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Friday, November 21, 2008
Week 13 Legal Rights and Future of Digital Libraries
This week we should be able to walk away with an understanding of copyright and copyright protection, identify how digital libraries may violate copyright laws, and privacy issues.
I focused on the following readings:
1. Joseph E. Stiglitz, “Intellectual-property rights and wrongs”, Daily Times, Aug19, 2005.
2. Clifford Lynch, “Where Do We Go From Here? The Next Decade for Digital Libraries”, D-Lib Magazine, Volume 11 Number 7/8 July/August 2005
3. Knowledge lost in Information. Report of the NSF Workshop on Research directions for digital libraries
I am going to start with the Report on the NSF Workshop on Research. Basically, this report covers, in written form, everything of importance that went on during the workshop. As the report states, “this report details the nature of the federal investment required to sustain the pace of progress” in terms of research and investment in digital libraries. The sections of the report include things such as transforming the information landscape, the framework for digital library research, the future of research, emerging research opportunities and knowledge at hand, among other things. The report also includes charts and graphs. It also has helpful boxes of information as well as a list of acronyms used and their meanings.
Overall, this report was clear, concise and informative. It was written in a very clear writing style that made the somewhat overwhelming amount of information easy to understand. I especially found the ‘Knowledge at Hand’ section interesting. It is amazing how much digital libraries and the research pertaining to them have transformed over the last ten years.
Next up is, “Where do we go from Here? The Next Decade for Digital Libraries” by Clifford Lynch. The aim of this article is to discuss the history and past of digital libraries as well as bring an understanding of what is to come in the future. The article covers how the history of digital libraries can be traced back to as early as the 1960s, something people rarely realize. Lynch also discusses the period o f 1994-2004, and how this was the first real time for digital library research. This article actually really finds a theme in collaboration with the NSF Workshop report, as it makes many mentions of the NSF and their help towards digital library research.
The article also talks about the huge impact digital preservations will have in the future, it will be a very hot topic. The author asserts that in his opinion, in the future digital preservation has the potential to be hugely commercialized. Lynch also points out the areas of research he asserts need to be further expanded.
This article provided some very interesting information about the history of digital libraries and how they have progressed. I also found all the information about research possibilities interesting. I also enjoyed how the author infused his own thoughts and opinions into the article, giving a clear idea as to where he thinks digital libraries are going.
The final article I examined, “Intellectual-property rights and wrongs”, by Joseph E. Stiglitz is a brief article discussing intellectual property protection. This article was a brief deviation from the previous two readings as its focus was much more intellectual protection. Stiglitz goal is explain the issues related to intellectual property rights, including monopolies, patents, and issues related to that. He also discusses how WIPO was considering a development oriented intellectual property regime.
I found this article to be very interesting; I never before had considered the issues related to intellectual property rights. The author’s writing style was both informative and interesting.
Friday, November 14, 2008
another muddiest point
In agreement with others, I think it would be great to have a portion of class as a lab using greenstone and its interface.
Muddiest Point
I am confused about the idea of robustness in terms of digital library interface design principles. It is just the "support from recovery of errors"?
Week 12: Security and Economics
This week I focused on the following readings:
William Arms, “Implementing Policies for Access Management”, D-Lib Magazine,1998.
ARMS, chapter 7
ARMS, chapter 6
The focus of this week is issues with access management, economic implications and access vs. ownership.
First I am going to address my thoughts on William Arms, "Implementing Policies for Access Management"
The goal of this reading was to address the problems with managing access to online information, a problem that affects many different applications. The paper then runs through a conceptual model and its implementation. Including a pilot project being run, using the model, the Library of Congress's National Digital Library Program.
I think that this paper did an excellent job of describing the model, its implementation and all of the fine details including the issues with user interface, etc. It was really an added benefit that the paper included actual illustrations and charts, it made the concept of the model much easier to wrap my head around.
I think this reading explained a lot in terms of the importance of establishing a successful program or way to manage information access.
Next, I examined Chapters 6 and 7 from the 1999 manuscript of Digital Libraries, by William Arms, (c) 2000 M.I.T. Press
Chapter 6: Economic and Legal Issues
Basically this chapter is addressing how with the rapid pace of change happening with digital libraries, legal and economic changes need to occur just as quickly. Everything needs to adapt at an equal pace. Arms points out that there is a need for "social customs for using information that are widely understood and generally followed." Arms then goes on to explain open access with information and open access with digital libraries, and economic considerations among other things. He also examines a case study about electronic journals which is a pioneer at retaining revenue from libraries and users.
Arms whole point of this chapter is to discuss some of the legal and economic ramifications when it comes to digital libraries and information. I think this article worked well in attempting to explain some of the the issues involved. I especially found the case study of electronic journals both relevant and informative to my work as a library student as well specifically a student building a digital library.
Chapter 7: Access management and security
This chapter examines the methods for controlling who has access to materials in digital libraries, and techniques of security in networked computing. This chapter also ties in with economic issues discussed. This chapter also examines topics such as security of digital libraries and also describes at length encryption. Once again, I really enjoyed Arms writing style. He consistently clearly explains detailed issues without intimidating the reader.
I really enjoyed the readings this week. I thought it was interesting to read about economic, legal, security and access issues. I really cannot say enough how refreshing it is to read Williams Arms writings. He has the rare ability of bringing complex information to a level that a person unexperienced in the field can still read and understand.
The focus of this week is issues with access management, economic implications and access vs. ownership.
First I am going to address my thoughts on William Arms, "Implementing Policies for Access Management"
The goal of this reading was to address the problems with managing access to online information, a problem that affects many different applications. The paper then runs through a conceptual model and its implementation. Including a pilot project being run, using the model, the Library of Congress's National Digital Library Program.
I think that this paper did an excellent job of describing the model, its implementation and all of the fine details including the issues with user interface, etc. It was really an added benefit that the paper included actual illustrations and charts, it made the concept of the model much easier to wrap my head around.
I think this reading explained a lot in terms of the importance of establishing a successful program or way to manage information access.
Next, I examined Chapters 6 and 7 from the 1999 manuscript of Digital Libraries, by William Arms, (c) 2000 M.I.T. Press
Chapter 6: Economic and Legal Issues
Basically this chapter is addressing how with the rapid pace of change happening with digital libraries, legal and economic changes need to occur just as quickly. Everything needs to adapt at an equal pace. Arms points out that there is a need for "social customs for using information that are widely understood and generally followed." Arms then goes on to explain open access with information and open access with digital libraries, and economic considerations among other things. He also examines a case study about electronic journals which is a pioneer at retaining revenue from libraries and users.
Arms whole point of this chapter is to discuss some of the legal and economic ramifications when it comes to digital libraries and information. I think this article worked well in attempting to explain some of the the issues involved. I especially found the case study of electronic journals both relevant and informative to my work as a library student as well specifically a student building a digital library.
Chapter 7: Access management and security
This chapter examines the methods for controlling who has access to materials in digital libraries, and techniques of security in networked computing. This chapter also ties in with economic issues discussed. This chapter also examines topics such as security of digital libraries and also describes at length encryption. Once again, I really enjoyed Arms writing style. He consistently clearly explains detailed issues without intimidating the reader.
I really enjoyed the readings this week. I thought it was interesting to read about economic, legal, security and access issues. I really cannot say enough how refreshing it is to read Williams Arms writings. He has the rare ability of bringing complex information to a level that a person unexperienced in the field can still read and understand.
Friday, November 7, 2008
Week Eleven Readings: Social Issues
This week's readings are: Social Aspects of Digital Libraries. The final report of UCLA-NSF Social Aspects of Digital Libraries Workshop
The Infinite Library, Wade Roush, Technology Review, 2005.
William Y. Arms, “A Viewpoint Analysis of the Digital Library”, D-Lib Magazine, Volume 11 Number 7/8, July/August 2005.
The first article I examined was The Infinite Library by Wade Roush. This article, written in 2005, begins by talking about the Google book digitization project and goes on to basically cover the discussion and debate that has gone in the library world on over the past few years. Is Google's project a good idea or a bad one?
Overall, I found this article to be very engaging. It explained concisely and clearly the possible ramifications of the digitization of materials and the different aspects of information access.
This article did lend me some insight into each side of the Google Book Project issue. Previously, I had been leaning towards not being very pro-Google because I do not like the idea of one corporation having control of all that information. Especially when looking at situations like Corbis. I think this article presented each side without favor, however, the information provided led me to believe that maybe Google's intentions are not that bad. On another note, this article also opened my eyes to the thought that without metadata or the proper metadata, a digitized item could be lost or useless.
The next article I examined was A Viewpoint Analysis of the Digital Library by William Y. Arms. Once again, Arms does an excellent job of clearly explaining his subject. His articles are always informative and detailed without being dry. Arms covers the three viewpoints of organizational, technical and user.
I like that Arms calls for a new thought process on evaluation. I also like that he brings a focus to the user viewpoint, something I can really relate to. I really think that progress does need to be made in digital libraries from a user viewpoint. Things need to be found and found easily, the interface should be consistent and clear, otherwise user's will be uninterested.
Lastly, Social Aspects of Digital Libraries, a report based on workshops that focused on the need for more research on the social aspects of libraries. The article started with a description of the two agreed upon definitions of digital libraries. It also discusses research framework, cycle models and research issues among other things. The group identified two problems that they found to be urgent 1". indentifying real information needs and developing digital libraries to meet those needs and 2. designing digital libraries in which it is possible to find the right information in a glut of information."
Overall, what I took from this article was an appreciation that their are people in the information science and librarianship world (among other disciplines) who are far smarter then me, brainstorming and working on the issues.
Overall, all three of these readings expressed to me that in the future, both digital libraries and physical libraries will really need to meld technology with what the user needs and wants. The user viewpoint, is quite possibly be, the most important aspect for the future.
The Infinite Library, Wade Roush, Technology Review, 2005.
William Y. Arms, “A Viewpoint Analysis of the Digital Library”, D-Lib Magazine, Volume 11 Number 7/8, July/August 2005.
The first article I examined was The Infinite Library by Wade Roush. This article, written in 2005, begins by talking about the Google book digitization project and goes on to basically cover the discussion and debate that has gone in the library world on over the past few years. Is Google's project a good idea or a bad one?
Overall, I found this article to be very engaging. It explained concisely and clearly the possible ramifications of the digitization of materials and the different aspects of information access.
This article did lend me some insight into each side of the Google Book Project issue. Previously, I had been leaning towards not being very pro-Google because I do not like the idea of one corporation having control of all that information. Especially when looking at situations like Corbis. I think this article presented each side without favor, however, the information provided led me to believe that maybe Google's intentions are not that bad. On another note, this article also opened my eyes to the thought that without metadata or the proper metadata, a digitized item could be lost or useless.
The next article I examined was A Viewpoint Analysis of the Digital Library by William Y. Arms. Once again, Arms does an excellent job of clearly explaining his subject. His articles are always informative and detailed without being dry. Arms covers the three viewpoints of organizational, technical and user.
I like that Arms calls for a new thought process on evaluation. I also like that he brings a focus to the user viewpoint, something I can really relate to. I really think that progress does need to be made in digital libraries from a user viewpoint. Things need to be found and found easily, the interface should be consistent and clear, otherwise user's will be uninterested.
Lastly, Social Aspects of Digital Libraries, a report based on workshops that focused on the need for more research on the social aspects of libraries. The article started with a description of the two agreed upon definitions of digital libraries. It also discusses research framework, cycle models and research issues among other things. The group identified two problems that they found to be urgent 1". indentifying real information needs and developing digital libraries to meet those needs and 2. designing digital libraries in which it is possible to find the right information in a glut of information."
Overall, what I took from this article was an appreciation that their are people in the information science and librarianship world (among other disciplines) who are far smarter then me, brainstorming and working on the issues.
Overall, all three of these readings expressed to me that in the future, both digital libraries and physical libraries will really need to meld technology with what the user needs and wants. The user viewpoint, is quite possibly be, the most important aspect for the future.
Friday, October 31, 2008
Week Ten Readings...
This week I examined the following three readings: Chapter 8 from Digital Libraries, by William Arms, (c) 2000 M.I.T. Press. Rob Kling and Margaret Elliott "Digital Library Design for Usability" and Tefko Saracevic, “Evaluation of digital libraries:An overview".
This week's focus is on interaction and evaluation of Digital Libraries. First up, William Arms Chapter 8: User interfaces and usability. This chapter discusses computer system's usability in terms of interface, components and design. Arms points out that all components of computer systems should effectively run together so that a user can properly search and use a digital library. The article also discusses the conceptual model of interface design, browsers and mobile code as well as functional design of interfaces. Interface is discussed at length.
Prior to reading this chapter, I never realized the importance of interface design or that it can be viewed as an art. As a user, I think that interfaces can be taken for granted. Users may not always realize how revolutionary interfaces are and how much they have changed the way we use and view digital libraries.
Next up, Rob Kling and Margaret Elliott "Digital Library Design for Usability". This paper discusses two forms of Digital Libraries usability. The two forms are, interface usability and organizational usability. Kling and Elliot state, " Organizational usability refers to the ways that computer systems can be effectively integrated into work practices of specific organizations." Five models of computer system design are examined: the traditional functional life-cycle model, the user interface model, and the usability engineering model, medical Informatics Model,and highly Automated Model of DL Design as well as the Organizationally Sensitive Model of "Design for Usability".
I found this article to be informative, clear and concise. The authors did a really great job of explaining their ideas for organizational usability as well as describing the typical models of computer systems. I also found their suggestions to be thoughtful and intelligent, I agree that now is a great time for the Digital Library community to "appreciate the importance of "design for organizational usability" to develop significantly more effective systems."
Now for my notes on Tefko Saracevic's , “Evaluation of digital libraries:An overview".
This report is a data filled evaluation on works of digital libraries. The introduction discusses the explosive growth of digital libraries in the last decade except in the area of evaluation. This reading basically breaks down corpus, approach, construct, context, criteria, methodology of dl lit. I really enjoyed this article, I think it is a very helpful breaking down and explaining evaluation of digital libraries.
This week's focus is on interaction and evaluation of Digital Libraries. First up, William Arms Chapter 8: User interfaces and usability. This chapter discusses computer system's usability in terms of interface, components and design. Arms points out that all components of computer systems should effectively run together so that a user can properly search and use a digital library. The article also discusses the conceptual model of interface design, browsers and mobile code as well as functional design of interfaces. Interface is discussed at length.
Prior to reading this chapter, I never realized the importance of interface design or that it can be viewed as an art. As a user, I think that interfaces can be taken for granted. Users may not always realize how revolutionary interfaces are and how much they have changed the way we use and view digital libraries.
Next up, Rob Kling and Margaret Elliott "Digital Library Design for Usability". This paper discusses two forms of Digital Libraries usability. The two forms are, interface usability and organizational usability. Kling and Elliot state, " Organizational usability refers to the ways that computer systems can be effectively integrated into work practices of specific organizations." Five models of computer system design are examined: the traditional functional life-cycle model, the user interface model, and the usability engineering model, medical Informatics Model,and highly Automated Model of DL Design as well as the Organizationally Sensitive Model of "Design for Usability".
I found this article to be informative, clear and concise. The authors did a really great job of explaining their ideas for organizational usability as well as describing the typical models of computer systems. I also found their suggestions to be thoughtful and intelligent, I agree that now is a great time for the Digital Library community to "appreciate the importance of "design for organizational usability" to develop significantly more effective systems."
Now for my notes on Tefko Saracevic's , “Evaluation of digital libraries:An overview".
This report is a data filled evaluation on works of digital libraries. The introduction discusses the explosive growth of digital libraries in the last decade except in the area of evaluation. This reading basically breaks down corpus, approach, construct, context, criteria, methodology of dl lit. I really enjoyed this article, I think it is a very helpful breaking down and explaining evaluation of digital libraries.
Friday, October 24, 2008
Friday, October 17, 2008
Muddiest PointS
This week, I have a few....
Just to double check:
As stated in the syllabus...
1. Our exam is Monday, November 3?
2. We are not having class on Monday, October 27?
Concerning lectures
I do not understand vector space models, probabilistic models, statistical language models, i am just really confused about that.
Just to double check:
As stated in the syllabus...
1. Our exam is Monday, November 3?
2. We are not having class on Monday, October 27?
Concerning lectures
I do not understand vector space models, probabilistic models, statistical language models, i am just really confused about that.
Week 8 Readings---Retrieving Information.
This week I am commenting on Todd Miller's Federated Searching: Put It in Its Place, Webfest's The Truth About Federated Searching and Norbert Lossau's “Search Engine Technology and Digital Libraries: Libraries Need to Discover the Academic Internet”.
Federated Searching: Put It in Its Place
"Knowledge is power. This is true not only for the library patron but for the library as well. The more that libraries enable and fully engage their information, the more central they become in the lives of their constituency."
~As someone who sees myself more from a library user's perspective, I found myself agreeing tremendously with Todd Miller. I think he makes several good points, i.e. the need for a relationship between the library catalog and federated searching, the tendency for users to want to find answers and not particularly enjoying the search process, how maybe the model Google uses is not that bad of an idea. I found Todd Miller's article to concisely bring up good points and clearly state his opinion.
I also liked that he brings up the point that although something may be the best for the users, doesn't necessarily mean the users will use it and if the users do not use, well, it useless, right? When it comes to libraries and providing access to users, I think that this should always be taken into consideration, not only what is best for the user but what will be used best by users. We need to not only bring the information to the user but also bring the user to the information, in a way that is easy for them to understand and follow themselves.
The Truth about Federated Searching
On the flip side, this article is a compilation of the top five misconceptions about federated searching. Basically, the want those interested in federated searching that: "not all federated search engines can search all databases", that de-duplication is not possible, that a relevant relevancy ranking is impossible, that it better to use federated searching as a service, not a software and that you cannot receive better result using a federated search engine then a native database search.
I thought this article brought up valid points for an argument against using federated searching in database searching. However, I do not know if I agree but I don't know if I actually know enough to agree or disagree. Honestly, I don't understand why authentication is such a problem, why is it so difficult to manage for subscription databases? Everything I have heard about database subscriptions throughout library school has left be baffled. From the sound of things ( and I fully admit here, I could and probably completely wrong) database and e-journal subscriptions kinda suck, or at least, the vendors kinda suck. Why don't they provide better service? Also, can't something be created that actually enhances the search functions of a native database search through a federated search? Is it impossible, or technologically are we not there yet?
Search Engine Technology and Digital Libraries
This article brought up several good points about the need for the library community to provide quality search services to its users and the challenges libraries face. Personally, I agreed mostly with the fact brought up in the article that libraries need to view themselves more as an information gateway then just a depository of books. However, I do think that there is a push for this currently happening in academic libraries. I also thought this article brought up a great point when it mentioned that "future search services should be based on a collaboratively constructed, major shared data resource, but must come with a whole range of customizable search and browsing interfaces that can be seamlessly integrated into any local information portal, subject specific gateway or personal research and learning environment".
Overall, this article provide clear advocacy for reliable and easy search services as well as providing plenty of information about what exactly the needs are as well as what libraries can do about them.
Federated Searching: Put It in Its Place
"Knowledge is power. This is true not only for the library patron but for the library as well. The more that libraries enable and fully engage their information, the more central they become in the lives of their constituency."
~As someone who sees myself more from a library user's perspective, I found myself agreeing tremendously with Todd Miller. I think he makes several good points, i.e. the need for a relationship between the library catalog and federated searching, the tendency for users to want to find answers and not particularly enjoying the search process, how maybe the model Google uses is not that bad of an idea. I found Todd Miller's article to concisely bring up good points and clearly state his opinion.
I also liked that he brings up the point that although something may be the best for the users, doesn't necessarily mean the users will use it and if the users do not use, well, it useless, right? When it comes to libraries and providing access to users, I think that this should always be taken into consideration, not only what is best for the user but what will be used best by users. We need to not only bring the information to the user but also bring the user to the information, in a way that is easy for them to understand and follow themselves.
The Truth about Federated Searching
On the flip side, this article is a compilation of the top five misconceptions about federated searching. Basically, the want those interested in federated searching that: "not all federated search engines can search all databases", that de-duplication is not possible, that a relevant relevancy ranking is impossible, that it better to use federated searching as a service, not a software and that you cannot receive better result using a federated search engine then a native database search.
I thought this article brought up valid points for an argument against using federated searching in database searching. However, I do not know if I agree but I don't know if I actually know enough to agree or disagree. Honestly, I don't understand why authentication is such a problem, why is it so difficult to manage for subscription databases? Everything I have heard about database subscriptions throughout library school has left be baffled. From the sound of things ( and I fully admit here, I could and probably completely wrong) database and e-journal subscriptions kinda suck, or at least, the vendors kinda suck. Why don't they provide better service? Also, can't something be created that actually enhances the search functions of a native database search through a federated search? Is it impossible, or technologically are we not there yet?
Search Engine Technology and Digital Libraries
This article brought up several good points about the need for the library community to provide quality search services to its users and the challenges libraries face. Personally, I agreed mostly with the fact brought up in the article that libraries need to view themselves more as an information gateway then just a depository of books. However, I do think that there is a push for this currently happening in academic libraries. I also thought this article brought up a great point when it mentioned that "future search services should be based on a collaboratively constructed, major shared data resource, but must come with a whole range of customizable search and browsing interfaces that can be seamlessly integrated into any local information portal, subject specific gateway or personal research and learning environment".
Overall, this article provide clear advocacy for reliable and easy search services as well as providing plenty of information about what exactly the needs are as well as what libraries can do about them.
Friday, October 10, 2008
What to know about Web search engines....Week 7 Readings
This weeks readings are:
David Hawking , Web Search Engines: Part 1 and Part 2 IEEE Computer, June 2006.
M. Henzinger et al. challenges in Web Search Engines. ACM SIGIR 2002.
First up, David Hawking's Web Search Engines Part 1:
Crawling, what a name to describe a computer function! This reading is basically a clear and concise bare bones description of web search engines infrastructure and explains the process and function of 'crawling'. Honestly, it blows my mind that things that take mere milliseconds on the user end, is actually a fairly involved process that involves queues, fetching, sifting through URLs, organizing among other things. But really, these things happen so fast!
Besides being amazed at the speed of which these things happen, I was also wondering what exactly happened to make people (computer scientists?) think that the web could never be indexed to that of which, it is indexed, with much more information and at a far greater speed then probably ever imagined. I wonder, if I had to do with the fact that someone had the foresight to see that web search engines could and would be hugely profitable and thus, indexing would be possible? Also, this reading also struck me as making search engines sound much more capable then the actually are. Okay, not capable but maybe accurate? I guess, ideally web search engines always link to useful information but depending on the search engine, in my experience, it is not always the most useful information.
PART 2
Oh Indexing! What makes googling terms and phrases so much easier for us! This reading breaks down the processes behind search engines and explains the functions and algorithms that make searching for things on the Internet via search engines so easy and quick.
I found this reading very useful in the explanation of how things are indexed and how search results are generated.
I just wonder about the development of algorithms and functions that make searching and indexing even more accurate and useful. Have computer scientists and programmers done or is the technology constantly changing? Are their any standards involved? Are companies required to share new algorithms or process they come up with, or are the allowed to keep the technology to themselves?
Challenges in Web Search Engines~ Monika R. Henzinger, Rajeev Motwani and Craig Silverstein
This reading provide a much more in-depth discussion of the processes and issues involved with web search engines' information retrieval. The article covered issues such as spam, quality of content, web conventions, duplications , etc.
I found this article to be informative but my questions are more based around quality evaluation...commercial search engines use user-behavior data to evaluate ranking, thus (hopefully) providing more quality information. However, when reading this I wonder do commercial search engines really just use this to help users? My experiences with searching, left me wondering about this and how much true quality really counts to search engine companies.
Also, spam=so annoying.
Overall, each of these readings did a wonderful job of explaining processes, functions and algorithms associated with web search engines. I don't believe it is possible to read about everything that is involved with algorithms, quality of content, indexing and organizing and not be blown away.
David Hawking , Web Search Engines: Part 1 and Part 2 IEEE Computer, June 2006.
M. Henzinger et al. challenges in Web Search Engines. ACM SIGIR 2002.
First up, David Hawking's Web Search Engines Part 1:
Crawling, what a name to describe a computer function! This reading is basically a clear and concise bare bones description of web search engines infrastructure and explains the process and function of 'crawling'. Honestly, it blows my mind that things that take mere milliseconds on the user end, is actually a fairly involved process that involves queues, fetching, sifting through URLs, organizing among other things. But really, these things happen so fast!
Besides being amazed at the speed of which these things happen, I was also wondering what exactly happened to make people (computer scientists?) think that the web could never be indexed to that of which, it is indexed, with much more information and at a far greater speed then probably ever imagined. I wonder, if I had to do with the fact that someone had the foresight to see that web search engines could and would be hugely profitable and thus, indexing would be possible? Also, this reading also struck me as making search engines sound much more capable then the actually are. Okay, not capable but maybe accurate? I guess, ideally web search engines always link to useful information but depending on the search engine, in my experience, it is not always the most useful information.
PART 2
Oh Indexing! What makes googling terms and phrases so much easier for us! This reading breaks down the processes behind search engines and explains the functions and algorithms that make searching for things on the Internet via search engines so easy and quick.
I found this reading very useful in the explanation of how things are indexed and how search results are generated.
I just wonder about the development of algorithms and functions that make searching and indexing even more accurate and useful. Have computer scientists and programmers done or is the technology constantly changing? Are their any standards involved? Are companies required to share new algorithms or process they come up with, or are the allowed to keep the technology to themselves?
Challenges in Web Search Engines~ Monika R. Henzinger, Rajeev Motwani and Craig Silverstein
This reading provide a much more in-depth discussion of the processes and issues involved with web search engines' information retrieval. The article covered issues such as spam, quality of content, web conventions, duplications , etc.
I found this article to be informative but my questions are more based around quality evaluation...commercial search engines use user-behavior data to evaluate ranking, thus (hopefully) providing more quality information. However, when reading this I wonder do commercial search engines really just use this to help users? My experiences with searching, left me wondering about this and how much true quality really counts to search engine companies.
Also, spam=so annoying.
Overall, each of these readings did a wonderful job of explaining processes, functions and algorithms associated with web search engines. I don't believe it is possible to read about everything that is involved with algorithms, quality of content, indexing and organizing and not be blown away.
Muddiest Point
For personal reasons I missed class on Monday so this may have been covered but don't we have some sort of XML assignment due and why wasn't it posted in the assignment are of courseweb?
Tuesday, September 30, 2008
Sunday, September 28, 2008
Friday, September 26, 2008
Muddiest Point
Can meta data ever be categorized under more then one type? Can it be two types, three types? For example, is metadata ever considered both technical and descriptive metadata?
Week Five Readings~ XML to the max...
I found reading about XML to be both interesting and intense. Each reading and the tutorial covered aspects of XML, with points overlapping. I don't know how many times I have to read about XML, but I think it will always be a bit of daunting task for me!
Martin Bryan. Introducing the Extensible Markup Language (XML) This reading was a introduction to XML and aspects of XML. I think this article did a very good job of giving a basic and understandable definition, "XML is a subset of SGML and allows users to check validity of every element" and "XML provides a formal syntex for describing the relationship between entities, elements and attributes that make up an XML document".
Obviously, the reading goes into much further detail including talking about XML components, attributes, and how XML is used.
I found this article to be a great introduction into the world of XML, however, as I mentioned earlier XML is just a tough subject for me to get through, no matter how clearly it is written.
A few thoughts this reading raised for me were questions about how/why don't empty elements need an end tag? For the sake of consistency, shouldn't the standard be to include an end tag even if it is empty?
Uche Ogbuji. A survey of XML standards: Part 1.
This article was in-depth with extensive detail. It explains in great detail, the standards of XML. The reading covers XML 1.0, XML 1.1, catalogs, XML namespaces, XML base, XML inclusions, XML info set and etc.
The incredible about of information this article covered was a bit overwhelming. However, I did find it useful that the author made a point to explain the "flavors of standards". Again though, reading about XML standards is up there with reading about XML and it's functions for me, hard to get through and synthesize!
XML Schema Tutorial
I happen to really enjoy and learn a lot of tutorials. I think it is a great way to learn something new as well as having something to reference back to if you get stuck. Basically this tutorial is showing the user how to "read and create XML Schemas, why XML Schemas are more powerful than DTDs, and how to use the XML Schema language in your application"
I found this tutorial to be a very practical tool in showing me how to create XML schemas, something I only have a bit of experience with. Obviously, this tutorial is a valuable resource for an information science student.
Overall, each of these readings (and the tutorial) were very useful,although, I think that it is going to take me a few more reads to process all of the information and understand XML and have a working knowledge of it.
Obviously, the reading goes into much further detail including talking about XML components, attributes, and how XML is used.
I found this article to be a great introduction into the world of XML, however, as I mentioned earlier XML is just a tough subject for me to get through, no matter how clearly it is written.
A few thoughts this reading raised for me were questions about how/why don't empty elements need an end tag? For the sake of consistency, shouldn't the standard be to include an end tag even if it is empty?
Uche Ogbuji. A survey of XML standards: Part 1.
This article was in-depth with extensive detail. It explains in great detail, the standards of XML. The reading covers XML 1.0, XML 1.1, catalogs, XML namespaces, XML base, XML inclusions, XML info set and etc.
The incredible about of information this article covered was a bit overwhelming. However, I did find it useful that the author made a point to explain the "flavors of standards". Again though, reading about XML standards is up there with reading about XML and it's functions for me, hard to get through and synthesize!
XML Schema Tutorial
I happen to really enjoy and learn a lot of tutorials. I think it is a great way to learn something new as well as having something to reference back to if you get stuck. Basically this tutorial is showing the user how to "read and create XML Schemas, why XML Schemas are more powerful than DTDs, and how to use the XML Schema language in your application"
I found this tutorial to be a very practical tool in showing me how to create XML schemas, something I only have a bit of experience with. Obviously, this tutorial is a valuable resource for an information science student.
Overall, each of these readings (and the tutorial) were very useful,although, I think that it is going to take me a few more reads to process all of the information and understand XML and have a working knowledge of it.
Friday, September 19, 2008
Muddiest Point
I am still confused as which is the best to use and when and all the differences between them, JPEG, GIF, PNG, TIFF....
The Wonderful World of Metadata!!! Week 4 Readings
Metadata, everyone is talking about it! This week I decided to comment on Anne J. Gilliland. "Introduction to Metadata, pathways to Digital Information", Stuart L. Weibel, “Border Crossings: Reflections on a Decade of Metadata Consensus Building” and Witten 2.2.
Witten 2.2: Bibliographic Organization
This was a very straightforward account of bibliographic organization. The only comments/thoughts I have was for the necessity to change the organization steps from 3 (find, collocate, choice) to 5 (locate, identify, select, acquire, navigate). I understand the need to make things more clearly defined but sometimes more steps cause more confusion and is just a matter of semantics. The only other thing i have to say about this reading is that I'm not crazy about LCSH and kinda hate that they are what most people use/think of when it comes to subject headings. Also, is it really that difficult to define subjects?
Overall, I think this reading did a nice job of clearly defining all aspects of bibliographic organization as well as pointing out the benefit of digital libraries may hold over physical libraries due to their physical constraints.
Border Crossings by Stuart L. Weibel
After reading this and the Intro to Metadata reading, my head was filled with all the metadata talk I could take. My main thoughts about this reading are
My thoughts....
Witten 2.2: Bibliographic Organization
This was a very straightforward account of bibliographic organization. The only comments/thoughts I have was for the necessity to change the organization steps from 3 (find, collocate, choice) to 5 (locate, identify, select, acquire, navigate). I understand the need to make things more clearly defined but sometimes more steps cause more confusion and is just a matter of semantics. The only other thing i have to say about this reading is that I'm not crazy about LCSH and kinda hate that they are what most people use/think of when it comes to subject headings. Also, is it really that difficult to define subjects?
Overall, I think this reading did a nice job of clearly defining all aspects of bibliographic organization as well as pointing out the benefit of digital libraries may hold over physical libraries due to their physical constraints.
Border Crossings by Stuart L. Weibel
After reading this and the Intro to Metadata reading, my head was filled with all the metadata talk I could take. My main thoughts about this reading are
- The real impact of DCMI
- Why are people so reluctant/unqualified to create their own metadata (especially as they are the creators of the original work)
- Controlled vocabulary vs. uncontrolled vocabulary
- The effect of folksonomies on metadata......is it beneficial or a catastrophe?
- The absolute needs for standards when it comes a Metadata model that is both diverse and inclusive.
- Are standards even feasible? Why aren't people working on them?
My thoughts....
- Ambiguity of metadata---it means so many things to so many people, it seems that is nearly impossible to find consistency across disicplines/professions
- Automated metadata vs. human made metadata
- Which is better, cheaper, more consistent, more accurate?
- Again, no single metadata standard for describing all matierals
- Adding even more to the mix, user created metadata----good or bad?
- how bad will it be to manage quality control with user made metadata?
- Metadata categories...types, functions...a lot to know and remember!
Friday, September 12, 2008
Readings Week 3
Computer Typesetting
Document preperation- one of the most successful aspects of computing technology
Machine readable form-widespread and easy to reuse
-the advent of document preparation technology resulted in virtually no one uses typewriters anymore
Process of computer typesetting over years
---evolved from film strips to laser printers
The evolution of printing technology tied with development of software to format documents
Two models of printing software--some is the exact appearance of text, other is describes the doc in terms
Documents and material are now available in immense amounts online due to technology
Text Formats
Numerous types of text formats-characters, symbols, etc.
Also important, how each characters are handled
3 Standards of text formats-MARC,SGML,HTML
Ways of Searching
Linear search, inverted files, hash tables
Linear Searching
algorithm that searches a file from beginning to end looking for a string
Document Conversion
Two ways to convert old docs, scanning them in or keying them in
Scanning - Optical Character Regonition
Scanning cheaper option
OCR has become more and more reliable over the years
My Thoughts
This chapter has described in great detail the evolution and development of computer typesetting, text formatting and printing. Technology that was once unimaginable has created an industry where vast amounts of documents and information can be stored, searched and retrieved. It is overwhelming to think (and read!) about the amount of technology that has developed to achieve documents available in the digital form that are able to be printed, stored, searched for or are even just viewable! It is hard to think of a time when information was just not available from a desktop and this article has given me an appreciation of all the work that has gone on to create the way documents and information are available digitally.
Document preperation- one of the most successful aspects of computing technology
Machine readable form-widespread and easy to reuse
-the advent of document preparation technology resulted in virtually no one uses typewriters anymore
Process of computer typesetting over years
---evolved from film strips to laser printers
The evolution of printing technology tied with development of software to format documents
Two models of printing software--some is the exact appearance of text, other is describes the doc in terms
Documents and material are now available in immense amounts online due to technology
Text Formats
Numerous types of text formats-characters, symbols, etc.
Also important, how each characters are handled
3 Standards of text formats-MARC,SGML,HTML
Ways of Searching
Linear search, inverted files, hash tables
Linear Searching
algorithm that searches a file from beginning to end looking for a string
Document Conversion
Two ways to convert old docs, scanning them in or keying them in
Scanning - Optical Character Regonition
Scanning cheaper option
OCR has become more and more reliable over the years
My Thoughts
This chapter has described in great detail the evolution and development of computer typesetting, text formatting and printing. Technology that was once unimaginable has created an industry where vast amounts of documents and information can be stored, searched and retrieved. It is overwhelming to think (and read!) about the amount of technology that has developed to achieve documents available in the digital form that are able to be printed, stored, searched for or are even just viewable! It is hard to think of a time when information was just not available from a desktop and this article has given me an appreciation of all the work that has gone on to create the way documents and information are available digitally.
Muddiest Point
If we are having trouble finding a third team member, how exactly should we go about finding them? And are we to tell you in class on Monday or email you about our proposed group. Also, do we need to tell you what we plan on doing for the team project before we start working on it so we know that it is feasible?
Friday, August 29, 2008
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