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.