O. Carteaux

Student Learning Outcome No. 6: Technology

 

When I first started the program at UNCG, my previous experience regarding various sorts of technology was limited to what I had worked with when I was an undergraduate film student. Even after I graduated in 2004, my computer experience was limited to basic programs found on any computer, and it was not until I started the LIS program that I began to really see what kind of advances that had been made in education as well as libraries - not to mention Library Science as a whole. 

 

My first semester, against perhaps my better judgment, I threw myself into acquainting myself with technology in a large way - I decided to take LIS 635 Media Production Services for Library Programs. Needless to say, I had to learn how to use quite a few technologies rather quickly, and regardless of the fact that it was quite daunting and pretty intense, I am quite glad that I started off my time in the program with that class - it prepared me pretty well for everything that was to come after. Although I had used production software when I was a film student, what I had used for my projects was horribly out of date - and what had happened in the interim when I was not in school floored me. All technology had grown and become more complex in just a few years, and continues to exponentially do so. I was struck that even a simple program like PowerPoint suddenly could do more than I knew was even possible. Perhaps some of those capabilities had been there before, but I know that they had gained complexity and that there had been some increase in what it could do in the 7 years that I was out of school. Even if that were not the case, what PowerPoint was being used for had gained complexity - it wasn't just for slideshows anymore. 

 

I think that class also helped prepare me for a bit of the technology that I used as General Manager of WUAG - especially that of sound engineering that we touched on a little bit in the course and  the use of Audacity, which is also used at the station. The great thing about most sound engineering software is that once you learn how to use one program, most programs, even though they can be a little more complex, follow the basic pattern. Having that foundation of knowledge not only has helped me in the position that I held at the station, but it also helped me quite a bit when thinking about the needs of my independent study - and the work that would go into digitizing vinyl, and the kind of engineering that would have to be done to make the levels consistent and so therefore playable on the air. 

 

Of course, many other technologies in that class that we used have proved extremely valuable through the years - anything from video editing to navigating PowerPoint and Excel in a more efficient way. But nothing could have really prepared me for what awaited me in LIS 643 Metadata. 

 

I am not a metadata specialist. I decided to take the class because I thought that knowing about metadata schemas and various kinds of metadata used for different materials would undoubtedly be beneficial when working with materials as a librarian, which I am confident it will be. I was not prepared, however, to learn about a whole different language - which is essentially what any metadata uses. HTML, XML - I can honestly say that I will never be well versed in these technology languages, and that is absolutely fine with me. It was very interesting learning about how to think in regards to imputing data and hierarchical schemas, following on the heels of what we had learned in LIS 640 - but so much more complex, and a whole other part of library studies that I could not completely grasp no matter how hard I tried. 

 

I think it has something to do with those that are really great at math, and those that are really great with English - we always hear that most of the time, people are divided into those two camps. Everyone that I know who is great at math has their hands in programming, and everyone that I know that was better in English cannot even fathom programming  - which is very similar to work in metadata, especially when working with XML or HTML. Code is not something that ever will make sense to me, but fascinates me at the same time. The idea that the language of computers is so rigid that in order to communicate effectively, you must follow steps perfectly, or know the rules enough to be able to use those rigid confines of rules to your advantage. It holds similarities to written language in many ways, because of the confines of language - but also is more rigid because it does not leave room for interpretation. The language of a computer or a program must be exact so that various terms can be understood. Because we are human beings and therefore able to interpret the symbols that are given to us - whether through a written language or speech - we are able to recognize certain aspects from one word and apply it using experience as well as context, even if that word is spelled incorrectly or just incorrect. Most of the time we are able to discern what is being written or said, unless there are so many mistakes that it just is gibberish. Programs and computers, however, are not able to do this - one incorrect term or misspelling can shut everything down. I could write this whole paragraph rife with spelling mistakes and terrible grammar, but you would probably be able to read it and understand what I am trying to say. A computer would not be able to, or effectively interpret that into something that it could use. This is why metadata, although completely beyond me in so many ways, is so interesting - and the ideas behind that can also be applied to any technology that we work with on a regular basis. 

 

I mentioned biometrics when I was speaking earlier about ethics - and how although I really wanted to go into an ethical debate about the use of biometrics, but that it was a discussion better had elsewhere. I don't think here is the place either, but I think it's important to still mention biometrics, if just to talk about the technology - especially because it shows advances in a very real way that seem like science fiction to those that remember what it was like when computers first started becoming something that were available to regular people about 20 years ago. The idea that a computer can recognize an individual based on the patters that their body holds - all the while storing that information,  sounds like something that cannot be possible and would be found in an Isaac Asimov book. Never before have we existed in a time where our science fiction stories from 50 years ago are now a reality - when every part of our lives are linked to technology in some way. I am typing this on my computer right now, and my smart phone is next to me on the table, updating me whenever something happens on whatever social network that I have programmed it to give me updates for. Although this has been a reality for our society for a number of years, it still manages to floor me.

 

I may have gone a little bit on a tangent, but I think all of that is important to remember when we are looking at technologies that can be used in archives and libraries - because we are so involved in technology already as a society. Programs that are being used are easier to use than ever before, and because the use of these technologies have become commonplace, access and use is no longer an issue  for things that are being done using these technologies, and the various programs that libraries are using to promote the access of their materials. Not to mention that new technologies are being used all the time, and being developed as we speak.

 

One example is M-discs that are now available for recording digital information. As librarians/archivists, we all know that even digital materials degrade over time, and perhaps are even less permanent than print in some ways. These discs, which are on the market today (although expensive) boast the ability to keep and preserve digital information - files, audio, video, whatever it is - for 1000 years without degrading. This technology is being made available to everyone, and - this is the part which makes my brain explode a bit - can be used, recorded on  using a Blu-ray player, an already existing technology, which has been used for mostly entertainment purposes up to this point.  A Blu-ray player, although expensive, is something that has been made widely commercially available for years - and now it can be used in another capacity, which makes it that much more valuable. Are people going to be going out in droves and putting all their digital data on M-Discs? Probably not. But the fact that this kind of preservation is possible, and that it is possible using commercially available technology that many people outside of LIS have access to - is pretty exciting, and opens up a whole host of possibilities. 

 

Therefore it is important, as a librarian, to be familiar with these new technologies, and stay up to date regarding different software and programs, regardless of whether one's work implements them or not. It is also important to remember that just because a new technology exists, it does not mean that it is the best practice for whatever work one is doing. There have been several forms of technology that have been implemented and then taken off the market relatively quickly - and because of this, we often have materials that need to be converted to other formats in order to be accessible. But it is imperative that we know how these technologies work and how to preserve the materials that were created with them, as well as keeping informed regarding new technologies, and making informed decisions regarding whether to adopt them or not. 

 

One thing that I think it is important to remember as well is that reliance on these technologies is a slippery slope, and just because we have these new technologies available to us, it does not mean that we should abandon older technologies, especially those that have relevance in looking at the materials that we work with. Because preservation is such a big part of especially archives, understanding how to use these various older technologies is still relevant, even though some of those technologies are not being used by much of our patrons. For example, I have had the opportunity to organize several different kinds of materials, and much of that is linked to knowing how to handle those materials as well as knowing how to fix items that are broken and use them in order to find what they contain, especially in regards to audio and visual materials. Knowing how audio cassettes and players work, knowing how film is projected and stored is important when preserving these materials, cataloging them, and even making them digitally available to people that want to access them. Although cassettes and film are examples of technology which is still used in various capacities, they are becoming formats which are have been replaced with other digital technologies. 

 

 

LIS 600 Foundations of Library and Information Science: Biometrics

LIS 620 Information Sources and Services: Annotated Bibliography on Biometrics

LIS 610 Collection Management: Final Trends paper

LIS 635 Media Production Services for Library Programs: EMF in Greensboro Movie (will not load to site please contact me for a copy)

LIS 635 Media Production Services for Library Programs: The Key to the Gate City

(This presentation was oroginally meant to be a show, and navigated as such, but cannot be uploaded in that format to this website. Please contact me for a copy of the original format)

LIS 643 Metadata: Annotated Bibliography on Application Profiles

LIS 688 Information Literacy Instruction: UNCMA Film and Media Criticism Lib Guide