Finally... a portfolio

Dear Diary,

I am pleased to let you know that I have completed the portfolio. I sent it to my husband to help me review all my links while I was sleeping last night (we are 12 hours apart...). I realized how husbands could be really helpful here... I kind of affirm that from reading our fellow classmates' blog! It is a great relieve to receive an email from him this morning that all the links are working fine. He commented though I could have been more creative with my links, which I agree. I could have spent more time to make my links less conventional. Afterall, I love to play around with such stuff... but I recalled what Dr Alman said..."completion not perfection" and reckoned that what is important here is to fulfill the external style sheet requirement and move on... as there are still things waiting for me. But I will definitely come back to explore more!

Anyway, I will miss you for awhile. But you have showed me that blogging is not such a bad idea afterall. Halfway through the course, I forsake the idea of exposing you to family and friends since most of what I ranted to you about are really quite related to the course work and some of my thoughts may be a little too serious and obscure for people to appreciate my company. But you have definitely fulfilled your intent by showing what Tyan is up to and what she delved in this summer...

You did give me some inspiration and now it is time to consolidate my thinking.
Thanks for accompanying me through the term...

Tyan in Pittsburgh

Technology is supposed to increase efficiency...so what happened?

In LIS2000 or was it 2600, we discussed about how technology is supposed to increase efficiency i.e. cost of production or inputs is supposed to yield a higher output than previously when the technology does not exist. However, Dr Tomer commented about how libraries are now put through the wringer because libraries are instead spending more and more on manpower as technology advances.

That made me a little uncomfortable as I cannot quite reconcile with that. Not that I do not agree with Dr Tomer. In fact, yes logically, what Dr Tomer said is true - that technology is supposed to increase efficiency. Therefore, theoretically, manpower cost should go down when more technology is employed. However, what made me uncomfortable is because I seem to be acting and advocating just the opposite of that now! Let me explain - Our museums are putting up collections on the public domain. We are hiring dedicated people to clean-up the content systematically and make commentaries on these artefact that are suitable for online display. In fact, I am advocating the need to have dedicated people in the museums to do that. Chiefly because museum curators cannot be relied on to contribute in this aspect, because the traditional museum setup and professional framework do not reward curators for this new role museums are taking on. The new role of making their collections available online; the new role necessitated by the digital culture we are in today.

I would therefore opined that new roles and reward system need to be in place to encourage museums to make available their collections online.

Now, this seems to contradict what technology is supposed to do. Both arguments seem to make sense; therefore, are they indeed mutually exclusive of each other?

I am still wondering how to reconcile this...

"Literacy" will actually be killed by technology!

I am reading for the other class on a blog by a Futurist at the DaVinci Institute on technological trends and their implications on libraries' future development.

First, to digress a little, I was quite amused by the designation "Futurist". This corroborated what my husband commented on awhile ago that in a place like US, where the country is big, there are more opportunities and novel industries... like DaVinci Institute - "a futurist think tank"?! It is definitely something unheard of in small countries like back home where only pragmatism survives.

Here is a quote from the site I wish to highlight...

"Dr William Crossman, Founder/Director of the CompSpeak 2050 Institute for the Study of Talking Computers and Oral Cultures, predicts that as we say goodbye to keyboards we will begin the transition to a verbal society. He also predicts that by 2050 literacy will be dead."

What I thought was shocking is the prediction that "literacy will be dead". I thought literacy (reading and writing) is evergreen. But looks like I may be wrong. It is just another thing that will not be spared by technological advancement. We spoke about the impact of technology and digital media culture on the future generations in LIS2000 discussion board. The posit that such digital climate will alter thinking and brain functions may not be unfounded. Scarily, it may very well be true...

http://www.futuristspeaker.com/category/future-scenario/

On XML

I first heard of XML in year 2006 September when I was conversing with an information expert. I did not know what that was about but just branded it as something beyond me. I am glad I took this class and is now exposed to what all these internet related acronyms are.

I was talking to my husband a few days ago. He commented that importing of XML records to a new system can be quite a challenge. I guess he was referring to the top or external layers of the new system that govern the XML being different from the system of origin, thus the challenge? I've got to speak to him to find out more... it will be after I am done with all the pressing assignments.

Duplicate records - a common enemy?

When I was doing the Koha assignment importing MARC records into the system, I noticed something. There are usually more than one MARC record of the same book. The content of the fields can be very similar. I wonder if this is the same problem we experience in our maintenance of the collections database, where we have duplicate records of the same artefact in our database system. Theoretically, duplicate records are a taboo - They are not supposed to be there. There are rules in place, to ensure that the system is not misused and that there are no more than 1 record of each artefact in the system. However, as a result of perhaps ill-discipline, failure to mechanize all input processes or simply the innate inconsistency of humans to follow rules (such as to check for existing records before creating new ones), this is going to be a perennial problem even though we attempted on a one-time dedicated effort to clean out all duplicate records.

After conducting the Z39.50 searches for the Koha assignment and observing the same phenomenon, I felt a little more consoled that this problem of "duplicate records" we face does not seem to be unique to us. I wonder if there is a problem if libraries around the world choose to import a different set of MARC record for the same book during copy cataloging.

I will also be interested to know if there is a dedicated team or how big is the team at the Library of Congress or OCLC who maintains the MARC records database.

Postings on Blackboard has helped me a lot

Dear Diary,

I must admit that I have neglected you for awhile. I have some catching up to do here.

The past 2 weeks have been hectic. Taking 3 core classes is no joke especially when all the demands for all the classes came all at the same time. I am glad I make it through in one piece.

I just want to say that the class discussion board has been very useful in helping me tackle all the assignments so far. All the questions people post and all the generous supply of answers have made it easier for me do the assignments, which otherwise I will be struggling to understand.

I always find it amazing how people can tackle the problem and in addition, find time to contribute to help others... when I sometimes can barely cope to do the minimum that is required of us. This is also true of those who are frequent and magnanimous contributors I see on the museums listserv I subscribe to. I salute these people.

On SaaS

We have been talking about SaaS in class.

Here are my 2 cents worth. Not that these are any revolutionary ideas, but just to register a thought...
The biggest problem with SaaS and cloud is TRUST. It is true that lowering expenses may be a big benefit for users. But for big corporations, these are high-stakes information we are talking about e.g. financial data and information of clients. There need to be lot of security and high confidence to have them reside in a third party server somewhere out of their surveillance. On the other hand, for SMEs, the cost-savings may not be significant for them to risk compromising the integrity of their data. These seem to suggest that SaaS and cloud might not take-off, since neither the big boys nor the small players see benefits that outweigh the downside. However, with big names (such as Google and Amazon) putting their stake in this, the level of trust will increase, and cloud and SaaS will eventually be the command of the day. When cloud and SaaS becomes widely accepted and practiced, opportunities for smaller vendors will ensue.

What would be the technology that will supersede optical disk?

There was a discussion in class some weeks ago on what would be the technology that will supersede optical disk. I am definitely not a tech-buff. In fact far from being one. But talking to one (my husband) and based on what I gathered from classes thus far, I guess the "next thing" will not be a tangible storage device, it will be cloud. Imagine for an instance, if information is so mobile and connectivity is such commonplace, there may no longer be a need for people to carry a physical storage device anymore. We can log in anytime, anywhere, to access our information from the cloud, right?

"Is Google making us stupid?" I think the Internet is driving me crazy

When I first moved into my current apartment, the estate manager asked me why don't I subscribe to cable TV. I told him that the Internet is enough to keep me busy. I was serious - I do not have time to watch television nowadays. The internet, is a time-sucker.

Ok, to be fair, with internet banking, its ability for us to book things online, register for classes and communicate etc, the Internet allows us to save time and the hassle of having to get out there physically to get things done. However, as much as it has helped, it is also a huge source of distraction (to me). Look at how our life is entrenched in the computer these days - we will be flittering between hyperlinks, checking our emails, chatting, MSN-ing, checking facebook, and now we have one more new addition to the list - the blackboard. Yes, luckily I refused to allow facebook and twitter to dominate my life. But as it is now, it's already bad enough. I long to savor what it is like to be able to do ONE thing at a time... in PEACE...

In any case, I do prefer reading over watching television (if we don't consider the content). In a way, television is a more passive mode of receiving information. We are just "fed" with the information. Reading is supposed to be a more engaging activity than watching television. It allows me to stop any time, think and process the information read. So I like it better. But the problem is, I can hardly read in peace especially when I read online, let alone engage in any deep thinking.

I read an article sometime ago, "Is Google making us stupid?" by Nicholas Carr. http://www.theatlantic.com/magazine/archive/2008/07/is-google-making-us-stupid/6868/
It resonates well with me. The author argues that we are no longer "engaged or "making rich mental connections" when we read online as compared to when we read in the past. What Carr says is, when we read online, we "remain largely disengaged", unlike reading a tactile book. But with our lifestyle today, we hardly have the luxury to hold any book in peace anyway, so I guess it makes no difference anymore...

I experienced an epiphany...

I heard from Kate in class 2 days ago about the things she had to go through; I told Jeff over lunch yesterday how I could empathize with Kate. We were lamenting a little about responsibilities of being "grown-ups", how the problems are universal and transcend countries and cultures - everyone has to make a living, needs a roof over our head, has to fulfill obligations in the multiple roles an average adult takes on.

Today, I am moved by this epiphany that I am extremely lucky. Back home, I was bound by responsibilities at work, at home, as an employee, a daughter, a wife, a daughter-in-law, a sister, a friend and a colleague, but luckily not yet a mother! I have excellent and understanding family and friends who loves me, but obligations in these roles are inevitable. Am I taking life too seriously? Well, I am not sure. To make things worst, my mind is always greedy for too many things - always on a lookout for business ideas, ideals of solving problems at work, writing a book, creating stuff for self-satisfaction, ideals that I cannot always fulfill. I am glad to be where I am now, as a student, I need only to be accountable to myself and I think the school's schedule is making me slow down a little with other desirous thoughts. I just killed a chimerical idea of trying to supply micro fiber cloths to Giant Eagle when I saw how expensive those things can be in this part of the world. Guess what?! I was actually surfing the net for suppliers for micro fiber cloths and amazed at how convenient it is to be connected to global suppliers worldwide now with the internet! Then I thought I better stop dreaming and wasting time, and get back to work!

Anyway, I am reveling in my freedom now...I count my blessings.

On Omeka

I believe there is a way for me to feedback to Omeka.net.

I thought there should be a window pop-up or something similar to prompt users that the page is expiring and whether users wish to continue working on it; somewhat similar to what online banking websites usually do. What happened was this...I was working on the Dublin Core page and when I decided to save the changes, the page expired on me, and I lost all my inputs! The Dublin Core page requires lots of work to be done on it, it is likely that people will get carried away working on it. It does not help that the save button only appears right at the end of the page with no reminder to save the work intermittently. Worst, the page expires and just logs users out without warning and users had to start all over again. Not too intelligent a design.

On the same note, since the Dublin Core page is such a long page with so many fields, there should be something that functions like a content page link or a drop-down box that showcases all the fields on that page. These list should have the ability to bring users directly to any of the fields, instead of having users to scroll up and down looking for a particular field.

Jing Assignment

Watch the video below on how to Install & configure Firefox extension for Zotero
To watch it on a bigger screen, click on the link below:
2010-06-08_1100

I love Jing

Hey dear,

I learned this during my course... Check out Jing (http://www.jingproject.com/)
The end result is what you see above. Excellent for use to embed explanations/ short screen presentations into your website.

It is used together with screencast.com, where you can upload easily onto your website. Just sign up and try they are all FREE!

How can we make organisations/ companies value the importance of good information management practices, and thus invest in it?

I see a business opportunity. But I still do not have the formula to make it happen. It will only be successful if our society are "educated" and "convinced" that there is value in information management and preservation. Allow me to explain - as we examine the role of information in the society today and generate new knowledge, we should keep in view how such knowledge would serve society and not allow it to remain academic. We live in a pragmatic world where monetary motivation and commercial gains are likely impetus behind new frontiers in many industries. Investing in the preservation of information and having good information management system in place is often seen to just benefit long term noble good and have no financial benefits for businesses such as in the generation of revenue or in cost-cutting. Proprietors of commercial businesses will not invest in information management and preservation strategies that do not have a direct impact on their bottom line. I am thus especially interested in how information professionals can create a new climate where commercial industries would appreciate that sound information management and (digital) preservation practices are not only good for mankind (as in heritage industry, libraries and all) but can also be a charter for commercial interest.

I know this sounds like a chimerical ideal. Like what Dr Tomer said in class, even libraries are finding it hard to justify to invest in preservation of their collection (their information assets!), let alone commercial entities! But if you have any brilliant idea on how information people can start creating a climate where investing in good information management strategies is something all companies and organizations will die to strive for, leave me a note...

Refworks assignment - Scopus/ Google Scholar

Google Scholar and Scopus ought to improve? I am commenting here from an end-user point of view...
it was painful having to import the articles one by one from Google Scholar into Refworks. Google Scholar does not allow multiple selection! And Scopus, though was better than Google scholar in this aspect (it allows concurrent and multiple selection), did not indicate how many records have been selected for export to Refworks. And for some reason, I was logged out after perhaps idling for too long and Scopus did not log my history! I had to do the selection all over again.

Open-source software

On open-source software, I see that vendors stand to benefit more than end-users. Open source tends to better serve the IT-savvy, who are able to alter and improvise the source code for customized use. In a way, open-source software are usually less readily package for the mass consumers and perhaps lacks that refinement, thus it generally requires the user to be somewhat IT-competent and resourceful in order to exploit the software fully.

I believe businesses are still more keen to pay for the certainty that they will be able to get it right straightaway than having to figure things out themselves with a faceless open-source software, unless the employee doing it is IT savvy and confident.

Therefore, there emerged a new business model - Vendors would provide services where the customers need not work hard to make the open-source software work for them. These vendors value-add by customizing and making the software readily employable for the customers, they just charged for their expertise and services but not the software which makes it attractive for consumers.

How technology influences consumers behavior

I am reading for LIS2000, lots of overlapping thoughts. I reckon that this blog is an avenue for me to air my views when it does not fall into our group discussion topics. After all, it is all about Information...

The synopsis of "Everything is Miscellaneous" has a statement that reads "Authorities are less important than buddies. Rather than relying on businesses or reviews for product information, customers trust people like themselves."
This reminds me of a discussion I had with my husband - We were talking about an article in the Taiwan Business Weekly on the studies of consumer spending behavior in China. The article features an interview with the founder of a marketing survey company, who is a young man only in his 20s. He opined how consumers nowadays are less likely to buy under the influence of advertisements. People are relying more on opinions of other consumers, which corroborates on the statement in the synopsis above. How do people shop for a laptop nowadays? They will likely go online to a forum with the specs at hand and ask for opinion from other users. No longer is communication one-sided (from vendors to consumers). There are many more ways for consumers to find out about a product today compared to the not-so-distant past.

"Word-of-mouth" is still at play here. The difference is, today, there is the omnipotent technology to propel this very powerful marketing tool called word-of-mouth to the next level. In the past, word-of-mouth works via physical contact only - like Paul, the evangelist who walked many miles and met many communities to preach the gospel. In our era, we need only to post it up on a blog or forum to reach seas of people...analogous to Paul walking a few thousand miles.

Hybrid

Since we are talking about computers... Here is my candid take: Laptops are morphing into mobile phones; and mobile phones are getting smarter by the day, mutating to function like a mini computer. The eventuality will be a conglomeration of the laptop and hand-held device into ONE.

Acknowledgment: The cartoon is from http://thomaskcarpenter.com/category/ar-games/

Its an irony

I was in Chicago over the weekend. You might be interested to know why I was there. I "gatecrashed" into a private collaborative meeting organized by the University of Illinois hoping to gain some knowledge (since I am now in MLIS program) and networking opportunity. I joined in the dinner. The discussions were interesting. But 90% of the time, I was trying very hard to digest my food and the abstruse concepts exchanged over the meal. But as my inviter said, I was quite brave to have sat through the dinner amongst these computer scientists and information professors. Indeed, I felt very inadequate. I had dyspepsia symptoms after that...

I consider myself an administrator in the heritage field. If there is one thing that dawn on me after the event, is how there is need to close up the distance between administrators of libraries & heritage institutions, and computer scientists & information experts, who are paladins of information access. These experts are supposed to help make life of librarians, heritage managers and ultimately the world's clientele easier. Their treatise and the things they preach may not need to be transparent to end-users; but there is a need for libraries and museums administrators and their management to appreciate enough for buy-ins. Unfortunately, with the advent of technology especially web-based technology, further made more difficult by recondite and almost philosophical concepts preached by specialists, distance had sped off. We need to pull it back.

I am many oceans away from home...

Before I left for Pittsburgh, family and friends asked me to update my life in US through facebook, so that they are in touch with what I am up to. Frankly, I have my reservations about facebook and have always thought that these technological social-networking medium, with its purported benefits, are making my life complicated, busy and is an unnecessary source of distraction. Though blogging is of similar nature, but for the first time, I am thinking this is a good idea. I can kill 2 birds with one stone - setting up this blog fulfills the course requirement and I can keep family and friends updated through this! This explains my blog title...

Anyway for a start, I am pasting here an email I wrote to my family back home just a week ago. I thought this is quite relevant as an introduction about me and my first encounter with Pittsburgh. Even though it has no direct link to the educational experience this summer, but it definitely shapes and contextualizes the start of my first semester here in Pitt. Enjoy!

The following was written on 9 May 2010, Sunday...

Finally, I have some peace today to write you a long letter (I expect it to be, as I have lots to report, since this is long overdue.) It’s Sunday – most offices are close and there is nothing much official things I can do, except to do my laundry and lots of things online - thanks to the internet. Or of course school readings!

To be honest, I thought I better write before school gets too busy which I am expecting it to. I just got a shock when I learned that reading list for one of the modules alone has 9 books! I am getting a bit of cold feet here (also literally). I bought some of the books on Friday and was just browsing through one of them and realized these are big concepts I am getting myself into. Anyway, when it’s back to work 1.5 years later, I will have no time to dream about such nice ideas; it will only be in school that you get such “luxuries”. But grad school is a place where one has to balance real life problems with big ideals and concept which is the epitome of learning and application - I better be up to the challenge.

Starting out in a new place is not easy. But as my hubby said endearingly to me before I left: he has total faith in me since I’m “well-trained” having travelled to obscure places with him and seen all spectrum of China – I’ll survive.

Well, I did. But I shouldn’t attribute too much of my smooth transition here to my independence. To be fair, Pittsburgh is a relatively easy city, even though it has its quirky nuances, which I was lost at first. For e.g. it took awhile to figure out the bus system and how it works; even simply getting a trolley at the airport in US is just a little different (you use a credit card). Even the money-eating machines (I mean money deposit machines at POSB/ DBS banks) we have back home is just slightly different here - I learned to feed the ATM machines with money in envelopes.

Overall, Pittsburgh is a metropolitan city, cosmopolitan enough yet has the charm of a town where people are generally very friendly. Well, I supposed it is not called the most livable city in US for nothing. I am glad I chose here. Campus is vibrant and the city has a strong culture for learning. There are at least 3 other universities within the vicinity apart from Pitt, that I know of. Other than that, the economy also revolves around healthcare services… lots of doctors and nurses and patients from all over the world. Apparently UPMC (University of Pittsburgh Medical Center) is quite renowned. It dominates quite a big part of the city. So property tenancy is a huge spin off as a result of these businesses here since there are lots of movement and demands from students and professionals from all over the world. No sign of financial or property strains at least from the appearance. All the property agents are kept really busy. It is also culturally quite rich, with museums like Andy Warhol, Carnegie Mellon. I haven’t visited the museums though, as I am just done with struggling for my basic survival (!), the arts will have to come later. Ok the truth is, I am waiting to get my Pitt ID for free entrance to the museums!

So what have I been busy with? Well, I started looking for a place amidst all the errands and stuff that I have to settle – opening bank account, registering in school, setting up internet, finding a handphone plan etc. The school admin process alone like what another new student said is overwhelming even more so for international students – web blogs, registering the classes, meet adviser, sign up for orientation, registering to pay fees etc. But luckily most things can be done online but it’s still an art.

The first week was hectic, met many agents, went for viewings, I even encountered a freaky little incident… but I will share only if you remember to ask (and only when I am back home!). Any how, I found my apartment finally after almost 2 weeks of intensive search – I was frantic. Demand was high, but supply was not at its best in summer. I viewed almost 30 apartments! Then the whole of last week, I was doing housewife activities like furnishing the apartment, not to preclude cooking my usual meals – yes all the apartments are empty! So I do have to furnish from scratch from big items like bed to kitchen utensils. But luckily I found Singaporean’s favourite – IKEA! Back home, Ikea is just 2 bus-stops from Normanton Park. Here, it’s 1hr 15 mins by 2 buses excluding waiting time. No time for too much productivity - I can only usually go to 1 place a day. I lugged my goodies home on buses everyday in loads I can manage – so I had to make several trips - I am so proud of myself :P. Of course there is Target which is really a housewife’s haven - I shopped there too. But Walmart is actually the cheaper version apparently. I had to give Walmart a miss since it is more accessible by car. I am not prepared to give myself another chore of renting a car for now..

Amongst my other adventure, I met a superstar (which I wasn’t aware of)...

Pittsburgh is a city that worship football (the Steelers http://www.steelers.com) and ice hockey (Pittsburgh Penguines http://penguins.nhl.com) as much as learning and the arts. I met Sidney Crosby (apparently the David Beckham equivalent?) on my first day out to view apartment. He is one of the hunks of the Winter Olympics! Not bad for a first introduction to the city! I was asking for directions from a young lady and then walking over a short distance with her, there, we saw the superstar. She was very excited. There was a small crowd around him asking for autograph and pictures, I whipped out my camera and started snapping away without knowing who he was then! I only got his name from the lady and googled about him after that. See…I learn new things everyday. I also saw the macho Steeler’s at their training when I was in the car on the way to the property agent’s office one day - Quite cool.

But these are really not representative of my typical day here, which is far from glamorous (Imagine a messy hair aunty struggling with her groceries and the usual sight of me in front of my laptop where else?!).

But overall, I am doing fine :) No worries.

And I must say, Pittsburgh is a beautiful city. I was first taken by a scene in front of me when I crossed one of the many bridges on the way from the airport to my temp apartment in a cab. Humans get immune to new things fast. I hope to capture all these in writing (I didn’t manage a good photo) before I forget how they were novelties to me when I first arrived in this strange but beautiful city.

It has been quite hectic for the past 3 weeks or rather from the time even before I left Singapore. And I don’t think life will ever be slowing down, but I guess I will get use to being a student again.

Click on the link below to my photos, do view the caption which tells a little more of what I have been up to….Enjoy. I think it will have to be awhile before you hear from me again.

http://www.diworkflow.com.sg/g2dil/main.php?g2_itemId=4155&g2_enterAlbum=1

I trust that everyone is doing well :)

With love and missing you all,

Tyan