This class was very interesting. The last install Protege OWL was hard. I had to delete an app before the install would work. This all took a clenched fist and a nervous click. I still am not sure what I am doing. It was interesting to work in the GUI interface but I am glad we can manipulate things even more now as things did not go where I wanted them to and I had to delete and retype over and over. I also had a hard time not putting a space between the words. I really did this one all by myself although I am not sure I did everything correct.
The whole course was so interesting. I learned so much about the behind the scenes of the computer world. I took a computer programing class in the early 70's as a sophomore in high school and would have understood all this if I hadn't moved schools. I am glad i have revisited it.
Each digital collection management system had good points and not so good points. Overall I liked DSpace the most. Drupal was a good starting point and EPrints was difficult to work with. They all were interesting to work with and I look forward to working in the field in the future.
Wednesday, December 8, 2010
Tuesday, November 16, 2010
Unit 12
Downloading a pre-installed VM seems counter productive. Doing the whole process myself I have learned what is what and know where mistakes can take place. It seems that it is easier to trouble shoot when I download and build the machine myself. The building of the system does not take that much time and it adds ownership to the process.
On the other hand if you are working with lots of data taking the time to build the system may not be cost effective. If the system is already there then the people can concentrate on the repository. The collection can be up and available faster. Time can be better spent building collections instead of downloading and building virtual machines.
I enjoyed building the VMs and collections but I did not understand every aspect of the install so I am not sure it would be any advantage for me to build the VM instead of downloading one pre-installed.
On the other hand if you are working with lots of data taking the time to build the system may not be cost effective. If the system is already there then the people can concentrate on the repository. The collection can be up and available faster. Time can be better spent building collections instead of downloading and building virtual machines.
I enjoyed building the VMs and collections but I did not understand every aspect of the install so I am not sure it would be any advantage for me to build the VM instead of downloading one pre-installed.
Tuesday, November 9, 2010
Unit 11
Althought I could not get a theme loaded on my Omeka site I did like it the best. It seemed to be easier to navigate and the DC elements were very helpful and user friendly. The Omeka site was very helpful. The screencasts were very helpful and I liked seeing the actions before I did them. Reading the different forums gave me the insight into the way Omeka can be used and how libraries can use it.
As I remember DSpace was another site that was not hard to use. The way it linked pages to each other was a plus because it allowed for a stream of thought through the collecition. Drupal is similar to DSpace in that it has been around for a while and has more detail than Omeka. Jhove was very technical and it automated object ingestion, storage, access and preservation. It seemed that it was started and then forgotten as some of the information was outdated.
OAI-PMH was a little intimidating. I had trouble using it but it seems it would be a good tool in the Open Archive program. It seems as if I did not have enough background knowledge to use it effectively. I liked that it enhances access to e-prints archives.
Because all these different systems are open source their seervices are available to everyone. Each system has pluses and minuses but because they are open source you can decided which works best for your collection.
As I remember DSpace was another site that was not hard to use. The way it linked pages to each other was a plus because it allowed for a stream of thought through the collecition. Drupal is similar to DSpace in that it has been around for a while and has more detail than Omeka. Jhove was very technical and it automated object ingestion, storage, access and preservation. It seemed that it was started and then forgotten as some of the information was outdated.
OAI-PMH was a little intimidating. I had trouble using it but it seems it would be a good tool in the Open Archive program. It seems as if I did not have enough background knowledge to use it effectively. I liked that it enhances access to e-prints archives.
Because all these different systems are open source their seervices are available to everyone. Each system has pluses and minuses but because they are open source you can decided which works best for your collection.
Monday, November 1, 2010
Unit 10
I searched the website Cyclades: An Open Collaborative Virtual Archive Environment. Its partners are the European Research Consortium for Informatics and Mathematics, the Institute of Computer Science, Fraunhofer FIT among others. It is a collaborative virtual archive service that has a core set of cross-archive value-added services. This allows for communication and collaboration between services.
I searched GEO-Leo which was a collection of earth science and mining related bibliographic records. There were some dead ends but most of the links worked and I got some good information from the collection. The collection by the German Research Association is offered to all German academics and scientists. It gives access to relevant books, journals and information resources.
I looked at Sheet Music Consortium. The members are UC Los Angeles, Indiana University, Johns Hopkins University, and Duke University. This is what I expect from a federated collection. The search was easy and I actually found the sheet music I was looking for. Some of the sheet music was not accessible because of copyright but all that I looked at were. Some of the searches took me to another site. “The Maine Music Box” where I was able to access the sheet music.
The last site I looked at was the Oaister site in the tech assignment. It was very large and well thought out. I was able to navigate through the different features with little trouble. Everything I clicked on had more things to click on. It has so many records and contributors that it might be overwhelming to some people.
I think a good federated collection has continuity and flow. The movement through the site must be fluid. The collection should be connected and well thought out. The collections I looked at were all at different levels of usability. I had a hard time finding anything in the first two sites I looked at. They seemed cumbersome and had a number of dead ends. The last two were much more successful. I don’t think the number of records or contributors is a negative for the Oiaster site because it is organized well and was easy to navigate. The sheet music site also had a large number of records but was not hard to navigante. I think the organization of the site is more important than the number of records it has.
I searched GEO-Leo which was a collection of earth science and mining related bibliographic records. There were some dead ends but most of the links worked and I got some good information from the collection. The collection by the German Research Association is offered to all German academics and scientists. It gives access to relevant books, journals and information resources.
I looked at Sheet Music Consortium. The members are UC Los Angeles, Indiana University, Johns Hopkins University, and Duke University. This is what I expect from a federated collection. The search was easy and I actually found the sheet music I was looking for. Some of the sheet music was not accessible because of copyright but all that I looked at were. Some of the searches took me to another site. “The Maine Music Box” where I was able to access the sheet music.
The last site I looked at was the Oaister site in the tech assignment. It was very large and well thought out. I was able to navigate through the different features with little trouble. Everything I clicked on had more things to click on. It has so many records and contributors that it might be overwhelming to some people.
I think a good federated collection has continuity and flow. The movement through the site must be fluid. The collection should be connected and well thought out. The collections I looked at were all at different levels of usability. I had a hard time finding anything in the first two sites I looked at. They seemed cumbersome and had a number of dead ends. The last two were much more successful. I don’t think the number of records or contributors is a negative for the Oiaster site because it is organized well and was easy to navigate. The sheet music site also had a large number of records but was not hard to navigante. I think the organization of the site is more important than the number of records it has.
Monday, October 25, 2010
Unit 9
The challenge I am having cataloging my items is mostly that I do not know my items intimately. They are just items I found online. I am not completely sure about the metadata involved with each piece. There are a few that have some metadata attached so they were easier to catalog than others. I do not even know that much about the pictures of my mom as she recently had a stroke and is unable to tell me about her childhood pictures I just found and included.
I enjoyed looking for the metadata for the items that are in my collection. Some had more than others and some had none because I did not remember where I got the item. I had to go back and rethink some of the categories I chose because I wanted to keep my labels consistent. I had not thought of all of this when I first began putting my collection together but, as I see it coming together I see how important it is to know what you have. I went back through my collection and tried to make the metadata consistent.
I can see how cataloging records is expensive. It is took a while for me to decide what subject headings and key words to use.
I enjoyed looking for the metadata for the items that are in my collection. Some had more than others and some had none because I did not remember where I got the item. I had to go back and rethink some of the categories I chose because I wanted to keep my labels consistent. I had not thought of all of this when I first began putting my collection together but, as I see it coming together I see how important it is to know what you have. I went back through my collection and tried to make the metadata consistent.
I can see how cataloging records is expensive. It is took a while for me to decide what subject headings and key words to use.
Saturday, October 23, 2010
Unit 8
I did not read correctly and did not change the logo until I read other student's posts stating that they changed the logo. I went back and changed the logo picture to a picture of my mom, who is in some of the pictures in my repository. I thought it would be fun to see if I could cut her face from a photo and save it and paste it into the logo. It worked. I was nervous because there was a lot of work to get it posted but there were no signs of victory until I finished. I was nervous clicking on the refresh button that all that work would have to be repeated but, alas, I did it correctly the first time.
Sunday, October 17, 2010
Unit 8
This install was easier than the other two because it is the third one I did. I remembered little tricks from the last two installs that I was able to use with this one. I could not remember how to move from one user to the other. I had trouble with typos but not as many as before. I figured out from the past that I was the wrong user when it asked for the password. I knew that there was no password, partly from John’s post. But then I had to navigate back to the user1. I am beginning to understand and the pathways and terms to use in the VM.
I branding change I did was minimal. I changed the welcome to read “This repository is a collection of photographs and objects from Chicago during the 1933-1934 World’s Fair”. This was not that easy to enter as I did not know that I needed to use “sudo nano” before the long command string. Then I did not take out the "a"before and after the line. Of course it failed and I went back and figured out the mistake. It worked.
Customizing the look of the installation was not very hard even though I made a mistake the first time. The more I work with the VM and the command line the more comfortable I am so this install was easier than the other two.
I branding change I did was minimal. I changed the welcome to read “This repository is a collection of photographs and objects from Chicago during the 1933-1934 World’s Fair”. This was not that easy to enter as I did not know that I needed to use “sudo nano” before the long command string. Then I did not take out the "a"before and after the line. Of course it failed and I went back and figured out the mistake. It worked.
Customizing the look of the installation was not very hard even though I made a mistake the first time. The more I work with the VM and the command line the more comfortable I am so this install was easier than the other two.
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