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Indiana State Police’s brand new database

As it turns out, libraries aren’t the only digitally-savvy organizations using databases to their advantage.  Databases in the criminal justice field have existed for years but none quite like this.  In an article found on InfoDocket titled “Government Databases: Indiana State Police Launches Clandestine Meth Lab Database Online,” Gary Price pulls from the Kokomo Tribune and Indiana State Police website themselves to detail the new database for use by residents.

The clandestine meth lab database (found here) allows residents to “see every property, car or outside location that was once the site of a clandestine meth lab that has yet to be cleaned and decontaminated” (Kokomo Tribune).  There are over 9,000 of these labs, and the guidelines are detailed on the first page of the database.

Some of the criteria of the labs listed on the website include: at least 180 days has passed since the seizure of the lab by law enforcement, locations not defined as “property” (cars, outside locations?) will be listed 30 days after its seizure, the lab was reported to the Indiana State Police with certain requirements, and the lab was seized on or after January 1, 2007.  Very useful to know for potential soon-to-be residents of Indiana or current residents looking to move.

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Preservation formats for digitization

An article on The Digital Shift by Roy Tennant, “The Library of Congress Recommends Preservation Formats” discusses the new recommendations given by the Library of Congress for best file formats and preserving access to information and data.  These types of information include textual works and sheet music, images, audio, video or moving images of any sort, software, electronic games, learning modules, and of course, databases and datasets.

Instead of replacing the LoC’s “Best Edition” of Published Copyright Works, it is meant to complement the work.  The new list of recommendations serves to compile, categorize, and detail/describe the recommendations, and they even include not only Preferred formats, but also Acceptable formats for some.

The article itself states that no surprises should be found if one is familiar with information preservation already or has experience, but would prove extra-useful to those who hadn’t yet gotten into digital preservation but wanted to remain abreast of its best and most current practices.  The list is organized in an outline-like format, hierarchically divided into appropriate categories.  It is reminiscent of the hierarchical structure we have come to depend on from the LoC and library and information science work in general, and incredibly handy to even just browse.

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Newest library gadgets – Library Journal

I spotted the following article on Library Journal’s website titled “What’s Hot: The latest in library products & furnishings” and decided to explore their technological updates.  New digital technology is being developed all the time but this page had plenty of examples of cool, useful new gadgets that answered some questions that came up in other classes before (such as the outdated formats of microfilm, etc.).

Most of the list is new gadgets geared toward increased independence on the part of the user.  The microfilm retrieval tool, UTrieve, “allows library patrons and staff to access previously scanned strip film and other microform in its original format via a desktop or laptop computer, tablet, or smartphone” and allows the owners to “view, print, save, and send images from the workstation, home, or road.”  A heat-free laminating machine is featured, but the most focus is on circulation materials.  We have an automated materials handling, media security for increased efficiency and security with DVDs, as well as devices (with device dispensaries for laptops, iPads, and others).  Speedy tech checkouts also feature in as well as interactive children’s products.

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NeRD: what are you trying to say?

Today I stumbled on an article through Library Journal’s website titled “U.S. Navy Launches NeRD, a Security Enhanced E-Reader.”  The concept intrigued me simply because I had never spent much time thinking about those in the military benefiting from E-Readers with added security features.  The readers distributed by the Navy were designed by Findaway World, “perhaps best known in the library world for its Playaway) and contain 300 preloaded titles “including popular fiction, recent bestsellers, and content from the Chief of Naval Operations Professional Reading Program.”

Makes sense, as the vice president of digital products for Findaway World states, “We have a longstanding relationship with the Navy and other government agencies and military branches through our Playaway product.  At its core, Playaway is a pre-loaded, locked-down electronic device that’s secure, non-transferable, and lends itself well to circulation environments.”  In an environment in which it is difficult to circulate many books and in which wifi communications and credit card-using technologies (such as the Kindle store, the way by which we obtain books on E-Readers) must be locked down, the Playaway’s descendant, the NeRD, is the perfect companion.

Navy security protocols require restrictions on personal electronic devices “with rewritable media or recording capabilities” while on ships – understandable, considering the confidentiality issues and military matters.  Though the Navy has offered many venues of book-lending over the years such as through OverDrive, EBSCO, Gale, et al., but during deployments the access to these materials can be limited.  While aircraft carriers offer selections of books and DVDs “on par with many public branch libraries,” submarine libraries are limited by space constraints and could be just a few cubic inches.  Because of this, submarines will be the first to receive the NeRDs.

An additional technology keeps the content encrypted and safe: Findaway’s Lock design.  Inspired by the Navy’s RFI “and later request for proposal” (RFP),  the technology will soon be in demand by schools, public libraries, and other organizations.  This would be a good way to keep a “curated, focused list of titles” available to read.

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when you DON’T want a page to get the publicity it doesn’t deserve…

Recently I saw a post floating around on a website promoting a website called ‘donotlink.com’.  This deals with the “problem” Google sometimes has – reading hits to a page as relevance or authoritative.  This is problematic for the reason it sounds like – some web pages are problematic, especially with regards to propaganda and disinformation.  How can we link others to these problematic pages and still keep the page from gaining the first place spot on Google’s SERP?  donotlink.com!

According to its FAQ page, “With donotlink.com, you can link to sites without giving them “Google juice”.  Donotlink uses three different ways to block search engines from crawling a link. So you can post the link on forums, message boards, facebook, twitter, reddit, and other public places without giving shady websites any undue credibility.” 

“Shady” websites… I like that.  I’m sure we can all think of two or three of our own choosing that we’ve seen.  They might post outlandish political things, sensationalist news articles, or just be wrong about things.  Luckily there’s now a system to allow for linking of the pages without bumping up its supposed credibility.  Interesting…

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presentation handouts

As I look through the handouts for our presentations for peer evaluations I’m thoroughly impressed (not for the first time!) with all the information included on the handouts.  It made me realize how rudimentary my own was, and how I could have included more information.  Of course there is a pro to the basics in that it leaves room for further explanation in the actual presentation.  But for a complete summary of my Powerpoint, well, points, I could have included more.

Still it was a good exercise in using Publisher and tweaking things around in Photoshop/GIMP if needed, and good to try and boil down all the necessary points into a single sheet.  Next time I’ll know that it’s okay to include more!

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hopping on the metablogging train~

Three of my classmates have blogged about blogging so I thought I’d follow their leads and do the same.  Like others I have struggled with this aspect of the course, mostly because a) I am incredibly shy and b) I have been so burned out on social media from my (undergrad, especially) years of obsessively being on Livejournal, Facebook, Twitter, and tumblr.  Recently because of life and this burnout I have tapered way off in my personal use of the still-relevant ones (that is, everything but Livejournal) and this class challenged me to reverse that.

I didn’t do so well of a job throughout the semester for various reasons (the biggest of which is that I felt way behind as far as understanding the material when compared to my classmates’ insightful and profound blogs).  But oddly enough I feel like I will use this PLN/PWN a whole lot more now that I’ve seen how many of my classmates were in fact having the same issues with the indexing that I was, that I wasn’t as behind as I thought.  I have always enjoyed reading classmates’ blogs even if I felt not as advanced as some who work with metadata in professional settings already, just felt I had nothing valuable to contribute most of the time.

There is no doubt this is a valuable learning tool and I look forward to continue blogging about various LIS topics and recording more of my journey into these learning processes.  Of course Twitter is a “hot” place as far as outreach and I look forward to using it more and more.

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Final thoughts on indexing

Well, as of a few minutes ago, I believe I finalized all my indexed images.  I’ll probably double-check about 500 more times just in case…but all in all I feel pretty proud of myself for finding ways to describe a football image other than, “Group hug with Trent Richardson, Dustin Earnest, and Blake Gideon while Keenan Robinson is fourth wheel” (see this image).  Learning about the mechanics of football as well as the specifics of each position I identified was fun as well, and going forward I feel like I’ll have a much deeper appreciation for football than I did before.

I first indexed the DePol images, and while I thought that might have been the wrong decision to make when I started on the football images I believe it was the right choice after all.  I was able to devote the time I needed to the football images instead of thinking in terms of, “Well, I better hurry up so I can get to the DePol ones.”  Following Dr. MacCall’s suggestion of doing the “easy” or straightforward elements first saved SO much time and made all the difference.  As with all LIS projects so far, the problem with adding subjects for the football images was “okay…how specific do I want to be/how much is too much?”

I feel much more confident about my knowledge of metadata after putting all the theory of the semester into practice.  I thought I would never feel this sure about my work with metadata and even though I know I still have so much to learn and can only refine these skills (nowhere to go but up!), I feel like I have a solid foundation whereas there was none before.

Thank you, Dr. MacCall, for the opportunity to practice as well as the opportunity to get to know a little more on a subject area I previously knew nothing about!  I’m not an expert on either metadata or football by far, but there’s no question that I know so much more than I did in January.

achievement unlocked: becoming slightly less clueless

So I’ve been wanting to wait until I was done with most or all elements for most or all images before I posted or asked for help.  I wasn’t sure how many I would end up having questions about, or thought if I had repeat questions it’d be best grouped together.

A fun side effect this has had is that I’ve found it to be easier getting to know about football.  Having to come up with ways to describe an image has actually gotten me to look at the mechanics of the game more than I have in the past actually watching the games.  I guess it’s engaging a part of my brain I’d never been forced to or driven to exercise in that way before?

Just wondering if any of my fellow “don’t really know that much about football” coursemates experienced this too!