My New Digital Frontier

Service in a Digital World

goff1237 — Thu, 04 Dec 2008 04:04:44 +0000

I recently revisited an article written in 1876 by Samuel S. Green that promoted personal service to patrons. While this perhaps was a new concept in 1876, today it is very much expected by the patrons. Many of Green’s ideas can be found in various ALA guidelines and standards. In the physical world, if patrons are frustrated by the service they receive, they will not return. The same is true for any digital environment. If it is difficult to use, or the information is hidden from view, people will most likely abandoned the site never to return.

In our digital collections, how do we provide service to our intended audience? Is it through web features that make it easy to navigate, or the links we provide? I would suggest that the ease of use is one way of providing personal service in a digital collection. I know I need to add these easy features like home buttons, to my digital collection. Please let me know your thoughts on giving personal service in a digital environment.

Future of Librarians

goff1237 — Sat, 29 Nov 2008 19:30:49 +0000

DegreeTutor has several interviews with prominent information professionals and I found one particuarly interesting. Laura Solomon is the Web Applications Supervisor from the Cleveland Public Library, and her interview echoed what many LIS grads are feeling. Technology, marketing, and utilizing Library 2.0 can serve patrons most effectively. Librarians must be willing to server their patrons/customers by any technology means possible. If we as a profession are not willing to learn new ways to make services easy and convenient for our patrons, we will soon cease to exist. Many of our patrons are going online instead of walking through our doors. I agree with Laura Solomon that we must establish a real presence, both in the real and virtual worlds. I am grateful for the many opportunities to learn how to apply technology to many of the traditional services to offer patrons during my MLIS program at OU.

Blogging in Digital Collections

goff1237 — Sat, 29 Nov 2008 17:50:32 +0000

As part of the Digital Collections class, I was introduced to blogs. I have enjoyed learning how to set up a blog, as well as the many features that can be added to a blog. I think for future classes in this course, the required blogs should replace discussions on D2L regarding the required reading for the course. Perhaps assigning rotating teams to post comments to their blogs (regarding the readings) is a way to have everyone experience blogs more effectively. Instead of assigning teams, maybe the speciality group could be the group of people we blog to.

I belive that a blog or a wiki for some of the content posted in D2L would be a better learning experience instead of in D2L. Currently, it is difficult to keep up with all the places to look for comments. I do enjoy the blogs and learning from other classmates as they post comments in D2L. Thank you Doc Martens for the opportunity for me to explore new applications and expand my knowledge!

Net Neutrality

goff1237 — Sat, 29 Nov 2008 17:24:14 +0000

I have just recently discovered a new word to add to my knowledge and vocabluary which is Net Neutrality. According to Google, Net Neutrality provides equal access to the Internet that allows you to choose which content and applications you want to view. I was surprised to learn how important this is to telecommunications laws. I mistakenly thought that the freedom to choose Internet content and applications was guaranteed by the founding principles in the Constitution and Bill of Rights. Obviously, I have a lot to learn about telecommunications laws. Save the Internet.com has a FAQ on the subject, however YouTube has a good video demonstration that helped me understand the issue. I am disappointed that this is an issue considering the many freedoms we all enjoy in this country. I do understand the need for legislation and hopefully new legislation like the telecom bill, S. 2686, will allow every citizen enjoy what we have come to expect in this country and on the Internet.

Openness 2.0

goff1237 — Fri, 28 Nov 2008 23:55:02 +0000

First I heard of Web 2.0, then Library 2.0 and now Openness 2.0! Frist Monday has a podcast on Openness 2.0 from October 2008 which is the first of 5 podcast on this issue. My limited understanding regarding Openness 2.0 is that it is information sharing and opening the doors of communication (via the Internt and Web 2.0 technologies) for not only academic scholars, but also for government information to the American Public. Creating new ideas from information is the heart of Information Power and what we hope our students in schools today master. Blogging is part of Openness 2.0 to share your ideas/opinions about certain types of information. I see blogs being monitored in light of the new line of defense on terriorist attacks unfortunately. This issue of Openness 2.0 has many pros and cons that will continute the debates on boths sides of the issue. I will continue to learn more about this issue. Check out the podcast on First Monday and decide if we should be able to share all types of information. I think it really depends.

First Monday Internet Article

goff1237 — Wed, 26 Nov 2008 05:49:58 +0000

I ran across an article in this month’s issue of First Monday called, The Internet as a Social Ally by Amy Tracy Wells and Lee Rainie. This research study looked at how people solve problems using the Internet and if it is a replacement for social networking. I was surprised that people usually stopped searching for information after 3 sources before making a decision. As one might expect, the Internet does not replace social networks, but does enhance them. It has become such an important part of our lives as an abundant source of information. Take a look at the full article to see how much people rely on the Internet, family and friends.

Analyze Digital Collections

goff1237 — Tue, 25 Nov 2008 03:43:18 +0000

I found a free search engine optimization (seo) tool that analyzes your website for marketability suggestions. Since I have started building a digitial collection for a family history project called, Bridgewater Family History, I thought I would give Website Grader a try in order to improve my collection. Basically here is what I learned:

Meta-data description is not on every page. According to Website Grader, “the meta description is what frequently shows up under your page title in search results and convinces people to click-through to your site.”
Each page should have a heading summary to help readers (and search engines) know what to expect or the reason the content appears on the page.
Images are invisible to search engines and possibly the text that is associated with them. Website Grader suggest using the HTML “alt” attribute that distinguishes image from text for search engines.
The readability level is College Undergraduate. Website Grader suggests making the text simpler for everyone to read. (humm)
Website Grader suggest adding a blog feature, RSS feed, and social bookmarking. This is something I would like to do!
Marketing effectiveness score of 16/100, which means “our algorithm has calculated that this site scores higher than 16% of them in terms of its marketing effectiveness.” (Website Grader, Report, 2008)

This website helped me to see features that increase the usability for the targeted audience. I will also add back buttons and links to other sites as I learn how to do this in the future. If no one uses the collection, then there is no need. I will do all I can to make the collection easy and accessible. I have a lot to learn!

Creating a Digital Collection

goff1237 — Mon, 24 Nov 2008 03:42:58 +0000

I have just completed the first portion of building a family history collection. I have learned so many things, specifically technology! It takes more than just having access to objects in order to build a collection and a available web space. I did not realize how much space it would take to complete the project and realize that 50MB is not a bad beginning size. I also value Metadata more and realize its importance and should be part of the software. I used Microsoft word and found each page contained a themedata.thmx file. This is unique to Word and contains metadata on their various themes, but what else does it do? I have “Googled” it and can find little about it. I am hoping someone will be able to help me understand the metadata of Microsoft.

Veteran’s Day and Cultural Memory

goff1237 — Sat, 15 Nov 2008 05:55:31 +0000

As I sat in today’s school assembly and watch the children recite poems and songs I wondered what would be in their cultural memories years from now. The words to the Star Spangled Banner do not mean the same to them as those of us that are direct descendants of war veterans. I found a web page/blog from Indiana University on Cultural Memory and how most of our collective memories revolve around war. We need to help our younger generation focus on the future as well. What can we leave these talented, but very digital savvy, students that will affect their cultural memory?

Metadata Quality

goff1237 — Mon, 10 Nov 2008 03:01:18 +0000

The Journal of Digital Information (JODI) is an e-journal that is full of good information from Texas A & M (since OU beat their football team this weekend, I think it is safe to mention their university). One research paper was on the quality of digital metadata. Accessing digital information depends greatly on the quality of your metadata in the collection. Why is this important? According to Jeffery Beall’s article entitled, “Metadata and Data Quality Problems in the Digital Library,” corrupted metadata can be as simple as typographical errors to errors that deny access to items. Some of the most common errors are typographical that may not block access, but could change the meaning of the text. These errors are simple and easy to fixed once they are located. However, there are other errors that need to be considered when building your collection. These include, but are not limited to:

Scanning and Data Conversion Errors result from certain types of software that puts extra spaces between letters or words. Another form happens when scanning from one platform to another like a Word document to HTML.
Metadata Errors are important as they may block access, especially for image databases. Other examples of this type include failed searches particularly for homophones.
Metadata Harvesting are data transmission errors.
Crosswalking especially from a “less rigid metadata standard like Dublin Core to a more structured one like MARC” (Beall 2006).

The best prevention for these errors include good editing and human analysis that is incorporated in a Digital Quality policy. These are all good things to consider as we create our digital collection and the policies that govern them.