Muddiest Point from unit 10

I have no muddiest point from this class.  Thanks! :)

Unit 10 comments

Hey everyone! Here are my comments for Unit 10 reading notes. So sorry these are late.  Some technical issues and in general, it's been quite busy these past couple of weeks.

http://jonas4444.blogspot.com/2010/11/reading-notes-for-week-10.html?showComment=1289792956578#c2196987042073591168

http://lostscribe459.blogspot.com/2010/11/week-10-reading-assignments.html?showComment=1289793743089#c1146617277643882396

:) Rachel

Muddiest Point from 11/8

I really have no muddiest point from 11/8...I'm a little apprehensive about the website project, assignment 6, but the information presented over the past couple of weeks has made this task seem less intimidating.

Unit 10 Reading Notes

Digital Libraries: Challenges and Influential Work

• We live in a world in which the searching and dissemination of information is quite complex, and constantly evolving.
• Information is constantly available and a wide range of users are able to access information because of the availability of the Web. 
• For quite some time now, the goal has been to organize all of these digital collections and all of this information into some semblance of order, so as to create useful, user-centered digital libraries. 
• Having such a massive amount of information available for use can be very beneficial for people, but this is only possible if said information is organized efficiently and with a clear focus in mind. Hence, the federated search concept.
• I found this article quite useful. It's always extremely helpful and important to understand the background/history of information structures such as digital libraries. Having this kind of knowledge contextualizes current digital library efforts, and provides really helpful information that can lead to greater understanding.

Dewey Meets Turing

• The 1994 NSF launching of its Digital Library Initiatives (DLI) put three main groups at the forefront of the effort:  librarians, computer scientists, and publishers. This effectively changed the face of information organization and retrieval.
• This effort quickly spread to other interest groups as well...the impact of this movement is still seen today, and will likely resonate with the constant evolution of information organization and retrieval. The impact of the DLI has really changed the accessibility of information in our society.
• Essential point: computing has truly changed the library and information sharing world. There was (and still is) a universal understanding within the library community that information technology will continue to advance the spread of information in sophisticated ways. 
• The explosion of the World Wide Web threw an interesting twist into this already complex relationship among the library and computer world. Information access was effectively changed forever.
• Throughout this article, the parallels with everyday life (i.e. advent of the Web compared to an unruly teenager) make the information easy to contextualize and understand. I appreciate these kinds of parallels in scholarly articles!
• While information access has been changed completely in many ways, the core goals and structure of the library world remain the same.
• The success of the DLI and related efforts have not broken the purpose and function of libraries. Rather, they have strengthened the goal of providing information access world-wide through increased techology-based collaboration.

Association of Research Libraries

• This article goes into detail regarding the technological surge and its ability to allow universities to develop strong, well-organized institutional repositories.
• In essence, the digital revolution has given universities the opportunity to assume a much more active role in information development and sharing. Instead of relying solely on publishers and accepting a more passive role in the process, universities are taking on a much more inolved role.
• Cost, of course, plays a major role in this profound shift.  The significantly decreased cost of online storage causes a great change, thus allowing a larger number of patrons to access storage and digital infomration in general.
• One key point: the difference between scholarly publishing and less formal practices.
• Many positive results for the Information world can result from digital advances.  One major point: Institutional Repositories can utilize digital technologies to effectively increase the dissemination of quality information among all people.

Assignment 5: Virtual Shelf

Below is the link to my virtual shelf:

http://upitt01-staff.kwc.kohalibrary.com/cgi-bin/koha/virtualshelves/shelves.pl?viewshelf=119

My user name is RCN8. 
Virtual Bookshelf name: LIS2600, R. Nard: Yoga

Thanks! :)

Comments for Unit 9

Here are my comments on classmates' blogs for Unit 9:

http://dougappich-informationtechnology.blogspot.com/2010/11/notes-for-116.html?showComment=1289137188392#c108806025787563713

http://nrampsblog.blogspot.com/2010/11/unit-9-reading-notes.html?showComment=1289137659053#c145047570782686003

Unit 9, Reading Notes

Hello, All!

Here are some thoughts on the readings for Unit 9:

I really enjoyed reading about XML.  While my knowledge of HTML was very limited prior to the lesson covering this particular topic, I had  no background knowledge of XML.  I had heard the term before during technical discussions, but I didn't really have any kind of concrete understanding.  So, it was very good practice to learn more about this particular subject.  The document Introduction to XML Schema was really interative and put to practice all of the technical aspects learned about in previous articles.

In "Extending Your Markeup," I was able to gain a better understanding of how XML actually works, and the benefits of using this in place of HTML, which seems to be not quite so user-friendly and interactive compared to the benefits of XML.  I really appreciate the way in which alll of the tutorials and articles were written in plain, easy-to-understand langauge that really breaks this kind of topic (which can be intimidating!)  down into comprehensive segments of information.  I can definitely see the tutorials coming in handy for future reference and work in the library setting.

Thanks!
Rachel N