Unit 6 My Blog the DSpace install experience.
The install was really amazing, there were so many steps and so much text went flying by on the VM window that I found myself hypnotized by the complexity of the process. Users just see a pdf or jpg but the install configuration and administration of DSpace underscores the magnitude of the work, planning and precise execution needed to render digital objects. As I followed the install steps, my brain was focused only on the discrete task before it, and not upon the how or why a specific step was being performed. It was only after the successful installation of DSpace on my Ubuntu Server VM that I could take a breadth and look up and see the trail of virtual bread crumbs that traced the path that had just taken me so far.
As to the question could I have figured this out on my own or would I need help from a systems specialist? Despite how far I may have come from where I started way back at the first week of 672, it still would be necessary for me to consult with a specialist before I would try installing DSpace in a production environment. However, the install documentation is detailed enough so that with the DSpace technical community forum as a resource, I might only need to consult with a specialist to get over just a few speed bumps.
While I somehow initially went down the wrong path on page 6 of the install fortunately I had taken the precaution, per the advice inserted in the DSpace install document, to take snapshots of previous states of the VM so I just reverted and went forward. As I look back I am now very comfortable with the steps on pages 1 and 2 that create a new VM and install the Ubuntu Server. Many of the commands and steps after page 2 are also pretty familiar to me, for example using the linux sudo aptitude command to download code from partner repositories. I also know enough about the linux file structure to have a good idea of where all that code was deposited. These individual pieces of knowledge like the modules we added during the Drupal install have provided me with tools to better understand the DSpace install and other tasks I might confront in curating a digial collection.
Sunday, October 3, 2010
Sunday, September 26, 2010
Unit 5 The benefits of TinyMCE
Here is an example of the way cool things TinyMCE can do. I copied some html code automatically generated by TinyMCE into my blog just to give the reader a flavor for the amazing functionality made possible by numerous third party modules installed and configured into Drupal. The professional looking text descriptive of Congress Park from a Wikipedia article that follows below is an example of how TinyMCE can help make blogs look better.
Select and install a Drupal module of your choice.
I decided to install the SiteMap module site_map-6.x-2.1.tar.gz to my Drupal, since the site map feature is something I have always found useful on other web sites as a way to discover the contents of a web site. The install and configuration went well, and I configured it so even non-authenticated users/visitors to my collection web site will be able to use the site map feature. I inserted it into the navigation menu using Administer>Site building>Menus>Navigation
I believe the SiteMap module will make my collection easier to navigate but also in a real world context more discoverable by researchers as Site maps can improve search engine optimization of a site by making sure that all the pages can be found by search engine bots.
Congress Park is a 17-acre (6.9 ha) site in Saratoga Springs, New York, United States. It was the site of the former Congress Spring Bottling Plant and the former Congress Hall, a large resort hotel, which together brought Saratoga Springs international fame as a health spa and gambling site. At the peak of its popularity it was a place where the wealthy, major gamblers and stars of the entertainment world mingled. The park's artwork includes a statue by Daniel Chester French and a landscape design by Frederick Law Olmsted, among others.
It was declared a National Historic Landmark in 1987[2][3] after having originally been submitted and listed as the Casino-Congress Park-Circular Street Historic District in 1972. The later listing excluded some of the property outside the park and halved the overall size of the district.
Congress Park is currently operated by the City of Saratoga Springs as a park, bounded by Broadway, Spring Street, and Circular Street in Saratoga Springs.
Select and install a Drupal module of your choice.
I decided to install the SiteMap module site_map-6.x-2.1.tar.gz to my Drupal, since the site map feature is something I have always found useful on other web sites as a way to discover the contents of a web site. The install and configuration went well, and I configured it so even non-authenticated users/visitors to my collection web site will be able to use the site map feature. I inserted it into the navigation menu using Administer>Site building>Menus>Navigation
I believe the SiteMap module will make my collection easier to navigate but also in a real world context more discoverable by researchers as Site maps can improve search engine optimization of a site by making sure that all the pages can be found by search engine bots.
Monday, September 20, 2010
Unit Drupal suitable to my collection?
Drupal seems to be very suitable to my collection of Saratoga Springs digital objects. Because my collection is specific to one small geographic area, it is important that tags descriptive of specific persons, places and things be used to enable discovery. LCSH or other controlled vocabularly might be too high level to provide the specificity I would like to describe the digital objects in my collection. I like the flexibility that Drupal provides and its dynamic features, for example the way I can add a tag, hyperlink it, and then by clicking the hyperlink a new page is launched headed by that tag.
I could describe the songs or photographs in my collection with tags derived from the text of the song or some element descriptive of the photographic subject that likely would not be available in a controlled vocabularly like LCSH. For example I might add the word gambling as a tag to the word musical which might be more expressive than the LCSH heading Musical revues, comedies, etc.
The images of the many instances of mineral waters in and around Saratoga Springs might be tagged with words like geyser, spouter, fountain, springs each of which might be more expressive than labeling each photograph Springs--New York (State)--Saratoga Springs
As explained in the Unit 5 tech assignment “we will expand on this problem over the semester”
I could describe the songs or photographs in my collection with tags derived from the text of the song or some element descriptive of the photographic subject that likely would not be available in a controlled vocabularly like LCSH. For example I might add the word gambling as a tag to the word musical which might be more expressive than the LCSH heading Musical revues, comedies, etc.
The images of the many instances of mineral waters in and around Saratoga Springs might be tagged with words like geyser, spouter, fountain, springs each of which might be more expressive than labeling each photograph Springs--New York (State)--Saratoga Springs
As explained in the Unit 5 tech assignment “we will expand on this problem over the semester”
Monday, September 13, 2010
The data deluge continues, or I need a CMS to handle all this stuff
Please don't speed it up. I feel like someone trying to catch successively faster and more numerous tossed bean bags. It is all I can do to keep up. I understand there is much to cover and each activity and reading does add to my knowledge, but I don't think I'm retaining it too well.
The Drupal install was complicated but as time consuming and detailed as it was it was only the start of the tech activities this week. After that came the draft? construction of the Drupal website. Learning some introductory concepts about Drupal vocabulary and the associated hierachical arrangement of terms and subterms while it does reinforce and place in context our earlier readings by Shirky and Zeng, it is all becoming somewhat overwhelming. Layering all this on top of hours of tech readings, together with what amounts to a second class in digital collections management, plus numerous writing assignments, listening to podcasts and replying to the seemingly endless discussion posts from classmates, well ...
Despite the deluge of material and assignments, I'll continue to give it my best effort. The connection between MySQL and Drupal was the most instructive concept learned this week. Trying to locate my initial page and then grasping that rather than being located in a familiar static directory and subdirectory structure that Drupal instead dynamically recalls content from a database was a very important lesson.
The Drupal install was complicated but as time consuming and detailed as it was it was only the start of the tech activities this week. After that came the draft? construction of the Drupal website. Learning some introductory concepts about Drupal vocabulary and the associated hierachical arrangement of terms and subterms while it does reinforce and place in context our earlier readings by Shirky and Zeng, it is all becoming somewhat overwhelming. Layering all this on top of hours of tech readings, together with what amounts to a second class in digital collections management, plus numerous writing assignments, listening to podcasts and replying to the seemingly endless discussion posts from classmates, well ...
Despite the deluge of material and assignments, I'll continue to give it my best effort. The connection between MySQL and Drupal was the most instructive concept learned this week. Trying to locate my initial page and then grasping that rather than being located in a familiar static directory and subdirectory structure that Drupal instead dynamically recalls content from a database was a very important lesson.
Wednesday, September 1, 2010
Unit 2 CMS at Kent State
Library Hi Tech Vol 24 No. 1, 2006 “Building a local CMS at Kent State” by Rick Wiggins, Jeph Remley and Tom Klingler p69 -101
I selected the article cited above to read in full because I thought it would be an excellent opportunity to learn the operational details of a library CMS (Content Management System). I wasn't disappointed. The authors take the reader through a step by step process of building a CMS for library web development. The fundamental reason for implementing a CMS in the library environment is the recognition that a library's web site is a core service and that web development and maintenance is as equally important, complex and challenging as the work involved in operating the library's OPAC and ILS
The Kent State Libraries and Media Services web site team (LMS) found that there was a profound need to improve the structure and the integrity of the KS web site. The increasing number of pages, links, e-resources and user expectations made old processes and workflows obsolete. The old methods of updating and maintaining the web site were no longer sustainable. Scalability issues had overwhelmed web development and a radically different methodology was required to automate library web page content and metadata. Hence the need for a CMS.
To their credit, the LMS team included their core users , university staff, faculty and students as key participants in crafting a new web site which would be administered through the CMS. Focus groups and participant surveys generated feedback so that the KS LMS team didn't fall into the trap on relying exclusively upon the expertise and expectations of librarians.
A key moment in the development process was the conclusion by the LMS team that no open source or commercial CMS was available that would meet all the project's requirements. So the KS team developed their own CMS.
The largest part of the article provides in extraordinary detail the features and workflows of the KS CMS. I will spare the reader these details. However, as I reflected on this article, it became obvious to me that the KS CMS as described by the authors is very much a top down expert system. That is the CMS is completely dependent upon the expertise of the library staff. After its launch, the KS CMS doesn't include end users as active participants in the generation of content. A lot of what is described in the KS CMS project, while it would delight many librarians, I think generally runs counter to the philosophy articulated in last week's Clay Shirky reading.
To be fair the article was written in 2005 and published in 2006, light years ago in digital time, (yet Shirky's remarkable article was also written in 2005), well before social media became the dominant factor it is today. The KS article describes a CMS process that is a triumph of taxonomy and professional expertise. Folksonomy, and crowd sourcing are never mentioned as considerations, and personalization is only a vague hope requiring a new centralized authentication system. I think the authors would write a radically different article today.
I selected the article cited above to read in full because I thought it would be an excellent opportunity to learn the operational details of a library CMS (Content Management System). I wasn't disappointed. The authors take the reader through a step by step process of building a CMS for library web development. The fundamental reason for implementing a CMS in the library environment is the recognition that a library's web site is a core service and that web development and maintenance is as equally important, complex and challenging as the work involved in operating the library's OPAC and ILS
The Kent State Libraries and Media Services web site team (LMS) found that there was a profound need to improve the structure and the integrity of the KS web site. The increasing number of pages, links, e-resources and user expectations made old processes and workflows obsolete. The old methods of updating and maintaining the web site were no longer sustainable. Scalability issues had overwhelmed web development and a radically different methodology was required to automate library web page content and metadata. Hence the need for a CMS.
To their credit, the LMS team included their core users , university staff, faculty and students as key participants in crafting a new web site which would be administered through the CMS. Focus groups and participant surveys generated feedback so that the KS LMS team didn't fall into the trap on relying exclusively upon the expertise and expectations of librarians.
A key moment in the development process was the conclusion by the LMS team that no open source or commercial CMS was available that would meet all the project's requirements. So the KS team developed their own CMS.
The largest part of the article provides in extraordinary detail the features and workflows of the KS CMS. I will spare the reader these details. However, as I reflected on this article, it became obvious to me that the KS CMS as described by the authors is very much a top down expert system. That is the CMS is completely dependent upon the expertise of the library staff. After its launch, the KS CMS doesn't include end users as active participants in the generation of content. A lot of what is described in the KS CMS project, while it would delight many librarians, I think generally runs counter to the philosophy articulated in last week's Clay Shirky reading.
To be fair the article was written in 2005 and published in 2006, light years ago in digital time, (yet Shirky's remarkable article was also written in 2005), well before social media became the dominant factor it is today. The KS article describes a CMS process that is a triumph of taxonomy and professional expertise. Folksonomy, and crowd sourcing are never mentioned as considerations, and personalization is only a vague hope requiring a new centralized authentication system. I think the authors would write a radically different article today.
Monday, August 30, 2010
Unit 1 My digital collection Saratoga Springs, NY
My digital collection centers around the resort town of Saratoga Springs,NY. The town is now best known for its racetrack and the festive summer days that include major stakes races, like the Hopeful and the Travers. But many years ago Saratoga Springs was better known as a gathering place for high society with its geysers, mineral waters and elegant hotels attracting a fascinating collection of rogues, celebrities and the well to do. Saratoga Springs is brimming with history, the battle of Saratoga is generally acknowledged as a turning point in the American Revolution. The cultural and literary life in Saratoga is extraordinary as evidenced by it being the site of Skidmore, the prestigious liberal arts college and the world famous Yaddo artists colony.
I have harvested a small collection of diverse digital objects that reflects some of these attractions. Among the items in my collection are several mp3 files of songs from the Broadway show “Saratoga” with music by Harold Arlen and book by Edna Ferber. Other digital objects include an .avi file of a podcast about the mineral waters of Saratogs Springs, and an .avi video featuring a day at the Saratoga Race Course The collection includes six .jpg files, digitized photographs of the racetrack, Congress Park, Yaddo and a digital reproduction of a vintage photograph depicting three major grand hotels of old Saratoga Springs. Rounding out the collection are seven pdf files which include three out of print and out of copyright books about the geysers and mineral waters of Saratoga Springs, and four pieces of sheet music featuring songs about old Saratoga Springs including one entitled “Under the Elms: A Souvenir de Saratoga” by Victor Herbert.
I think this collection would be of interest to historians of Saratoga local history and collectors of American songs and theatrical music. The collection would have broad general appeal with tourists and racing fans. Some of the terms that I might use to provide access to the digital collection include: “Saratoga Springs”, Yaddo, horse racing, and mineral waters. However, I'd like to do so more research and think about this further before creating the metadata for this collection
I have harvested a small collection of diverse digital objects that reflects some of these attractions. Among the items in my collection are several mp3 files of songs from the Broadway show “Saratoga” with music by Harold Arlen and book by Edna Ferber. Other digital objects include an .avi file of a podcast about the mineral waters of Saratogs Springs, and an .avi video featuring a day at the Saratoga Race Course The collection includes six .jpg files, digitized photographs of the racetrack, Congress Park, Yaddo and a digital reproduction of a vintage photograph depicting three major grand hotels of old Saratoga Springs. Rounding out the collection are seven pdf files which include three out of print and out of copyright books about the geysers and mineral waters of Saratoga Springs, and four pieces of sheet music featuring songs about old Saratoga Springs including one entitled “Under the Elms: A Souvenir de Saratoga” by Victor Herbert.
I think this collection would be of interest to historians of Saratoga local history and collectors of American songs and theatrical music. The collection would have broad general appeal with tourists and racing fans. Some of the terms that I might use to provide access to the digital collection include: “Saratoga Springs”, Yaddo, horse racing, and mineral waters. However, I'd like to do so more research and think about this further before creating the metadata for this collection
Sunday, August 1, 2010
A new perspective
Blog
This is the last blog assignment of the course, so take a look back and summarize where you were when the course started and how far you have come. Aside from factual knowledge and technical skills, have you changed your perspective on any aspect of digital information as a result of your studies? (Remember that the essay question on the Final Exam will ask where you think you will be going, so save that part for the exam and make this blog entry more of a course retrospective.)
The entire course has been an amazing journey. Each week, during IRLS 672, I find myself learning something new and those formerly hidden incantations (code and procedures) of digital collections administration are now for me much more transparent.
My perspective has changed to the extent that I am much more aware of the community driven aspects of digital collections. The entire stack of software that makes possible the retrieval and dissemination of digital collections on the web is to a large extent the result of the open source movement. Linux, Apache, MySQL and PHP components of the LAMP server stack are all open source products and together have made large scale digital collections a standard feature of the web. I see more clearly now that the pace of technological innovation is one best managed by leveraging an ecosystem that facilitates distributed innovation.
Apart from the enormous amount of new factual and technical knowledge that I been exposed to in this course, for me the “Cathedral and the Bazaar” reading, summarizes what is driving technological innovation today. While we did discuss and read about the open source movement throughout 671 and to a lesser extent in 673, the “Cathedral” essay provides a unique foundational analysis for the success of open source software. The perspective that no one organization regardless of its resources and no one person or group however well informed can innovate, create and adapt to the changing landscape of digital technology as well as the marketplace is a guiding principle for the successful deployment and maintenance of digital collections. In fact Raymond's early choice for the title of his essay “The Cathedral and the Agora”, the latter term being the Greek for an open market, strongly hints at his appreciation for the importance of community as a core value of digital collection best practices.
Relatedly, Raymond writes, in the context of the Linux OS that: “Linus was keeping his hacker/users constantly stimulated and rewarded - stimulated by the prospect of having an ego-satisfying piece of the action, rewarded by the sight of constant (even daily) improvement in their work.”
This seems to me strongly aligned with Adam Smith's centuries old insight that individuals while pursuing their own self interest may promote the general welfare more effectively than if their actions were more centrally directed or coordinated. For me then , the philosophy of agile software development including launch and learn, rapid releases and the leverage of the internet , like a later day “invisible hand”, helps to explain a lot of the how, what and why of digital collections applied technology.
This is the last blog assignment of the course, so take a look back and summarize where you were when the course started and how far you have come. Aside from factual knowledge and technical skills, have you changed your perspective on any aspect of digital information as a result of your studies? (Remember that the essay question on the Final Exam will ask where you think you will be going, so save that part for the exam and make this blog entry more of a course retrospective.)
The entire course has been an amazing journey. Each week, during IRLS 672, I find myself learning something new and those formerly hidden incantations (code and procedures) of digital collections administration are now for me much more transparent.
My perspective has changed to the extent that I am much more aware of the community driven aspects of digital collections. The entire stack of software that makes possible the retrieval and dissemination of digital collections on the web is to a large extent the result of the open source movement. Linux, Apache, MySQL and PHP components of the LAMP server stack are all open source products and together have made large scale digital collections a standard feature of the web. I see more clearly now that the pace of technological innovation is one best managed by leveraging an ecosystem that facilitates distributed innovation.
Apart from the enormous amount of new factual and technical knowledge that I been exposed to in this course, for me the “Cathedral and the Bazaar” reading, summarizes what is driving technological innovation today. While we did discuss and read about the open source movement throughout 671 and to a lesser extent in 673, the “Cathedral” essay provides a unique foundational analysis for the success of open source software. The perspective that no one organization regardless of its resources and no one person or group however well informed can innovate, create and adapt to the changing landscape of digital technology as well as the marketplace is a guiding principle for the successful deployment and maintenance of digital collections. In fact Raymond's early choice for the title of his essay “The Cathedral and the Agora”, the latter term being the Greek for an open market, strongly hints at his appreciation for the importance of community as a core value of digital collection best practices.
Relatedly, Raymond writes, in the context of the Linux OS that: “Linus was keeping his hacker/users constantly stimulated and rewarded - stimulated by the prospect of having an ego-satisfying piece of the action, rewarded by the sight of constant (even daily) improvement in their work.”
This seems to me strongly aligned with Adam Smith's centuries old insight that individuals while pursuing their own self interest may promote the general welfare more effectively than if their actions were more centrally directed or coordinated. For me then , the philosophy of agile software development including launch and learn, rapid releases and the leverage of the internet , like a later day “invisible hand”, helps to explain a lot of the how, what and why of digital collections applied technology.
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