DITA Session 10

I love information architecture - I once dated an information architect and I thought he was the coolest thing ever - he must have been one of the first ones because I think this was 1998 or 1999 - we went to Paris together.

So a website is liek a building, or liek a grocery store for example liek in lecture today - this is very Godard-esque as now many peopel actually grocery shop online!!  Who woudl have thought!

I finally identified the mystery vegetable - after first tryign to type  in descriptors of my own ('vegetable, large white bulb, mutiple green stems'). Nio luck, kept throwing up pics of spring onions.  So I Decided to look for vegetable pics - no luck, kept throwing back pics of veggie cornupcopias.  Then I just did it the old fashioned way and typed 'vegetable descriptions'.  Returned sites that were too child oriented.  Then 'guide to vegetables' or 'vegetable guide' yielded a site and I had to click on the vegetable names that I didn't identify myself until I cam up with a pic that vaguely looked like the mystery veg.  I then copy and pasted that into Google Image search and then that pic actually came up numbe rthree in the search!  It's a kohlrabi by the way. This entire process took me over 5 minutes.  Not long if you think about it - I probably would have had to go to the library 15 years ago.

Went to the tesco site and think it is wonderful how personalised nad how much control you have a a user with the 'shopiing list feature'. Excellent architecture.  I guess the lack of photos and just copy heavy product description works, that is a choice of architecture that favours speed over prettiness - but it's practical and you can chose to see the pics of you like.  Overall fantastic I think.

Amazon not so impressive but obviously I am the only one who thinks that or something bc they are so successful.  I find the site busy and annoying and not clean - it throws too many choices at me - I feel bombarded.  That being said I cna create a wishlist - which in a way is a personal library I wish I had.  I need to futrther explore their e-book potential???

DITA Session 9

Javascript.

My log in info does not work - I had to go to the technical support desk.

They said I was OK.  Must be something about the system.

When I get anywhere I can't make the script work - I have written it and saved it to server.  I want to cry.

DITA Session 8

So I am using boolean search terms in Bing

all of these terms "arts & crafts movement" AND "architecture" AND "best"
throws up great results
in fact even better than when I did not specify 'all of these terms' in the searchbox

When I replaced AND with or in the exact same query as above it gave me results I have no interest in, in fact most were about cooking and recipes!!!

No one has an answer for me if I search askign for the exact phrase "Who is the best architect in the arts and crafts movement?"

Not suprising - I am sure that is up for debate, although in my opinion it is Frank Lloyd Wright.

 Onto the next experiment ...

Creating inverted files.

I understand it - I guess I am suppossed to make two different documents and create inverted files.

I will make them in an excel spreadsheet

I will use

DOC 1: durer and the rabbit statue in nuremberg
DOC 2: gothic sculpture photographed and archived in collection

DITA POST SESSION 7

I know how to do complicated things on a black screen and it makes me feel super smart.

It reminds me of algebra class for some reason.

I am writing math.

SQL commands.  AWESOME.

DITA Session 6 Reflections

I feel this need to write code and I am limited bc I don't know the language well enough.

I love how intuitive this all is and bc I love writing I am all the more frustrated by my lack of second nature ability to just write away. I could structure these things for hours.

Cascadign Style Sheets are my answer to so much ... I can see why peopel who are good at them pay so much for them. As a librarian it is important to be able to interface with colleagues within your work that are masters of these style sheets, as otherwise your users would not like using your resources and find it very frustrating.

A website or portal for information should be layed out and presented in an way that engages and is easy/efficient for the user. Style is key.

This is all very exciting for me - I am really understanding the different work that must be done to create efficient and useful and popluar information resources.

That being said I am frustrated by my lack of ability to rattle off code and work quickly. It is hard going back to school - patience is something I have lost as I have grown older, and it is essential I keep control over my frustration as this can't be learned in a heartbeat. It takes practice.

I can't wait unti I get my new big screen desktop - it will be so much easier for me to start looking at multiple frames!

Oh and another thing I did today was learn how to save my code correctly so it can be read by browsers. Didn't quite master that last session! Take a look at my first XML:

OOPS YOU CAN'T BC IT STILL DOESN'T WORK!

I suck.

I swear I will be bald by the end of this term from pulling on my hair.

'THIS IS LIKE OPENING THE BONNET TO SEE WHAT IS INSIDE' - from my Professor Andy MacFarlane

DITA Session #5 part 2

So I tried to publish what I thought was my first XML on the samba server, and it didn't work. I think I am missing a piece of software - I probably jumped the gun. I am sure I will figure out why it didn't work next week.

In the menatime this week I will take the skeleton on the example as given in this week's exercise and plug my own tags into it to create at least the skeleton of my own database that I will one day hopefully be able t opublish.

I the meantiem I anjoyed this weeks lecture and excersizes and I love that grammar and sytax aren't just things in books anymore. They are actually tools I use! (And yes I know you can say I use them every day when I speak, but this is decidely different to me. I don't go around saying 'hey! open bracket library close bracket openbracket reflist description such and such close bracket.')

Anyhow XML is a language that quite simply organises information. It is a stack of virtual shelves upon which information lives.

DITA Session 5

Paul Magree and I flew through the XML code review - we spotted all of the flaws we beblieve. I will see once I attempt to post my own XML online next. I think we will take Andy's XML examples, correct them, and publich them online - stay posted to see how we do.

I am really enjoying this - it is very empowering. Honestly I don't understand how XML literally works, I just know it is a richer form of HTML.

And I think that is all I need to know.

Work to follow.

DITA Session 4

This is all pretty unreal for me - I have updated my webpage in my own html with a picture of my mother and I in Paris and also with an image of David Hockney, bc today was all about images and graphics.

To view my altogether pathetic work please click on the following:
Maria's First HTML

MY 3rd DITA Session and I have made first two html files of my life!

The amazing part of this session is I finally figured out have to control my own blog if my coputer is acting funny. I have had issues with my ability to embed links into my posts on this blog. And now I think I can fix them.
This is incredibly empowering for me as an budding information manager because I really don't want to have to call IT every time I have a problem like this.
I hope to build my html skills at least to a rudimentary level so I can start posting my own urls if i need to in case of an emergency sometime when it is urgent that i share information to a group quickly.
I am really pleased with this section of the course and will be spending lots of time this week practicing so I can hone my skills - I will be posting again to keep a record of my development.

Also I just spoke with my colleague and realised that when we 'published' our html, it had to be through a specific server, not on our workstation's hard drive, and not through the general internet - this further illuminates the interactiosn of the world wide web, that my workstation HD can not speak to all workstations in the school - my code must be uploaded to a specific server in order for it to be shared with my colleagues at City University, and with is a server that i can only get access to with passwords if I am not sitting at a comuter in the City U system, where I can launch the server from my start menu.

This will get even more interesting once I try and publish html onto student.city.ac.uk from home.
The second module of this course was largely historical and contexual. I understand it is important to keep my vocabularly growing so I think I will just make a list of keywords for the second session's entry.

OH MY GOD! I JUST FIXED MY LINKS BY MYSELF!

SESSION 1

In this module I was informed about the best tools available today for blogging. I learned about the importance of blogging, how to filter through blogs or sites that are credible versus rubbish.
Overall, I ahave been pretty disappointed in todays lectures and lab work. I understand the point of it but didn't feel very well guided or instructed I have to say. I understand that the Unix form of information acess is important as it is the barebones foundation of information storage, the skeleton, foundation, backbone of the 'house of knowledge and information storage and access'. Nothing worked today though - so my dexterity at using the system and understanding it by stream of concious was not accomplished or developed.
Not alot of guidance for blog creation - had to wade through it myself. I hope to use the labeliign system efficiently but I can't undertand or see the option that allows me to create a robust labelling system in advance. Although I understand a lot better the structure of what makes a good blog and how they can be useful - first and foremost I have to understand they have to be useful for the ultimate reader, the audience. My blog will be for which target audience? I guess it could be for the general public and certain tags will be targeted? Have to think about this. But also I can not forget that this is my first attempt and the essence of it is that it is an ONLINE DIARY. So my webpage is more Web 2.0 than Web 1.0 I am guessing.
Soem keywords that were particularly illuminating to me today: Graphical Inforamtion, Presentation of Representation/Cascading Style Sheets (CCS), Inforamtion Retrieval (Google, BING), Applications Development (Javascript), Wikis, TRACKBACKS (which I thought were particularly cool/new/illuminating to me), Blogroll (list of other sites/blogs recommended, Archive includign Label/Tag List, SYNDICATION (RSS feeds) eg Google Reader (rich site summary feeds in XMLso I can track other blogs). I have to check out this Google reader and will post my experience about that once I check it out.
The purpose of this moduel is to understand all the methods and tools available for FINDING/SEACHING/ORGANISING Information.
Nice to see there are accepted standards already in the Industry and that they are truly considered intstitutions to be taught and used and considered 'legitimate'. My age makes me view all of these things as ephemeral and 'cheating' but that's because the last time I went to school I had to lug around newpapers, magazines and books!