Week 15 Reading Notes

What Cloud Computing Really Means (Knorr, E. & Gruman, G.)

• At first I thought, thank goodness for this article, because I don’t have a clear idea of what cloud computing really entails. However, I still don’t entirely understand cloud computing because I don’t understand or know of the examples that are used.
• Where does Apple’s iCloud fit into the different types of cloud computing?
• How can libraries best utilize cloud computing, for their staff or their patrons or their collections?

Explaining Cloud Computing (YouTube)

• One critique: when you define any term, such as cloud computing, you shouldn’t use one of the words, such as cloud, in your definition.
• SaaS = software as a service (GoogleDocs)
• HaaS = hardware as a service (Google App Engine)
• The key seems to be the fact that users don’t have to download software on every device.

The Future of Libraries (Frey, T.)

• Yes, to some extent libraries are storehouses or warehouses, but that’s certainly not all they are.
• “The vast majority of people with specific information needs no longer visit libraries.” – But that doesn’t mean we don’t need libraries. Librarians need to show the public that we can provide as a guide to the Internet’s massive (and often hard to navigate) wealth of information. Also, there are plenty of resources that are not freely available on the Internet, but can be accessed on a database with a library card. More than that, at least more so for public libraries, we are beginning to see libraries serve as sort of community centers, looking beyond books to other types of resources and information that their community members want.
• Is there even an “ultimate form” of communication? Isn’t that different for everyone, which then makes this somewhat a moot point?
• “We have more needs faster.” – Could this possibly be a desire rather than a need, and we only want more things faster because we have technology that enables that desire?
• Despite my above critiques, I do agree with Frey’s recommendations for libraries at the end of the article.

Week 14 Reading Notes

No Place to Hide

• To be honest, this kind of reminds me of the awful Martin Luther King, Jr. website. I can’t tell whether this site is presenting the facts or heavily slanting the facts. I mean, when you click on “Center for Investigative Reporting,” it takes you to a blog about muckrakers, and it looks very much like one individual runs the blog.
• I don’t doubt that the United States government collects our personal information (after all, it’s become easier and easier with the Internet and social media), and I do find it troubling. However, I’m more interested in focused issues that can be more easily combatted and may help to solve roots of other problems. For example, combatting literacy and helping children and teens learn to think for themselves rather than blindly following others and regurgitating what’s being told to them would help in the long run. And there are plenty of resources that address these issues (and other issues) that are a lot more legitimate than this website.

EPIC Terrorism (Total) Information Awareness

• While this website doesn’t initially scream muckraking, the formatting of this website is not at all user-friendly, and it’s important to note that this page hasn’t been updated since 2005! And the organization hasn’t posted an annual report since 2007-2008. What happened? Why does it seem to now be defunct? Caused by a government cover-up or something else?
• I’d be more interested to see hard facts about how the government uses social media sites to collect information. After all, that’s becoming easier and easier due to the privacy myth people seem to have (though the issue of social media privacy does seem to come up from time to time, or at least in some circles).

MyTurn: Protecting Privacy Rights in Libraries (Hamer, J.)

• It’s so important to advocate for teen’s rights when it comes to using the library. They’re in a tricky spot because they often have some level of independence, but minors still have parents or guardians. But I wonder how many parents know if their library has a teen user privacy policy, and if they did, how would they feel and react? Also, Vermont has one law, but how do these library patron policies differ from state to state?
• Librarians aren’t the only ones who have to deal with legal and ethical privacy issues—doctors and lawyers and therapists have to do the same. What makes us different? Because we aren’t seen as being in a “serious” profession?
• Are there ways that libraries can collect useful information about their users (such as circulation statistics) while keeping it anonymous and/or periodically wiping their records clean? Definitely something to consider if we want to fully protect the privacy of our patrons.

Week 13 Lab

URL: http://liswiki.org/wiki/User:Mar189

Week 13 Reading Notes

What Makes Social Media Tick (Blossom, J.)

• Unable to access this article by the prescribed hyperlink or by searching PittCat+.

Using a Wiki to Manage a Library Instruction Program (Allan, C.)

• I would be curious to know what’s more common when it comes to where people are sharing ideas in the working environment: wikis or Google Docs? I’ve personally had more experience with Google Docs and much prefer it to using wikis on Blackboard.
• Whether using wikis or Google Docs, these tools are extremely useful for people to work together without meeting in-person (or meeting in-person fewer times). In my group strategic plan group for LIS 2700 this semester, we used Google Docs, and this made our handful of in-person meetings very efficient.
• The one danger of using wikis or Google Docs to share information, is that it many not be fully understood by all of the users. For example, If one user wrote up instructions on how to use a program, another user may not understand those instructions because the language or processes used don’t make sense to them. I’ve had experience with this, and in retrospect, I would’ve used Jing to make tutorial videos rather than write out the instructions.

Creating the Academic Library Folksonomy (Arch, X.)

• I would say that libraries should only use tagging if they do so in such a way that is useful to and understood by their patrons. Otherwise it’s useless.
• del.icio.us is used by so many people—it’s great that Stanford has added a del.icio.us module for social tagging. Using something that works well for everyone is usually better than creating something new. However, I do wonder if del.icio.us would be more useful in a public library than an academic one.

TED Talk: How a Ragtag Band Created Wikipedia (Wales, J.)

• The fact that Wikipedia is so successful yet is run by virtually an all-volunteer staff can be very appealing to libraries (which also rely on volunteers), particularly in these tough economic times. Not necessarily comparable, but certainly interesting.
• Very interesting that the German Wikipedia was declared as better quality than the German Encarta. I know that we’ve had some debate over Wikipedia’s authority and quality, and I think this is one great example of how Wikipedia does have some level of quality control.
• As prescribed by ALA, libraries do have a neutral point of view. However, this is not always known or believed (such as patrons who attempt to have certain materials banned). Should this neutral point of view be highlighted in libraries’ mission or vision statements or core values?