This week's topic: storage media and devices

This weeks lecture topic covered the basics of computer related data storage.
Kilobyte, Megabyte, Terabyte... these things I am familiar with, so I decided to do some digging on something I was a less familar with:  Exabyte storage.  (And let me just say for the record that I LOVE zdnet.com for tech news.)

So... a very interesting article appeared today about a new tape drive using Barium-Ferrite (BaFe) tape.  I am not a chemist, but it sounds from the article like a very interesting development indeed because it, apprently, does not rust.  This posits some interesting potential benefits for archival quality storage of born digital documents, especially in high-humidity environments.  Maybe not in the short-term, due to expense, but if the affordability curve of technological developments remains true to form over time, in five years, or ten, it will not only be more affordable, but also (one hopes) have a documented performance records that lives up to expectations. 

Open Source Software

This weeks topic: Open Source Software - in libraries and in education.  The star attraction for discussion was, (as far as open source) of course Linux. The one I found most intriguing in the course of my research however, was Evergreen.  Open source by libraries for libraries! They've also kept rather an interesting timeline of early adopters.

While I am impressed at the ingenuity, flexibility and affordability of open source options, I must admit I find them a bit intimidating. I'm not a luddite by any means, but to draw another analogy: there is a difference between an oil change and an engine re-build.  I have great respect for people who have the skills to program these tools, but I doubt I will ever be much more than a well educated user.

My hat is off to you, technology innovators!

I  don't ordinarily enjoy blogs that emote rather than inform, but I'm going to break my own rule and vent for a minute about Google.

[Soapbox] Dear Google: Why must all your web searches function like a fire hose? I'll grant you that Google Scholar does an admirable job of keeping out non-academic sources, but you still need to work on ranking your search results by relevance. The algorithm you are currently using returned a rather impenetrable (at least to me) ordering of items. Pardon me for being under the impression that the most relevant items should appear at the top of the list. It seems I was mistaken - proving yet again that a thinking human being cannot be replaced by a "thinking" machine. [/Soapbox]

Actually not a bad argument for why we still need actual reference librarians, and not just computerized catalogs.

(Edit: Not that I think Google is entirely useless. They are doing some pretty neat stuff tracking flu trends, for example. )

Branding

Back to the issue touched on in the pre-holiday post - exploring public perceptions. Our lengthy , but interesting reading assignment included OCLC's Perceptions of Libraries and Information Resources.  

Firstly, I was impressed (and I'll admit a bit surprised) at the diversity of voluntary respondents they succeeded in reaching succesfully. Kudos to the design and implementation team on that effort!

Secondly, some of the findings that caught my attention corroborate a favorite saying of a good friend and department head at my previous institution when referring to the value-add of librarians vs. the internet in an information search: "Google gets the easy questions; we get the hard ones."

• Finding of interest 1)  The survey findings indicate that 84 percent of information searches begin with a search engine. [Emphasis added].
  
    
• Finding of interest 2) Researching specific reference books is the second most frequent library activity conducted annually.
• Finding of interest 3) Overwhelmingly, respondents from all geographic regions and across U.S. age groups indicate the librarian is the first choice when seeking assistance at the library.

The difficulty pointed out by the data analysis of the report seems to be the information seekers who never consider the library or librarians as a resource in the first place.

• Finding of interest 4) Most respondents indicated they have not sought help (64 percent) when using library resources.

 It seems from scanning the included respondent comments to be due in significant part to a lack of awareness (Or I might possibly argue -only slightly tongue in cheek - attention span.) when it comes to services offered.  Question of the week: How much do we need to treat cultural institutions like a for-profit business model in order to raise "brand awareness?"

Remembering A Great Man

A link to TIME magazine's archive of articles on the Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King Jr.  http://www.time.com/time/archive/collections/0,21428,c_mlk,00.shtml

A link from the National Archives discussing Dr. King's deposition on copyright infringement
http://www.archives.gov/northeast/nyc/exhibits/mlk.html

And a link to Stanford's collection of his papers
http://mlk-kpp01.stanford.edu/index.php/kingpapers/article/online_king_records_access_okra/

The role of archives in preserving social memory is especially significant when we pause to reflect on the very lasting impact a single person can have when their acchievements are celebrated rather than allowed to be forgotten.

What does your operating system say about you?

The lecture for week two began with a brief history of Mac and Microsoft and their OS rivalry, and an interesting (I thought) comment by the instructor, to the effect that he uses different browser applications for different tasks.

That got me thinking: Apple and Microsoft have their own deveoted followings, and popular perceptions that follow with them. Assuming you are working for an institution with the freedom to choose a software provider and not one locked into a service contract, what do your choices in technology say about your institution to the tech savvy public?

An Introduction

This blog is a requirement of my mandatory technology course for Archives and Records Management.  I suspect as things progress and I develop more proficiency it will become almost second nature to record significant items here.

I'm already kind of regretting not having done this sooner, in order to capture experiences, discussions and key components from earlier courses. Live and learn, I suppose.