Week 5- Reading Notes

Data compression:wikipedia.org
While data compression is extremely useful in many situations, I thought it was disappointing that compressed data can not be decompressed simultaneously- sometimes it takes quite a while for data to decompress. This takes time, which some say is more valuable than money (which one would presumably be saving by using less storage space by compressing data). The illustrations in this article were helpful to me. It totally makes sense that you can sort of take shortcuts with visual data since our eyes can play tricks on us and our brains fill in the missing pieces quite often. I also found it interesting that dvds use lossy compression.

Data compression basics: http://dvd-hq.info/data_compression_1.php
I thought the use of varying algorithms was interesting. It of course makes perfect sense that one formula wouldn’t solve the problem for both text and data, let alone different written languages. The information about pixels was also informative. I found it interesting how red, green, and blue are the colors used to cover the entire color spectrum. It was also interesting to read that each color is represented by three values, not just one. Sometimes a simple reorganizing of the information is all that is needed, not a shrinking of the data.

Galloway’s Imagining Pittsburgh
While initially this project sounded great and unifying, it quickly revealed some chinks in the armor. The various methods and procedures of the different collection entities made for an incohesive product for the customers. I was glad the collection agencies made efforts to cross reference the photos for easier locating by patrons. I’m glad they realized the importance of eventually adding dates and date ranges to the search fields. My experience at a national park service site opened my eyes to the many ways people catalog, classify, and describe information for posterity. Obviously no two people will describe a photograph the same way. Each individual will pick up on different information he/she feels is important and vital to the interpretation of the photograph. It appears the collecting facilities finally settled on using the Dublin Core elements to address this issue.

Webb’s YouTube and libraries
I thought this article was extremely interesting. I don’t know that the thought of adding youtube links to a catalog had ever occurred to me. I thought the after-hours “how to” video concept was a wonderful idea. I especially gravitated toward the idea of general tours and tutorials via youtube. I remember the strain that the college library staff was put under at the beginning of each year when we had to give tours to new freshmen. Yuck! Everyone was always stressed out because at the beginning of the school year, there are so many other tasks that need to be completed, and it seems that just when you get into a rhythm, you have to stop and give a tour. Using youtube could certainly lighten the load in situations like this. Most people don’t want a tour anyway. I did get an answer to a question I’d had about youtube for a while. I see that the max amount of time a presentation can last is around ten minutes. I always wondered why more full television shows/movies, etc. did not show up in their entirety on youtube.