The citeulike url browser
http://www.citeulike.org/user/megven
Sunday, January 29, 2012
Week 4 Notes
The variety of databases shows the individual purposes for
they serve. One piece of the article stood out to me, “Cloud Database”. The
concept have become recurring theme in the news. The competing companies are
pushing hard to integrate this concept into public consciousness. There is a bank in Madrid, Spain had bought
cloud program from Google- (http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/business-16486796).
This might represent a step in the future of technology or it might die out. The idea behind cloud technology is that the
providers offer the access of the programs through the internet. It would allow
the users to download necessary programs without going to different product. The
goal of cloud computing is to make it easy for users to manage and less
cumbersome to maintain. More information can be found at this: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cloud_computing
Clearly, this type of concept is not without pitfalls… like
for instance; the virus could destroy a cloud program thus affecting dozens of
computer servers. The challenge to maintain and protect data is greater in the
cloud database. Librarians should keep
eye on advances in the field of technology. It might be a benefit for the
library… to provide information and applications through the internet.
It is bit hard for me to wrap my mind around the concept of
3 Normal Forms. With visual images, I felt I was missing something. However the
Wikipedia entry on the entity relationship cleared some blocks off the concept
of Three Normal Forms. I liked the
visual example of the entity relationship, this painted better picture of the
database. It is quite interesting to note that, entity relationship model
focuses on building from scratch programs and not suited for existing and
current programs. The existence of entity relationship model rests in the
foundation of the current programs. While the concept of Three Normal Forms
focused on the part as how to make the program work in certain way.
Sunday, January 22, 2012
Week 3 Readings
As I read the Gilliland article as
posted for the week 3 readings; the words look very familiar… it hits me; I’ve
read this for the 2005 class. It is quite interesting to see the various forms
of metadata can be in; it’s like stumbling across a market for the spices. The
technical aspects of metadata are hard to get my brain to wrap around. The article raises a point about usefulness
of the metadata; “Good descriptive metadata is essential to users' ability to
find and retrieve relevant metadata and information objects.” This might be the
problem for the users who attempts to find something using library’s catalog.
Good metadata would leave users satisfied with their findings, bad metadata
leaves dissatisfied user/patron. In order to understand the technology, it is
needed to know the mechanics behind it… at least the basic mechanics. Not
understanding the role of the metadata is akin to driving a car and not knowing
all the working parts. Dublin Core offers a picture as how it works with their
program code. The idea behind the Dublin Core presents momentous challenge due
to programming- the codes in different languages, working with large group of
people on same goal. To develop codes for specific vocabulary is a dull affair,
if one makes a mistake, one have to go through the coding to find it. As for
using reference websites like Endnotes, it is really a choice for individual to
use either ones. I once tried Refwork, it didn’t really work due to my
preference doing sources on my own. This is good for long term research with
multiple sources.
Saturday, January 21, 2012
Lab 2
http://www.screencast.com/t/T2bd54nIc
Click the link above for my Jing video. Click the link below for the flickr account.
http://www.flickr.com/photos/74092965@N07/6736081501/
Click the link above for my Jing video. Click the link below for the flickr account.
http://www.flickr.com/photos/74092965@N07/6736081501/
Sunday, January 15, 2012
Week 2 Notes
Digitization: Is It Worth It?
The article reminds me as how the libraries use Return of Investment to assess their worth. Stuart talks about the benefit of the digitization project. The benefit goes to small group of the scholars. To me, this is difficult part to determine, after all, the internet is anonymous. Accessibility is the topic- in case of the digitization project, it would mean accessibility is limited to the technology. The project becomes a form of preservation. Stuart talks about the costs of the project... he did not talk about the object itself which is entirely different can of worms. For this article, he chose to discuss the broad topic which is the cost of the digitization. It is noteworthy to see this article was published in 2001. Technology have changed rapidly since then.
European Libraries
This article sheds a light on the persuasive power of the Google. It is interesting to see the reactions among the countries. France reacted by encouraging the local alliances rather than going to the Google. Even through they assert they are not "at war" with the Google. To keep in mind for the background, E.U. do not like business monopolizing the market. (Remember the ruling in European Commission which orders Microsoft company to remove its programs in order to allow the competition to "flourish".) Against such background, it is not surprising to see such resistance. However this does not stop some libraries from engaging in confidential talks with Google. Money is always the problem for all projects. Like Stuart says in his article, digitization compiles more cost than the original project itself. This is glaring problem faced by the European libraries. Interesting part of the article is the main problem is in the basic digitization. In spite of the digitization problem, the European libraries have moved on forward to developing their collection.
There is more information about these institution; click here.
Wikipedia Entries
Compression entry is harder to understand due to complex algorithms terms which I am ignorant in. From what I am able to understand, compression basically cuts the corners to make room on the memory drives (cd). Cutting corners affects the quality of the object- for instance, video become blurry or pixelated. I am not able to see the solution in compression entry. If anyone did, please let me know in the comments!
The article reminds me as how the libraries use Return of Investment to assess their worth. Stuart talks about the benefit of the digitization project. The benefit goes to small group of the scholars. To me, this is difficult part to determine, after all, the internet is anonymous. Accessibility is the topic- in case of the digitization project, it would mean accessibility is limited to the technology. The project becomes a form of preservation. Stuart talks about the costs of the project... he did not talk about the object itself which is entirely different can of worms. For this article, he chose to discuss the broad topic which is the cost of the digitization. It is noteworthy to see this article was published in 2001. Technology have changed rapidly since then.
European Libraries
This article sheds a light on the persuasive power of the Google. It is interesting to see the reactions among the countries. France reacted by encouraging the local alliances rather than going to the Google. Even through they assert they are not "at war" with the Google. To keep in mind for the background, E.U. do not like business monopolizing the market. (Remember the ruling in European Commission which orders Microsoft company to remove its programs in order to allow the competition to "flourish".) Against such background, it is not surprising to see such resistance. However this does not stop some libraries from engaging in confidential talks with Google. Money is always the problem for all projects. Like Stuart says in his article, digitization compiles more cost than the original project itself. This is glaring problem faced by the European libraries. Interesting part of the article is the main problem is in the basic digitization. In spite of the digitization problem, the European libraries have moved on forward to developing their collection.
There is more information about these institution; click here.
Wikipedia Entries
Compression entry is harder to understand due to complex algorithms terms which I am ignorant in. From what I am able to understand, compression basically cuts the corners to make room on the memory drives (cd). Cutting corners affects the quality of the object- for instance, video become blurry or pixelated. I am not able to see the solution in compression entry. If anyone did, please let me know in the comments!
Wednesday, January 11, 2012
:)
Hope everybody had wonderful holiday break... feel free to leave comments/feedback on my reading notes. It's been a while since I tried blogging so here's another attempt to blog.
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