End of Week Five Redux

Just posted my discussion response to the Bradford's law question in LIS 2000. There were some very interesting posts and most people covered the question from the bibliographic database angle. I was a little intimidated by some of the responses and feel that perhaps I misunderstood the question. Anyway, I am just noting my insecurity here...Also, in LIS 2000, I signed up for my Hot Topics assignment and got in the group covering social networking. Before the course started I would have thought social networknig meant things like the "Old Boy network" so I had no idea it meant there was an area on the web for an exchange of information which individuals could sign up for and get feeds for, etc., very exciting, and makes me feel a little behind. Sometimes I wonder if everything I do where I work is obsolete and pointless. I simply catalog books and manuscripts into a local database (PastPerferct software) and it has no further use than as a catalog for our own collection. I need to find how and if I can ever get this information on the web. More on this later I hope...

End of Week Five

I posted my Jing assignment (see below) but am not sure how well I did it. The hardest part was creating a narrative and then reading it while trying not to mess up and have to start over. I have a new appreciation for actors and acting. 

I am also still trying to work out the best way to juggle school and work. The most difficult thing for me now is finding time for all of the reading. I have never been a fast reader so this course is forcing me to really skim over articles and get the gist rather than studying what I read - there is not enough time for that. I think I am getting the important points and concepts so that if I do not understand the details at least I will be familiar with the major ideas presented.  

HuntSchenkel's Library

HuntSchenkel's Library: Zotero Assignment

Jing Anxiety

I am trying to share my Jing demonstration onto Screencast and do not seem to be having any luck. It is either downloading too long or not sharing at all - very frustrating! I know it is simple but I must be missing a step somewhere. I seem to be spending a lot of time on projects that should be very simple - I hope that I can get all of this technichal stuff down now so that I will not have so much trouble in the future.

End of Week 4

This course if really hard to keep up with. Another short blog here before...I have been trying to keep up with all of the readings and the lectures (and other videos and RSS feeds) but it is very hard, if not impoossible for me to take it all in. I not only have to take it all in, but I have to process it. Right now I am just reading very fast and not really understanding everything. I Just want to keep up and get an idea of the concepts and theories introduced. I feel that in the long run it will all make sense but now i am just keeping my head above the water...

Digital Technology and Copyright

Just finished my essay for Double Fold. It makes me think about technology and all of its applications concerning information and libraries, etc. I wasn't aware before how much copyright and ownership of ideas are debated between publishers and libraries. In Sarah Thomas's article from "Double Fold to Double Bind" she shows how publishers are now considering holding back distribution of digital literature (if I am remembering this correctly) in order to be able to maintain rights to these books. It seems this creates an entirely new dillema for libraries in that they now may not even have access to these books. Hard copies will always exist I hope but if publishers plan to only publish certain books electronically, does this greatly diminish the role of the library? I am just trying to sort this out through the blog. Hope to understand more of this soon...

Short Entry

Still reading Double Fold and am amazed at the lack of competence and arrogance of our so-called experts (at least in the Cold War period). I guess I shouldn't be too surprised however when so much money is thrown at projects that much is wasted: I am thinking especially about the story of the Library of Congress's attempts at de-acidification and their lack of success.