Flickr

Check out my old pictures from Italy!

http://www.flickr.com/photos/53945245@N04/

week 4 comments

http://akulp2600.blogspot.com/2010/09/927-reading-notes.html?showComment=1285546353659#c4248435724322890359

http://acovel.blogspot.com/2010/09/week-4-reading-notes.html?showComment=1285547223134#c7464495304342068363

Reading Notes 9/27

I think it is interesting that there are two kinds of compressed files. I would think that lossless are more popular, but I understand why lossy are able to be used in some cases. It is amazing that a computer can figure out what contrast/colors can be cut down in a JPEG so that the human eye will still see the picture properly. I like the second article; it is very informative with lots of easy to understand example (which are what I need to understand). I love the online collection about Pittsburgh. This is a great way for digitization to be used. One of the ways we use digitization at the library I work at is preserving photos, flyers, ticket stubs and playbills from plays over the decades. It is great to put access to these things online so that more people have access to them. I'm glad that the article discussed that challenges. I will definitely be checking their page out.

Anyone else have trouble finding the last article?

Muddiest point 9/20

I was just curious if you can buy a computer without an OS already loaded because it seems to me that everything already comes with windows or Mac OS and that it would be impossible to have a computer with linux alone

Vatican Library

The Vatican Library re-opened yesterday with a bunch of hi-tech security devices! Man I wish I could go there and look at stuff!

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GOpnQAySMWg

Reading Notes 9/20

I have never heard of Linux and I do not think I know any one that uses it. I don't really see why I would when I am perfectly comfortable with Windows and MacOS and haven't had any problems with it. It is interesting to know that there's a free system out there that people can change and debug by themselves, but that is something beyond my capabilities. I never knew so much went into each OS or that there were so many choices. I'm one of those people that just turns the computer on and pokes around until I find what I need, which has been pretty easy when just using newer and newer versions of the same OS.


(more thoughts to come)

Muddiest Points 9/13

My question is about binary and it's a pretty simple one, but something I don't know because this is all new to me. I understand that everything is 0 or 1, but is there a blank? Like when I type a space is that blank or is there a binary code that means space? I'm guessing there is no blank because if blanks were used there would be exponentially more outcomes...

Reading Notes 9/13

I didn't know how many parts there are in a computer. It is an amazing piece of technology. It's hard to believe how much smaller and faster computers are made these days.

It is amazing how accurate Moore's Law is when he had predicted this over 40 years ago. This statement confuses me: "As more transistors are put on a chip, the cost to make each transistor decreases, but the chance that the chip will not work due to a defect increases" (Wikipedia). It is strange how companies took the law to be a challenge and that actually helped it stay true for so long. Much of the in depth information they talk about in that article is beyond me, but I find it amazing. I feel like at some point the technology will be impractical. The pictures of the transistors over the years on the Computer History Museum's website are impressive. It really helps me see how much change there has been. I had no idea that computer technologies had been being developed since 1833.

Reading Notes 8/30

I found the article about Lied Library very interesting. Since I have only worked in one academic library it was interesting to see how another (larger) school works. At Gettysburg we spend a lot of effort to expand our digital resources. I like that Lied Library has laptops that students can check out. I think that is a really good resource. I like that they have a system for keeping track of who uses the lab computers they have in the building, but I am very uncomfortable with the fact that they sometimes have to go up to community patrons and ask them to leave. At Gettysburg community patrons check out USB keys that time out after 2 hours. I feel a lot more comfortable with that than asking employees to kick people off computers. I love that Vaughan says "Staff are not conducting brain or heart surgery, or flying an airplane. Acknowledging this helps keep thing in perspective" (46). My boss constantly says something similar, and it's good to keep in mind. Nothing in the library is a life or death situation, even though some people try to make it seem like it is, and that's good to keep in mind.

I never thought about the issue of information technology literacy until I read Lynch's short paper. Since I grew up in a digital age I never thought about how much of a struggle everything must be for people that are not IT literate.

I agree with the OCLC report that people are more concerned about content, not how they receive it. I believe that patrons tend to be "format agnostic" (2). Many things are now only available digitally. the Oxford English Dictionary may no longer be available in print and even the New York Times said they eventually won't print either (see my earlier post). I have seen situations where a professor will interlibrary loan request a book we hold as an ebook because they rather have a hard copy, but generally patrons are happy with either, especially students.

Muddiest Points

No muddiest points from the first class

Interesting comment about the NY Times

Aparently the New York Times will eventually go out of print... haha who'd of thought that?

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2010/09/09/arthur-sulzberger-we-will_n_710251.html?igoogle=1?igoogle=1

LIS 2600

This blog is for my LIS 2600 class. I'm a bit confused on how all this works so I thought I'd test out this posting thing and see what happens.