Alas...5 minutes late :(
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
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