Catching Up Part I

Today begins a series I' like to call "Catching Up," where I'll post some homework that didn't make the first cut (or I forgot to post in a timely fashion). This oldie but goodie comes from Fall 2011, where I had to evaluate 3 websites and discuss a particular quality they have that reflects a good electronic publication. 

I want to point out the second paragraph, where I wrote about keeping the "site's intention" in mind while judging an electronic publication.  I've done a lot of research about accessibility, usability, and 508 compliance - it is not hard to be 508 compliant!  The Etsy website might not make the cut in accessibility (does it?  I should find out), but most other websites do not have a reason to break the basic rules of website design.  It is quite the topic to research.

Please read the rules about posted assignments before reading onward. 

For this assignment, I will be looking at three websites: the World Wide Web Consortium , the CSS Zen Garden, and Etsy. I picked these websites because I thought they exemplified at least one important aspect of good electronic publishing. The first two are sites that I frequented in my days of web design, while the third is a fun shopping site.

It is hard for publishers to create an electronic publication that holds to all of the qualities of a “good” publication. An e-zine on art might not be accessible for disabled people, but it could have excellent search capabilities and a well known authority on art. A library’s website might not have such a pleasing interface, but it should strive to be understood by all people, regardless of age or disability. It is unfair to say that one is bad because of poor color judgements, or not 508 compliant. We should judge each electronic publication by the site’s intention, and whether it successfully fulfills it. With that written, these are my sites.

World Wide Web Consortium/W3C (http://www.w3.org/)
Authenticity: Since W3C sets the international standards for the World Wide Web, they are the most reliable source about good electronic publishing. Many different web developers could have their own ideas about how to work around particular bugs caused by web browsers and applications, but W3C gives the official word on markup languages and accessibility issues. It also hosts the “Markup Validator,” which checks for valid coding. Its authenticity is further proved by the website itself, which serves as a great example in electronic publishing.

CSS Zen Garden (http://www.csszengarden.com)
Production/Pages and Interfaces: In 2003, a web designer created the CSS Zen Garden in order to show the power of a stylesheet to display the same data in multiple ways. This is important because good electronic publications should have all potential users in mind while creating its data interface. For example, there can be a stylesheet for browsing via computer, a stylesheet for mobile phone browsing, and a stylesheet for people with disabilities -- all to display the same data. The CSS Zen Garden is a flashy way to show this important principle.

Etsy (http://www.etsy.com)
Queryability: Etsy is known as the “ebay of handmade items,” but a closer look shows Esty as a pioneer in search technology. Etsy lists 16 different ways to shop, not including the basic search option. Some seem irrelevant (shop by shopkeeper’s birthday), but many of the ways rely on data not usually seen by end users, such as log times for posted items. Etsy is currently working on a 17th way of searching, using both photographs and a controlled vocabulary in order to narrow down search results.

It'll All Be Over Soon

I have several deadlines coming up in my life:

April 24th: Data Curation Research Paper Presentation
May 2nd: Data Curation Research Paper due, Digital Library Project Presentation
May 9th: Digital Library needs to be finished
May 10th: Python Final Due
May 15th: I walk!

Yup- I thought I was going to do an extra semester to finish the Data Curation Specialization, but I simply cannot do it anymore.  I do not think I can go through another fall semester.  I will blame this on the fact that I went to graduate school right after my undergraduate career ended.  I have been completing homework for the past 20 years, and I want a break.  I think I would go back to school at some point, but not within the next five years.

To finish my degree, I still need to go to summer school, but I'll be able to walk before completing it.  Funny how that works, huh?  Summer school will involve taking two courses at the same time- Descriptive Bibliography and Reference Sources for Rare Books.  With those, I'll be able to say that I finished the Certificate in Special Collections.  Here are the course descriptions:

590DB-Descriptive Bibliography:

The main purpose of this course is to teach students to understand and to prepare detailed bibliographical descriptions of printed books. In order to prepare an accurate bibliographical description, it is necessary to have some knowledge of the physical components of the printed book (paper, ink, binding materials), as well as an understanding of the processes used to produce the book (typesetting, imposition, presswork, etc.). Will cover the methods of producing books (especially during the hand-press period), as well as the organization and preparation of bibliographical descriptions.

590SR-Reference Sources for Rare Books:

Reference Sources for Rare Books is an introduction to the vast body of reference literature used in cataloguing and reference work in special collections libraries and the antiquarian book trade. Emphasis will be given to major bibliographies, catalogues, and other reference works in the fields of early printed books, British and American literature, historical Americana, voyages and travels, science and medicine, maps and atlases, the book arts, and the antiquarian book trade and auction market. The course is intended for those who have not yet had a systematic introduction to the reference literature of rare books, as well as others who would like to refresh or update their knowledge of the reference works in these fields. The course will cover approximately three to four hundred printed and electronic sources. The instructor will discuss the background of each source, as well as its strengths and weaknesses.

I am hoping that one of these classes will take a field trip to the Rare Book and Manuscript Library.  That place almost makes me wish I lived in the cornfields.

That brings me to another topic.  For personal reasons, it looks like I'll be moving within the next year or two.  The thought is very daunting, and I do not even know where to start on how to look for a good place to live.  It makes me feel like I'm getting older (surprise surprise!).  Jobs for starting librarians are pretty hard to find in general, which is yet another source of pressure in my life.  In short- man, it's hard growing up.

Coming soon- some homework from the fall semester.

Well, Really, I Am

Talk about a tough semester!  I have several group projects to finish up, as well as a research paper.  I would like to post some homework, but many of my written assignments are critiques of 1) data management plans from federal agencies, or 2) digital libraries.  I am not sure how wise it would be, for a student to post such critiques.  Is it strange, that I care so much about offending people I will (probably) never meet?  Perhaps I should just blot the names out and have people figure it out themselves.

In any case, I do not think I'll be posting my standard homework pieces from this semester.  I will, however, provide some Python programming:

#---------------------------------------------------------------------------------
#5.6:  Write a program that reads in a file and then prints out the number of lines, words, and characters in a file.
#---------------------------------------------------------------------------------

def fileCounts(fileName):
        fileObj = open(fileName)
#makes a list of all of the lines in a file
        lineList = fileObj.readlines() 
#gets amount of items in lineList 
        lineCount = len(lineList) 
#setting counters      
        wordCount = 0                   
        charCount = 0
        for theLine in lineList:
#increase wordCount by the result of len(theline.split())
                wordCount = wordCount + len(theLine.split()) 
#increase charCount by the result of len(theLine)  
                charCount = charCount + len(theLine)           
        print ("There are", lineCount, "lines", wordCount, "words and", charCount, "characters in this document")

Who would have known that I would get into Python programming?  This is one of my later homework assignments- the first few chapters were hard, but only for me.  The rest of the Python programming world would laugh at the hours I spent staring at my computer screen, not knowing what to do.  At least I know that I am learning something.

...and, I'm back?

Happy New Years everyone!

Believe it or not, I'm still alive and well.  I will soon be starting my 4th semester at GSLIS -- not my last, but getting there.  I think I will be done Fall 2011.

Here is what you missed: I took Special Collections: Collection Development, Electronic Publishing, and Information Modeling.  The first one is going towards the Special Collections Certificate I want to receive.  The other two go towards my new goal: a specialization in Data Curation.  The two last classes were very interlinked -- so much, that sometimes I forgot what class I was in at the moment  o.o

This semester, I'm taking another three classes: Foundations of Information Processing in LIS, Digital Libraries: Research and Practice, and Foundations of Data Curation.  Of course, these are all for the Data Curation specialization.  I will be posting my homework, as well as projects from last semester, on this blog. 

Hopefully, I will keep blogging this semester and keep up with my newsfeeds.  I am very behind in the library world  :(

Final Learning Reflection LIS 458

Ok, it is not the summer yet, but I am posting my final learning reflection of LIS 458 (Instruction and Assistant Systems).  I took a very different approach to this assignment, but I think it answers the question.

Please read the rules about posted assignments before reading onward.

Write a 1,000-1,500 word essay in which you reflect on what you have learned this semester. 
 
You might start by thinking about the following questions. You are not required to answer any of these and you
certainly should not attempt to answer them all – these are merely offered to jumpstart self reflection.  
 
• What did you hope to learn in this class? What did you learn? What do you now wish you had learned? 
• How has your knowledge and understanding of higher education and academic libraries grown or changed
since the beginning of the semester? 
• What are your career plans and how has this class informed or influenced those career plans? 
• What is the most important thing you learned this semester?  
• What is the most surprising thing you learned this semester? 
• If you were advising a future student, what would you tell them to expect to learn?

Entering the End Game

I am now entering the "end game" of my semester, and what a semester its been!

Last semester I took the easy route and did two classes, with a total of 6 credit hours.  I thought to myself, Wow, that was EASY!  I can probably take more!  With that in mind, I took three classes: Cataloging and Classification I, Digital Preservation, and Instruction and Assistance Systems, for a total of 10 hours.  What a difference.  Even though one class was only for 2 credits, I had to work very hard to earn them.

Cataloging and Classification can only be described as a tornado- the 15 weeks you are in class you feel like a bunch of information is being thrown at you, and afterwards you look around and think WHAT JUST HAPPENED?  What happened was you learned the basic concepts of cataloging without even realizing it.  As I am now finishing my final assignment, a mock MARC record of a fake book, The Easter Eggroll: Chinese Dim Sum Snacks for Spring Occasions, I figured out just what accomplished in the class.  I may not remember every single rule of AACR2 or every MARC field, but I know what to look for and where to find the answers.  Isn't that the best description of what a librarian does?  We might not know all of the answers, but e certainly know where to find them.

I might have not been the number one participator in Digital Preservation, but it certainly made me think a lot about the present (and future) problems digital objects present to librarians, archivists, and preservationists.  I talked about some of these topics with my family, friends, and everyone else in the bar who would listen to me.  They were annoyed, but I was happy to discuss one of the big ideas of the class to anyone- in this digital age, can we really preserve everything?  Maybe the LoC will answer that with its Twitter collection- will all tweets be there, or just a select few?  If a select few, which tweets?  Who gets to pick the tweets?  I could go on forever with these questions.

I took Instruction and Assistance Systems as a 2 credit hour course, but I feel like I learned 8 credit hours worth in that time.  Maybe the most important thing I learned was about myself and how I learn.  Knowing how I learn makes me feel better simply because I now understand that its ok not to be the most vocal person in class.  My brain simply does not function that way.  Instead, I like soaking up the knowledge and thinking about it for a while before I try to discuss it with people.  No wonder my rhetorical questions on topics of digital preservation and the anonymity of the Internet come out in bars, after some time to think and a beer to ponder on (the anonymity of the Internet deserves its own post- I've been reading some books....). 

Now, as I am at the "end game," I know that I did not participate as much as I wanted to.  This past semester, in terms of my personal life, was a roller coaster of emotions and happenings, and while I won't write what they are, believe me when I say that they were indeed life changing.  You know, when you think to yourself I'm going to look back in 5, 10 years and know that my life is this way because I did _______?  Yup, that kind of life changing.  It might have made my student/"professional" life harder, but I still feel a little more at ease with things. 

Now, to get back to my work!  Here are the things I have left to do....

Cataloging Final: Due today (Edit: finished 2:54 pm Sunday)
Learning Response: Due tomorrow (Edit: finished 8:32 pm Monday)

DRAMBORA group project: Due Thursday

Next time I write, it will be "summer"  :D

My Alternative Spring Break

I had to write a report about my Alternative Spring Break.  It definitely does not cover everything I did, but its a start!

Please read the rules about posted assignments before reading onward. 

I was not sure what to expect my first day for ASB at Columbia College Library, Chicago, IL. April Levy, my site supervisor, emailed me a week ahead of time telling me that she filled my agenda with people to meet and libraries to see. I was not certain that these tours would be of any use to me, nor would meeting with a couple of librarians. Looking back, it seems silly to question this because I know meeting the librarians I met made me think about what direction I wanted to take in selecting my courses. The experience made me think about what kind of job I wanted when I graduate from GSLIS.

My first day started with an interview. I never had to interview someone before, so I felt very nervous about the situation. What if I did not ask the right questions? Fortunately for me, the librarians at Columbia College are very understanding. My first interviewee, along with everyone else I talked to that week, made me feel as comfortable as possible and included me in all of their activities.

It was my luck that the reference librarians had a “Peer Teaching” session the week I was there, and they invited me to participate in the session. As the reference librarians went over typical reference questions they answered, I felt that the Columbia College Library was an institution people could say they enjoyed working for. From what I saw, they felt as if their bosses would listen to their problems and take their suggestions. I started thinking to myself that I would be lucky if I worked for an institution such as the Columbia College Library.

I also had a few tours, which was probably my favorite part of the week. Columbia College has a few unique collections, which certainly represent the unique character of the college. Their Special Collections department, though tragically squashed in a small room, holds items that are popular to show in class or very expensive. My favorites included the Visionaire publications and some conceptual art from the movie Ratatouille. The Center for Book and Paper Arts allowed me to see their presses and typesetting collections, some of which were wooden. The most unique, in my opinion, is the Fashion Columbia Study Collection. Their collection of clothing requires special cataloging and treatment from typical items found in a special collection.

The Library and Archives of the Center for Black Music Research was where I realized what I wanted to do in my career, though I did not expect to find the revelation there. I have been struggling to figure out how to merge my two interests in library science: rare/special collections and new technologies. The librarians at the Center for Black Music Research found a way to combine both. The three librarians in charge of the center have to do many tasks themselves, like cataloging, as well as answer reference questions and take care of the fragile materials. They have record players, tape decks, and even a keyboard for musicians who want to play one hundred year old hymns. As I toured this library, I thought about how this would be a dream come true for me. I would be able to manage all aspects of librarianship if I worked in a specialized collection such as the Center for Black Music Research.

Though I did not complete project during my stay at Columbia College Library, I did learn a lot about my future profession. I saw the “daily grind” of the library, and how a cohesive library “team” works. I met many librarians, most who had jobs I did not even realize librarians did. I also met people who were only support staff, but want to become future librarians because of their time working at the Columbia College Library. Most importantly, I think I figured out what I want to do when I complete my degree at GSLIS.