Module Two: Content Management Systems

I think that the article I reviewed and presented for this week's class ("Developing and Re-imagining Library Web Guides in a Content Management System") represents a prime example of the reasons for which administration tools such as Microsoft Office's FrontPage have become obsolete or have otherwise been discontinued.  The Georgia State University Library was among the first to make the transition from a platform like FrontPage to a CMS.  The content management application of a CMS allows the manager or author of the page to manage, modify, remove, and/or edit the content without having to know HTML or have the skill set of a webmaster.  Another perk of CMSs is that they sometimes offer the tools for one-on-one marketing, allowing them, for example, to tailor their content to fit with the patterns and interests of the users who visit their pages.

Musings on Week Four: Mobile Technology and Libraries

As we discussed in class yesterday, and as Aaron Smith notes in "Smartphone Ownership 2013," 56% (perhaps more) of American adults are now smartphone users, while only 9% of the American adult population does not own a cell phone at all.  We talked briefly in class about how mobile web can be helpful in the library setting -- getting overdue notices on one's mobile device rather than through an e-mail, or simply replying "R" for renew, for instance, via SMS.  Smartphones with web-enabled technologies are quickly changing how people communicate with each other and with institutions alike.  Aldrich comments on how the commercial sector has taken the lead in creating mobile websites that capitalize on the capabilities of smartphones, while the academic community has begun to follow suit (MIT and Stanford being among the first), albeit at a slower pace.  Someone in class yesterday (Ben?) also mentioned the similarities between mobile web devices and cloud computing, comparing cloud computing to "Big Brother" in some ways.  Dr. Oguz said that we will come back to this comparison later in the semester.  I am looking forward to that!  I also came across two interesting articles, which I will post below -- the first from MarketingLand and the second from MediaPost -- about how mobile web has invaded the commercial sector in some very useful ways.  Banking, in this case, with close to half of all banking transactions occurring via mobile devices. 

MarketingLand Study

MediaPost Article

Folksonomies and User-Generated Results

Since Web 2.0 / Library 2.0 presages a "freeing of data," it seems fitting that the focuses of this week's class have been folksonomies and crowdsourcing.  In class, we mentioned the explosion of digital information and the overwhelming "abundance of choice" it creates.  Folksonomy is the practice of allowing users -- often collaboratively -- to classify and categorize data by managing tags.  I think the system of folksonomy has proven effective not only in organizing information (by assigning metadata to its contents) but also in the sense that it encourages users by involving and engaging them in the process of refining and indexing information.  Indeed, the practice of folksonomy, as Dr. Oguz conveyed, adds a human element into the mix.