Blog for 4/21

Web Accessibility

As someone who hopes to be a school librarian, I feel that one of the scariest elements in my future profession is that I will very likely be alone in what I do at my particular facility. Over the years, I have seen and worked at schools that were simply unprepared to deal with student disabilities. Many still do not offer any form of an elevator or lift service between floors. Others are unprepared to assist students who need any assistive technology more complex than a mouse. In public schools, student aides are often provided who can help with these matters. But what should a librarian who works at a nonpublic facility do?

Brophy and Craven make the assertion that “the people who would most benefit from good Web design are generally people who are blind, partially sighted, or dyslexic, and in particular those who use screen reading technology” (2007). I find that to be really quite an interesting statement. I can’t say I’ve ever really thought much about sight-challenged individuals actually using the internet. Obviously, Braille keyboards would be a necessity, as would some form of interpreting the information. Text-reading programs can assist with text-to-audio conversion, but how would someone go about reading a .jpg? I supposed that would be where an “ALT” attribute would come in. Consequently, ALT attributes are only one of ten tips suggested by the World Accessibility Initiative. Others include multimedia captions and transcripts, alternative content for unsupported features, and consistent and sensible page and content structures.

The end goal of web accessibility is one of future proofing. Standardization, understandability, and a robust level of continual currency must all be offered at cost effective prices. Obviously, this is a challenge, and an increasing amount of legislation only serves to make it more of one. This trend will most likely continue to spread outside of the US and UK as more countries adopt policies encouraging web accessibility for all users.

Resource

Brophy, P., & Craven J. (2007). Web Accessibility. Library Trends, 55(4), 950-972. (Available through the CUA libraries website)

The Web 2.0 Challenge to Libraries

I will admit that I had no actual understanding of the meaning of Web 2.0 before this semester. The name alone has always made it seem like something of an empty concept. To be honest, I would be hard pressed to coin a term more “buzzwordy” than Web 2.0. Now that I understand the meaning of it, I can’t truthfully determine if my initial thoughts were that far from the mark. As Tim Berners-Lee put it, “Web 2.0 is, of course, a piece of jargon, nobody even knows what it means” (Joint, 2009).

Web 2.0 is social networking. Though the name was coined as a joke, many feel that there was more truth in it than one might initially believe. Libraries, by definition and purpose, are somewhat dated. Integrating user-produced and shared media into the mix can be seen as a way of spicing things up and adding a bit of currency. The extreme popularity of internet message boards shows us that user involvement is a powerful motivator. Services like Youtube and Yelp that allow individuals to post thoughts, reviews, and criticisms are extremely lucrative.

Drawbacks to this system exist, though I would not have expected them to appear in quite the form they do. There’s the matter of who controls the produced content, for example. Additionally, there’s that element of vulnerability an institution brings in when allowing outside forces, be they users or social networking services, to access their systems. There’s also the question of uniformity versus innovation and flexibility. I think it would be safe to say that no one ever accused a library of being on the cutting edge of cultural trending, after all.  

Ultimately, I fear that social networking in the workplace will mostly be another hot button issue. Very few people are looking to post to their MySpaces these days, and this may prove to be the case as well in a few years when looking back at Facebook. But, like Joint says, you just can’t ignore a major trend because you don’t agree with it. Libraries already face the possibility of cultural extinction, and relevancy is a major asset in the digital world. If Web 2.0 can help in that area, it’d be foolish not to embrace it.

Resource

Joint, N. (2009). The Web 2.0 challenge to libraries. Library Review, 58(3), 167-175.

Blog Entry for 4/7/2013

Part 1: Database Basics

Given the somewhat unusual format of this particular resource (i.e.: an interactive webpage), I have chosen to narrate my experiences and reactions as I proceed.

To begin, a database is a collection of information, regardless of media format. Like organs are to tissues are to cells, databases are to records are to fields. Library catalogues are databases about library ownings. Its records are books whose fields are authors, titles, call numbers, etc. Article indexes are databases of journals and other periodicals.

The keyword portion presented a primer on Boolean terms, wildcards, and other similar concepts.  Not much to be said for these, as they’re already a staple of most LIS courses from my experience.

Most of the remaining bullets on the webpage were devoted to additional content that bolstered the first two, such as a Help screen and a Glossary. It’s surprising that so little of the website would be devoted to the actual “lesson.” As for the layout of the website itself, the interactive features were welcome when they served to enhance the lesson, such as the quizzes provided after each of the main two sections.

I feel that the interactive rhetorical questions were a bit self indulgent, as was the mini-running joke “you know the drill” comment under the records portion. Maybe I’m just losing my sense of humor as I get older, but I find unnecessary add-ons such as these and animated gifs of cartoon cats to be somewhat unprofessional. On the whole, though, I think this was a fine resource that would be a welcome tool for an individual who was not interested in deeper studies in this field and simply needed a crash course in the subject. It was easy to understand and refreshingly free of jargon.

Database Tutorial. dot@mac. http://dotatmac.mcmaster.ca/db_basics/db_01_home.htm

Part 2: How Does XML Help Libraries?

This article presents a straightforward, no-nonsense approach to the topic at hand that I appreciate. It begins by asking a question: “why is XML important for libraries?” The answer is, quite simply, that the internet changed everything. This fact is readily apparent in libraries, as resources that were once upon a time largely physical have been replaced with a need for electronic information. As these sorts of items are difficult to place in a catalog, a new technique is called for.

Why XML? As author Banerjee phrases it, “it is impossible to search or display information unless it is structured in a meaningful way.” XML provides a structure for storing information that can be shared in a uniform manner and even combined with other data. Consider ALADIN, for instance, which is used by academic research libraries such as Catholic.

Libraries are able to use XML to store books, send queries, search databases, and authenticate patrons (a feature of which, as someone perpetually incapable of remembering his student ID number, I am painfully aware). Libraries can develop their own XML applications, or take advantage of those designed by others. XML can also be used to represent and work with MARC data, in which large amounts of information have been previously stored.

Banerjee, a library systems analyst himself, believed strongly that XML is to have a strong impact on libraries at the time of this article’s writing in 2002. Now, over ten years later, it would be of worth to hear how his views have changed since then and to see what advancements have developed in line with his speculations. A quick Google search reveals that he now oversees digital services for a library consortium and is co-owner of a library technology consulting firm. It would be safe to assume that he probably knew what he was talking about when he wrote this article.

Banerjee, K. (2002). How does XML help libraries? Computers in Libraries,22(2). Retrieved from http://www.infotoday.com/cilmag/sep02/Banerjee.htm