My Own Personal Technology Plan

I signed up for LIS 631 (Emerging Technological Trends in Information Access) for two reasons, the least important of which is because of that fact that this course fulfills an MLIS technology requirement. More importantly, I am increasingly aware of the crucial role that technology is playing in the world of information science and libraries.  

     Although by far my most challenging class of the semester, I have enjoyed the experiences I’ve had and the knowledge I have gained in LIS 631 so much that I have registered for LIS 643 (Metadata) for next semester.  I am really looking forward to learning how to define and recognize different types and functions of metadata.  I believe that taking LIS 643 next semester will be one surefire way to keep abreast of emerging technologies in information access.  And, depending upon how that class goes, I may try to take one technology course per semester during the rest of my time in the program.  I think that this will be a great way to stay current and involved with new and evolving trends in technology.  

     Another way that I will stay current on the latest technological trends and devices is that I plan to subscribe to free newsletters, blog RSS feeds, etc. -- in addition to checking periodically on technology-based websites.  One such website that looks particularly interesting is Wired.com, an online technology news website that hosts several technology blogs on all kinds of relevant subjects, from culture and science to new products and security.  Mashable.com, a British-American news website, technology, and social media blog, also looks to have much germane content on its pages.  Among other topics, the latter site focuses on web development, technology, memes, and gadgets.

     Finally, I have recently joined the Association for Information Technology Professionals, and I am very excited about it.  Although I am already a member of the ALA and the NCLA, I am eager to start taking advantage of some of the many benefits that the AITP has to offer its members.  Per the AITP’s website, the organization provides a community network for IT professionals by providing educational programs for advancing technology and business skills, leadership development opportunities, networking, peer mentoring, knowledge sharing, and online resources.  As a member of the AITP, I will be able to meet new people working in my field, learn about career and business opportunities, and, perhaps most importantly, stay abreast of current and emerging trends in the industry.

     Needless to say, it is incredibly important to stay up-to-date with both current and emerging technologies. And, as an LIS graduate student, this fact is becoming clearer every day.  Taking LIS 631 – my first technology course in the MLIS program at UNCG – has made me realize even more how important it is to have a sound technological background, a fact that holds true for virtually all career paths in today’s world – and in the world of the future.  Some people may be inclined to think that staying current with emerging technologies requires too much of them and is too large an investment of their time.  I, however, think that doing so is perhaps the best investment most people – but especially LIS students – can make.  It’s an investment that will keep giving back, not only to the person making said investment but also for those in the community who can benefit from that person’s expertise.

Tech Trends of the Future

     The 2013 ALA LITA Top Tech Trends Panel, held in Chicago this year, highlights Massive Open Online Courses (MOOCs) in its first segment.  After watching the presentation, it is not difficult to imagine that MOOCs will be adopted in considerable numbers in the near future in the tech world, in education, and in libraries.  The first speaker in the LITA discussion video describes the ways in which MOOCs challenge the "sequestered educational experience" often seen in the world of higher education. 

     In essence, these courses break down the barriers that, for so long, have prevented access to higher education.  To support her claim that MOOCs are on the rise, the first speaker in the LITA Panel video mentions a recent study that shows that 22% of the general public knows what the term MOOC means.  She goes on to explain that, while the general interpretation for this percentage was that it is a very low number, it is actually very high.

     It is also evident that MOOCs will become more and more prominent in the tech world as distance education becomes more and more widespread.  Finally, I also found it especially interesting when I learned from the panelist who added to the first speaker's contributions that last year (2012), Google was running its own MOOC on information literacy.  Google's MOOC ran about 100,000 people through it.  From these numbers, it is clear that MOOCs are the emerging technological trends of the future.

This week in LIS 631, our class had the opportunity to glean some first-hand, hands-on experience with two metadata generation methods:  Manual and Automatic (Harvesting). We used the Open Archives Initiative Protocol for Metadata Harvesting (OAI-PMH) to harvest the data automatically and then created a Standard Metadata Collection for harvesting the same metadata manually.  We visited the Edward S. Curtis Collection at Library of Congress's website and examined the metadata associated with the Atsina Fly Dance record.  After downloading the image associated with the record, we returned to our Manual Metadata collection and re-created metadata for this item in terms of Dublin Core Simple.  During the process of generating our own metadata for this item, we needed to depend on the existing metadata available for it.  Our goal was to convert this metadata from its original format to DC described in the DC guidelines.  We were asked to create a digital collection for Native American History researchers, operating on the premise that our institution does not hold any digital materials related to Native American History, so we were to aggregate collections from other institutions using OAI-PMH.

In general, I feel that my Standard Metadata Collection (manual input) for the Atsina Fly Dance item does not provide as comprehensive record details as the OAI, or automatically harvested metadata method does.  Although I have learned about Dublin Core and its standards in the classroom, this assignment constitutes my first practical, hands-on experience with its methods for populating metadata.  Another interesting point in this assignment and the comparison between the Standard Metadata Collection and the OAI Collection lies in the fact that although all of the metadata that I input manually is correct, the OAI automatic metadata includes much more detailed records.  Instead of simply listing the creator’s name, for instance, the latter also includes the years during which he lived and the name of his profession.  I found that aspect to be especially fascinating.  I encountered a few technical glitches with the assignment along the way but feel that because of those setbacks, I now have a greater understanding and appreciation of museum websites and the work that goes into creating their full records – whether manually or automatically.

Here is the link to the URL to my community on DSpace:  http://harvester4.uncg.edu:8081/xmlui/handle/123456789/9634

GIS and Google Fusion Mapping Project for Dare County Public Libraries

The Google Fusion map for Dare County’s public libraries containing the Fusion layer of median household incomes can be found at:  file:///C:/Users/Admin/AppData/Local/Temp/DareCountyMap.html.  In addition to median household incomes for Dare County, I included the total population for each area that appears on the map.  I almost chose to create my layered map for Guilford or Forsyth County, since I am very familiar with both, but I decided instead on Dare County, because it is a county I am totally unfamiliar with, which makes the process even more interesting.  I didn't even know where in North Carolina it was located before I looked it up.  Dare County's total area includes most of the Pamlico Sound.  Land mass, therefore, composes only less than 25% of the county's total area.  Perhaps this geographical fact may help to account for Dare County's rather limited number of public libraries.  One of Dare County's public libraries is the Dare County Public Library, located in the city of Manteo; the other is the Hatteras Branch Library, located in the city of Hatteras.  Like Scotland County, the mean income of Dare County does not exceed $68,000, and its population and population density are very small, compared with other North Carolina counties.  If you look at my map, you will see that the highest income levels occur in the northern parts of Dare County, where the population ranges are in the seven and eight thousands.  Though it was probably the most challenging assignment I've had to do for this class, I probably learned the most from it.  I appreciate the new knowledge and geographical mapping experience I have gained as a result.

AquaBrowser

AquaBrowser seems to be an excellent choice when it comes to selecting an efficient discovery layer.  It is an affordable, fully-hosted subscription model that includes Web 2.0 social networking capabilities, enhanced authority subject searching, extensive reports that highlight usage statistics, such as most popular searches, and a staff administrative control panel.  AquaBrowser utilizes RSS feeds and boasts a modern and very user-friendly interface that displays the most relevant results.

AquaBrowser searches all available content using a single query and ranks results by relevance, which is enhanced through associations displayed in what is called a “word cloud.”  The “word cloud” is a valuable tool, as it then encourages broader explorations and discovery using context-sensitive association, word variations, spelling alternatives, translations, and synonyms.

More than 700 libraries use the AquaBrowser discovery layer.  AquaBrowser is a sound choice, because it significantly enhances service quality with minimal impact on a library’s resources.

Creating a WordPress Website for a Fictional Library

Our class assignment this week was to create an original website, using WordPress, for a fictional library.  I created Bard Public Library, located in the fictional town of Bard, Montana.

Here is the link to my library webpage:  http://iajohnst.byethost11.com/

Theme Choice:  I chose the AlbinoMouse theme, as I appreciated its modern look and coloring scheme, combined with its simplicity and clean-cut aesthetic style.  AlbinoMouse is a responsive, mobile-friendly theme for WordPress websites and was obviously designed in a minimalistic style.  I wish that more websites would utilize such a style, making them clearer and easier to navigate for some users.

Plugins: I agree with some of my classmates' posts in that perhaps the most convoluted and time-consuming part of creating this WordPress site was installing and figuring out the plug-ins.  I installed, activated, and tested out a Facebook "like" button, a Facebook "send" button, and a Google + button onto all of my pages.  I also installed and activated the Akismet Support application, though I am not entirely sure if I have been using it correctly.

Administration: I found the process of setting up administrative access for different users to be relatively seamless.  As long as the other users have active e-mail addresses, those individuals can easily be granted administrative rights.

Blogs: I created a couple of different blogs, including a blog about new Shakespearean and Early Modern plays and texts now available in audio format for patrons to check out and another one offering writing and research help for college and upper-level high school English students.

Conclusion: I do have some previous experience using WordPress, but I only just began using it less than two months ago, so these experiences are still very new for me.  Also, these experiences are mostly for managing and maintaining websites -- posting event information, updating photos, making corrections.  That is to say, until this assignment, I had no experience actually creating and customizing my own website.  One thing that I liked about using WordPress to create my fictional library website is that the system offers automatic updates.  WordPress is currently the most popular blogging tool in use on the Internet, and I can see why.  I will definitely use it in the future for web design projects.

Week 7: Web Services

Week 7's topic has been a very interesting and relevant one.  I enjoyed learning about Web Services (WS), something that I did know about before but didn't have a name for or a clear understanding of.  A WS uses Extensible Markup Language (XML) -- a format that is readable to both humans and machines -- to enable machine-to-machine interaction across a network.  I found one of our readings for week 7, "Introduction to Web Services," produced by Library Technology Reports, fascinating in its affirmation that not all computer-to-computer communications qualify as Web services, because Web services must follow a "specific architectural framework" that involves specific standards and protocols (7).  I hope we'll have a chance to revisit WS later in the semester.