TheNextLibrarian

Podcasting in Libraries?

2005-10-30T19:51:00.000-08:00

As we move to the future, we are introduced to new communication technologies. One of these new technologies is Podcasting. Podcasting is a type of informational broadcast that is saved as an audio file (usually in mp3 format) which can be uploaded to a server, and delivered to listeners at their convenience. Some of the advantages of podcast is that it is highly portable, and it has a play back function which allows its user to use it at their convenience.

At the present time, podcast are being used in school classrooms. Podcasts for instance, allow students and faculty to disseminate pre-recorded content, such as class lectures and class discussion. Since podcast allow classroom recordings, it has been found that they have been most helpful in music, language courses, and long distance learning.

While in libraries, podcasts have been found to be helpful in providing library tours. Podcasts for instance, can be used to self-guided audio tours in libraries and museums. In addition, podcasts can be used in giving library instruction and extramural lectures.

For more information about Podcast see the following links:
on how universities are using podcast see http://www.stjohns.edu/academics/libraries/podcast.sju and for a better definition on podcast see http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Podcast.

In sum, podcasts seem to be a promising way to get a new patrons in libraries. One way podcast can greatly help is through school tours to the libraries, or library use instruction. Now imagine if podcasts are used to tutor school children to find information about science projects, history projects, or how to use the computer card catalog. That would mean that just about anyone can go back and learn at their own spare time because the information would be easily accessible to them. Unfortunately with new technologies, there are problems. The first being finding the necessary funding to make this all possible. The second being how this new technology will be maintained for years to come. Overall, it will be very interesting to see how things turn out with podcasts.

Digital Rights Management and Libraries

2005-10-29T13:57:00.000-07:00

While trying to find topics to post on my blog, I came across an article titled, The "Rights" in Digital Rights Management by Karen Coyle. The article can be found in the following link:
http://www.dlib.org/dlib/spetember04/coyle/09coyle.html
So what does digital rights management mean?

Digital rights management (DRM) is a term used to refer to any of the several methods used to control or restrict the use of digital media content on electronic devices with such technologies installed. Some of the media most restricted by DRM techniques include music, visual artwork, computer, video games, and movies (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Digital_rights_management)
So how does digital rights relate to libraries?

One of the growing concerns for digital libraries is determining how we will digitize materials, store them and make them available; and how do we manage the rights along with materials?
To address these issues, Karen Coyle argues that one must be clear on what we mean by rights and how we approach them, so we can find solutions to some of the issues libraries are facing.

In the article, Karen Coyle discusses three rights, which she calls "the 3 C's of Rights." The first right is copyright, or the right to a copyright free zone, which applies to all forms of intellectual property, whether or not we follow the law or not. The second right is contract, which is a legally binding agreement between parties, and are usually created by or under the influence of lawyers. Unfortunately the problem with contracts is that its statements are often open to interpretation. To solve this problem, some efforts have been made by lawyers to limit the set of statements in licenses.

Finally, the third right is control. By control Karen Coyle refers to the following: 1) making an efficient digital commerce by creating a fully automated, machine-to-machine interaction that covers the entire contract transaction over the Internet for example, and 2) finding ways to prevent piracy( for instance, a company may be able to use the court system to punish violators , but a contract has no ability to prevent actions like piracy).

At the end, Coyle states that a "one size fits all" solution is very unlikely because: 1) some material have their own embedded rights technology even before they are acquired, 2) not everyone will agree to the contracts causing some people not to acquire material to avoid the contract all together. Overall, Coyle concludes by saying that we need to understand a broad rights landscape, one as heterogeneous as the resources we manage and the users we serve.

Unfortunately, Coyle did not provide real soultions to the questions, she posed in the article on how we will digitize materials, store them, and make them available with their rights attach. Is this even feasible? Can this be accomplish? I think so, but it would cost a lot of time and money. Another thing we should keep in consideration is the changing times we are living. Today digitization is the popular thing, but tomorrow...things can change. In sum, I will conclude by adding that "understanding a broad rights landscape is important, but it is also important to continually find ways to inform ourselves and ensure our rights in this digital age or any other one.

A little on the wiki phenomenon

2005-10-24T19:03:00.000-07:00

I know I have neglected to blog for what seems over a week. Unfortunately, I had serious family matters that needed to be resolve urgently. One involving the death of a family member, the other involving my grandmother, who by the way is doing better now. The other third problem involves another family member whom we have not heard of, since hurricane Wilma hit Cancun. Hopefully, he is fine....him and his family. Well enough of problems and sad stories, let's do what I am here to do BLOG.

In today's blog I wanted to discuss an article I found called, "the wiki phenomenon," by Johanne Schwall (which by the way can be found in: http://www.schwall.de/dl/20030828_the_wiki_way.pdf

So what is wiki?

Wiki or Wiki Wiki, which is the Hawaiian term for very fast or very quick is a database where each page is easily editable by any user with a forms capable web browser. In other words, one can view it as an expandable collection of interlinked web pages, according to Schall.

The concept of wiki was invented by Ward Cunningham, in the 1990's, when he was looking for a new documentation system that would have the following things: 1) a word processor, 2) be able to trace a document's history, 3) support revisions control in order to check for previous changes, and 4) be easy to use and highly automated. It was Cunnigham fulfilled most of the above requirements that he developed the script. The script allowed the member to do the following: 1) make changes on on-line documentation at any time, 2) be written in different scripting languages like PERL or PHP, and 3) implement different functions. The script works in the background, and remains invisible to its user.

Some of the features you can find in wiki are: a recent change page, which lists all the wiki pages that have been changed lately, 2) a page's history, and 3) all articles in wiki also give references to other articles (building up the net structure of wiki).

Unfortunately with every new creative invention, there are some problems. For instance, members of wiki may not agree with each others comments or point of interests, which may lead to "flame wars," or banning of people in wiki (in extreme cases) before they delete everything in wiki. Unfortunately, banning a user from wiki is close to impossible, since anyone that has been banned can return using a false nickname to log on. So what can we do?

Schwall offers some solutions to wiki vandalism, they are: 1) IP blocking, which prevents the access from computers using special internet address, 2) numbering the post from a visitor in a given time period, can limit access, and 3) secure login, which requires a user name visitor or not.

Another dilemma wiki is experiencing is the issue of copyright. The problem of copyright is who claims copyright to an article that has several authors. Some wikis, like wikipedia have found a way to resolve this problem by using free documentation license (GNU FDl). GNU FDl allows wiki authors the right to own their contributions to wiki, but it also makes it clear to the author that wikipedia can make anything available under the FDI, which allows to freely copy all wikipedia text. So how can wiki help libraries?

Wikis allow people to add or share comments in one place for all to see. I believe this would be a great way to share information about almost everything, such as solving reference questions, or other library issues. Overall, the wiki phenomenon seems to be a great way for libraries to communicate with each other, and other organizations.

Copyright and Libraries

2005-10-08T13:06:00.000-07:00

As a reference librarian working in library, I am faced with several issues. Yet, it is one issue that concerns me the most, and which I feel can greatly affect both public and academic library institutions to have free access to information.
At the present time, the issue of copyright has left public and academic libraries in a big dilemma. It is incredible the number of cases of publishers bring to the court to file against normal people, institutions, or other on copyright. When Congress brought copyright law into the digital era, in 1998, most libraries thought that it would protect fair use for digital materials, but this was not the case. Instead, it was the beginning of restriction to information.
In an article, I found by Siva Vaidhyanathan titled, " Copyright as Cudgel," (which by the way can be found by putting the name of the article in a google search). the author expresses her concern about copyright; and how not many people are taking this issue seriously. As a librarian and a student, I agree.
As a student, copyright has greatly affected what type of information I can or not have access to. For instance, in most electronic databases, students are not able to access journal articles from 2004 or 2005 without needing to pay about 35 dollars or more per article. As a result, students do not have much choice but to use out-of-date resources for their papers, unless they are willing to pay a lot of money per article. As a public librarian, I have also felt the frustration from patrons both young and old that need certain type of information, but cannot access because of copyright. So what can we do besides resigning? Vaidhyanathan gives some solutions.
Vaidhyanathan states that we make the mistake when we engage in discussions of copyright in terms of "property", and that instead, we should see it as a specific state-granted monopoly issued for particular policy reasons. Copyright not only describes real property, but it also describes fundamental public good in specific policy choices that any state can make about the regulation and dispensation of property. It is because of this mentality, Vaidhyanathan argues that we cannot win the argument against copyright abuse.
Besides correcting how we discuss copyright, Vaidhyanathan also proposes the use of "commons talk,"which is a movement toward preservation and expansion of information by creating an awareness in the public on how information operates in society, and the need for it to be commonly owned and shared.
Vaidhyanathan at the end of the article concludes by saying "Copyright need not end if we can rehabilitate and rehumanize it. Our jobs depend on it." I agree with Vaidhyanathan in that the copyright has gone to extremes and that we can modify it for the better good, than to see copyright as profit.

As a bonus, I am including a link that talks more on copyright, patents and trademark for everyone's enjoyment.

Here it is http://www.chipublib.org/008subject/009scitech/patents.html

A Little on RSS and Libraries.

2005-10-02T14:32:00.000-07:00

I recently came across an article, which I wanted to share. The title of the article is "What is RSS and how can it serve libraries," by Zeki Celikbas. I came across it through a google search. By typing the title in google, one can immediately download the article on pdf. Why did I choose this article...you may ask? I think it would be a great way to get with the basics about what RSS is about. So what is RSS?
RSS stands for Rich Site Summary and it is a method used to describe news or Web content that is available for distribution from an online publisher to Web users.
According to Celikbas, RSS is an application of the Extensible MarkupLanguage (XML) that adheres to the World Wide Web Consortium's Resource Decription Framework (RDF). So who created it?
Netscape, through it's portal service in My Netscape allowed it's customers to publish news headings in their pages, sometime in the year of 1999. So why is RSS important to libraries?
One practicle use of RSS feeds in libraries is in it's use as book lists. RSS can help library patrons to keep up with the new releases or the most wanted book list.
In academic libraries, RSS can help students have access to academic journals for FREE! Of course, the problem for some publishers of these academic journals could be copyright.....but if an agreement exist....ANYTHING IS POSSIBLE! (More on copyright later).
(Some examples of academic journals are:
Bio Med Central http://www.biomedcentral.com/info/about/rss/, and
The Scientist http://www.the-scientist.com/).
A third way RSS can help libraries is through reference. XmlHub http://www.xmlhub.com/odp_feed.php, an Open Directory custome RSS-feed generator, has come up with a way to alert patrons and reference librarians to new sources added in libraries through an Open Directory.
In sum, RSS not only can help libraries keep up with information, but it can also help libraries contact their patrons about the different events and resources available in their library. An innovated way to keep in touch and inform the public.

For more information about the history of RSS, how RSS was structured, and finding RSS feeds, I strongly recommend this article.

Some places to find RSS Feeds are: www.rssfeeds.com, www.newsisfree.com , and www.lisfeeds.com .

This is My First Post!

2005-09-25T12:29:00.000-07:00

Hello! My name is Norma and I am blogging for LIS 753 at Dominican University. Over the next six weeks, I will be posting five entries about libraries, the Web, and technology.