Starting My Collection (IRLS675-Unit 1)

The assignment:

Gather a small collection of digital objects, perhaps 15-20 items. These might be digital images,

sound files, text files and other digital documents. These may also be digital surrogates (e.g.

photographs of physical objects). The collection should be of interest to you, and it should be something you know a little about. It should also be reasonably diverse, so the same terms or tags would not be used to describe each of the items. These should not be hypothetical items or catalog description records only; you should have the objects in hand (or, more accurately, on disk). You will enter this collection into Drupal in a couple of weeks providing both hierarchical and faceted access based on a simple taxonomy of terms and tags you will develop. You will also enter this collection in other repository systems over the coming weeks.

Using these guidelines, I have decided to create a repository of LGBTQ (Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, Transgender, Queer) music. I just made a mix cd of about 20 songs, so I will use these songs as the basis for my collection. I would imagine that LGBTQ people, professors/students in gender & sexuality studies, and those in the music industry would find this collection useful and interesting. The LGBTQ community is very diverse, so choosing accurate language and tags will be very important in managing the collection.


Types of terms that will be used include:

• Subject Identity Terms: This would refer to the identities either explicitly or implicitly portrayed in the song. For instance, "gay male," "lesbian," "transgender," "polyamory," etc.


• Genre: This refers to the category of music the song belongs to. For instance, "Country," "Hip Hop," "Rock," "Bluegrass," etc.


• Identifying Features: This would be basic information including "Song Title," "Artist Name," "Album," "Year," etc.

Project Management (IRLS672-Unit 12)

I enjoyed Cervone's "How Not to Run a Digital Library Project." It was written in a conversational style and was unique among the articles for this week.

His DON'T tips included:

-not bothering to understand project requirements

-forgetting to plan because it's too time consuming

-committing to a budget and schedule before knowing what you're actually supposed to do

-using WAG as a best guess

-adding more personnel when a project is running behind

-ignoring the critical path

-not worrying about the project's potential downfalls

-adding things to the project once it's already in motion

-and believing you don't need outside help at all

Project management seems to be quite complex because you need to be a jack-of-all-trades, a psychic, and a good leader/coach/mentor. However, if done right, project management can provide the needed results on time and on budget.

First DigIn Course Nearly Complete! (IRLS672-Unit 11)

Looking back on this summer semester, I can't believe how much information we got through and how far I've come. I went from vague recollections of DOS to pwning the command line! Actually, I have a loooong way to go, but I think I'm off to a good start. We've gone through linux, nano, hmtl, websites, servers, tech plans, databases, php scripting, and will soon be covering project management. Not bad for a summer course!

This class showed me that digital librarianship may be a bit more complicated than I initially thought, but it also showed me that I can accomplish a lot when I put my mind to it. I'm determined to not have to rely on an IT department every time I need a tiny thing. I think all librarians should have some of this tech knowledge in order to be empowered, not threatened, in the digital age.

SQuirreL (IRLS 672-Unit 10)

I don't know why, but SQL makes me think of the world "squirrel" lol. Anyway, learning SQL wasn't much harder technically that the other stuff we've been doing, but I think it was really challenging conceptually. It's hard to visualize a relational database and what needs to be in there and how to search it. We're all really familiar with the user interface, but the interface is so different that the actual data behind the scenes. It's kinda like using a googledoc to do a survey in that the people taking the survey see a nice pretty form that they just fill in, while I get to see an ugly spreadsheet of everyone's answers. The pretty is nicer, but the ugly is certainly more useful. They say ignorance is bliss, but we're too far down the rabbit hole to stop now!

MySQL, not Yours (IRLS672-Unit 9)

This week was pretty ok. I had used MySQL previously, but needed to look a bunch of stuff up as I was working. I really like the W3 schools tutorials and the UACBT videos were ok (but a bit slow at first). I know that we were supposed to make a real project, but I still feel like the Gender & Sexuality Resource database I made is a bit hypothetical. It would be cool to work on a real-life project, get the actual experience, and get to know some of the advanced functions. Too bad I don't have time to do an internship or something. I think I will go through some of the MySQL community forums and tutorials though because it's people who use this everyday and have insight far beyond my mediocre capabilities.

Planning Ahead (IRLS672-Unit 8)

I thought the Bertot article on funding was very important. One of the main arguments I hear about why library technology isn't better is that they can't afford it. I like the suggestion they made about streamlining the application process because applications themselves can be a huge time commitment that many libraries cannot handle. I also appreciated the importance of sustainability. In any sort of philanthropic program, local people need the tools to maintain, repair, and upgrade any new technologies they may have received from a funder or else the whole project breaks down. This sustainability factor is an important part of technology plans as well. If I'm looking to fund or participate in a project, I want to know that people are in it for the long haul and that the project will go on long after I'm around. This is what I'm currently trying to get my job to look at: what are we trying to accomplish with these new technologies and how will they continue to be sustainable in the future?

XXXML (IRLS672-Unit 7)

This week we learned some XML and I had a pretty similar experience that I had when learning HTML. I relied mostly on the tutorial from W3 Schools. I found that even though it is text-based, it is very step-by-step and interactive because you can try things in the safety of their embedded programs so there's no fear of messing anything up. I also looked at the UACBT videos, but I found that I like the faster pace of being able to read instead of waiting for them to get to the information I need. I watched part of Just Enough XML to Survive, but the monotone voice left me wandering off...