Week 7 comments on other student's blogs

http://jonas4444.blogspot.com/2010/10/reading-notes-for-week-7.html?showComment

http://cheyenneof2600.blogspot.com/2010/10/notes-for-unit-7-internet-and-www.html?showComment

http://magpie-maggiemagpie.blogspot.com/2010/10/week-7-readings.html?showComment

Assignment #4: Personal Bibliographic Management Systems

Here is the URL for my CiteULike Library:

http://www.citeulike.org/user/elhattab

This assignment was pretty cool!

Posting to other student's blogs

For some reason this week I'm having trouble adding posts to other student's blogs. When I click on "post a comment", nothing happens and it won't let me type anything.  I'll keep trying, and hopefully I can eventually get it to work.

Readings for this Week

How Internet Infrastructure Works

I found this to be a very interesting and easy to read series of articles.  I now feel as though I have a better understanding of how the internet works, and how things work when I'm using the internet.  Very helpful.

Dismantling Integrated Library Systems

This article was interesting, but more difficult to follow than the previous articles regarding internet infrastructure.  The thing I thought was most important was the fact that there is interoperability between systems, sometimes between the same vendor's systems, and sometimes between the library systems and the vendor's systems.  This makes it difficult for patrons to have complete access to everything that they may need, and this could be problemmatic.

Inside the Google Machine

Wow--this video was fabulous.  I was amazed to see the globe mapping all of the places using Google at any given time.  It was amazing.  Google seems like a great place to work.  They really seem to care about their employees, and try to make their working environment as pleasant as possible.  I really liked the 20 percent idea, where they are able to use 20 percent of their time working on things which are important to them.  Perhaps more employers would benefit from using some of their practices!

Muddiest Point

I have no muddiest point for this week.

Week 6 Comments on other student's blogs

http://cheyenneof2600.blogspot.com/2010/10/notes-for-unit-6-computer-networks.html#comments

http://jonas4444.blogspot.com/2010/10/reading-notes-for-week-6.html#comments

http://magpie-maggiemagpie.blogspot.com/2010/10/week-6-readings.html#comments

Week 6 Readings

Local area network (Wikipedia)

Though I think I understood the basic premise of the article, which was to describe what a LAN is and its technical aspects, as usual the technical language went over my head.  Basically I understand that a LAN is a small computer network, such as the one within the department where I work at Pitt, that connects those computers together.  For example, in my department my office mate and I are connected to the same printer, but we are also connected to color printers on the same floor in case we need color copies.  This differs from the larger University network in size and scope.

Computer Network (Wikipedia)

I found this article easier to understand.  There was still some technical language that went over my head, but not so much as in the first article about LANs.  I was interested to learn some things that I did not know, such as how the internet got its name (a shortened form of internetwork), and just how types of network there are out there.  I didn't realize that there were so many.  One thing I wasn't clear about was with the Virtual private network (VPN) graphic on page 6.  In the top graphic, the main office is able to connect with the regional offices and the remote/roaming users, and they are able to communicate with the main office, but the regional offices are not able to connect to each other, or to the remote/roaming users.  Also, in the second graphic the regional offices are able to communicate with each other and the main office, but not with the remote/roaming users.  I'm not sure why that is the case.

Managing Technology:  Management of RFID in Libraries

I found this article to be interesting and informative.  I was interested to learn more about RFID and how it works, but it brings up questions about how RFID tags should be used.  Personally, I think that they are a good idea for keeping track of books and deterring theft, but as with all things there is the potential for misuse.

Assignment 3 Video Demonstration

http://www.screencast.com/users/Elhattab1/folders/Jing/media/1f176833-142a-4d63-9b9f-99e6c9d58b9a

Screen captures for Assignment 3

http://www.screencast.com/users/Elhattab1/folders/Jing/media/da1426c3-acd0-44c2-bfed-90ad8bef3798

http://www.screencast.com/users/Elhattab1/folders/Jing/media/a5502b05-aa14-4baa-a4c5-2fcb36e96584

http://www.screencast.com/users/Elhattab1/folders/Jing/media/24e0bbdd-9433-44cf-b7ab-989ede759b32

http://www.screencast.com/users/Elhattab1/folders/Jing/media/8c31f997-974f-4220-955a-65bae798f926

http://www.screencast.com/users/Elhattab1/folders/Jing/media/f7b1630a-a808-4ea4-afa4-b50011e7176f

http://www.screencast.com/users/Elhattab1/folders/Jing/media/e4da1e7b-f1ec-4180-b678-a077bab34de1

http://www.screencast.com/users/Elhattab1/folders/Jing/media/309f6f65-e8c7-4580-9e01-4e63cb03e9ec

http://www.screencast.com/users/Elhattab1/folders/Jing/media/00e3ca74-148e-4d79-85b3-00fefdcdd28d

http://www.screencast.com/users/Elhattab1/folders/Jing/media/ba604c90-0a1c-4714-abeb-46fb6ad87d8c

http://www.screencast.com/users/Elhattab1/folders/Jing/media/b9f26085-792f-4aa3-8685-9688c4a88ddf

http://www.screencast.com/users/Elhattab1/folders/Jing/media/3b771c7c-ff2d-41e7-a7b1-f0a4b092e84c

http://www.screencast.com/users/Elhattab1/folders/Jing/media/e7db6685-c60d-464b-9bb6-528c8566d02c

http://www.screencast.com/users/Elhattab1/folders/Jing/media/2fd2b8a2-30d9-4b48-a9a6-e819ea766411

Comments on other student's blogs for Oct. 4

Here are my responses to other student's blogs for this week:

http://cheyenneof2600.blogspot.com/2010/10/notes-for-unit-5-information.html#comments

http://magpie-maggiemagpie.blogspot.com/2010/10/week-5-readings.html#comments

Week 5 Readings

Database (Wikipedia)

I found this article somewhat difficult to understand, but there were some interesting points.  I never realized how complex a database is, so it was interesting to learn about DBMSs.  I also didn't know that there were different types of databases (internal, external, and conceptual).  As I understood it, a conceptual database is the go-between or bridge between the internal and external databases.  Also, I never thought about IMDB being a database, though I guess I should have!

Introduction to Metadata:  Setting the Stage (Gilliland)

I found this article to be interesting, and easier to understand than both the Wikipedia article and the Dublin Core Model article.  I hadn't thought about the fact that metadata has been around since people began cataloguing objects, so that was interesting to me.  One of the main things I took away from the article is that the people entering and embedding the metadata need to carefully craft a good core, and make sure that the metadata stays with the object wherever it goes, and updated as new technologies take over.

An Overview of the Dublin Core Data Model (Miller)

This article was difficult to understand, especially since there were many typos and grammar mistakes, but as I understood it, the goal is to get everyone on the same page so that to the extent possible metadata can be used across disciplines.  I especially had difficulty understanding all of the programming stuff, but it definitely made me more grateful to those who understand and do it for a living!

Week 4 Muddiest Point

I'm still somewhat confused about Assignment 3, and what the video should be about.  I've never made a video before, so I'm not sure what I'm doing.  But I guess the only way to learn is to go ahead and try it!