Sunday, October 31, 2010
Reading Notes for 11/1/2010
The above tutorial explains in easy ways how to create HTML documents with examples of different types of HTML documents and practical examples.
The above website includes product reviews, magazines, instructions for doing various things in the “how to” and videos including culture, events, gaming, etc.
The above tutorial explains in easy ways how to create HTML documents with examples of different types of HTML documents and practical examples.
4) Goans, D., Leach, G., & Vogel, T. M. (2006). Beyond HTML: Developing and re-imagining library web guides in a content management system. Library Hi Tech, 24(1), 29-53.
“The purpose of the above article is to report on the content management system designed to manage the 30 web-based research guides developed by the subject liaison librarians at the Georgia State University Library. The methodology/Approach: The web development librarian, with assistance from the web programmer, designed a system using MySQL and ASP. A liaison team gave input on the system through rigorous testing and assisted with the design of the templates that control the layout of the content on the guides. A usability study and two surveys were also completed.
Findings: The new system met and exceeded the baseline expectations for content collection and management, offering a greater control over appearance and navigation while still offering customization features for liaisons. Improvements are planned for the templates in addition to better promotion of the guides on the library website. Initial and ongoing training for the liaisons should have been more effectively addressed. Despite their observed and future potential advantages, the CMS model has not been universally adopted by academic libraries.
Practical Implications: Regardless of the technology involved, libraries preparing for a CMS transition must give at least as much attention to user issues as they do to technical issues, from the organizational buy-in and comprehensive training to internal/external usability.
Originality/Value of Paper: This paper contributes to a small but growing collection of CMS case studies. It covers the technical, functional, and managerial developments of a CMS, while also addressing the practical user factors that sometimes get lost in the process.” From the authors’ abstract.
Friday, October 29, 2010
Mudiest points 10/25/2010
Whether there is a difference between the terms Invisible Web and Deep Web and the terms Visible Web and Surface Web or they are synonyms?
Monday, October 25, 2010
Saturday, October 23, 2010
Reading Notes 10/25/2010
The article entitled: How the Internet infrastucture works elaborates on the basic underlying structure of the Internet, domain name servers, network access points and backbones and how a computer connects to others.
The article chapter: The Internet: Computer Network Hierarchy elaborates how when you connect to the Internet, your computer becomes part of a network.
“Every computer that is connected to the Internet is part of a network, even the one in our home, for example, you may use a modem and dial a local number to connect to an Internet Service Provider (ISP). At work, you may be part of a local area network (LAN), but you most likely still connect to the Internet using an ISP that your company has contracted with. When you connect to your ISP, you become part of their network. The ISP may then connect to a larger network and become part of their network. The Internet is simply a network of networks.
Most large communications companies have their own dedicated backbones connecting various regions. In each region, the company has a Point of Presence (POP). The POP is a place for local users to access the company's network, often through a local phone number or dedicated line. The amazing thing here is that there is no overall controlling network. Instead, there are several high-level networks connecting to each other through Network Access Points or NAPs.”
The article chapter: Internet Network example concludes that “In the real Internet, dozens of large Internet providers interconnect at NAPs in various cities, and trillions of bytes of data flow between the individual networks at these points. The Internet is a collection of huge corporate networks that agree to all intercommunicate with each other at the NAPs. In this way, every computer on the Internet connects to every other.”
The article chapter: Function of an Internet router illustrates that “Routers are specialized computers that send your messages and those of every other Internet user speeding to their destinations along thousands of pathways. A router has two separate, but related, jobs:
· It ensures that information doesn't go where it's not needed. This is crucial for keeping large volumes of data from clogging the connections of "innocent bystanders."
· It makes sure that information does make it to the intended destination.”
The article chapter: Internet Backbone elaborates that “Backbones are typically fiber optic trunk lines. The trunk line has multiple fiber optic cables combined together to increase the capacity. Fiber optic cables are designated OC for optical carrier, such as OC-3, OC-12 or OC-48. An OC-3 line is capable of transmitting 155 Mbps while an OC-48 can transmit 2,488 Mbps (2.488 Gbps). Compare that to a typical 56K modem transmitting 56,000 bps and you see just how fast a modern backbone is.
Today there are many companies that operate their own high-capacity backbones, and all of them interconnect at various NAPs around the world. In this way, everyone on the Internet, no matter where they are and what company they use, is able to talk to everyone else on the planet. The entire Internet is a gigantic, sprawling agreement between companies to intercommunicate freely.”
The article chapter: Internet Protocol: IP address elaborates that “Every machine on the Internet has a unique identifying number, called an IP Address. The IP stands for Internet Protocol, which is the language that computers use to communicate over the Internet. A protocol is the pre-defined way that someone who wants to use a service talks with that service. The "someone" could be a person, but more often it is a computer program like a Web browser.
A typical IP address looks like this:
216.27.61.137
To make it easier for us humans to remember, IP addresses are normally expressed in decimal format as a dotted decimal number like the one above. But computers communicate in binary form. Look at the same IP address in binary:
11011000.00011011.00111101.10001001”
1) Andrew K. Pace. Dismantling Integrated Library Systems Library Journal, vol 129 Issue 2, p34-36. 2/1/2004
This article elaborates that many expect in future ILS new modules will communicate with old ones, products from different vendors will work together, and a suite of existing standards will make distributed systems seem transparently whole. But in an ironic twist, most of the touted interoperability is between a vendor's own modules (sometimes) or between a library's homegrown solutions and its own ILS (sometimes). Today, interoperability in library automation is more myth than reality. Some of us wonder if we may lose more than we gain in this newly dismantled world. The article concludes that Librarians and vendors should work on developing interoperable library systems and suggests that the open source movement has demonstrated the value of open standards and protocols. Through XML, web services, OAI-PMH (Open Archives Initiative--Protocol for Metadata Harvesting), librarians believe they can create interoperability among systems, whether vendors' or their own. The article also suggests that vendors are already using standards and protocols to build logical relationships with course management vendors (Blackboard and WebCT), accounting and HR systems (PeopleSoft), and authentication tools (LDAP, EZProxy, and Shibboleth). If vendors can build interoperability with these systems, then they can become interoperable with each other and with local library systems. Finally, the article concludes that library vendors have two choices. They can continue to maintain large systems that use proprietary methods of interoperability and promise tight integration of services for their customers. Or, they can choose to dismantle their modules in such a way that librarians can reintegrate their systems through web services and standards, combining new with the old modules as well as the new with each other.
2) Sergey Brin and Larry Page: Inside the Google machine. This vedio casts Google co-founders Larry Page and Sergey Brin who talked about the peek inside the Google machine, sharing tidbits about international search patterns, the philanthropic Google Foundation, and the company's dedication to innovation and employee satisfaction. It also elaborates about some Google projects undertaken on 2004.
Wednesday, October 13, 2010
Tuesday, October 12, 2010
Saturday, October 9, 2010
Reading notes for 10/15/2010 & 10/16/2010
1) Local Area Network: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Local_Area_Network
This article describes the type of connection that many libraries have. It is important to learn about how Local Area Networks such as WiFi works. However, in some countries where the communications are not very developed, users are not able to benefit from such communication technology.
2) Computer network http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Computer_network
This article mentions the use of an Intranet. I was not aware of the many variables which construct the Intranet; such as internet protocols and IP based tools. This resource is vital not so much to the general public, but more for librarians in order to convey communications of information and how it happens.
3) Common types of computer networks http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1dpgqDdfUjQ
The author outlines a new trend that local area connections are becoming more popular than wide area connections. I thought this would be quite the contrary. Perhaps local area connections are more powerful and speedy. The author mentions Ethernet as the main factor in this trend.
4) Coyle, K. (2005). Management of RFID in libraries. Journal of Academic Librarianship, 31(5), 486-489.
The author suggests that libraries will be forced via the market to utilize RFID. However, I think that RFID could be financially difficult to sustain with limited funding available for libraries. On the other hand, I learned from a conference that in Singapore, a country with transitional economy, all libraries are using RFID which has a lot of very efficient features that enable libraries to do all types of collection management activities such as inventory, self-circulation and shelving fairly easily with minimum human intervention, thus reducing the human resources costs. So, I think the market will increase, as the author mentions, over time.
Friday, October 8, 2010
Muddiest Points 10/4/2010
In the lecture, I knew that databases have some sort of tabular structure i.e. (table, row and column) and there are relations between them. I would like to ask if this structure corresponds to the (file, record and field) structure. So Table is equal to file, row equal record and column equal field; or these structures are different.
Saturday, October 2, 2010
Reading Notes for 10/4/2010
1) Database. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Database
Prior to reading this article, I was under the impression that databases were simply a storage/information retrieval mechanism. However, after learning about Distributed Databases and Hypermedia Databases, there seems to be so much more. As librarians, this represents the foundation for Information Science. We need to understand and execute these systems in order to better develop knowledge organization systems based on these new database structures.
2) Anne J. Gilliland. Introduction to Metadata, pathways to Digital Information: 1: Setting the Stage http://www.getty.edu/research/conducting_research/standards/intrometadata/setting.html
In another class, I learned that Metadata is data about data. Also, there are many components to Metadata, such as, Data Value, Data Content, and Data Structure. These components of Metadata are also vital components to consider when constructing information, especially within a database structure. Understanding these components will allow librarians to better develop knowledge organization tools, and users to have a much easier time navigating a particular system.
3) Eric J. Miller. An Overview of the Dublin Core Data Model http://dublincore.org/1999/06/06-overview/
The visual aid in this article was very helpful in outlining the foundation of Dublin Core. The Dublin Core was developed for use by non-librarians and thus considered simplicity as a fundamental approach while designing Dublin Core. However, the qualified Dublin Core that uses namespaces, data format standards and controlled vocabulary will help experienced librarians to utilize it and allow users to find very specific forms of information accurately.
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