Catching Up Part I

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

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

Please read the rules about posted assignments before reading onward. 

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

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

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

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

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

Well, Really, I Am

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

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

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

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

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

Final Learning Reflection LIS 458

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

Please read the rules about posted assignments before reading onward.

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

My Alternative Spring Break

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

Please read the rules about posted assignments before reading onward. 

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

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

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

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

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

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

Self Directed Reading #3

 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.

Self Directed Reading #2

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

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.

Week 5 Analytic Essay

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.

Reading Response #4

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)

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

On the Short List!

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

Reading Response #3

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

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

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

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.

Finally Back in Action

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.

I finally finished writing everything

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

My head hurts. I need sleep.

I'll blog about CocoMero tomorrow.

It Might Be Dangerous To Post This

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!