The Corn Library

Catching Up Part I

2011-04-21T19:02:00.000-05:00

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

2011-04-18T19:27:00.001-05:00

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

2011-03-30T23:22:00.003-05:00

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?

2011-01-12T17:06:00.000-06:00

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

2010-05-11T09:22:00.003-05:00

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?

Thinking about what I learned this past semester is a challenge, mostly because it seems common sense to me now. To write this learning response, I scrolled down the groups of articles assigned to us each week and tried to remember a time when this information was brand new. Was there a time when I would not think to make a handout for a library instruction session? Why would I not spend time in creating SLOs that reflect what the student will be able to do after the lesson, instead of during the lesson?

In fact, there was a time before I knew these things, or at least how to properly structure an instructional session. I never organized instruction sessions at a library, but I have given countless instruction sessions as a scouting counselor at summer camps. During the semester I frequently thought back to those lesson plans, or as I call them now, “Instructional Design Project for Cartography.” I created them three years ago, and still use them to this day. It might be hard for me to think about going over and rewriting each plan. The SLOs for the merit badges are handed to me, so I do not choose what the scouts have to learn. Despite that restriction, there is a lot of room for improvement in these “IDPs.”

Looking back at those plans, it surprised me how many different styles of learning I incorporated into the programs. For a lesson on how to figure out what direction you are facing, for example, I first explained the process (auditory), demonstrated the process on my compass (visual), and then had all of the scouts try it themselves (kinesthetic). I also tried to open each session with a short discussion on a topic that was relevant to the session’s SLOs. For the lesson mentioned earlier, I would ask the scouts how they would find what direction they were facing without a compass. The scouts always replied by saying that the sun would guide them, but when I asked what they would do on a cloudy day, few were able to respond. It made the scouts reflect on hypothetical situations, and give the topic relevance.

Something that my lesson plans need to include is a safety net. I tried to create IDPs that would facilitate in the scaffolding of their knowledge from one session to another, but time and time again my scouts would fail at learning the basics of cartography and orienteering. If the scout does not learn the new skill by the end of the lesson, any confidence I may have instilled in them would disappear. This makes it harder for the scout to come to the next session with any motivation at all.

How will these safety nets look like? I will probably ask a lot of leading questions, to figure out what the scouts do not understand. I will refuse to be annoyed that the scouts might not understand a concept because it seems simple to me, and explain ideas to them in different ways until they understand. I will also keep a close eye on how they demonstrate their skills in order to catch any bad habits that could hinder future application. For these safety nets to work, however, I need to remember one rule in designing IDPs: cut and cut again! Some of the IDPs are so full of information, I now fear that there is no room for questions without cutting out necessary activities. These IDPs have to be rewritten in a way that does not overload the scout with information, and provides opportunities to build their confidence.

All of these things that I reflected on will be passed down to future counselors through the counselor training camp I help run every few summers. One is scheduled for this June, and I plan to take all of these ideas and pass them on to the future counselors. The counselor in charge of this camp is in fact a teacher, which tells me she probably knows a lot about different learning styles, writing IDPs, and keeping motivation up in a classroom. I now wonder, why do fail to teach these future counselors the phrases, Student Learning Outcomes, Instructional Design Projects, or about the immense value of post assessment? It took me three years and a class on library instruction to realize how to accurately describe what was taught to me. I do not want to make future counselors wait that long.

When all of the counselors have a common vocabulary to work with, I think counselor quality will significantly improve. When one counselor has a problem, I will not have to grasp for words to advise someone to have a better attention grabber at the beginning, or to incorporate different learning styles. They will understand exactly what I am talking about and will be able to improve that section of their IDP. If they are told to create a post-assessment of their IDPs, they will have to reflect on the good and bad qualities of their sessions, and fix anything that needs to be fixed. Scouts will have a more enjoyable time learning different skills, and will have more merit badges to sew on their uniforms.

Perhaps it is weird that I wrote about being a scouting counselor, as an end of the semester learning reflection for library instruction, but I think it fits perfectly. I have never taught at a library, nor am I sure whether my future is in library instruction. My choice of classes for next semester are more technical, and I believe that is where my future career will take me. Scouting is the place where I will continue practicing the lessons I learned this semester, and pass it down to future counselors that I may have the opportunity to train.

If anything, the fact that I could write about my experiences with scouting in reaction to this semester points to one of the most important lessons I took away about learning. Early in the semester we talked about the Constructivist theory of learning, and how this theory states that prior knowledge helps to build the scaffolding required to learn. Scouting is indeed a powerful scaffold -- one that will shape any future knowledge I may come across for the rest of my life.

Entering the End Game

2010-05-09T12:17:00.003-05:00

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

2010-04-26T15:05:00.000-05:00

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.

2010-04-22T14:40:00.000-05:00

I have come to understand documents by analogy with human beings. Documents are surrogates for people. They are bits of the material world (stone, clay, wood pulp, and now silicon) that we create to speak for us and take on jobs for us.
David Levy

When we say that a digital object has "integrity," we mean that it has not been corrupted over time or in transit; in other words, that we have in hand the same set of sequences of bits that came into existence when the object was created.
Clifford Lynch

Both from: Council on Library & Information Resources (May 2000). Authenticity in a Digital Environment. Washington, DC: Author. Available at: http://www.clir.org/pubs/reports/pub92/pub92.pdf

These are two of the quotes my professor put on the whiteboard yesterday during our Digital Preservation class on "Authenticity, Integrity & Trust." I feel like during the discussion, we kept going in circles, which I pointed out. I do not want to re-post what people wrote without their permission, so I'll try to paraphrase.

It seems that whenever we end up talking about ideas such as "integrity," "authenticity," and "trust," we end up with the same questions:

1) What IS authentic in the digital world?
2) Can a copy be authentic?
3) How much needs to be preserved in order for it to be called authentic?
4) Who figures out what is authentic and what is not?

What burning questions! But what are the answers to these questions? We keep circling and circling around them, but I don't know whether we ever find the answers. I am thinking that we never find a definite answer is because digital preservation is such a new issue. We have ideas and practices on preserving books, art, and music because professionals have been discussing this for a long time. We are still developing new types of digital objects, let alone some standards for digital preservation.

Another idea that comes with these questions is "intent." I discussed this a little earlier in the semester. It would be much easier to figure out what to do with digital objects if creators left a "will" of sorts for their creations, like "I want these to be preserved, but since I cannot predict the future, please decide for me how you would like to preserve this," or "BURN THEM!" Maybe not in those words, but wouldn't it be nice?

Anyways, this is a bit muddled, but this post has been sitting in my drafts folder for a while and I want the world to see it. I don't know what to do with everything right now, but I know what to do on a case by case basis.

LoC and Twitter?

2010-04-14T15:53:00.000-05:00

I was doing so well posting on the blog! And then, it happened again- no postings. I am pulling the personal life card on this one. It happens every once in a while.

Big news in the library world: the Library of Congress is going to archive ALL tweets tweeted since March 2006. I'm not sure how to reply to this, except Did they think this through? I am not an expert by any means, but this is a serious undertaking. Some of the questions that are already racing through my mind are:

How will these be stored? Will there be paper copies? (I hope not)
Where will these be stored?
Who will go through every tweet and organize them, along with create millions of new authority headings and bibliographic entries? (My CV is linked above)

Self Directed Reading #3

2010-03-17T18:00:00.000-05:00

Please read the rules about posted assignments before reading onward.

For the Self Directed Readings, I had to 1) read an article, 2) write a paragraph summary, and 3) write a paragraph of my reactions to the article. A short but sweet assignment.

Julian, Suzanne and Kimball Benson. “Clicking your way to library instruction assessment: using a personal response system at Brigham Young University.” College and Research Libraries News 69.5 (May 2008): 258-60.

In order to facilitate student participation in their library instruction sessions, Brigham Young University instructors purchased a PRS, or a Personal Response System. This involves the students using "clickers" to answer predetermined questions about the different topics covered in the session. The instructors were quickly recognized several benefits to using the clickers, which included more student participation, checking student comprehension, and hearing more of the students' opinion because results were posted anonymously. The authors cautioned interested clicker users to word questions wisely and not to rely on the clickers too much throughout the presentation. Instructors at Brigham Young University recommend the clicker system to anyone searching for a new way to assess their library instruction sessions.

As a former user of the clicker, I saw that there was a lot of potential in the clicker for a physics class I took several years ago. Unfortunately, the professor never tested the clickers before class and most people would forget to bring them, which made clicker ultimately useless. After reading this article, I am again hopeful that clicker technology will expand and be used to its fullest extent. Instructors can easily find out what students need help with, or whether they are paying attention, and change their session accordingly. Any data received can be examined later, to better plan future sessions. The Personal Response System is an easy way to get quick answers.

507 Cataloging Woes and On-Campus

2010-03-09T22:25:00.000-06:00

These were my thoughts on cataloging written during the on-campus visit....

I like organizing things. I do, really. Send me to an Officemax and I will reorganize your life!

But sometimes, certain cataloging practices make me confused. I am sure there are really good reasons for why it is like this, but I am still a total "n00b" in MARC so bear with me.

I understand why you would want to transcribe information exactly as it is in the book. In the end, the cataloger could misinterpret information and write something totally different. But then, there are times where you don't have to write it as it is in the book, like the title. Where does the line get drawn?

Well, so now you know. Cataloging makes me frustrated! I don't want to say that I hate cataloging, but I feel like we are got off on the wrong foot :D

OTHERWISE, the weekend was great! Unfortunately, I just realized that my card reader for my camera is somewhere I can't get to for a long while, so no on-campus pictures yet.

Anyone who was there could say that the weather was perfect. Even when it rained it was perfect! I am very ready for spring to come, my body is tired of sitting in front of the computer. I mean, I love reading and surfing the net, but nothing beats being outside and moving around (or reading, or surfing the net).

Before I can scamper off into the sunlight, I have a lot of projects coming up. Digital Preservation is keeping me very busy- there was a good reason to warn me about this class! Let us hope I can keep up with it....

In the Cornfields!

2010-03-04T20:21:00.000-06:00

It's that time of the semester- I'm in the cornfields! It was absolutely beautiful outside, I wish we could somehow have had class outside. For Digital Preservation, that would've been hard.

Hopefully I'll get some photos from this weekend, hopefully the weather will stay this way through the weekend. Cannot wait to report all of the LEEPness of the weekend....

Self Directed Reading #2

2010-03-03T13:54:00.000-06:00

Please read the rules about posted assignments before reading onward.

For the Self Directed Readings, I had to 1) read an article, 2) write a paragraph summary, and 3) write a paragraph of my reactions to the article. A short but sweet assignment.

The CIBER research team at University College London conducted this study to determine how the Google Generation, those born in 1993 and later, will search for digital objects. It also points out the many "myths" about the Google Generation being inherently different from previous generations, finding that “power browsing” and a need for immediate gratification is instead a “truism of our time” (CIBER 2008 19). CIBER strongly recommends libraries to increase visibility in social networking sites, educate users in navigating their catalogs, and “evaluate their users” to understand their needs (CIBER 2008 32-3). In closing, the report warns that the future is grim for a society that cannot properly navigate the all of the information available.

This study tied in very well with this past week’s readings. It addressed library anxiety as a major problem for freshmen college students, and that library literacy should start at an earlier age for students to become proficient in it. The study also pointed to the fact that the Google Generation is not any more competent in searching than previous generations. In my opinion, this myth arises because as a society, we equate expertise in finding friends on Facebook to mean we are experts in all types of information technology. People can become overconfident in their skills, and not even realize that they do not know how to use the plethora of library resources available to them. We need to stop assuming that the Google Generation knows things that they do not.

“Information Behavior of the Researcher of the Future.” CIBER. University College of London. Retrieved from http://www.bl.uk/news/2008/pressrelease20080116.html.

Self Directed Reading #1

2010-02-27T11:03:00.001-06:00

Please read the rules about posted assignments before reading onward.

For the Self Directed Readings, I had to 1) read an article, 2) write a paragraph summary, and 3) write a paragraph of my reactions to the article. A short but sweet assignment.

In his article “Prove Your Case: A New Approach to Teaching Research Papers,” Stephen Broskoske, an assistant professor in the College Misericordia, explains a new technique for teaching research papers. To get his freshmen students to understand the importance of a specific thesis and sound research, Broskoske now equates a research paper to a lawyer’s preparation for a trial. Lawyers must first decide how to frame their case, as students must figure out how to “define their topic.” Then, as lawyers sift through evidence to prepare their arguments, so do students with their search for sources. The act of writing their paper became their day in court, where they could “present the evidence” they collected from a variety of sources. The “closing statement” to their “case” would be their conclusion, where they would have to summarize their argument and strongly finish their paper (Broskoske 31).

To a librarian instructor in an academic library, this approach to teaching research papers could prove very effective. Broskoske, himself, wrote, that this teaching method works because students can relate to the “high-visibility court cases in the news” (31). The "lawyer arguing a case" method relies on the students’ past experiences with popular court cases to help understand a similar process – writing. Constructivist teaching methods, a topic of last Wednesday's class, relies on the past experiences of a student to help develop new ideas, which the proposed method does. Many popular television shows, such as Law and Order and and The Good Wife, show the same process as the real court cases in the news. As a librarian instructor, I can use these shows the same way Broskoske used court cases, and create a library session framed around an episode of one of these shows and have the students "defend" cases. I would highly recommend library instructors faced with similar challenges to read this article.

Broskoske, S. (2007). "Prove Your Case: A New Approach to Teaching Research Papers." College Teaching 55(1), 31-2.

You know you've been to library school when....part 1

2010-02-27T09:14:00.000-06:00

You know when you've been to library school when you're looking at an onstage performance and thinking about the complex digital object it would become, if someone went and tried to digitize it.

Yesterday night I went to see my cousin, Pavi Proczko, play in the new Quest Ensemble play, "Evolution/Creation." Why this show is different from your normal show takes a few lines to explain. The play is actually two plays running at the same time on a partitioned stage: one side shows Evolution, from the big bang to the dawn of humans, while the other shows Creation, up to the story of Noah. during intermission, the audience switches sides to see the part they did not see. Each side has no dialogue, and run to the same score.

So, how would I preserve a recording of this play? I would probably have two videos, one with Evolution and the other for Creation, just so the user can chose themselves which one they want to see first. Since this play is not supposed to be biased, why would I show any bias and put one part of the play in front of the other?

Otherwise, the play was great and I think anyone in the area should check it out. My cousin is Adam on the creation side, and the modern Homo sapiens on the other. The best part- the show is FREE!!

It's February?

2010-02-17T21:25:00.001-06:00

((looks over shoulder))

Wait, it's February? That's crazy....I feel like I'll have 1-2 posts like this every semester until blogging finally becomes second nature to me. Anyone can recommend blogging classes, preferably free ones? ; )

Week 5 Analytic Essay

2010-02-17T20:56:00.006-06:00

This assignment was for my Digital Preservation class. I was supposed to summarize and analyze the four required readings for the week, as well as lead class discussions with questions.

Please read the rules about posted assignments before reading onward.

The readings for the fifth week primarily deal with two ways to preserve digital files, via migration or emulation. Both have their strengths and weaknesses, but in choosing one over the other librarians, museum curators, and archivists cast a vote in the great debate in digital preservation — what exactly does it mean to preserve a digital document? Is it enough to preserve the content, and not the appearance, of a digital document? Should it function in the same exact way as it did when it was created, or can it be updated to contemporary standards? The readings try to answer these questions with research and surveys.

Though the articles dealt with similar topics, but each methodology presented vastly different ideas about digital preservation. In “Accommodating the Unpredictable: The Variable Media Questionnaire,” by Jon Ippolito (2003), a survey broke down each type of medium in the Guggenheim Museum into categories reflecting the truly multiple media projects. Kenneth Thibodeau’s (2002) "Overview of Technological Approaches to Digital Preservation and Challenges in Coming Years," described each digital object as having three aspects, with preferable preservation techniques. Remco Verdegem and Jacqueline Slats (2004), authors of “Practical experiences of the Dutch digital preservation test-bed” and members of the Nationaal Archief of The Netherlands, tried to answer the question by running tests on four specific types of digital documents. To “wrap” the articles together, Brian Lavoie and Lorcan Dempsey (2004) in, "Thirteen Ways of Looking at ... Digital Preservation," offered a general outlook on issues of digital preservation. Though they do not try to solve specific problems as the other articles, they ask questions to help steer readers in better understanding the complexities of preservation.

Both Ippolito and Thibodeau talked about trust, or an “ethical will,” that preservationists wield in their work (Ippolito p.52). If, for example, an archivist needs to reinterpret an art piece in a way that was not covered in the “Variable Media Questionnaire,” that archivist must exercise his or her “ethical will” and make a decision on how to present the object (Ippolito). The perennial question in library science courses of who makes the decision in what to preserve, has in fact a simple answer — it is up to the librarian, archivist, and museum curator to make that decision. It is not, however, as simple an undertaking as preserving everything. Dempsey & Lavoie stated it best, “preserving everything is not an option” (2004 part IV).

Dutch preservationists offered clear explanations of the two main types of digital preservation, migration and emulation. Migration, as understood by the Archief, is “the conversion of records from one hardware and/or software environment to another” (Verdegem & Slats p.57). Moving the logical object from one physical object to another is a type of migration tactic. Emulation is defined as using a “device or program in place of a different one to achieve the same effect as using the original” (Verdegem & Slats p. 61). Though different, both processes involve changing the digital object in some way, either by moving it physically or by using new software, to display the content.

In his article, Thibodeau encapsulated this idea in a shocking statement, that “it is impossible to preserve a digital document as a physical object. One can only preserve the ability to reproduce the document” (Thibodeau p. 19). This statement acknowledges that preservation of digital objects can only happen by changing the objects that make up the document. In both migration and emulation, archivists try to preserve the digital object in the best possible way without any bit loss. Though bit loss might not occur, the digital object will inevitably change for preservation purposes.

Thibodeau’s examination of digital objects helped to understand how the different types of preservation will change an aspect of a digital object. In his article, digital objects are in fact three objects all at once: physical, logical, and conceptual. The conceptual object is “contained” in the logical object, which must be “stored” in the physical object (Thibodeau p.14, p.7 ). Each of these aspects need to have their own approaches to preservation. Physical objects will eventually deteriorate, which means that the logical object stored on the physical object must be moved to another physical object. In order for conceptual objects to be saved from obsolescence, they must be readable to the logical objects that encase them, either by moving them to another schema of logical objects or BY replicating the logical object with new technology. These methods of preservation all rely on changing an aspect of the object.

The uniqueness and delicacy of each digital object, especially artistic expressions, make the question of preservation harder to answer. The Guggenheim Museum, with a wide variety of media, is an institution in a perfect position to create standards for digital preservation. Their technicians and archivists created the “Variable Media Questionnaire,” which ask artists important questions about their art works so to preserve them in ways the artist would approve. For example, an artist might not approve of a migration tactic because it will “reinterpret” an art piece. The questionnaire, however, could never become “a set of commandments carved in stone” for each art piece in the Guggenheim (Ippolito p.52). Rather, the questionnaire serves as a reference guiding curators in how to best preserve the art piece in question.

Though not in the official title of this week’s class, XML is yet another option for preserving digital documents. XML, or eXtensible Mark-up Language, is a viable option for preservation because both humans and machines can read the script, as well as it not being platform specific language (Verdegem & Slats p.60). According to the w3schools, a site for XML tutorials, the markup language is limitless in possibilities because the language itself has no predefined tags (2010).

Thibodeau’s description of a recent XML project, the eXtensible Business Reporting Language (XBRL), exemplified the simplicity of XML. A single XML schema defines the XBRL language, which in turn is used to format financial reports around the world. As XML is a non-platform based language, and the language is easy to understand, the financial reports archived in XBRL should be accessible as long as basic accounting terms are used (Thibordeau p. 26).

Dempsey & Lavoie expressed the view that preserved materials with little or no access, or “dark archives,” must be avoided (Dempsey & Lavoie IX). Unlike print materials, which usually have restricted access to preserved media, digital objects can be displayed without worrying about user-inflicted damage (Dempsey & Lavoie IX). An open access approach to digital preservation makes it a public good; preserving a digital object for one institution actually, “preserve[s] for all” (Dempsey & Lavoie XIII). It ties into the “ethical will” preservationists practice, while trying to balance complicated copyright issues (Dempsey & Lavoie VII).

No matter which method is chosen for the object, preservationists must ask one final question — will the end user actually use the preserved digital object (Dempsey & Lavoie XII)? This question provides the framework that the librarian, museum curator, or archivist can work on to supply the answers to questions concerning digital preservation. Such questions as, “Do most users have this version of a software?” or “Will users be able to use this emulator on their home computer?” need answers. Most importantly, this may lead to answers for the hardest question preservationists must tackle: what must be preserved?

Questions
1. Both Thibodeau and Verdegem & Slats talked about the “Universal Virtual Computer” (Thibodeau 2002; Verdegem & Slats 2004). What do you imagine this “UVC” to look like, and how does it function? Run it through Thibodeau’s four criteria for preservation possibilities: feasibility, sustainability, practicality, and appropriateness (2002 p.15). When would the UVC fit these descriptions?

2. When professor DeCandido asked the class about their experience with XML, many people did not have any prior experiences before this class (myself included). After reading these articles, would you consider learning XML? How could you implement XML in your current work environment?

3. In Dempsey & Lavoie’s “Thirteen Ways of Looking at...Digital Preservation,” the idea of digital preservation being a “cooperative effort” and “disaggregated” was introduced (2004). In these hard economic times, cooperation could be the answer for finding funds. What steps should institutions take to ensure the positive outcome of dividing up the digital preservation process?

Reference List
Ippolito, J. (2003). Accommodating the unpredictable: the variable media questionnaire. In A. Depocas, J. Ippolito and C. Jones (Eds.) The Variable Media Approach: Permanence Through Change, 47-55.

Lavoie, B. and Dempsey, L. (2004). Thirteen Ways of Looking at ... Digital Preservation. D-Lib Magazine 10(7/8). Available at: http://www.dlib.org/dlib/july04/lavoie/07lavoie.html.

Thibodeau, K. (2002). Overview of technological approaches to digital preservation and challenges in coming years. In The State of Digital Preservation: An International Perspective Conference Proceedings, Washington, DC, April 24-25, 2002. Council on Library & Information Resources, Washington, DC, 4-31.

Verdegem, R. & Slats, J. Practical Experiences of the Dutch Digital Preservation Test-Bed. Vine 34(2), 56-65.

W3Schools (n.d.). XML Tutorial. Retrieved from: http://www.w3schools.com/xml/default.asp

Spring Semester, coming up!

2010-01-12T13:34:00.000-06:00

For my spring semester, be ready to hear about these three classes"

458, Instruction and Assistance Systems: "Provides an overview to instruction and assistance methods used in a variety of information systems, including libraries, archives, museums, and electronic environments. Includes an overview of theoretical and applied research and discusses relevant issues and concepts. Students will have an opportunity to design and present an instruction or assistance program.

507, Cataloging and Classification I. One of the "classic" courses of library school: "Theory and application of basic principles and concepts of descriptive and subject cataloging; emphasis on interpreting catalog entries and making a catalog responsive to the needs of users; provides beginning-level experience with choice of entries, construction of headings, description of monographs (and, to a lesser extent, of serial publications and nonprint media), filing codes, Dewey and Library of Congress classification systems, and Library of Congress subject headings."

590PDL, Digital Preservation. It seems that everyone wanted to take this course this semester....AND it counts for the Special Collections certificate: "This course examines the current problems with and approaches to digital preservation that are fundamental to the long-term accessibility of digital materials. We will examine the range of current research problems, along with emerging methods and tools, and assess a variety of organizational scenarios to plan and implement a preservation plan. Topics will include basic information theory, preservation of complex digital objects; standards and specifications; sustainability and risk assessment; authenticity, integrity, quality control, and certification; and management of preservation activities. [Elective course for Graduate Certificate in Special Collections]"

I was going to take one more class, but then I realized that due to certain things happening, I had no $. Let's hope I can take these classes and still eat through May!

Reading Response #4

2009-12-09T14:56:00.001-06:00

Please read the rules about posted assignments before reading onward.

Alenka Šauperl’s and Jerry D. Saye’s article, “Have we made any progress? Catalogues of the future revisited,” is a follow up of an earlier article they wrote nine years ago. In the earlier article, they provided suggestions intended to improve a library’s online catalog, in the user’s eyes. They recommended showing the table of contents of books, and allowing users to comment on books they checked out. The new article tries to answer the question of whether these catalogs made any progress within the past several years, in terms of user friendliness. The authors wrote these articles hoping that with these suggestions, library catalogs would “survive ‘Google attack’” (Saye and Šauperl 2009).
   During this semester, Google has come up in our discussions, in both, positive and negative ways. The projects Google Books and Google Scholar made some of my classmates angry, while others were awed by Google’s ability to spearhead such a movement. “Google attack” seems even more likely today than it did nine years ago, as much as the search engine still retains its simplicity and popularity. The word Google even became a verb in 2006, when the Oxford English Dictionary defined it as such (Bylund 2006).
   As Google grows, how do Saye and Šauperl suggest for library catalogs to improve further?  One area that could use improvement is the results page. Google lists its results by popularity, something the authors find alarming. Google Books and Google Scholar lists results by loading date, another poor form of listing results. The authors pointed to the North Carolina State University Library’s OPAC as an example of a sophisticated results page. Unlike Google, their results page is listed by subject. If a large amount of results are retrieved, the user is able to limit the results with various options (Saye and Šauperl 2009). These intuitive results pages should be inclued in more OPACs, which hopefully will draw more users into adopting them.
   The authors also mentioned the need for OPACs to have multiple interfaces. In my opinion, OPACs should become “pioneers” in creating different interfaces for specific groups of people. As professionals, librarians strive to ensure freedom of information for everyone. To me, this means providing information regardless of a user’s language barrier, disability, or age. If a library is located in a multilingual neighborhood, the library’s OPAC should have an interface for those local language speakers. If blind people use the library, screen readers should be installed, and the OPAC should have a voice input/output option. For children, an OPAC using “Simple English” could make browsing easier. Google and Amazon do not have such functions, and could bolster OPAC’s popularity with these groups of people.
      In their conclusion, Saye and Šauperl urge librarians not to “take ‘no’ as a satisfactory answer” when OPAC vendors and other librarians resist these changes (2009). Librarians must demand these new features in their OPACs in order to keep up with the “Google attack” and to ensure the existence of OPACs in the future.  

Bylund, Anders. (2006, July). To Google or Not to Google. Retrieved from The Motley Fool website: http://www.fool.com/investing/dividends-income/2006/07/05/ to- google-or-not-to-google.aspx
Sauperl, A.; Saye, J. D. (2009). Have we made any progress? Catalogues of the future revisited. Journal of Documentation 65(3): 500-514.

(looks back again)

2009-12-09T14:51:00.000-06:00

Wait, what? It's already December? New Year's resolution- work on blogging >.<

For those of you in GSLIS, you can check out my group project's website on Oral History. It's not fancy, but I coded it all by hand so it better work (shakes fist at computer)

https://courseweb.lis.illinois.edu/~kdurba2/501

It is almost the end of the semester

2009-11-11T22:56:00.000-06:00

This semester went by too quickly. I look back at the past few months, and think about all of the missed opportunities for participation on the Moodle. Remember for next semester: write more on the Moodle.

On the Short List!

2009-11-10T16:06:00.003-06:00

For 590 RBL, I had to suggest a book that would fit into the University of Illinois Rare Books and Manuscript Library from some old catalogs. The class then would pick out 5 of the top recommended books, and vote for one to be potentially bought by the RBML. Now, the catalogs are old, and it would have to go through an official RBML recommentaion panel, so its not certain that they would end up buying it.

Guess what- mine is on the short list! I am super excited that my recommendation was picked. Here is the paper I wrote:

Please read the rules about posted assignments before reading onward.

Irish American Radicalism At Its Best

Devyr, Tho[mas] Ainge. The Odd Book of the Ninteenth Century, or, “Chivalry”
in Modern Days, A Personal Record of Reform-Chiefly Land Reform, for the last
fifty years. 8vo, original gilt lettered brown cloth (rubbed & dull; spine
extremities little worn; inner hinges repaired), pp. [6], [2] blank, [4], [4], xxii,
211, 220, [33] Appendix, [2] blank + 3 plates Greenpoint, N. Y.: Published by
the Author, 37 Broome St., Copyright Thomas Ainge Devyr, 1882. $1250.00

After examining several catalogues, I have selected the book The Odd Book of the Ninteenth Century, or, “Chivalry” in Modern Days, A Personal Record of Reform-Chiefly Land Reform, for the last fifty years for the committee’s approval in order to purchase. It is listed in the Howard S. Mott Inc. catalogue #255 (02/09/09), a dealer who advertises to be a specialist in “Rare Books, First Editions, Americana, Literature, Unusual Imprints, Caribbean (esp. Lesser Antilles), Autograph Letters & Manuscripts.” (1) The book is signed by the author to a person thought to have worked in the newspaper Irish World. (2) I believe it will compliment two different collections the Rare Books and Special Collections at UIUC holds – the James Collins Irish collection and the collection of radical books.

The author was, as the catalogue described, a “fascinating man.” Born in Ireland, he changed careers from a London Metropolitan Police officer to an organizer of violent Chartist guerillas. In 1840 he fled to America, where he helped organize the Anti-Rent Party around Albany, New York, and edited radical newspapers. The Ireland Eye, a website on Irish news, writes that he edited a Fenian (3) newspaper based in America. (4) Fenianism was an Irish diaspora movement for an independent Irish republic in the 19th and 20th centuries. This statement is contradicted in the New York Public Library website, where it calls Devyr a “pro-British Irishman.” (5) In short, this man defined radical thought in America.

The Odd Book of the Nineteenth Century would fit well within the James Collins collection of Irish books. Devyr’s shifting identity makes him an interesting study for any scholar interested in the Irish independence movements of the 19th century, as well as Chartist movements. (6) His story could help interpret countless Irish political cartoons about the politics of his day, many which UIUC holds. He also included in the book several Irish independence songs and an Irish satire “Billy Bluff and Squire Firebrand,” a story published a century before Devyr’s book.

This book also makes an interesting study for scholars researching diaspora movements. For Irish immigrants to uphold newspapers and organizations dedicated to free Ireland outside of the country shows that the Irish diaspora was profoundly strong. Personally, as a daughter of a diaspora family, I understand the type of commitment needed to send money and people to support a person’s beliefs. The Odd Book of the Nineteenth Century could give Irish American researchers information about how these immigrants accomplished these tasks, despite their immigrant status in the United States.

This book would not just satisfy the Irish scholar, but American scholars as well. Devyr was actively trying to nationalize land in northern New York, and participated in the Anti-Rent War. This “war” over rents lasted over ten years, with Anti-Renters donning costumes inspired by the Boston Tea Party “Indians,” and created havoc at the sound of a horn. (7) The Odd Book of the Nineteenth Century would give insight into this radical American movement, a perfect addition to the Rare Book’s “radical thinking” book collection.

The listed price of $1250 is the only price I could find, as this book is listed in neither the AddALL online catalog nor the viaLibris online catalog. It is my belief that the Rare Book and Special Collection Library of the University of Illinois should take this opportunity and purchase this “eccentric masterpiece” (8) of a book.

1
ABAA, “Howard S. Mott, Inc.,” Antiquarian Booksellersʼ Association of America, http://hq.abaa.org/books/
antiquarian/bookseller/1611.html (October 25, 2009).
2
Howard S. Mott Inc. catalogue #255 (02/09/09).
3
Irelandseye.com, “The Fenian Movement,” Irelandʼs Eye, http://www.irelandseye.com/aarticles/history/
events/dates/fenmove.shtm (October 25, 2009).
4
“Chartists in America: tourists and political refugees,” Chartist Ancestors, http://www.chartists.net/
Chartists-in-America.htm (October 25, 2009).
5
Andrew Wilson, “At Home In Staten Island: A Tale of Two Literary Englishmen and Their Children,” New
York Public Library, http://www.nypl.org/blogs/2008/12/15/home-staten-island-tale-two-literary-
englishmen-and-their-children (October 25, 2009).
6
Chartists were one of the ﬁrst working class labor movements of the world, wanting votes for working
class men and less restrictive qualiﬁcations for Parliament. Glenn Everett, “Chartism or The Chartist
Movement,” Victorian Web, http://www.victorianweb.org/history/hist3.html (October 25, 2009).
7
Nancy S. Cannon, “Reform/Conﬂict: The Anti-Rent Movement: Brief Introduction,” SUNY Oneonta,
http://www.oneonta.edu/library/dailylife/protest/index.html (October 25, 2009).
8
Howard S. Mott Inc. catalogue #255 (02/09/09).

Works Cited

ABAA, “Howard S. Mott, Inc.,” Antiquarian Booksellers’ Association of America, http://
hq.abaa.org/books/antiquarian/bookseller/1611.htmll.

Cannon, Nancy S., “Reform/Conflict: The Anti-Rent Movement: Brief Introduction,” SUNY
Oneonta, http://www.oneonta.edu/library/dailylife/protest/index.html.

Chartists in America: tourists and political refugees,” Chartist Ancestors, http://
www.chartists.net/Chartists-in-America.htm.

Everett, Glenn, “Chartism or The Chartist Movement,” Victorian Web, http://
www.victorianweb.org/history/hist3.html.

Irelandseye.com, “The Fenian Movement,” Ireland’s Eye, http://www.irelandseye.com/
aarticles/history/events/dates/fenmove.shtm.

Wilson, Andrew, “At Home In Staten Island: A Tale of Two Literary Englishmen and Their
Children,” New York Public Library, http://www.nypl.org/blogs/2008/12/15/home-
staten- island-tale-two-literary-englishmen-and-their-children (October 25, 2009).

Yeah! :D

Hello all who come from the GSLIS community forum!

2009-11-05T22:35:00.000-06:00

....if anyone comes in the next few days, hello! That's of course, if anyone comes hehe

If not, that's ok. I'll still be writing in here....:D

Reading Response #3

2009-11-05T22:33:00.000-06:00

Please read the rules about using posted assignments before reading onward.

      Gene Smith's Tagging: Emerging Trends taught me one important thing, that tagging has not gone "stale." Tagging has indeed evolved from the mess of delicious tags to the organized, semi-controlled, vocabularies of LibraryThing and Etsy.
       Since tagging has become such a part of the Internet today, it was surprising to read about two websites I use, LibraryThing and Etsy. Their creative mix of controlled and uncontrolled vocabularies could be the future of Internet libraries. Though Etsy does have a “controlled vocabulary,” it only exists at the very top tier. Sub-tags can be either chosen from a list or typed in by users. This system assures that at least in the main categories, redundant words are not used, and allows users to find the items they need. LibraryThing’s solution to tagging arises from the community. Users can link together tags that mean the same thing, with the most popular appearing in tag clouds. This methodology resolves the problem of redundant tags and solidifies the user community.
       Folksonomies might become a permanent fixture for the average user, but I believe information architects and librarians will never fully let go of the controlled vocabularies they have used for years. There is a reason why controlled vocabularies lasted for so long -- they work. The problem with controlled vocabularies is that it is hard to change them after they have been adopted. A better way of “linking” words has to be developed, in order to keep controlled vocabularies relevant for today’s users.
       Tagging has not grown stale, but it can if information architects stop working on improvements. Two websites, LibraryThing and Etsy, show that tags and a type of controlled vocabulary can be useful for finding information. Ultimately, that is what librarians want the most.

Reading Response #2

2009-10-30T16:59:00.003-05:00

Please read the rules about using posted assignments before reading onward.

Can user generated tags make users use catalogs more often? Information professionals are just starting to write about the tagging features made popular by Delicious and Flickr. Librarians frustrated with the controlled vocabulary of the Library of Congress Subject Headings are toying with the idea of incorporating user tags into library catalogs in order for them to be more user friendly. Peter J. Rolla’s article “User Tags versus Subject Headings,” a study about LibraryThing, provides a mixed review.

LibraryThing is a great site to publicly record and organize your book collection. User tags make this organization possible, allowing users to sort their books according to their own tags. It is as if a LibraryThing’s user created his or her own controlled vocabulary to define their collection. As with everything, user tags are both a virtue and a vice. The use of “folksonomies” can lead more general users to a book of their choice, but the lack of controlled vocabulary can make non-standard terminology a barrier in finding another book. This arises because of several factors, including synonyms, misspellings, and irrelevant personal tags.

As with many of the articles we have read in both LIS 501 and LIS 502, librarians must change with the environment and its users. We must try to save what worked in the past and blend it with the things that work in the present. In my opinion, though, Rolla’s call for more research should be replaced with a call for experimentation. The University of Illinois Vufind beta is starting to feature both, and hopefully will prove as successful as I think it can be.

Rolla, P. J. (2009). Can user-supplied data improve subject access to library collections? Library Resources & Technical Services 53(3): 174-184.

Reading Response #1

2009-10-27T18:05:00.001-05:00

Please read the rules about using posted assignments before reading onward.

Class: LIS 501
Posted date: October 22nd, 2009

    Janet Swan Hill’s article “Entering an Alternative Universe […],” (2008) a paper based on a keynote speech, summarizes what I have heard from many people about the paradoxical world of librarians. There is a sentimental side, where librarians take time to find exactly what a user wants and believe themselves to be keepers of a public resource. The alternative universe, or the utilitarian side, finds librarians focusing on effectiveness and efficiency, by introducing automation that streamline a librarian’s work. Both exist side by side in today’s libraries, hindering any progress in finding ways to cope with desperate financial circumstances.
    Hill’s call to be open-minded about changes in cataloging are necessary in today’s world. In order to be relevant to our uses, we must change cataloging procedures that make sense to them. However, as Hill also suggests, we must ask some tough questions first, such as “What is our purpose? […] Do any of the things we are concentrating on distract from the main purpose?” (Hill, 2008, p. 226). These questions will put librarians on track to making decisions that could change the ways libraries work.
    Unfortunately, there is a catch -- not all librarians have the same answers to these questions. The little experience I have in the library world showed me that each librarian is usually an independent person with a lot of opinions. In order to bring about changes in cataloging, these independent minded people must decide to adapt for the sake of their library’s future. It will be a long road for real change to come to the catalog.

Hill, J. S. (2008). Entering an alternatve universe: Some consequences of implementing recommendations of the Library of Congress Working Group on the Future of Bibliographic Control. Library Resources & Technical Services 52(4): 218-226.

Posting Assignments

2009-10-27T17:59:00.002-05:00

In one of my LEEP classes, we are asked to share our responses and essays with the class. I like seeing other people's work, and it makes me think about what I believe about the profession.

Following in LEEPERS 14.1 example, I will post some of my assignments up for people to see. I just have two rules:

1) I take constructive criticism, not flames,

and

2) don't plagiarize -- that doesn't help anyone (not that I think my writing is worth plagiarizing in any way). You can paraphrase, you can quote, but don't say it's your own!

This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-Noncommercial-No Derivative Works 3.0 United States License.

I'm a Liar Too

2009-10-17T13:39:00.000-05:00

What can I say? It happens to the best of us. I think I wrote down that I was going to try a weekly/biweekly blog, but its been about a month since my last post.

It's week 8 and depite the online factor I feel almost exactly the same as last fall in undergrad. I do what I have to do, I read the materials I believe are the most important, and though I am not the biggest participator, I attend and listen.

The thing is that this semester is different than other semesters. For once, I am actually pursuing my hobbies. I am mass producing handmade greeting/holiday cards in order to sell at a couple of craft shows, so that is my nighttime activity. I am taking a "class" on Ukrainain embroidery, so I try to put a little time into embroidering and designing every day. And then, of course, I am in a long distance relationship- its hard, but I can't help it!

In short, I'm genuinely busy.

It's the LEEP weekend, and I am having a lot of fun. The Rare Books and Special Collection day was especially AWESOME. We were able to looks (and sometimes even touch) some of the objects in the collections. Here are some of my highlights:

- manuscript with a doodle of a bird on the margin (I guess a Medieval reader got bored?)
- one of the first engineering books ever created
- a book of encyclopedia plates which had directions for everything, including building your own boat
-gloriously old and beautiful maps
-Irish political cartoons that make no sense to me, but must've made sense back in the times of the Land Acts
- a book with beautiful hand painted pictures of homes and cover of inlaid leather.
- "So Long, Hot-Metal Men" by Henry Morris: a book of his own typesettings, from Bird and Bull Press
- letters from Joseph Conrad to H. G. Wells, showing his creative process in writing books
- the manuscript for "The Time Traveler"
- story boards from Citizen Kane

and the motherload of motherloads: the Book of Genesis, from a Gutenburg Bible. The amount of text lines increase thoughout the book, which makes people assume that this might've been from one of the earlier prints of the Bible....wow

As for today, the 501 presentations in Preservation were so enlightening. There were four different preservationists/conservators talking about the different materials they deal with: general collection, special collection, a/v equipment, digital files, and musical instruments. I learned about how they fix 100 year old horns, backup files, freeze/bake cassette tapes, and how they decide to chuck a book into the dumpster. I had no idea that these librarians had disaster plans, and how they accept their imperfect environments and work with them. I have a growing interest in digitization, so it was really cool to hear about all of these different problems conservators have trying to fix and/or put these objects on the internet.

This weekend is really turning out great. My group for the 501 project is filled with wonderful people, its great to see everyone from 14.1, and meet people from 14.2. It's been fun :D I can't go to the dinner, but I am virtually saying "hi" to everyone!

And We're Live in 3...2...1...

2009-09-11T09:55:00.005-05:00

On September 9th, 2009, I attended my first LIVE session. What an experience! I know that I wasn't the fast chatter like others were, but it was interesting to be listening to the professor and reading the conversations of students at the same time. It was as if I was in school, except of course my classroom was my bedroom, and I was lounging in bed attending a lecture. I <3 technology!

We talked a lot about metadata this past lecture. What is metadata, you ask? For me personally, metadata is data about any data. A card from a card catalog? Metadata. The copyright information on the back of a title page? Metadata. The information that you get when you select a document and press apple + i? Metadata! Some people do not accept the first two examples as metadata, as they do not pertain to electronic sources, but I like the more inclusive definition.

A large portion of the student discussion was about the "evils" of Google. I'm not sure whether I would define Google evil- I AM using their amazing free blogging website (wink wink), and I use Google to search every day. The "evil" students talk about are Google Books, something that sounds great at first but as you think about it, not so great. In the end, Google is a for profit company- for them, putting books online isn't exactly for the greater good, but rather for the greater profit. I do not know what to think about all of this, I guess I'll have to read some comments.

Next time, I'll talk about our group project!

Finally Back in Action

2009-09-07T12:54:00.003-05:00

I have to get back into the "groove" of blogging and being active on the Moodle. I have to say, making myself think about anything academic is hard right now, because I'm still thinking about my summer. For me, this summer was amazing. I did some camping, had my grad school orientation, and went to Europe for two weeks. It's Labor Day though, and that means that finally I have to get down to business. By Wednesday I will be back- mostly because we have our first assignment due. I do not know how that will end up, because I have not written since orientation. The assignment is to find an article about how one user group searches for information. I hope I remember how to search for things from orientation!

As I was gone for the first two weeks of my 501 class, I was curious to see how the archived chat sessions worked- do I see the white board, can I see the chat box, etc. Well, the answer is yes, so for all of you in my 501 class who rick-rolled our class in its final moments, I saw that :D

We also have a group project for this class. Usually, I am not the group project type of person, but this sounds interesting. It is about "genre-specific considerations" for different media types. We have to both orally present it to the class, and have to write about it in a group and individual level. I had to pick three options out of a large list of medias, of which I chose: 1) oral histories, 2) maps, and 3) comic/graphic novels (hehehe). Looking back, I wish I put aps as my first choice, but I would be very happy with oral history as well. Since I come to this program with a history degree, it would be cool to research this.

Because it is the regular school year now, I should be posting on a regular basis. Keep your eyes open!

Until next time, yours truly.

Been Away

2009-08-08T16:37:00.002-05:00

This summer has been very buy for me. After bootcamp was real in-the-woods camp for a full week, and then a small trip to Michigan with family and friends. I will only be here for a short while, as I will be going on my Central European "tour" very soon. It's my first time in Europe outside of Eastern Europe, so I am very excited!

For now, click on this link: 100 Best Blogs for Librarians of the Future. This should keep you busy until I am in class in the fall :D

I finally finished writing everything

2009-07-24T18:55:00.003-05:00

Sorry for the lack of content over the past few days. We LEEPers had a group process paper and a final to write! The group process paper was about how we worked in groups during the class, and the final had three questions.

I am still very tired, and have run out of words. Hopefully, over the next week or two, the words will come back to me.

To all of the LEEPers, thank you for making this such a great experience!

I am done

2009-07-21T22:31:00.001-05:00

My head hurts. I need sleep.

I'll blog about CocoMero tomorrow.

It Might Be Dangerous To Post This

2009-07-20T23:53:00.005-05:00

On the "social forum" of the class Moodle, I identified myself as a Hufflepuff, saying that I like to work hard and stay loyal to my friends and my beliefs.

On the other hand, I procrastinate. I can face it, I usually fail to motivate myself to proactively write papers . It took so much effort to get my Mill essay before this program started! For those of you reading and are in a position to evaluate my work- do not worry, I am slowly working on my tracking paper. It's not like I left everything for tomorrow (I did not, for once). I just need that slight pressure tomorrow will bring to get it done, and maybe a good night's sleep.

GOOD NIGHT!

Just Shelf It

2009-07-20T14:00:00.008-05:00

Censorship is a big topic, a very very big topic. I think all of us coming into class today were afraid that someone would say something, I am not sure what, but just something that would make another person tick. At least we all just acted like adults.

We were first given this book. Inside are a lot of nude drawings....a lot. As librarians, though, no matter what we think, we have to "just shelf it," as we could be providing information to kids who don't have access to it. I have to admit, when I thought about how some parents might react to it, might not like it. In the end though, this book could be a great introduction to "THE TALK," something I'm sure many parents find awkward to do.

This anatomy atlas is probably one of the best ever made. The illustrations are colored, detailed, and meticulously done. The author was a proud Nazi, but still, who would have qualms about this book? Well, it seems that the cadavers used in making this book were Holocaust victims. When the book was passed to me I shuddered to know this fact, but in the end this also needs to be just shelved.

****

Freedom of Information is such a big issue to tackle, and those taking the LEEP course with me have been Moodling about it. A good questions recently brought up is whether we really do want all of the information out there to be free. We were assigned to write a paper- is someone going to post it to the class Moodle for everyone else to use it? How about authors and musicians and their right to royalties, is that really such a bad thing? These are questions that I believe have not been answered. I wonder how librarians out of the ideological frame of grad school have dealt with this.

Gives a whole new meaning to "Freedom is not Free."

Ok, so no pictures

2009-07-19T23:53:00.003-05:00

Things keep piling up by the minute. I frankly don't know why I am writing here, when I should probably be writing for my tracking paper. Whoever said I was completely rational?

Also- no pictures. I tried to take some cool pictures of campus, but all of the thoughts in my head did not allow me to just stand still and take pictures. When I had a break form 10:30-11:30, I wandered aimlessly around the GSLIS building and the edges of campus. I never noticed how many churches were in the area, something I realized when all I heard were religious services being sung as I strolled in the street.

We started talking about professionalism today. Of course, some people might ask- are librarians really professionals? I got a whole powerpoint arguing that yes, they are. So maybe we are not doctors and lawyers, but we do have a bill of rights, a journal, and a bunch of schools that offer the MLS degree. We also talked about the "effects of professionalism on clients," which I basically think of as becoming a snob. Be professional, but don't be a snob!

We then had a long break, aka a time when I should have been more productive. That is always the case >.<

Discussion was fun. We are all getting quite comfortable with one another, and conversing is much easier. I wonder how tomorrow will be, when the topic is censorship? I hope it gets really really really interesting :D

Good Morning Sunshine

2009-07-19T08:43:00.001-05:00

I just realized that my camera was not in my suitcase as I thought it was, but rather in my bookbag which I have been carrying around since Thursday. I'm taking a tour :D

Libraries, Museums, and Archives, oh my!

2009-07-19T00:25:00.003-05:00

Our second lecture of the day was about the similarities between libraries, museums, and archives. It seems that they all have problems with ownership >.<

We had a discussion about critical thinking today that really made me think critically (ha). Should libraries be preoccupied with engaging their patrons to critically think? I say yes. Why have all of these choices around them, if they do not think they have to pick it up? I started a thread about this in our forum for the class, and I do agree with everyone that we should broaden the idea of critically thinking. I still believe that even public libraries should inspire people to reflect on their lives, beliefs, etc because sometimes, public libraries are all a person has in terms of a way of improving themselves. I don't mean to become the devil's advocate for every user that walks through the door, but rather indirectly.

A lot more is put on the board, and I might write about it later, but frankly my brain hurts. Talk about an information overload! I think I got the meaning of the The Faerie Queen article....I think. At least we have a big chunk of time tomorrow to our own devices, one I hope to use to write my tracking paper. For now, I will go to sleep before my eyes cross x.x

The hole just keep getting bigger

2009-07-18T15:39:00.003-05:00

I cannot write for too long, as I have thing to do! This program is keeping me very very busy. Fortunately, the content just keeps getting more and more interesting. It is hard to try to stay focused with so many things going on, but I treat it as a test. It is time for me to start learning how to manage my personal time.

Finally, I could wake up at 7:50 am! I got ready, made myself some lunch, and headed over to GSLIS for another day of fun. Our first lecture at 10:30 dived into the historical forces that drove LIS to what it is now. Now no one before this class would ever think that the post office would have anything to do with it, but it did! It created the infrastructure to allow such freedom with information to be transported from one sde of the country to another. Of course, it did some "censoring" of it's own by deciding which mediums to tax more than others. The modern university also plays a role in LIS. Before the modern university, small colleges would give each of its 100 students the same curriculum. Now, college students can get higher education in possibly every discipline imaginable- even librarianship ; )

Other key thoughts from lecture included: the nature of information, the public good, the effects of free press, federal research, the 1895 Printing Act, information commodification, and Daniel Bell. A surprise discussion came out of the explination of Extension Agencies, and how they can sometimes conflict with libraries in rural America. I didn't even know that such things existed, and it makes me want to go into super research mode about it. Alas, I have so many other things to do, I cannot at the moment. However, I will say this: the UIUC Extension agency provides a lot of youth services, and many in Spanish. They are not just about agriculture.

Then, in a mad rush, we all picked our groups. I got the social networking one. We did meet as a group, but briefly. More research has to be done before we start thinking about the presentation....and we also have the tracking paper....

....which the I rushed over the the tracking paper meeting, realizing that I have to do a lot more research on my topic (outsourcing). Oh boy >.<

By 1:30, I was tired as hell, but there was a discussion to go to! Rina (facilitator), Kym (group presenter), David (Moodle writer), and I (timekeeper) had a great discussion, and we all did our jobs very well. When we were given 5 extra minutes, it was at the perfect time because we just started on the last question. A topic we all discussed together, which I am sure will pop up later, is how exactly where Mill's theory does not work in practice. A great example David gave was the early 20th century blackface films. Do we just dump them, or do we keep them? and if we do keep them, who will be able to see them? We had a lot of good discussion in that group, we really did.

Well, I gotta read. I keep saying that my post will be short, but they don't get too much shorter. I am debating whether to go to the tracking paper workshop, as all of the info is online. Too many decisions to make!

The first lecture

2009-07-18T00:48:00.000-05:00

I should have written this earlier instead of saving it for now, when I really just want to go to sleep. That means that this will not be as long as I wanted it to be, but please bear with me. And anyway, I still have a whole week to make up for it.

The first lecture was not what I expected it to be. Every person I've met here is just so nice! Everyone involved with preparing and executing this class really thought about our wants and needs, and created the syllabus accordingly. Sitting in lecture today (well I guess yesterday by my clock) just made all the puzzle pieces fit. They understand we have a lot on our brains, and do not want us to totally freak out about this course. Thank you, whoever I have to thank, that these people know what we wanted to hear in that first class. There are few such intuitive people out there. Maybe I can say, that librarians just become good at knowing what information to give out to their students so they act the way they need to act?

The Sociological point of view of most of our reading assignments make sense now. I get it that being a librarian is more than just gathering and preserving information. In the end we are symbols of what Mill wanted, freedom of thought and opinions. Now it makes perfect sense to start this process of getting the MLS with such articles- it instills in us the morals that librarians must have in order to call themselves librarians.

Overall I was blown away by the first class. I have tried to explain why, but I am not sure I made too much sense. At this moment, I can say that I am really happy I got into this program.

One last thought before I go to bed and hopefully wake up in time to find a good seat in class. I have been thinking about this for a while, not sure whether there is an answer. If we are supposed to be proponents of the freedom of information, why do we have tuition? I feel that tuition is basically us paying for the right to get information....

Whiteboards and Jungles

2009-07-17T14:03:00.002-05:00

Today has been as informative as yesterday, and I am not even done. All of us got a walkthrough of Moodle and Elluminate, the two ways of communicating in the LEEP program. We also got a tour of the Undregrad and Graduate Libraries. Putting these two tours back to back makes you appreciate the changing field of LIS.

I first had the Moogle walkthrough, so I now officially know everything I could have ever wanted to know about Moodle. It is amazing how much technology goes into the LEEP program. The "classical" way of live chatting is sophisticated, but WOW! Elluminate is even better! It was really cool how a professor could show powerpoints, share applications, and even tour a website with one powerful program. Who would've known that JAVA could do all of that? If I did, I would've paid more attention in JAVA class.

I think we can all agree that the best part of Elluminate was the Whiteboard. This was a place that you could draw, type, just about do anything you could do in a simple paint program, and show it to the rest of the class. I wish I had a picture of the ....interesting.... whiteboard we had.

To me, the only thing lacking in Elluminate is the "whisper" option. Technically, students can chat in separate rooms similar to the "classical" way of live chatting, but in the end the private conversations are archived and can be monitored by a professor. I know that LIS is all about freedom of information, but I think they should allow students to privately "whisper."

The computer tour was fun, but more visually stimulating was the walkthrough of the libraries. The Undergraduate Library is underground, something I have not seen before for a college campus. Legend has it that the reason why the library was built underground so that the Morrow Plots, or the oldest plot of experimental corn in the western hemisphere, would not be shaded. Wikipedia cites another reason, but I find it funnier that a plot of corn would dictate the location of a building.

The Graduate Library was just exquisite. It has grand hallways and tiny doorways, a combination that could only work in a library. I really wanted to quickly check the Slavic and Eastern European Library to see what they had, but had to refrain as the tour quickly covered the main sections of the library. Comfy places to sit and study were also part oft he tour C:

The coolest part of the tour was through the main stacks. The main stacks are guarded by desks and librarians ready to check your graduate/faculty status. Once you are through, maps of each floor (including half floors) show how and where the movable book shelves can move. Half of the stacks are in a new addition of the building, air conditioned to perfection. The other half are still in the old part of the building, which felt like a book jungle. I was always sad to leave the air conditioned part of the building.

The third floor seemed empty when I looked around, and no wonder the former LIS library used to reside just across the History, Philosophy, and Newspapers library on that floor! In the library's stead, a plaque of Katherine Sharp, the founder of what is now GSLIS and a protege of Melvil Dewey, hangs on a wall.

Hopefully, within these few days that I am here, I will be able to take small tours of the other libraries on campus. On top of my list are: the Slavic Library, the History, Philosophy, and Newspapers Library, the Rare Books collection, and the Astronomy Library, now located in the large Engineering Library. Of course, I would also have to visit the first home of the library on campus, Altgeld Hall.

I have a little less than one hour to get ready for my frst class. Why didn't I take nap?

GSLIS is pronounced....Gislis?

2009-07-16T23:08:00.000-05:00

First, I know of at least two other people who are also chronicling their LEEP adventures, with very witty blog names: LeepFrogs and The LEEP Years. I feel like I'm in a mini blogging club. I say we all should get one. I find a lot of librarians have them, why not us?

I was thinking about going to Murphy's but in the end I decided that I would save a bar night for a day that I did not have to be at GSLIS at 8am. Unlike most of the people here, I have to walk a mile to get there. It does not take too long, but I am not one to rush my morning. If I have to get ready in a hurry, it means that something will be left behind.

Tomorrow is the first day of learning I will ever have in the summer. It's only been two months since I graduated, and I'm back in school....

I Do Have a Twitter

2009-07-16T16:01:00.000-05:00

I'll put that on the side bar to annoy everyone who does not like Twitter. I don't care for it, but I have one just in case it will ever be really useful to me.

Anyone sitting in that room with me can probably agree- we've just had a lot of information thrown at us. It's daunting! I feel like I only have about two years to figure out what I'm doing with this degree. I guess that's a good thing though, as I have a LAS (Lost And Searching) degree.

Can't wait for the pizza :D

ONLINI

2009-07-16T12:41:00.001-05:00

So, does this mean that when we start the illini chant at bars on campus (perhaps even worldwide), we can say O-N-L, and we'll get a I-N-I afterward?

I just sat through my first session at LEEP. I'm happy to say that I'm not the only one with no career or children. It makes me feel less awkward. Unfortunately, I can't remember anything specific at all about anyone, except that most people were English majors. Which is more employable, English or History? (or Theology?) All in all, we seem to be a funny group. At least the students will be cool to work with.

I am not 100% sure of the classes I want to take, but I do know that in about 20-30 years, I want to work in an academic library, preferably with some good nature around me. Maybe I can just tell the adviser that, and she can push me in the right direction.

The Night Before I start Grad School

2009-07-15T22:50:00.000-05:00

I'm sitting here watching Wayne's World on the TV. What to expect, what should I do? I don't know. I have to wake up early tomorrow, so I should probably sleep.

Good start on the library blog, I know.

What I Posted On My Moogle

2009-07-15T22:48:00.003-05:00

I am not sure whether this blog is for assignments, or for just randomly typing ideas. For now, I will just type.

Hello! This is K D, and I am slowly realizing the long journey I am starting into the world of libraries. I must confess, I have no experience working at a library. I read in many blogs that this will be my biggest problem in trying to find a job in my post MLS life. Frankly, I can't find too many jobs not requiring an MLS at libraries. I guess it must be the economy. I'll stick to my church job for now.

I am also realizing that I might be the youngest person signed up for the LEEP orientation that starts this Thursday. Everyone else seems to have either a career or a kid, both which I do not have. It makes me think- should I have waited a few years before going to grad school? Some people told me to wait, some told me to jump right in....I am following the latter's advice. I want to complete school now, when I am still in "school mode." I have taken 400 courses, many of which I was the lone undergrad in the class. It takes a lot of brain power, but I believe I can do it!

So there it is, a small blog/rant/whatever you want to call it. If it must be erased, let me know. I probably will start one on Blogger anyway C;