Publishing a Joomla Web Site

This was an excellent assignment because I learned a lot about web content management systems (WCMS) and got hands on experience with using one.  For the assignment, I was supposed to create my own website using the Joomla WCMS which I was able to use on a 30 day trial basis.  Joomla  (http://www.joomla.org/) is open source and it used to create millions of web sites of individuals, businesses, educational institutions and organizations.  It offers a 30 minute demonstration video that walks you through signing up for an account and the basics of creating articles (web pages), editing templates and uploading content.  It took me a few viewings, while I completed the steps in tandem, to create a small web site based on yours trully.   I was able to create an introduction, contact, education/employment and places visited pages without much frustration.  It does take time and a lot of trial and error to make your site look the way you want it.  I found it hard sometimes to edit the page and find that it looks different when published on the web, you need to go back and forth to edit in order to get it looking right.  Sometimes you need to improvise, like I wanted two photos to appear side by side but the program wouldn’t let me (or I couldn’t find an apparent way to easily do this).  So in order to do this, I went directly into the html code (used some of my own knowledge of code) to create a table to place the two pictures into a row.  This might not have been the only way to do it but it got the job done.  With any project like this it takes time to learn to use the software (but in the case of Joomla it wasn’t too hard but not completely easy either) and a lot of time to collect and format your materials /content.  Overall, I’ve really enjoyed this assignment and I’ve learned a lot.

Here’s a link to my site if you’re interested:  http://tremblayvsu7505.cloudaccess.net/

Visually Impaired Challenge the Use of Nook Lending at Libraries

Hey check out this link ... I guess this would be a reason to use Kindles instead of Nooks for library lending programs.

http://www.the-digital-reader.com/2012/05/05/free-library-of-philadelphia-lawsuit-casts-a-pall-over-ereader-lending-programs-everywhere/

Reflection on Assignment #1

This assignment really opened my eyes to the advantages of Web 2.0 and its increasingly important role in the communications for libraries and their online users.  It is changing the nature and relationships between the librarian and users that creates a space for more collaborative work where the roles of instructor and user are becoming more blurred.  I found the RSS part of this assignment the most enlightening since in all honesty I didn’t know anything about them before (despite seeing the icon multiple times on websites).  Wikis are also a fascinating part of this assignment and I like the potential of using it for collaborate efforts to maintain things like databases or web site content, but at the same time I still don’t feel like I’ve got the first hand experience of using one.  The First hand experience of using and creating networks of followers in Twitter and the Blog were excellent.

Finding the Right Wiki for Emory's Library

The library I decided to look at for the wiki part of the first assignment was the Emory University’s Woodruff Library in Atlanta, Georgia.  Its characteristics are:

·      Academic/Research Library Setting

·      Population Approximately 12,000+

·      Undergraduate Students, Graduate Students, Faculty and Staff

·      Diverse needs in terms of support for Health Care, Business, the Arts, Law and people from around the world.

The goal of the wiki would be allow students, faculty, and staff to virtually organize and share information on course work, post and discuss announcements that involve the library, student activities, and schoolwork.  The wiki would allow for all members of the Emory community to make announcements or create support groups to help them in their educational needs or research.  Ultimately, it will be a space where a diverse community can come together and creatively share and learn from on another.

Wiki Requirements Needed: Page History, WYSIWIG (so those with little experience can easily contribute to the content as needed), professional support for help with management, the possibility of hosting its own software, database storage of information (for full-text searching), and be free and open sourced based for cutting down on costs.

With the use of WikiMatrix, (https://www.mediawiki.org/wiki/MediaWiki) and the above requirements, I was able to produce a list of 14 Wikis that could be used.  Of this group, I selected MediaWiki since it can support up to 140 languages, which beats the closest competitor by about 100.  This is important because many of the students come from countries from around the world and Emory shares an important relationship with the Tibetan exile community and this Wiki was the only one that supported Tibetan.  It also allows for the use of Windows and MacOS operating systems and it has been developed with educational and end users in mind.  One draw back of MediaWiki was that it is not mobile friendly.

Comic Relief

I thought I'd add this as some comic relief!  In all seriousness, I do believe that we need a balance of virtual resources on the Internet and the physical library.  Striking the right balance is important to having access for all types of patrons.

Web 3.0 (prospects for the future)

The concept of Web 3.0 is a nebulous concept about where we envision the future of web technologies.  Eric Schmidt commented on this in 2007 and spoke of applications fitting together and adapting to users need despite being created on MAC or PC technologies.  The part I liked the most about this vision in the concept of users sharing these applications with one another and being able to change the programming as needed.  To me this would allow for a more unified approach to all of the programs we use currently.  One critique  I would have of the current Web 2.0 technologies is that there are multiple systems in place for communications (email, twitter, blogs ..) and we can do better in merging them.  The cloud could also bring in opportunities to bring in each individuals history and files to create smart technologies that could adapt to the user’s interests and behaviors.

(here’s a link to Eric Shmidt’s comments on youtube: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=T0QJmmdw3b0)

Web 2.0

I read about what Web 2.0 is yesterday night.  A short definition of the concept of Web 2.0 is that is web based technologies that have allowed for there to be a more cyclical relationship between users of information and creators.  The lines of communication are less top down, flexible and diverse with Web 2.0.  In Web 1.0 most of the content of information was produced by institutions for users to read.  With Web 2.0 your looking at more information coming directly from users and technologies being constantly adapted to users and producers needs.

Just Starting Out

It's Friday morning and I've just started my blog to write about what I will be learning in this course.  So far, I've already learned how to sign up and create a new blog.

I'm looking forward to learning a lot in a short time period.