Computer Hardware (Wikipedia)
This is a decent overview of the parts of a computer. There is nothing really new here, but it is nice to have it all in one place. One statistic that I did find interesting is at the very beginning: PCs made up only .2% of the new computers made in 2003. I suppose this is not surprising, but it reminds the reader that there are a whole lot of other computers operating out there besides the one on your desk.
Moore's Law (Wikipedia)
I have heard of Moore's Law, and was somewhat familiar with how it works, but reading this entry made me more aware of just how much in the technology world seems to operate under this law. I always thought of it as a way of guessing how fast new PCs might be in the next several years, but according to this writing it means a lot more than that. Storage, bandwidth, power use, and several other aspects of computers also increase at similar rates. In addition, something I never thought about before is presented here, that Moore's Law may be a sort of self-fulfilling prophecy. Manufacturers expect competition to have improved their technology to a certain level, and so they struggle to be at this same level. This makes me wonder just how much influence one person's predictions can have on an entire industry, an industry which in turn affects just about every aspect of our lives.
Computer History Museum
This site covers a lot of important things related to computers. With visuals combined with easily readable text, it makes it easy to follow along and find information about several different subjects. Since there is a lot to know about computers, it is nice to have all this information easily accessible, and it helps to have it set up with a design that includes more than just essays about the subjects. The charts, visuals, and the interface itself are not just there for aesthetics; they help the user understand things better than simple text probably would.
Thursday, August 28, 2008
Wednesday, August 27, 2008
Reading Notes #1
Content, Not Containers
This article gives a few statistics, and several predictions, showing how the transfer of information has been changing in the last several years. It covers most of the common technologies being used today by consumers of information, particularly those that involve the Internet. One major implication of all this is that distributors of content, such as libraries, must determine how to use these new methods to get their resources out to others. The article even suggests that libraries should alter their services, working to provide customers with more personalized content. This is a reasonable idea, as it seems that any kind of content provider today must work to customize their services to work with today's technologies, and to meet the expectations of modern consumers of information. Libraries today, it seems, have in fact attempted this, with catalogs going on-line, full articles or at least abstracts from periodicals being available in databases, and students having access to e-books and the like through university libraries' web pages.
Information Literacy and Information Technology Literacy
Since it is from 1998, this paper discusses some things that have changed quite a bit. While the need for both information literacy and information technology literacy has certainly increased since then, students do not seem to have fallen behind. One thing that the author could not be expected to have predicted is that students would come to understand much of the technology needed on their own, outside of the classroom. The use of search engines, for instance, was not taught to my generation in a classroom, but because of their helpfulness in academic activities, most students figured out how to use them, often with each other's help. While it is still important to keep in mind that people must be educated in information literacy and information technology, this education may often be as much a side-effect of studies as the focus of them.
Lied Library & four years
This case study describes the creation and, in more detail, the maintenance and enhancement of a technologically advanced (for its time, at least) library. The author makes it pretty clear to the reader that keeping all the technology in such an institution running is no small task. In the case of Lied Library, the author (who may of course be somewhat biased) seems to believe that everything was planned fairly well. This writing illustrates how such a library, or indeed any institution with a similar level of technology, requires a great amount of planning, resources, staff, and determination to keep functioning. One concern that is only hinted at in this case study, but seems to be important nonetheless, is just how much control to give users over public computers. Students are typically given more, but just how much should they be allowed to do? “Community patrons” must be more restricted, but how much restriction is too much?
This article gives a few statistics, and several predictions, showing how the transfer of information has been changing in the last several years. It covers most of the common technologies being used today by consumers of information, particularly those that involve the Internet. One major implication of all this is that distributors of content, such as libraries, must determine how to use these new methods to get their resources out to others. The article even suggests that libraries should alter their services, working to provide customers with more personalized content. This is a reasonable idea, as it seems that any kind of content provider today must work to customize their services to work with today's technologies, and to meet the expectations of modern consumers of information. Libraries today, it seems, have in fact attempted this, with catalogs going on-line, full articles or at least abstracts from periodicals being available in databases, and students having access to e-books and the like through university libraries' web pages.
Information Literacy and Information Technology Literacy
Since it is from 1998, this paper discusses some things that have changed quite a bit. While the need for both information literacy and information technology literacy has certainly increased since then, students do not seem to have fallen behind. One thing that the author could not be expected to have predicted is that students would come to understand much of the technology needed on their own, outside of the classroom. The use of search engines, for instance, was not taught to my generation in a classroom, but because of their helpfulness in academic activities, most students figured out how to use them, often with each other's help. While it is still important to keep in mind that people must be educated in information literacy and information technology, this education may often be as much a side-effect of studies as the focus of them.
Lied Library & four years
This case study describes the creation and, in more detail, the maintenance and enhancement of a technologically advanced (for its time, at least) library. The author makes it pretty clear to the reader that keeping all the technology in such an institution running is no small task. In the case of Lied Library, the author (who may of course be somewhat biased) seems to believe that everything was planned fairly well. This writing illustrates how such a library, or indeed any institution with a similar level of technology, requires a great amount of planning, resources, staff, and determination to keep functioning. One concern that is only hinted at in this case study, but seems to be important nonetheless, is just how much control to give users over public computers. Students are typically given more, but just how much should they be allowed to do? “Community patrons” must be more restricted, but how much restriction is too much?
Tuesday, August 26, 2008
Muddiest Point #1
There is a list of accounts that need to be created and a list of software to be downloaded and installed on the Announcements page of CourseWeb for this class (there was an image of these lists in the PowerPoint presentation as well). Should I set up all of these accounts and install all of this software now, or wait until we discuss each one in class so that I do not set anything up incorrectly?
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