My real-life DSpace server is live now, at http://collections.swco.ttu.edu . There is some back-end tweaking I need to do, but we have enough up now that we can make it available to the public.
My next task is to set up SRB (https://libnet.ucsd.edu/nara/) to provide me with the ability to work with heterogeneous storage devices. This way, I will, hopefully, be able to use a fully-fleshed MD3000 with my new server, and then later, will be able to add more storage drives onto the server. I'm pretty impressed with what I've read about SRB so far, so I really hope it will do what it advertises, particularly on the university system with its wide variety of restrictions.
Friday, September 18, 2009
Tuesday, September 8, 2009
It's been a long while
It's been a long while. I took a hiatus for the summer, focusing strictly on work, contemplating whether I want to continue this blog outside of the assignment for class, which was the original reason I started it.
I've decided I do want to keep it, though I don't know how useful my blog will necessarily be to IT people or to researchers of technical communication or rhetoric.
Then again, I think that a blog's subject matter relies much more on how much the author likes the sound of his/her own fingers typing thoughts than on how many readers s/he receives.
Things going on right now:
My digitization server is up and running DSpace. I'm planning to migrate all current digitized collections from the test server over to the production server this week. It's all running Postgresql, which seems to be sufficient for the requirements of this digitization process. DSpace itself installed fine, no problems, based on the documentation I'd created from the test server. I'm going to provide my documentation to the folks at the Law School here on campus because they are planning to run DSpace, as well.
I'm going to run Archivists' Toolkit on the production server soon. A select group of users and I have been testing it on my end and am happy with the results, so it's time to put it up and let my users work with it. Archivists' Toolkit, like a lot of open source software, is tremendously forward-thinking as far as how materials in archives should be managed, and I am very impressed by the tracking options available from this program. It uses MySql, so it's a fairly stable program, and users can connect to it on their computers relatively simply. Using AT, we can track every item that is accessioned, processed, and digitized, and track every step as it happens.
My next test project is to install Word Press on the test server. I have some faculty who are interested in blogging capabilities, and a few other users who would like to explore the possibility of creating a journal of place. I'm going to give them access to work with Word Press, and if it is sufficient for their needs, I'll install it, too, on the production server. (Like AT, WordPress uses MySql, so it won't require another database program install.)
I've decided I do want to keep it, though I don't know how useful my blog will necessarily be to IT people or to researchers of technical communication or rhetoric.
Then again, I think that a blog's subject matter relies much more on how much the author likes the sound of his/her own fingers typing thoughts than on how many readers s/he receives.
Things going on right now:
My digitization server is up and running DSpace. I'm planning to migrate all current digitized collections from the test server over to the production server this week. It's all running Postgresql, which seems to be sufficient for the requirements of this digitization process. DSpace itself installed fine, no problems, based on the documentation I'd created from the test server. I'm going to provide my documentation to the folks at the Law School here on campus because they are planning to run DSpace, as well.
I'm going to run Archivists' Toolkit on the production server soon. A select group of users and I have been testing it on my end and am happy with the results, so it's time to put it up and let my users work with it. Archivists' Toolkit, like a lot of open source software, is tremendously forward-thinking as far as how materials in archives should be managed, and I am very impressed by the tracking options available from this program. It uses MySql, so it's a fairly stable program, and users can connect to it on their computers relatively simply. Using AT, we can track every item that is accessioned, processed, and digitized, and track every step as it happens.
My next test project is to install Word Press on the test server. I have some faculty who are interested in blogging capabilities, and a few other users who would like to explore the possibility of creating a journal of place. I'm going to give them access to work with Word Press, and if it is sufficient for their needs, I'll install it, too, on the production server. (Like AT, WordPress uses MySql, so it won't require another database program install.)
Thursday, April 30, 2009
If everything was made by Microsoft
Link: http://www.cracked.com/article_17323_if-everything-was-made-by-microsoft.html
Title: "If Everything Was Made by Microsoft"
Heh. I love this. Had to share it. My favorite is the kitchen safety graphic.
I like posting something about Microsoft on here. I'm not normally one of those anti-M$ Mac users, though sometimes I do show my Mac colors, times like this. I still think Google is the company M$ needs to watch out for, but I do heart Google, despite its potential for evil.
I've resigned myself to the likelihood that I'd also gleefully relish the order imposed by Emperor Palpatine.
Second Link: http://www.thewrap.com/ind-column/2679
Apparently, Google is striving to be on the cutting (bleeding?) edge of Web 3.0. To quote the article, "Under this latest iteration of advanced search, users will be automatically served the kind of news that interests them just by calling up Google’s page. The latest algorithms apply ever more sophisticated filtering – based on search words, user choices, purchases, a whole host of cues – to determine what the reader is looking for without knowing they’re looking for it." Hmm...so Google is using the AP's challenge as an excuse for attempting Web 3.0. Because, clearly, if I do a search on news concerning Oracle, that means I'm always going to want that and only that...And of course, what bothers ME the most is: Two people cannot perform the same search and get the same results.
This will be a research hell.
Title: "If Everything Was Made by Microsoft"
Heh. I love this. Had to share it. My favorite is the kitchen safety graphic.
I like posting something about Microsoft on here. I'm not normally one of those anti-M$ Mac users, though sometimes I do show my Mac colors, times like this. I still think Google is the company M$ needs to watch out for, but I do heart Google, despite its potential for evil.
I've resigned myself to the likelihood that I'd also gleefully relish the order imposed by Emperor Palpatine.
Second Link: http://www.thewrap.com/ind-column/2679
Apparently, Google is striving to be on the cutting (bleeding?) edge of Web 3.0. To quote the article, "Under this latest iteration of advanced search, users will be automatically served the kind of news that interests them just by calling up Google’s page. The latest algorithms apply ever more sophisticated filtering – based on search words, user choices, purchases, a whole host of cues – to determine what the reader is looking for without knowing they’re looking for it." Hmm...so Google is using the AP's challenge as an excuse for attempting Web 3.0. Because, clearly, if I do a search on news concerning Oracle, that means I'm always going to want that and only that...And of course, what bothers ME the most is: Two people cannot perform the same search and get the same results.
This will be a research hell.
Tuesday, April 28, 2009
Are good phone manners important?
As I pretended to watch television about a month ago, I overheard my brother and niece get into a fight about phone manners. She, at eleven years old, is certain that she'll never have to use "please" and "thank you" when speaking on the telephone. She made her assertion by screaming at him at the top of her lungs, screaming in a manner that is often accompanied by an eye roll.
Anyway, the more I thought about, the more I considered how we're sending a generation of kids out into the world with no knowledge of how to even conduct the simplest functions necessary for a telephone call: asking to speak to someone, hearing a polite response back, leaving a good message, or even answering the telephone itself.
I decided, for a class project on Captivate, to make a phone manners tutorial. This is fairly basic, intended for kids eleven to twelve years old. When I spoke with parents of my niece's friends, a lot of them expressed interest in using the phone manners tutorial on their own kids, so I got the impression that there is a need for this type of thing.
Just click on the linked title here. It's a Flash video, so your browser might need to download a plugin. Otherwise, it should work fine.
Anyway, the more I thought about, the more I considered how we're sending a generation of kids out into the world with no knowledge of how to even conduct the simplest functions necessary for a telephone call: asking to speak to someone, hearing a polite response back, leaving a good message, or even answering the telephone itself.
I decided, for a class project on Captivate, to make a phone manners tutorial. This is fairly basic, intended for kids eleven to twelve years old. When I spoke with parents of my niece's friends, a lot of them expressed interest in using the phone manners tutorial on their own kids, so I got the impression that there is a need for this type of thing.
Just click on the linked title here. It's a Flash video, so your browser might need to download a plugin. Otherwise, it should work fine.
Software Review: Google Chrome
Have you been wondering about this crazy new web browser all the kids are talking about? Are you feeling 'net listlessness because you're bored with the old web browsers? The linked software review might help you decided if Google Chrome will answer these questions for you.
I decided to write a software review on Google Chrome because a lot of people have asked me why Google would come out with a web browser when there is a plethora of useful browsers out there. (Heck, I wondered the same thing.) After using Chrome for a week straight (without letting myself touch Firefox, which was hell to me!), I came up with a few answers, more questions, and a fair bit of information.
Enjoy!
I decided to write a software review on Google Chrome because a lot of people have asked me why Google would come out with a web browser when there is a plethora of useful browsers out there. (Heck, I wondered the same thing.) After using Chrome for a week straight (without letting myself touch Firefox, which was hell to me!), I came up with a few answers, more questions, and a fair bit of information.
Enjoy!
Tuesday, April 21, 2009
Thursday is Talk Like Shakespeare Day
Linketh thee here: http://www.cnn.com/2009/US/04/21/talk.like.shakespeare/index.html
Title: "Unleash thy inner bard on 'Talk Like Shakespeare Day'"
From Cnn: Mayor Daley of Chicago hath proclaimed Thursday, April 23rd, "Talk Like Shakespeare Day," in celebration of the great bard's 445th whelping day.
Methinks this day will be secondarily proclaimed the Day of Meritorious Locution.
Title: "Unleash thy inner bard on 'Talk Like Shakespeare Day'"
From Cnn: Mayor Daley of Chicago hath proclaimed Thursday, April 23rd, "Talk Like Shakespeare Day," in celebration of the great bard's 445th whelping day.
Methinks this day will be secondarily proclaimed the Day of Meritorious Locution.
Monday, April 20, 2009
Oracle and Sun Microsystems: A Reality that will Benefit DSpace and Archivists' Toolkit
Link: http://www.nytimes.com/2009/04/21/technology/companies/21sun.html?partner=rss&emc=rss
Article title: "Oracle Agrees to Acquire Sun Microsystems"
Okay, it's now a reality that one of the best database companies in the industry is acquiring a company that yes, sells rocking servers, and yes, offers its Java developers kits to adoring open-source masses; but, much more important to archivists and IT manager who run open source digital access products, the company that makes one of the supported backend database systems (Oracle) for DSpace is now acquiring the company that makes the backend database system (MySQL) for Archivists' Toolkit. WOO-HOO.
This should be huge news to the open source community that uses, programs, and installs archiving software. If you're involved in any sort of digitization project for archives, you can't walk down a sidewalk without tripping and face-planting onto DSpace in the first elevated crack in the concrete and then, two-feet later, skinning your knees as you fall over Archivists' Toolkit.
The biggest roadblock to DSpace's success has historically been that no one could figure out an easy way to move metadata from record-creation software into DSpace. Archivists' Toolkit, an record-creation software that builds information about acquired items from initial accession into a collection through to who has edited and accessed the digital item throughout its digital life, can build metadata records for archival items. It runs on MySQL, while DSpace is on Oracle or Postgresql. If someone could find an _easy_ way (because there are ways, but none is simple) to move information between the two programs, digitization would be a thousand times easier for everyone.
I suppose this is down the road, but this is great news for archives interested in digitization.
Article title: "Oracle Agrees to Acquire Sun Microsystems"
Okay, it's now a reality that one of the best database companies in the industry is acquiring a company that yes, sells rocking servers, and yes, offers its Java developers kits to adoring open-source masses; but, much more important to archivists and IT manager who run open source digital access products, the company that makes one of the supported backend database systems (Oracle) for DSpace is now acquiring the company that makes the backend database system (MySQL) for Archivists' Toolkit. WOO-HOO.
This should be huge news to the open source community that uses, programs, and installs archiving software. If you're involved in any sort of digitization project for archives, you can't walk down a sidewalk without tripping and face-planting onto DSpace in the first elevated crack in the concrete and then, two-feet later, skinning your knees as you fall over Archivists' Toolkit.
The biggest roadblock to DSpace's success has historically been that no one could figure out an easy way to move metadata from record-creation software into DSpace. Archivists' Toolkit, an record-creation software that builds information about acquired items from initial accession into a collection through to who has edited and accessed the digital item throughout its digital life, can build metadata records for archival items. It runs on MySQL, while DSpace is on Oracle or Postgresql. If someone could find an _easy_ way (because there are ways, but none is simple) to move information between the two programs, digitization would be a thousand times easier for everyone.
I suppose this is down the road, but this is great news for archives interested in digitization.
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