.html?showComment=1287885538379#c8015425273177213663
http://guybrariantim.blogspot.com/2010/10/readings-for-october-25th.html?showComment=1287886111657#c2849391253014762726
RE: Using RFID in Libraries
From my experience with barcodes is that errors that occur are both human and technological. A person can accidentally miss a barcode or scan too quickly, missing messages or the barcode completely. However, the scanner can also be finicky and refuse to read the barcode or misread it. Plus, if a person thinks that barcode is what is making their DVD skip, they will rip that thing right off with no remorse. RFID have the potential to remove the human error in scanning. However, it also removes the human ability to detect errors that the technology might miss.
You make a good point about patrons putting their private information in our hands. We already do keep personal information in a database as well as a history of their checkouts. We are being trusted to keep this information private. Because of this, I am wondering if it is possible to make tags that can only be read by certain scanners and thus not outside of the building or buildings if it is a system. Unfortunately, I think this would be rather challenging and possibly outside of library budgets.
http://mfarina.blogspot.com/2010/10/1023-notes-for-readingsviewings-week-7.html?showComment=1287885538379#c8015425273177213663
http://guybrariantim.blogspot.com/2010/10/readings-for-october-25th.html?showComment=1287886111657#c2849391253014762726
Monday, October 11, 2010
Assignment #3
Here are the video and screenshots for Assignment #3. For a bit of background, the video is a visual version of the instructions I posted on the Discussion Board under Assignment 2. Coincidental, as I was writing those instructions I was thinking that it would be easier if I could just make a short video explaining everything. That's how I got the idea to do this video for Assignment #3.
http://www.screencast.com/t/Qnq8DmaBP
With the screenshots, I wasn't sure how to break the video tutorial into five images so I just did a different tutorial. It is something that I've been wanting to do for the library I work with, to begin with, because we have problems with people printing too many pages and wasting paper. So I made a tutorial about how to printing only the pages you want designed for patrons who may not be too proficient with computers.
Step 1: http://www.flickr.com/photos/dalittleneon/5071644883/in/set-72157625140874726/
Step 2: http://www.flickr.com/photos/dalittleneon/5071666839/in/set-72157625140874726/
Step 3: http://www.flickr.com/photos/dalittleneon/5072291418/in/set-72157625140874726/
Step 4: http://www.flickr.com/photos/dalittleneon/5072296090/in/set-72157625140874726/
Step 5: http://www.flickr.com/photos/dalittleneon/5071739301/in/set-72157625140874726/
http://www.screencast.com/t/Qnq8DmaBP
With the screenshots, I wasn't sure how to break the video tutorial into five images so I just did a different tutorial. It is something that I've been wanting to do for the library I work with, to begin with, because we have problems with people printing too many pages and wasting paper. So I made a tutorial about how to printing only the pages you want designed for patrons who may not be too proficient with computers.
Step 1: http://www.flickr.com/photos/dalittleneon/5071644883/in/set-72157625140874726/
Step 2: http://www.flickr.com/photos/dalittleneon/5071666839/in/set-72157625140874726/
Step 3: http://www.flickr.com/photos/dalittleneon/5072291418/in/set-72157625140874726/
Step 4: http://www.flickr.com/photos/dalittleneon/5072296090/in/set-72157625140874726/
Step 5: http://www.flickr.com/photos/dalittleneon/5071739301/in/set-72157625140874726/
Saturday, October 9, 2010
Comments for Oct 3rd-Oct 9th.
10/8/2010
http://acovel.blogspot.com/2010/10/week-6-reading-notes.html?showComment=1286597956311#c1533748605488931895
http://archivist-amy-in-training.blogspot.com/2010/10/week-6-computer-networkswireless.html?showComment=1286598953140#c7124127738072516463
10/9/10
http://pratt2600.blogspot.com/2010/10/unit-6-readings.html?showComment=1286675309910#c1879848680301437864
http://acovel.blogspot.com/2010/10/week-6-reading-notes.html?showComment=1286597956311#c1533748605488931895
http://archivist-amy-in-training.blogspot.com/2010/10/week-6-computer-networkswireless.html?showComment=1286598953140#c7124127738072516463
10/9/10
http://pratt2600.blogspot.com/2010/10/unit-6-readings.html?showComment=1286675309910#c1879848680301437864
Friday, October 8, 2010
Unit 6 Readings
Management of RFID in Libraries
While I could see many potential benefits for RFID in libraries, there are many obvious concerns as well.
-Given that they are not designed for library needs, are they suitable for libraries? In my opinion, they will be helpful in libraries. However, the users may see the benefits most while the staff may see them more as technical pains in the rears as they try and stuff a square peg in a round hole.
-Are library jobs at stake? I don't think so. This is a technology that will not replace librarians. If anything we will see more library positions requiring degrees as librarian jobs become more specific such as reference librarians, children's librarians, etc rather than just general circ. staff.
-Is it going to be obsolete in a few years? That is hard to predict of course. However, my library adopted barcodes in 1994 and at the moment there are no signs of switching over. 15 to 20 years is a long time for computing technology and if the RFID can last that long then I think it is a good advancement. Another aspect to consider is, as the article brought up, some library material must last for decades, how many times can these items go through these technological changes before they start to wear out?
Computer Networks: Wikis and YouTube Video
It is difficult to discuss encyclopedia articles apart from "did understand/didn't understand." The Computer Network article was easier to understand than the Local Area Network one. This was a reverse situations though for computer terms, usually I am used to hearing the acronym and not knowing what it stands for but in this case I've heard of local area networks before but not LANs. Each reading had it's advantages and disadvantages. The video was very simple but supplied some information that the others did not. Computer Network was quite easy to read and helped me to "visualise" networks in a way that made them understandable. LAN was interesting in its description of a struggling technology that I pretty much take for granted.
While I could see many potential benefits for RFID in libraries, there are many obvious concerns as well.
-Given that they are not designed for library needs, are they suitable for libraries? In my opinion, they will be helpful in libraries. However, the users may see the benefits most while the staff may see them more as technical pains in the rears as they try and stuff a square peg in a round hole.
-Are library jobs at stake? I don't think so. This is a technology that will not replace librarians. If anything we will see more library positions requiring degrees as librarian jobs become more specific such as reference librarians, children's librarians, etc rather than just general circ. staff.
-Is it going to be obsolete in a few years? That is hard to predict of course. However, my library adopted barcodes in 1994 and at the moment there are no signs of switching over. 15 to 20 years is a long time for computing technology and if the RFID can last that long then I think it is a good advancement. Another aspect to consider is, as the article brought up, some library material must last for decades, how many times can these items go through these technological changes before they start to wear out?
Computer Networks: Wikis and YouTube Video
It is difficult to discuss encyclopedia articles apart from "did understand/didn't understand." The Computer Network article was easier to understand than the Local Area Network one. This was a reverse situations though for computer terms, usually I am used to hearing the acronym and not knowing what it stands for but in this case I've heard of local area networks before but not LANs. Each reading had it's advantages and disadvantages. The video was very simple but supplied some information that the others did not. Computer Network was quite easy to read and helped me to "visualise" networks in a way that made them understandable. LAN was interesting in its description of a struggling technology that I pretty much take for granted.
Saturday, October 2, 2010
9/26-10/2 Comments
Sunday, September 26, 2010
Assignment 2
Here is the link to my image collection. Unfortunately, I missspelled "tomato" in my tags...
http://www.flickr.com/photos/dalittleneon/
http://www.flickr.com/photos/dalittleneon/
Saturday, September 25, 2010
9/25 Comments
Discussion Board: Technical Discussion
It is supposed to be Assignment 3 for Unit 4 (Sept. 27) it just was not changed when the weeks were switched. If you check the Course Documents it has it listed as Assignment 3. The assignment will be discussed in class Monday Sept. 27th.
Assignent 4 will be discussed in class on October 4th.
Hope that helps.
Blogger
tp://jsslis2600.blogspot.com/2010/09/week-3-muddiest-point.html?showComment=1285374788721#c4387872630135102044
It is supposed to be Assignment 3 for Unit 4 (Sept. 27) it just was not changed when the weeks were switched. If you check the Course Documents it has it listed as Assignment 3. The assignment will be discussed in class Monday Sept. 27th.
Assignent 4 will be discussed in class on October 4th.
Hope that helps.
Blogger
tp://jsslis2600.blogspot.com/2010/09/week-3-muddiest-point.html?showComment=1285374788721#c4387872630135102044
Unit 5? Reading Notes
Unfortunately, I read the required readings for next week and not this week. I printed out the readings, read the email, read the heading on the unit and thought I had the right readings until just now when I rechecked and realized there were four readings listed instead of the original three. I will try and get the reading notes for this week posted as soon as I can. In the mean time, here are the reading notes for next week.
Gilliland's Metadata
While I have heard of metadata before, it was mostly descriptive metadata that I was familiar with so it surprised me to see all of its other functions. I do not quite comprehend the types of data standards but found the tables listing the types, functions, and attributes and characteristics very informative. I also liked this article because it applied directly to libraries and archives which helped me to understand the other articles.
Miller's DCDM
It took me a bit to get past some of the jargon and the "simple examples" I could see how this article directly applied to the first one. Basically, everything has metadata but everyone will use different metadata to describe each object. The DCMI is trying to find ways to overcome this by first identifying some of the issues that need to be overcome (language, definitions, specificity, etc) and then finding what is needed to overcome this so that metadata is more easily searchable. I found the conclusion a bit lacking.
Wiki's Database
This was one of those great articles that takes something I thought I knew and upon reading it makes me realize that I have no idea what I am talking about. I can see a connection between databases and metadata specifically in the section Indexing. Indexing is used to make running a query more efficient which, in turn, requires the input of metadata as well as the searching of metadata to find results. One thing I am confused with about this article is that I can quite figure out what a database is "physically" in a computer. Is it a form of software, is it on the hard drive, etc...
Gilliland's Metadata
While I have heard of metadata before, it was mostly descriptive metadata that I was familiar with so it surprised me to see all of its other functions. I do not quite comprehend the types of data standards but found the tables listing the types, functions, and attributes and characteristics very informative. I also liked this article because it applied directly to libraries and archives which helped me to understand the other articles.
Miller's DCDM
It took me a bit to get past some of the jargon and the "simple examples" I could see how this article directly applied to the first one. Basically, everything has metadata but everyone will use different metadata to describe each object. The DCMI is trying to find ways to overcome this by first identifying some of the issues that need to be overcome (language, definitions, specificity, etc) and then finding what is needed to overcome this so that metadata is more easily searchable. I found the conclusion a bit lacking.
Wiki's Database
This was one of those great articles that takes something I thought I knew and upon reading it makes me realize that I have no idea what I am talking about. I can see a connection between databases and metadata specifically in the section Indexing. Indexing is used to make running a query more efficient which, in turn, requires the input of metadata as well as the searching of metadata to find results. One thing I am confused with about this article is that I can quite figure out what a database is "physically" in a computer. Is it a form of software, is it on the hard drive, etc...
Saturday, September 18, 2010
9/12-9/18 Comments
I also made the following comment in the Technical Discussion Board:
"Basically, the file you upload onto your computer is you master copy.
The screen copy the version of the picture that will fit onto your entire screen like a desktop background. In you don't know what your screen resolution is right click on your desktop background, then click on properties, and then settings. Mine for instance is at 1024X768 pixels. You are going to need to resize your master copy to be the same size as your desktop background.
Thumbnails can be made the same way you make a screen copy, by just resizing the image in either Paint or Photoshop or whatever you prefer.
If you are using Paint, you can adjust the picture size by clicking Image and then Stretch/Skew. I personally don't like this if you need an exact image size because it resizes by percentage and not measurement. If you need to know the pixel size of your image in Paint, click and drag the tiny blue dot at the bottom right corner of your screen. A box in the bottom right corner of your screen (just above the clock) will display the image size in pixels. This is also used to adjust the canvas size. Also, if you image is longer than it is wide, you may want to rotate it, otherwise it will be fat when you resize it to screen size. Do do this in Paint go to Image, then Flip/Rotate, click on By Angle, and then select either 90 degrees or 270 depending on which way you want the image to lie.
Unfortunately I dont have Photoshop on my computer but adjusting the image size is even simpler in there. I think you go to Edit, Adjust Canvas (or image) Size and then you can simply type in the pixel size you want.
I hope that helps and if any of these explanations are wrong or you think are wrong please feel free to correct me (I don't want the entire class to get it wrong!)"
"Basically, the file you upload onto your computer is you master copy.
The screen copy the version of the picture that will fit onto your entire screen like a desktop background. In you don't know what your screen resolution is right click on your desktop background, then click on properties, and then settings. Mine for instance is at 1024X768 pixels. You are going to need to resize your master copy to be the same size as your desktop background.
Thumbnails can be made the same way you make a screen copy, by just resizing the image in either Paint or Photoshop or whatever you prefer.
If you are using Paint, you can adjust the picture size by clicking Image and then Stretch/Skew. I personally don't like this if you need an exact image size because it resizes by percentage and not measurement. If you need to know the pixel size of your image in Paint, click and drag the tiny blue dot at the bottom right corner of your screen. A box in the bottom right corner of your screen (just above the clock) will display the image size in pixels. This is also used to adjust the canvas size. Also, if you image is longer than it is wide, you may want to rotate it, otherwise it will be fat when you resize it to screen size. Do do this in Paint go to Image, then Flip/Rotate, click on By Angle, and then select either 90 degrees or 270 depending on which way you want the image to lie.
Unfortunately I dont have Photoshop on my computer but adjusting the image size is even simpler in there. I think you go to Edit, Adjust Canvas (or image) Size and then you can simply type in the pixel size you want.
I hope that helps and if any of these explanations are wrong or you think are wrong please feel free to correct me (I don't want the entire class to get it wrong!)"
Readings for 9/20
I had a difficult time getting through the technical jargon in some of these articles but could find some key points that may pertain to libraries. For the most part, operating systems are constantly trying to tweak and improve and are evolving at incredible speeds (such as the Mac OS X having 6 versions in 10 years.) This can be confusing or frustrating for your average person. While most people can cope with change, they don't like to deviate from routines. In a library setting, you will have users who are up-to-date with all the latest versions and some who only update when their current computer needs replacing or the version they copied onto their floppy disk will not run on the library computers. While most patrons may only speak "Windows", you will also have Mac users and maybe even a Linux user needing help. If a library is struggling to keep up-to-date with the one operating system installed on their public computers, how do they keep on top of all other systems?
Mac OS X Article and Wiki
Oddly enough, I found the Singh explanation of Mac OS X easier to understand than the Wiki article despite the warning that it was full of technical jargon. The Wiki article was insightful in showing just how often OSs are updating to make way for new evolutions in technology and programing. It mentions, as other articles do as well, that newer versions do not work on "older" machines. What is "old" for an operating system? The Singh introduction does explain that backwards compatibility can contribute to "malice and malfunction" so it is understandable. Unfortunately, I think it contributes to our "disposable culture" and giving our commodities ever shorter shelf lives. The Singh introduction also has the best explanation as to why Windows is more popular as an OS than Linux or even Mac. The average user wants to read the picture book version rather than take the time to read and comprehend the novel. While users do want systems that they can tailor to their liking, they also want to keep it simple. Canned spaghetti sauce may not taste like Momma's but it is a lot cheaper and easier to make and you can still add meat and peppers.
Garrels Linux
Again, technical jargon confused me with this book but toward the end I think I was starting to understand things (scary!) Linux is the DIY of operating systems in basic terms. It sounds like it could be the most user-friendly if the user knows what he or she is doing. These users are like a large group of beta-testers except more public(someone who tests a product for weaknesses): if the software is not to their liking, they change it so that the next user does not run into the same problem. The article mentions that a pro of Linux is "free speech" which makes me wonder what copyright restrictions there are on Linux software.
Thurott Windows
I'm slightly bias with this article because I like XP and do not like Vista. Like the earlier article, it too mentions how new systems are not compatible with "very old" devices. Again, what is "very old" in computer terms? Compatibility is an issue that is brought up in this article and I think that is relevant to both users and libraries. It takes time to get the kinks worked out, obviously, but there are situations where you need them to work now. For example, at my library our print release program does not work with Vista thus the two computers that run Vista tend to be our biggest paper wasters because people either don't pick up their print jobs or end up printing multiple copies because they don't know why they are not getting the normal print release screen. Subsequently, how can a library stay on top of individual pieces of technology when their other pieces of technology can't stay on top?
Mac OS X Article and Wiki
Oddly enough, I found the Singh explanation of Mac OS X easier to understand than the Wiki article despite the warning that it was full of technical jargon. The Wiki article was insightful in showing just how often OSs are updating to make way for new evolutions in technology and programing. It mentions, as other articles do as well, that newer versions do not work on "older" machines. What is "old" for an operating system? The Singh introduction does explain that backwards compatibility can contribute to "malice and malfunction" so it is understandable. Unfortunately, I think it contributes to our "disposable culture" and giving our commodities ever shorter shelf lives. The Singh introduction also has the best explanation as to why Windows is more popular as an OS than Linux or even Mac. The average user wants to read the picture book version rather than take the time to read and comprehend the novel. While users do want systems that they can tailor to their liking, they also want to keep it simple. Canned spaghetti sauce may not taste like Momma's but it is a lot cheaper and easier to make and you can still add meat and peppers.
Garrels Linux
Again, technical jargon confused me with this book but toward the end I think I was starting to understand things (scary!) Linux is the DIY of operating systems in basic terms. It sounds like it could be the most user-friendly if the user knows what he or she is doing. These users are like a large group of beta-testers except more public(someone who tests a product for weaknesses): if the software is not to their liking, they change it so that the next user does not run into the same problem. The article mentions that a pro of Linux is "free speech" which makes me wonder what copyright restrictions there are on Linux software.
Thurott Windows
I'm slightly bias with this article because I like XP and do not like Vista. Like the earlier article, it too mentions how new systems are not compatible with "very old" devices. Again, what is "very old" in computer terms? Compatibility is an issue that is brought up in this article and I think that is relevant to both users and libraries. It takes time to get the kinks worked out, obviously, but there are situations where you need them to work now. For example, at my library our print release program does not work with Vista thus the two computers that run Vista tend to be our biggest paper wasters because people either don't pick up their print jobs or end up printing multiple copies because they don't know why they are not getting the normal print release screen. Subsequently, how can a library stay on top of individual pieces of technology when their other pieces of technology can't stay on top?
Friday, September 17, 2010
Weeks 1 and 2 Comments
I know it is not necessary but I wanted to post my earlier comments to see if I can copy and paste them from a word document. I thought I had more from Week 1 but I could not locate them...
September 3
September 11
Saturday, September 11, 2010
Week 2 Reading Notes
Wiki: Personal Computer Hardware
This article was a bit of a wake up call for me. I did not realise how much and how little I knew about personal computers. Many of the components mentioned in the article were things that I knew about and had a rough definition for but for the most part I did not really know what they did, what it meant, or what it was for. For instance, I knew that a DVD was a type of CD but because I've always associated it with movies I never made the connection that it was a CD just with more storage capacity (nor did I know it stood for digital versatile disc which rather ironic because previously I associated the term CD or disc with more versatile functions than DVD.) Being a wiki article, I found the links very helpful as well for allowing me to further learn about each component as well as to get specific definitions of things I previously took for granted.
Moore's Law: Wiki and Video
I think Christie Nicholson in the video described it best when she said that Moore's Law is not really a law but more of a "technological trend." The exponential doubling has become more of a goal rather than a rule. This seems to have been quite beneficial over the past 40 years because it has motivated us to take great leaps in computing hardware. Will it last forever, most agree the answer is "no." However, that doesn't mean that we will stop building faster computers. As the transistor replaced the vacuum tube (1947-computer history museum website) is it possible that we may need to look for replacements for the transistor in the future? One concern about Moore's Law I have from reading the wiki is whether or not the need for quantity over quality will eventually affect its sustainability. Under the subheading "Density at minimum cost per transistor" the article says that the need to sustain Moore's Law leads to an increase in defects. Do we allow ourselves time to iron out these defects before another another increase has occurred? If not, will these defects eventually add up making it more difficult to produce a quality product?
Computer History Museum
This was a fun website to explore. Oddly enough when I first visited the site I thought it was a digital museum because of all the information on it. While I am sure there are many computer enthusiasts who would love to go to the actual museum, not being much of a tech. buff, I think the website may be a bit more informative for me. The timelines were the most informative part of the website (although I am a bit perturbed that they consider anything before 1940 "ancient") because it helped to put the history of computers into perspective; something that is becoming increasingly harder to do in my opinion as computers become more and more a part of our daily lives (like the person who wonders why there are no photographs of George Washington.)
This article was a bit of a wake up call for me. I did not realise how much and how little I knew about personal computers. Many of the components mentioned in the article were things that I knew about and had a rough definition for but for the most part I did not really know what they did, what it meant, or what it was for. For instance, I knew that a DVD was a type of CD but because I've always associated it with movies I never made the connection that it was a CD just with more storage capacity (nor did I know it stood for digital versatile disc which rather ironic because previously I associated the term CD or disc with more versatile functions than DVD.) Being a wiki article, I found the links very helpful as well for allowing me to further learn about each component as well as to get specific definitions of things I previously took for granted.
Moore's Law: Wiki and Video
I think Christie Nicholson in the video described it best when she said that Moore's Law is not really a law but more of a "technological trend." The exponential doubling has become more of a goal rather than a rule. This seems to have been quite beneficial over the past 40 years because it has motivated us to take great leaps in computing hardware. Will it last forever, most agree the answer is "no." However, that doesn't mean that we will stop building faster computers. As the transistor replaced the vacuum tube (1947-computer history museum website) is it possible that we may need to look for replacements for the transistor in the future? One concern about Moore's Law I have from reading the wiki is whether or not the need for quantity over quality will eventually affect its sustainability. Under the subheading "Density at minimum cost per transistor" the article says that the need to sustain Moore's Law leads to an increase in defects. Do we allow ourselves time to iron out these defects before another another increase has occurred? If not, will these defects eventually add up making it more difficult to produce a quality product?
Computer History Museum
This was a fun website to explore. Oddly enough when I first visited the site I thought it was a digital museum because of all the information on it. While I am sure there are many computer enthusiasts who would love to go to the actual museum, not being much of a tech. buff, I think the website may be a bit more informative for me. The timelines were the most informative part of the website (although I am a bit perturbed that they consider anything before 1940 "ancient") because it helped to put the history of computers into perspective; something that is becoming increasingly harder to do in my opinion as computers become more and more a part of our daily lives (like the person who wonders why there are no photographs of George Washington.)
Friday, September 3, 2010
Week 1 Muddies
1) Because I am new to Blogger and RSS Feeds I am a little unsure of how they work. Do I need to subscribe to everyone's RSS Feed (~60 students) and is there a way to sort through their posts (or do I read through 60+ posts in my dashboard each week?) Also, is there a way of tracking the comments that I have made to other posts (this is something that irks me about LiveJournal in that I cant track my own comments to other posts.) 2) It was mentioned in class that we generally have two weeks to complete an assignment. Would it be safe to guess that in the syllabus where it says "Assignment X is out" that the assignment will be due about two weeks afterwards? The only reason I ask is because I have to schedule my Saturdays for work.
3) As others have mentioned in their muddies, I too am interested in learning a bit more about teh DIKW Hierarchy. If you look up information, knowledge, and wisdom in the dictionaries you find that the words act as synonyms which makes finding the distictincion between the words difficult. It also doesn't help that the concepts become more abstract as you go higher up the pyramid.
That's about it for this week. I don't know if the second one really counts as a muddy but I suppose seen as the first lecture was about the basics of the class that it may count this week.
~ Jessica
3) As others have mentioned in their muddies, I too am interested in learning a bit more about teh DIKW Hierarchy. If you look up information, knowledge, and wisdom in the dictionaries you find that the words act as synonyms which makes finding the distictincion between the words difficult. It also doesn't help that the concepts become more abstract as you go higher up the pyramid.
That's about it for this week. I don't know if the second one really counts as a muddy but I suppose seen as the first lecture was about the basics of the class that it may count this week.
~ Jessica
Week 1 Reading Notes
Content Not Containers
There were several points brought up in this article that I found interesting. The fact that consumers are "format agnostic" is rather intriguing. I would assume that users would have preferred formats but apparently certain factors, such as cost as the paper notes, override those preferences. Also, while it is true that books are no longer the "sacred objects" and text is no longer the only medium, it is obvious that many of our electronic devices still rely on text as the vehicle for information communication.
I am a little unsure about the research done comparing email and ILL requests (p. 4-5.) The paper does not make the distinction between types of email that is sent. ILL is specifically requested content. Email is both response for requested content and unsolicited information. However, even if you only count email with requested content, I would assume the number would still be quite significant when compared to the number of ILL requests.
Overall the article points to changes in how consumers conduct their lives both personally and academically. How they obtain and produce information is changing and, not only does this affect all libraries but it has them worried. One of the most important parts of this article from a libraries perspective, I believe come from the last few paragraphs. They say we are drowning in information but starving for knowledge and that also applies to our overabundance of content and lack of context. Libraries need to look at these two issues and find out how they can become solutions to those problems.
Information Literacy and Information Technology Literacy
One thing in particular that I found interesting in this article is the author's thoughts on skills not being enough. This is the opposite of what I have been taught before as in many classes I have heard "You do not need to know why this happens unless you choose to study this further on in your education; just accept that it does." However, the author's points as to why this is wrong are quite valid. If you don't understand why technology works it becomes harder to both adapt to and, perhaps more importantly, predict change. Sometimes you need to learn how to learn before you can learn.
This applies to the issues brought up in the first article concerning the libraries role. The more that they understand these systems, the more they will be able to understand consumers and how they can help their users.
Lied Library
While most of this article bogged me down with names and abbreviations I did not understand, the overall message was one that any library worker should understand. Being on top of information technology is only part of the equation. A knowledgeable staff is the other. Working in a library where being under the age of 30 qualifies you as a "computer professional" I understand how important it is to have a knowledgeable staff not just for helping patrons but also for keeping the building running. Reading the article reiterates the message from the second article where it is not just enough anymore to know a set of skills.
There were several points brought up in this article that I found interesting. The fact that consumers are "format agnostic" is rather intriguing. I would assume that users would have preferred formats but apparently certain factors, such as cost as the paper notes, override those preferences. Also, while it is true that books are no longer the "sacred objects" and text is no longer the only medium, it is obvious that many of our electronic devices still rely on text as the vehicle for information communication.
I am a little unsure about the research done comparing email and ILL requests (p. 4-5.) The paper does not make the distinction between types of email that is sent. ILL is specifically requested content. Email is both response for requested content and unsolicited information. However, even if you only count email with requested content, I would assume the number would still be quite significant when compared to the number of ILL requests.
Overall the article points to changes in how consumers conduct their lives both personally and academically. How they obtain and produce information is changing and, not only does this affect all libraries but it has them worried. One of the most important parts of this article from a libraries perspective, I believe come from the last few paragraphs. They say we are drowning in information but starving for knowledge and that also applies to our overabundance of content and lack of context. Libraries need to look at these two issues and find out how they can become solutions to those problems.
Information Literacy and Information Technology Literacy
One thing in particular that I found interesting in this article is the author's thoughts on skills not being enough. This is the opposite of what I have been taught before as in many classes I have heard "You do not need to know why this happens unless you choose to study this further on in your education; just accept that it does." However, the author's points as to why this is wrong are quite valid. If you don't understand why technology works it becomes harder to both adapt to and, perhaps more importantly, predict change. Sometimes you need to learn how to learn before you can learn.
This applies to the issues brought up in the first article concerning the libraries role. The more that they understand these systems, the more they will be able to understand consumers and how they can help their users.
Lied Library
While most of this article bogged me down with names and abbreviations I did not understand, the overall message was one that any library worker should understand. Being on top of information technology is only part of the equation. A knowledgeable staff is the other. Working in a library where being under the age of 30 qualifies you as a "computer professional" I understand how important it is to have a knowledgeable staff not just for helping patrons but also for keeping the building running. Reading the article reiterates the message from the second article where it is not just enough anymore to know a set of skills.
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