Flickr Assignment

Here is the link to the URL of my Flickr page, where you will find only the photos for the assignment.

http://www.flickr.com/photos/30803613@N06/sets/72157607475719861/

Week 5 Readings

XML Yea!
Readings:
Introduction to the Extensible Markup Language (XML) by Martin Bryan
A Survey of XML Standards: Part 1 by Uche Ogbuji
Extending Your Markup: an XML Tutorial by Andre Bergholz

Overall this week's readings are helpful but confusing. Because I have no practice (besides a few brief assignments for school) with XML or even HTML, for that matter, I am not sure how much I was able to take from these readings.

Certainly, it is good to learn the theory behind why XML was created and how its use of, (or lack of use of), DTD was decided upon, it still does not help me to actually create a page using XML and see why I am doing what I am doing.
In other words, using XML alongside reading about XML would really serve to cement the information I tried dutifully to absorb in my brain.

It is fascination learning about the different ways that simple symbols and elements can be used to create such a difference in computer language. I'm learning this is true for many aspects of cataloging as well- spaces, slashes, hyphens, etc., are all very important.

The XML standards that have been put into place serve a great purpose. They help to unify everyone on their usage of XML and to ensure that those on the viewer/user end of the webpage are looking at consistent code on every page. ISO standards for XML are enforced and supported by many different webpages and groups. The Ogbuji article lists many of the resources that can be used in figuring out and learning about XML.

I've found the Bergholz article to be most helpful for me: a Non Computer Person. He provides a visual picture through words of what a proper XML page will look like and how XML is different from HTML and SGML/DTD stuff. By addressing specific points like linking and using stylesheets and schema it gives me a broader picture of all the tools that are out there and available for help with XML. And, through the aspect of discovering all the tools that out there, I've learned about the many different usages and needs of/for XML that deserve to be addressed.

Muddiest Points for Week 4.
Metadata is very clear to me, but my notes are a little sketchy on how metadata is used to promote interoperability between systems and things.

Third Week's Readings

I'm going to talk about three of this week's readings, namely "Identifiers and Their Role in Networked Information Applications" by Clifford Lynch; Chapter 9 from Digital Libraries by Arms; and Lesk's chapters 2.1, 2.2, and 2.7.

All of these readings work together to complete a bigger picture of the ways of the internet and how URLS, URNS, and other aspects of digital life come together to form what can be key aspects of a digital library.

Lynch's article:

• ISBNs and ISSNs = identification standards that relate to the standards of URLs and URNs
• Difference between URL and URN: URL points to location, URN works to identify the page by name instead of location.
• DOIs = the handle system; allows access to those who subscribe (important for digital libraries that are not open); can help with citations, but there are still kinks to be worked out

Arms chapter 9:

• All about text. Text is what makes the digital world go round.
• Text can be used for management, organization, display
• Conversion -- *this may be helpful if we need to scan things to include in our digital library! Conversion allows a scanned image or page to be searched. Need one (or more than one) character recognition programs.
• ASCII and Unicode
• Unicode supports and can represent many different languages - making it easier to transliterate these languages.
• HTML and XML -- language and code.
  
• XML uses 16-bit Unicode
  
• CSS and XSL: Cascading Style Sheets and Extensible Style Language: CSS works with HTML mark-up and XSL works with XML mark-up. Currently XSL is not as important.
• TeX: a page description language that began first. Deal with typesetting. Best for math journals.
• PostScript: originated for graphics
• PDF: (Portable Document Format). Came from PostScript and works best because it is legible on screen and on the printed page.
  

Lesk's Chapters 2.1, 2.2, and 2.7

• Typesetting. Lesk goes through the history of typesetting from paper to online.
  
• Text Formats. Reinforces what I learned from Arms about ASCII and Unicode. He discusses MARC and SGML, as well as HTML. All of this is important in the display and the retrieval of documents!
• Keying vs. Scanning- does anyone really key anymore??
• Scanning is cheaper and can produce high quality documents and images, but that also depends on the state of the original document and the scanning technology being used.
• Can poorly scanned documents fall victim to poor retrieval methods for keywords and images?
  

Muddiest Points for Week 2
What kinds of things should we know from the readings for the midterm?

Week 2 Readings

A Framework for Building Open Digital Libraries by Suleman and Fox

While this reading was interesting and informative, I thought it was rather superficial. Suleman and Fox didn't really dig into anything beyond the surface level of digital library creation.
They explain the meaning of "open digital libraries", addressing the term "open" as coming from the OAI. Open systems will help to unify the many digital libraries that are out there, although I did not gather from the article whether it will be easy to convert DLs that are not currently open into those that are.

Suleman and Fox give explanations as to why digital libraries had not previously been approached as open projects, citing reasons like:

• the ever-changing world wide web
• digital libraries fulfilling the needs of a particular community, instead of the needs of many general communities at once
• program logic variations

and the list goes on. They also give grounded arguments as to why it is beneficial and positive to look towards an open DL system:

• the changing status of libraries and the academic community
• the ease and usability of understandable and natural OAI protocol
• OAI protocol in general
• simplicity

Overall Suleman and Fox do a good job of allowing me (someone who is technologically challenged) to enter the world of digital libraries and come out the other side understanding the basics of what goes on behind the scenes. This article relates closely with that by Payette, Blanchi, Lagoze, and Overly...

Interoperability for Digital Objects and Repositories: the Cornell/CNRI Experiments by Payette, Blanchi, Lagoze, and Overly

This article was somewhat harder for me to dig my teeth into. Reading about the experiments that were performed to test the Cornell/CNRI digital libraries was interesting. The three tier system of architecture is described as generic, and I am not sure I truly understand how this can be so. While DigitalObjects are able to be "invoked" by clients using the RAP requests, I do not see how this leads to DigitalObjects as generic.
Focusing on the Interoperability and Extensibility mechanisms, it seems that extensibility can be achieved without sacrificing the interoperability of the systems. As long as both systems have the equipment and tools to access, they will work together.

Many of the experiments are now jumbling together in my head. Testing general results for interoperability, testing how items are added to the infrastructure, testing protocol... it all seems important, and yet, very hard to differentiate.

What I took most from this article was that people are working towards creating DLs that are able to be used with one another and can work properly and effectively while doing it.

An Architecture for Information in Digital Libraries by Arms, Blanchi, and Overly

One I can understand! Arms, Blanchi and Overly start from the beginning and define terms that are used throughout the article. Digital objects, handles, and repositories are all described and the reader is given helpful examples of each throughout the reading.
Focusing on creating a system that is easy for users to navigate while maintaining flexibility and complex behind the scenes systems for computer scientists to manipulate data is the goal of the digital library.

The example provided on how each individual part comes together to answer a question submitted by a patron was invaluable for me. To see an example of how the system actually works helped me to understand in a very easy manner the way search engines can retrieve information.

Muddiest Points thus far:
From week 1:
Just to be clear, we do not have to email our thoughts on the readings? And also, these posts are due FRIDAY, and not SUNDAY?