Muddiest Point for Week 13

Can you upload the slides you used to explain Assignment 6 this week? Thanks a lot :) 

Muddiest Point for Week 11

Can you recommend some website editors for us? I use a text editor to do my Assignment 5, but I also want to try a website editor.

Muddiest Point for Week 10

Two questions for Assignmrnt5:

1. Are there any specific requirements for the third page "myfavorite.html"? Such as the number of texts, images, and links. Is it ok if I only display some pictures?


2. Do we need to give an introduction about the links we listed in the forth page "link.html"? Or we can just simply list them?

Muddiest Point for Week 9

    This week's muddiest point is about Assignment5. I noticed that according to the requirement, we can use either website editors or text editors to create our website. Could you please recommend some editors for us?

Notes for Week 10 Required Readings

Martin Bryan. Introducing the Extensible Markup Language (XML)
http://www.is-thought.co.uk/xmlintro.htm

    XML: subset of the Standard Generalized Markup Language, designed to make it easy to interchange structured documents over the internet.

XML can:

• bring multiple files together to form compound documents
• identify where illustrations are to be incorporated into text files, and the format used to encode each illustration
• provide processing control information to support programs
• add editorial comments to a file

XML components

• including documents,entities,elements, and attribute (properties)
• a formal syntax described the relationships between the entities, elements and attributes to tell the computer how it can recognize the component parts of each document

    Defining tag sets: must create a Document Type Definition that formally identifies the relationships between the various elements that form the documents.
    Defining the attributes of elements: various forms of elements can be given suitable attributes to specify the properties to be applied to them

    XML can also add standard text to a file and handle characters that are outside the standard character set.

Three types of markup

• an XML processing instruction identifying the version of XML, the way it is encoded, and whether it references other files or not
• a document type declaration that either contains the formal markup declarations in its internal subset or references a file containing the relevant markup declarations
• a fully-tagged document instance which consists of a root element. The element type name must match that assigned as the document type name in the document type declaration, within which all other markup is nested

    If all 3 components are present, and the document instance conforms to the rule defined in the document type definition, the document is valid;
    If only the last component is present, and no formal model is present, the XML processor can only check whether the document instance is well-formed.

Extending you Markup: a XML tutorial by Andre Bergholz
http://xml.coverpages.org/BergholzTutorial.pdf

    Also an introduction to XML. However, to me, this article is easier to understand than the previous one.

XML

• a semantic language that lets you meaningfully annotate text.
• a well-formed XML starts with a prolog and contains exactly one element

DTD: defines the structure of XML

• declared in the XML document's prolog by using the !DOCTYPE tag
• let users specify the set and the order of tags, and the attributes associated with each
• valid: a well-formed XML that conforms to its DTD

DTD elements

• Nonterminal elements: contain sub-elements, which can be grouped as sequences or choices
• Terminal elements: can be declared as parsed character data #PCDATA, EMPTY, or ANY. When declared as ANY, it can contain suv-elements of any declared type, as well as character data.

DTD attributes

• can be declared by using !ATTLIST tag
• can be optional #IMPLIED, required #REQUIRED, or fixed #fixed. Fixed attributes must have a default value

Extensions: let users link more than one source to more than one target

• namespaces: avoid name clashes, declared by xmlns
• can be referred to using the prefix mybib

Links

• Xlink: describes how 2 documents can be linked
• Xpointer: enables addressing individual parts of an XML document
• Xpath: used by Xpointer to describe location paths

Xlink specification

• href: specifies a URI together with a fragment identifier
• role: indicates the purpose of the linked document
• show: specifies what is to be done with the linked document when it is loaded
• actuate: specifies when the action indicated by show should occur

Stylesheets

• XSL transformations (XSLT): transform XML into HTML to bypassing the formatting language, and restructure XML documents
• XSL formatting objects

XML Schema: allow users to define datatypes

• Document Definition Markup Language (DDML), known as XSchema
• Document Content Description (DCD)
• Schema for Object-oriented XML (SOX)
• XML-Data (replaced by DCD)

XML Schema uses its own namespace

• complexType: indicates a complex datatype associated with the nonterminal element BOOK and consisting of other elements and attributes
• supports a variety of atomic datatypes
• supports inheritance as part of the more general concept of derivation

XML Schema Tutorial
http://www.w3schools.com/Schema/default.asp

    At first, the tutorial introduces the XML Schema, explains the reasons to use it, and how to use it.
    Then, the tutorial divides the XML Schema into 3 types, including simple, complex, and data types. In each of the 3 types, the tutorial provides specific examples to explain how to create different parts of the schema.
    Again, this tutorial is a very useful tool to learn how to create XML Schema for its specific examples, just like other tutorials the W3Schools provides.

Muddiest Point for Week 8

    This week's muddiest point came from the first reading. It says there are three ways to insert CSS. However, the third one, the inline style, loses many advantages of a style sheet. I would like to know more about the inline style, and if it really loses many advantages, then why this style exist?

Notes for Week 9 Required Readings

W3 School Cascading Style Sheet Tutorial
http://www.w3schools.com/css/

A tutorial for CSS with specific examples.

CSS: Cascading Style Sheets

• HTML was not intended to contain tags for formatting. In order to format documents, CSS is needed as to define how to display HTML elements
• Styles are normally saved in external .css files. Therefore, people can edit one single file when changing the appearance and layout of all the pages

CSS Syntax

• Selector: points to the HTML elements we want to style
• Declaration: each of them include a property name and a value, separated by a colon

Insert CSS

• External style sheet: be used when the style is applied to many pages
• Internal style sheet: be used when a single document has a unique style
• Inline style: use this sparingly (loses many of the advantages of a style sheet)
• Multiple style: the value will be inherited from the more specific one

CSS tutorial: starting with HTML + CSS
http://www.w3.org/Style/Examples/011/firstcss

A very specific and vivid example which explained not only how to create HTML and CSS files, but also how to make them work together.

Explained how to add color and fonts, create navigation bar, styling links, and horizontal line separately with corresponding codes.

Chapter 2 of the book Cascading Style Sheets, designing for the web by Hakon Wium Lie and Bert Bos (2nd edition)
http://www.w3.org/Style/LieBos2e/enter/

An introduction to CSS

CSS rule: a statement about one stylistic aspect of one or more elements. A set of one or more rules that apply to an HTML document is a style sheet.

CSS-enhanced browser is needed for CSS to work.

Common tasks:

• Setting colors & backgrounds
• Setting fonts and margins
• Links

CSS allows users to supply their personal style sheet

This week's reading is really interesting. By knowing more about CSS and how to make my website looks good, creating HTML files becomes more fun to me.

Notes for Week 8 Required Readings

W3school HTML Tutorial
http://www.w3schools.com/HTML/

    At the beginning, the tutorial provides some basic explanation about HTML.
HTML: a markup language for describing web documents/pages

• Stands for Hyper Text Markup Language
• Markup language: a set of markup tags
• HTML tags: describe HTML documents; each of them describe different document content

HTML tags: are key words (tag names) surrounded by <>

• Normally come in pairs like: <p> (start or opening tag) and </p> (end or closing tag)

<!DOCTYPE> declaration helps the browser to display a web page correctly

HTML Editors: Notepad or TextEdit (for Mac); professional HTML editor, such as Adobe Dreamweaver; Microsoft Expression Web; CoffeeCup HTML Editor

HTML Elements: everything from the start tag to the end tag

• Can be nested: elements can contain elements
• Empty elements: <br> (defines a line break)

Attributes: provide additional information about HTML elements

• Are always specified in the start tag
• Comes in name/value pairs like: name="value"
• Always use lower-cases attribute; always quote attribute values 

Headings <h1> to <h6>

• Search engines use headings to index your web pages
• Use headings to show the document structure

XHTML: Extensible Hyper Text Markup Language

• Stricter than HTML

    Additionally, the tutorial has many quizzes to help me test myself. It is very helpful.  

    More importantly, this tutorial provides very specific examples for creating web pages. After reading this tutorial, I got a general idea about how to create web pages. Also, I will use this tutorial as a guide when I have some problems creating web pages.

HTML Cheatsheet
http://www.webmonkey.com/2010/02/html_cheatsheet/

    This handy page contains the most common HTML tags with their proper syntax. I think it's very convenient for a tyro or a amateur like me to have this when creating web pages.

Pratter, F.E. (2001). Introduction to HTML, Chapter 2 of Web Development with SAS by Example, 3rd Edition (Google Book)

• This chapter is mainly for SAS users.
• This chapter provides examples with detailed explanation. 

• IDE (Intergrated Development/Design Environment) vs. text editor
• XHTML: must be "well-formed" (lowercase; closing tags; nest properly; attributes must be quoted)

HTML Lists

• Unordered - bulleted
• Ordered - numbered
• Definition - a series of term/definition pairs

Style Sheets (Templates): create a uniform appearance by separating the content from the presentation; also simplify web page maintenance.

• using a single style sheet to format multiple web pages to create a consistent look across the site

HTML Forms: collect user input

The reference include a list of good how-to books for learning HTML.

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

This paper provides a practical experience about designing a content management system (CMS) to manage web-based research guides at the Georgia State University Library.

• Technical, functional, and managerial developments
• Practical user factors

Muddiest Point for Week 6

My muddiest point is about Dublin Core. I want to know more about its limitation. In other words, although the Dublin Core is not perfect, it seems to be the best choice as a standard to me. And if this is true, then there must be some deeper reasons for those who are not use the Dublin Core because apparently there are still a lot of institutions that are not use it.

Notes for Week 7 Required Readings

Tyson, Jeff. How Internet Infrastructure Works.
http://computer.howstuffworks.com/internet/basics/internet-infrastructure.htm

Internet: interconnected networks

The Internet Society: established in 1992; defined how people use and interact with the Internet.

Networks rely on NAPs, backbones and routers to communicate to each other.

• Point of Presence (POP): a place for local users to access the company's network
• Network Access Points (NAPs): high-level networks connect to each other through NAPs.
• Computer network hierarchy: a network of networks (computers becomes part of the network when they connect to the internet)

Internet Backbone: fiber optic trunk lines

• The more the fiber optic cables combined together, the higher the capacity.
• Today, many companies operate their own high-capacity backbones, and interconnect to each other through various NAPs.

The function of an Internet Router: determine the destination when sending information.

• Ensures the information does not go where it is not needed.
• Ensures the information does make it to the intended destination.
• Protect the network from one another.

Internet Protocol (IP): The language that computers use to communicate over the internet.

• Domain Name Systems (DNS): maps text names to IP addresses automatically

IP Addresses: a unique identifying number that every machine on the internet has.

• Octets: the four numbers in an IP address; each can contain any value between 0 to 255.
• Certain values are restricted (0.0.0.0: default network; 255.255.255.255: broadcasts)
• Net & Host: While Net identifies the network that a computer belongs to, Host identifies the actual computer on the network.

Uniform Resource Locator (URL)

• The DNS servers will translate the human-readable domain name into the machine-readable IP address every time people use a domain name.
• Top-level domain names: .COM, .ORG, .NET, .EDU, and .GOV

Internet servers: the machines that provide services to other machines.

Clients: the machines that are used to connect to those services.

Ports: used by any server machine that makes its services available.

Hypertext transfer protocol (HTTP): the protocol that every web server on the internet conforms.

Andrew K. Pace "Dismantling Integrated Library Systems" Library Journal, vol 129 Issue 2, p34-36.2/1/2004
http://lj.libraryjournal.com/2004/02/ljarchives/dismantling-integrated-library-systems/

The old technology VS. new web technologie

• New modules are expected to be able to communicate with old ones;
• Products from different vendors are expected to be able to work together;
• Existing standards are expected to make distributed systems seem transparently whole.

However, the real situation is in an ironic twist, and interoperability in library automation is more myth than reality.

• Practical experience proved that creating a completely new ILS is unrealistic.
• Additionally, incremental functionality improvements to existing systems are more and more expensive.
• Rapidly growing number of users and a more complicated web environment lead to new challenges. One-stop search and retrieval becomes libraries new desire.
• Some companies have reinvented themselves with new software and successfully met the changing needs of libraries.
• Librarians are motivated to seek solutions because of health competition with peers and disparate information resources, and they are forced to look at new tech.

Better costs more.


Sergey Brin, Larry Page: The genesis of Google (Inside the Google machine)
http://www.ted.com/talks/sergey_brin_and_larry_page_on_google

The part that talking about innovation in this presentation really interest me.

"the 20% time": many valuable innovation were came out of this.
Challenges

How to keep innovation running

• Problem: over 100 projects.
• by writing them down and order them, you can do pretty good job deciding what to do and where to put your resources.
• that allowed them to be innovative and still stay reasonably well-organized. 

Highlight things

• Providing equitable access to everyone.
• The ability and responsibility to provide the right and objective information (never accept payment for search result).

Muddiest Point for Week 5

I'm still a little bit confused about the metadata schema. What does it mean by saying "no single standard schema"?

Notes for Week 6 Required Readings

Local Area Network
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Local_Area_Network

Defining characteristics of LAN (in contrast to WAN): 

• smaller area;
• not include leased telecommunication lines.

10Base-T & structured cabling: the basis of most commercial LANs.
Wi-Fi: very common, for where copper cabling is not possible, and/or to support easy access for laptops and smartphones.
Fiber-optic cabling: common for links between switches.
Fiber to the desktop: uncommon.

Network topology: describes the layout of interconnections between devices & network segments. (it is the arrangement of the various elements of a computer network)

• Switched Ethernet - the most common LAN topology in use.
• Internet Protocol (TCP/IP) - the standard at the higher layers.

Simple LANs: consist of one or more switches

Complex LANs: characterized by their use of redundant links with switches using the spanning tree protocol to prevent loops.

• STP is a network protocol that ensures a loop-free topology for any bridged Ethernet local area network.

Computer Network

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Computer_network

Definition: a telecommunications network that allows computers to exchanfge data.

• Data transferred in the form of packets. (network packet: a formatted unit of data carried by a packet-switched network)
• The connections between nodes are established using cable media or wireless media. (network nodes: network computer devices that originate, route, and terminate the data)
• Best-known computer network: the Internet.
• Important feature: providing access to information on shared storage devices.

Wired technologies (transmission speed: slowest to fastest)

Twisted pair wire - Coaxial cable - ITU-T G. hn - Optical fiber

Communication protocols: a set of rules for exchanging information over network links.

Internet protocol suite (TCP/IP): the foundation of all modern networking

Routing: the process of selecting network paths to carry network traffic.

Coyle, K. (2005). Management of RFID in libraries. Journal of Academic Librarianship, 31(5), 486-489.

RFID: radio-frequency identification. It is like a barcode but is read with an electro-magnetic field.

    It is advanced compared to barcodes in the following aspects:

• does not have to be visible to be read;
• can carry a more complex message;
• the size (smaller and more powerful chips)

    There are a lot of very different technologies when talk about RFID, and it is rapidly developed. What varies is: the amount of info the tag carries, the range in which it can be read, the frequency of its radio waves, its physical size, and its cost.

RFID in libraries

    It is particularly suited to inventory functions, and the same RFID tag is re-used many times in libraries.

    It can be looked as a security mechanism when it is used in anti-theft systems. There are some drawbacks. For example, it can be shielded, it can be easily found and removed. However, libraries should still use it because it is no worse than other security technologies.

    It can save libraries' time and money because a single tag serves multiple functions.

    It can read multiple tags at once, allowing librarians to check out a stack of books with a single transaction.

    By using RFID, the cost of doing an inventory goes down, the odds of actually completing regular inventories goes up.

    It can be used to gather statistics on the re-shelving of books in the stacks area.

Problems

    With less sturdy items, there may not have a good location for a relatively bulky tag, and that are so numerous that the tag cost is significant.

    It also may not be possible to accurately check out a stack of items that are particularly thin.

    There are 2 main directions for the RFID at this time. However, libraries need a slightly different technology from either of these. Libraries need tags that are durable, inexpensive, able to be reprogrammed.

    

Muddiest Point for Week 4

I still do not understand the question I asked at the lab this week. For example, when I imported the "book.xlsx" from assignment #2, the bookid column's indexed showed: "Yes (Duplicates OK)". However, other columns were all showed: "No".

I don't know what does this mean, and what is the difference between "Yes (Duplicates OK)", "Yes (No Duplicates)", and "No". I just want to figure out is this make any differences.

Notes for Week 5 Required Readings

Anne J. Gilliland. Introduction to Metadata, pathways to Digital Information: 1: Setting the Stage
http://www.getty.edu/research/publicationa/electronic_publications/intrometadata/setting.pdf

This reading gives me a general idea about metadata, what it means, and introduces its history and development. What interests me most in this chapter is how metadata works in information organizations, such as libraries and museums.

Generally speaking, metadata is "data about data", it is anything that can be used to describes objects (information), including the content, the context, and the structure. More specifically, for libraries and museums, when speaking of metadata, it is an emphasis on how to provide and enhance access to value-added information and collection materials.

There are several important aspects of metadata.

• Data Standards - for shared cataloging and exchange of descriptive data.
• Structure - with the development of computer-processing capabilities, the role of structure has been growing. Specifically, the more highly structured an information objects is, the more that structure can be exploited for searching, manipulation, and interrelating with other information objects.

Also, we should notice that "Metadata can be, and should be considered more inclusively conceptualized". By support this point of view, the author gives us several examples about different types of people's ways to think of metadata. Therefore, theory and practices can be vary due to the differing professional and cultural missions.

Moreover, except explains several primary functions of metadata, the author also reveals some little known facts about it, which is really refreshing to me. The following two are the most surprising facts to me.

• Metadata does not have to be digital.
• Except the description of an object, metadata can also indicate the context, management, processing, preservation and structure.

Eric J. Miller. An overview of the Dublin Core Data Model.
http://dublincore.org/1999/06/06-overview/

This article gives us an introduction about an incomplete work, the Dublin Core Metadata Initiative (DCMI). It explains DCMI's requirements, basics, and what they did to support the DCMI. I got the general idea about what is this DCMI for. However, I still felt lost about those technical parts mentioned in this article.

• According to the author, DCMI is designed to foster consensus across disciplines for the discovery-oriented description of diverse resources in an electronic environment.

Julie Meloni. Using Mendeley for Research Management.

http://chronicle.com/blogs/profhacker/using-mendeley-for-research-management/25627

This article introduces a research management tool, Mendeley.

Key features

• Organize - indexes and organizes your own document collections into a bibliography.
• Share - also works as a social network, stay up to date with what other people in your field are reading.
• Discover - "navigate the web of knowledge", discover the "most reads".

Notes for Week 4 Required Readings

Database
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Database

DBMSs: Data definition; Update; Retrieval; Administration.
            Maintaining stored data's integrity & security.

Database & DBMSs: database is not generally portable across different DBMSs;
                              different DBMSs can interoperate by using standards.

Database design
    Produce a conceptual data model (the structure of the information), by: develop an entity-relationship model; or Unified Modeling Language. Need good understanding of the application domain.
    Translate the model into a schema (logical database design). Normalization, help the database maintain consistency.
    Physical database design (data independence; security).

DBMSs' three views
    External level: user view (can be any number)
    Conceptual level: for developers and administrators
    Internal level: computer view (only one)

Data independence: changes made at a certain level do not affect higher level.

Database languages
    Data definition language: defines types and relationships;
    Data manipulation language: perform tasks;
    Query language: searching and computing info.

Complex mechanisms are needed.
    Storage (storing materialized views to save storage redundancy)
    Replication (increase data availability)
    Security
    Transactions & concurrency
    Migration (transform the database from one DBMS to another)
    Building, maintaining, and tuning
    Backup & restore

Entity relationship model in database
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Entity-relationship_model

Entity: thing (nouns)
Relationship: captures how entities are related to one another (verbs)

ER diagramming tools: MySQL Workbench, Open ModelSphere, etc.

Database normalization process
DatabaseNormalizationProcess.pdf

This tutorial is for beginners to get a general idea about the database normalization process.

Here are some info I got from this article.

Three normal forms
(1) First normal form: No repeating elements or groups of elements
      NF1: atomicity (get rid of repeating elements)
               uniqueness
   
(2) Second normal form: No partial dependencies on a concatenated key
      test each table for partial dependencies on a concatenated key
      (columns cannot only depends upon one part of the concatenated key)
      
(3) Third normal form: No dependencies on non-key attributes.

    However, after reading this, I still did not know how to deal with the database normalization process specifically, maybe I can understand this better with the pictures and diagrams that missed in this tutorial or by doing some practical exercise.                           

Muddiest Point for Week 2

1. The "YouTube and libraries" article says “Be very careful about what you upload onto YouTube.” This implies YouTube’s copyright regulations. However, what is the specific ways for them to identify whether the video is original or it is violated the copyright? In other words, how to ensure the copyright if a library upload a video about the information resources they have?

2. A question about the blogger.
Why there is a white background under some of the sentences I posted? Maybe there was something wrong when I pasted my notes from my Word document? Or maybe I should just text on the blog directly next time?

Notes for Week 3 Required Readings

The following two reading materials gives me a general idea about data compression and helps me understand some basic features about compression and ways to approach it.

Data Compression.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Data_compression

Data compression basics

http://dvd-hq.info/data_compression_1.php

• Compare Lossless & Lossy

Lossless compression	identifying and eliminating statistical redundancy	No information lost	Reversible
Lossy compression	identifying unnecessary information and removing it	Information lost is acceptable	Non-reversible (not sure)

• Why data needs to be compressed?

Help reduce resource usage → data storage space; transmission capacity

• Factors need to be considered when design a data compressing scheme:

The degree of compression;

The amount of distortion introduced; 

The computational resources required to be compressed and uncompressed. 

• Uses

       [Audio]

       -Lossless: can decompress to an exact duplicate of the original one;

                 unable to attain high compression ratios

                 (complexity of waveforms & rapid changes in sound form);

--Combination: allows stripping the correction to easily obtain a lossy file

--Lossy: achieves far greater compression (discarding less-critical data);
             audio quality suffers when decompressed and recompressed
             (unsuitable for professional audio engineering applications but       
             popular with end users)

       [Video]
       -spatial image compression & temporal motion compensation;

--majority: use lossy compression

       [Image]
       -improves the compression ratios by: channel sorting; reducing number of colors.

       -quality: decrease

        The following reading materials gives me a practical example related to data compression, especially in image field.

Edward A. Galloway, “Imaging Pittsburgh: Creating a shared gateway to digital image collections of the Pittsburgh region” First Monday 9:5 2004 http://firstmonday.org/htbin/cgiwrap/bin/ojs/index.php/fm/article/view/1141/1061

        This article introduces a project (1 Nov. 2002 to 31 Oct. 2004) about create a gateway to visual image collections in the Pittsburgh region, including the grant partners, the image collections, the purpose, the progress, the challenges, the solutions, the outcomes and impacts.

        Among all the information of this "Imaging Pittsburgh" project, the challenges they've encountered and the solutions they've came up with are parts that interests me most.

• Communication challenges & solutions

   Challenges:

    -A lack of dialogue outside the meetings;

    -Little or no communication on the listserv and the projects Web site;

    -Different missions and institutional cultures among partners.

   Solutions:

    -Project e-mail distribution list;

    -A web site for posting documentation;

    -Monthly meetings;

    -Build a common dialogue for discussing critical elements of the project.

•  Selection challenges & solutions

    Challenges:

    -Scanning capabilities such as size, format condition, etc.

    -Ensure the collection as a whole is balanced;

    -Split collections

         Solutions:

              -The use of subject headings;

              -Curators from both institutions select images and make decisions 
             --together.

• Metadata challenges

   Challenges:

    -Wide metadata needs VS. Local needs;

    -Choosing controlled vocabulary;

    -The use of dates.

   Solutions:

    -Set eight Dublin Core elements, while each institution can include     
    -additional fields;

    -Use controlled vocabulary terms from LCSH when cataloging images;

    -Create two date fields, one for computer sorting, one for users.

• Workflow challenges

   Challenges:

    -Creating a workflow to get the images through numerous processing 
    -steps;

    -Image quality;

    -The creation and use of identical software applications or field 
    -structure due to the unique set of partners.

   Solutions:

    -Share different workflows and ideas, reconsider and incorporate new 
     ones;

    -A minimum for DRL, a higher quality for other purposes (depends on 
     the institution itself);

    -Insisted that the appropriate and necessary metadata fields be able 
    -to be exported.

• Web site development challenges

   Challenges:

    -Develop consistent copyright and permission statements;

    -Best way to communicate with users;

    -Emphasizing access to the collection as a whole, while also 
     maintaining the individual identity of each collection;

    -The limitations of the DLXS Image-Class middleware and internal 
    -resources

   Solutions:

    -Two-fold strategy → developed a generic copyright; each individual 
    -image’s metadata contains a copyright field;

    -Develop a sophisticated e-mail system, while continue to using the 
     current e-mail distribution list;

    -Plan on conduction an online survey, and create OAI records.

•  Avenues for exploring

    Challenges:

          -Develop creative ways to help users explore the collections.

    Solutions:

    -Cataloging the images (via time, place, and theme);

    -Clickable city map.

        The following article provides an eye-opened way for libraries to share their resources and services, especially libraries’ instruction and training.

Paula L. Webb, YouTube and libraries: It could be a beautiful relationship C&RL News, June 2007 Vol. 68, No. 6

http://crln.acrl.org/content/68/6/354.full.pdf

• Advantages:

--      The most popular internet television or video distribution site;

--      Easy to get started;

--      Provide easy access to guides anywhere;

--      Notifications & RSS;

--      Good for visual learners.

• One question:

        The article says “Be very careful about what you upload onto YouTube.” This implies YouTube’s copyright regulations. However, what is the specific ways for them to identify whether the video is original or it is violated the copyright? In other words, how to ensure the copyright if a library upload a video about the information resources they have?

Notes for Week 2 Required Readings

A Few Thoughts on the Google Books Library Project

http://www.educause.edu/ero/article/few-thoughts-google-books-library-project

The author’s opinion is that accessible digital formats is the only way to guarantee knowledge’s survival. To support his point, he shows evidence of the increasing use of digital sources, and gives us some examples about how Google succeed in digitizing information and knowledge to make it widely available.

As a future librarian, this article makes me reconsidered the importance of using effective technology to make information easily accessible to a library. Though there are always exists many problems for the libraries to conquer when introducing new technology into libraries. At the same time, it also makes me thought about libraries’ attitude towards private companies such as Google. I always see these companies as a competitor to libraries, especially in the information age. However, after reading this article, I started to think that maybe we should try to seek opportunities to cooperate with them, and make benefits for both of us from the cooperation. Actually, the next article gives me a very specific example about the problems when introducing new technologies, and the third article provides some successful cases about libraries’ cooperate with private companies.

Vaughan, J. (2005). Lied Library @ four years: technology never stands still. Library Hi Tech, 23(1), 34-49.

This article gives us a very specific case about how Lied Library brought new technology into their system, what problems and challenges they have met, and how they conquered those problems and even turned those challenges into opportunities.

There is one thing for sure for libraries in this fast-changing world: that is we must embrace all the changes and actively introducing new technologies into our libraries. However, there is never a easy way for us to make such adjustments. When bringing a new technology into the library, there are usually three major processes, early period of preparation, interim period of implementation, and after period of maintenance and upgrade. There are some common problems and challenges for all the three processes: money problems, human resources problems, legal issues, etc. When facing these problems, except the approaches this article has mentioned, I believe that the key to success is all different for each of the libraries. A better understanding of the libraries’ own situation is always what we should do before killing ourselves to think about the best solutions. Another tip would be, never limit your thoughts. Cooperate with private companies would be a really good example for breaking the “rules”, and European libraries have some great experiences for us to learn.

Doreen Carvajal. European libraries face problems in digitalizing. New York Times. October 28, 2007

http://www.nytimes.com/2007/10/28/technology/28iht-LIBRARY29.1.8079170.html

This article provides us some great examples about libraries seeking different funding models, especially cooperate with private alliances.

These successful examples inspires me that maybe it's time for libraries to break patterns, and make a move. For instance, when talk about our relationship with privacy companies, such as Google, Amazon, and some publishers, I think just like the Bibliothèque Nationale de France's new president, Bruno Racine said, "We are not at war, so to speak." May those privacy companies are still our competitors, it doesn't mean that we can not work as alliances. But still, we need a healthy market mechanism and necessary legal and technology measures to guarantee that.