libraria miscellanea

I am really glad I'm a week behind on blogging for class, actually. I read Gradmann's blog about our class blogs, and realized I had better do some more research to find out about these terms: FRBR, ontologies, semantic web, and the like. So in total, I actually read about 10 articles or websites to find enough info to read these! Metadata, the word and concept, was introduced to me in LIS 5033 with Drs. Martens and Kim, and I just found it hilariously nerdy (think Weird Al's White and Nerdy ). "Data about data," I believe was the definition given. Of course, after researching for 1.5 semesters, and especially after reading these articles by Gradmann and Mohamad, I understand and appreciate the importance of the study of data about data. What I found fascinating in Mohamad's report in the impact of metadata in web resources discovering is that with many search engines, tagging metadata doesn't make a big difference without knowing the algorithm that sear...

Bertot, Jaeger, Langa and McClure wrote this article about public access and internet in libraries, and how the federal government has "drafted" libraries to help the people without any compensation; monetary or otherwise. So essentially, libraries are getting dumped on by Big Brother and Uncle Sam, and especially so in times of crisis and natural disaster. Why? The geniuses at FEMA and DHS and all those other government agencies helping poor people have slowly been making their forms and information solely available online. Because people who can't afford to feed themselves probably have access to a computer. It just makes sense, right? WRONG. So, instead of creating offices to help these people use the computers to find the information, they direct the people to the nation's libraries. They are giving people references to the library but not giving libraries extra money, funding, or anything of the sort to help them out. They have shifted the burden of aiding the ...

Firstly, I should go ahead and say that I have held some unsavory ideas about gaming; whether it be internet or through a gaming station which is viewed on the television screen. I had an ex-husband who never wanted to be around people or do anything in his free time except to play video games, or "escape" into television or movies. I have also had other friends and those close to me become so involved in the "gaming" world that they neglected reality. As an educated, somewhat-intelligent person, I realize this is a huge bias, and I have worked really hard trying to overcome it, especially since I began my career in a world that needs to embrace technology, without bias. I also have a very good friend whose boyfriend is an avid gamer, and occasionally they try to convince me to play with them... I really did enjoy reading both of these articles, by Gee and Hinton. Both agree that gaming is more than just "fun" or "kids' stuff" and is successf...

Wikis have been sort of a mystery to me. I understand why the exist, that they allow users all the power for editing, contributing, etc. and that Wikipedia has caused a lot of controversy since its' beginning. I've used wikipedia when I couldn't find the answer in a more traditional resource, but if any other fact-checked resource is available, I use that first. I asked a professor friend of mine about wikipedia once, and she said she allows her undergraduates to use it, but not her graduate students. What? Huh? Why have different standards for students? Are undergraduates expected to be less intelligent automatically? Or is it that they aren't resourceful enough? Or possibly that they don't really care enough about the subject to be taken seriously? Hmm... Tom Cross' article "Puppy Smoothies: Improving the Reliability of Open, Collaborative Wikis" is totally fabulous. Not only does it have a catchy title, but it presents a great idea that ...

Last semester in 5033, part of our final essay assignment was to agree or disagree with Vaidhyanathan's excerpt we were given from his article "The Perfect Library" (which I totally screwed up, but really enjoyed, btw!). After reading the entire article for Dr. Martens' class this semester, it takes on a whole new meaning; which is that the flow of information is spurred on my libraries because they represent Enlightenment, and that corporations and others in power, albeit theocracies or monarchies, withold information to gain money and power. I wholeheartedly agree with these ideas. To paraphrase a quote from this article, a city that cares enough to establish and maintain libraries is a city that cares about enlightenment and public knowledge. Horray! Another topic Vaidhyanathan writes about which has bearing on intellectual freedom and flow of information is the 9/11 inspired USA Patriot Act. I have discussed the ramifications of the USA Patriot act with people ...