INN533 Information Organisation Final Reflection

After completing this unit, I strongly believe that my understanding and knowledge of Information Organisation has been increased in remarkable manners. Through my progress within INN533, there are a lot of concepts, facts, ideas and knowledge I gained thanks to Information Organisation unit and its materials. I learnt different topics such as Information users, Information professional, Information Organisation on the web, and databases. Also, how an information need can be identified and how it can be accurate. Other important topics have been introduced, which served my needs on understanding more about Information Organisation, such as Resource Description, Controlled vocabularies and Classification. Moreover, Learning Journal allows me to go more in-depth into topics that are important to my area of study as assisted me to gain more understanding and knowledge, such as the differences between DDC & LCC classification library systems. It assisted me to gain more skills that I am sure it will be valuable in my future professional practices. The final assignment was the most interesting part for me, as it requires us to build a database that is based on what we have learned. It assisted me to apply concepts that I have learnt in this unit, as well as allowed me to encourage myself to learn more about database development. However, the challenging part that I faced within this unit was understanding the rules and standards, which it was introduced in week 6, 7 and 8. I found it not clear and difficult to understand at first, but with more readings I came to have a good familiarity and understanding, which resulted for me to have no issues or challenges that might affect my progresses.

State Library of New South Wales Library Catalogue

For week 10 activity I chose question 3 to be the question that I will reflect on, which is

“From the activity in particular, which library catalogue (and their tools) did you prefer and why? Which tools did you find of most use and value – as an information professional and from a personal perspective? Why?”

Based on the week 10 “Do” activity, four library catalogues and its tools were presented, which  requires us to use it to search for a practical book. All of the four library catalogues were interesting, however, State Library of New South Wales is the library catalogue that got my attention. First of all, the catalogue design was simple and interactive as it shows nice colours that are nice to the eyes and suits its purpose. Second of all, it really got my interest the large amount of searching tool options that State Library of New South Wales offers, as it presents simple search which it can be based on many different options, such as keywords, author, subject, etc. Also, the advanced searching tool was helpful as it assisted me to go more in-depth to identify what I am looking for, which it also provides a help section that describes how advanced searching tool can be used. Another feature that I liked was the ability to save search terms that was done by me, which saves my searching history. Finally, as I was looking for a book, it allows me to choose how I want the results to be sorted, such date or title. After identifying the needed book, it shows me what languages that book has been translated to, which was a great feature that I was excited about.

Library Classification

Classification is considered to be a system that is adopted by libraries, a system of sorting, coding and organising library materials or information, such as physical and digital books, computer files, maps, etc (Britannica, 2013). According to American Planning Association Library (2013) “a means of organizing bibliographic entries in printed catalogs, bibliographies, and indexes in a systematic order”.  Dewey Decimal Classification (DDC) and Library of Congress Classification (LCC) are considered to be the two well-known library classification schemes.

There are similarities between both systems as both are using hierarchical systems to organise subjects, but DDC is consider to be more flexible for the reason of its greater use of features while LCC is almost enumerative. However, there are issues that are related with each system. First, both system are considered to be old and do not meet today’s youth needs, as both were developed around the 19^th century. Also, DDC is considered to be difficult to be understood as it based on codes and numbers that are not clear, which a great deal of university libraries find it difficult to work with. According to Emmy Line (2012) “most major academic libraries in the US do not use the DDC because the classification of works in those areas is not specific enough”.

I believe in order to overcome those issues, each system need to be improved and developed to meet today’s libraries needs and its current technologies. Moreover, DDC should be updated or re-developed to be more clear and understandable.

 

Reference:

Britannica. (2013). Library Classification. Retrieved form http://www.britannica.com/EBchecked/topic/339461/library-classification

Line, E. (2012). Comparison Between DDC and LCC Classification. Retrieved from http://www.scribd.com/doc/49599574/Comparison-Between-DDC-and-LCC-Classification

American Planning Association. (2013). Library Classification Scheme. Retrieved form http://www.planning.org/library/classification.htm

Week 6: Resource Description

AACR has been used for a long period of time in regards of creating a catalogue records. According to Deirdre Kiorgaard (n.d.), he stated that “AACR is organised around the class of materials to which an item belongs. In AACR there are separate chapters for books, for serials, for sound recordings, for motion pictures, and for electronic resources, amongst others”. As AACR has showed to be a strong standard through the past decades, it has reached its end and its usefulness.

A second edition of AACR has been created (AACR2), where it designed to be applied with the construction of catalogues within all sizes of libraries. AARC2 was based on card catalogue system. However, one of the AACR2 disadvantages is the lack of supporting digital materials as it was published when there were no digital environments.

RAD has been created to be the replacement of AACR2, which is considered to be a new resource description for catalogue. According to the National Library of Australia (n.d.), “RDA has been developed specifically with users in mind. Each section of RDA begins with a statement of functional objectives that relate the instructions in the section back to the user tasks they are intended to assist”. RDA will add the ability to be made as full interactive online tool, in terms of customization and integration with institutional or network policies. Also, it provides more and better coverage of a broader range of resources, including visual materials and archival materials, as well as ability to show the relationships between resources. According to Deirdre Kiorgaard (n.d.), “Information on relationships can be used to allow users to move between related works, or for systems to organize large results sets in a way that is more meaningful to users”.

 

Kiorgaard, D. (n.d.). Resource Description and Access. Retrieved from http://webcache.googleusercontent.com/search?q=cache:BHKLCSrgKRgJ:www.nla.gov.au/openpublish/index.php/nlasp/article/download/1420/1724+&cd=1&hl=en&ct=clnk&gl=au

National Library of Australia. (n.d.). The purpose and structure of RDA. Retrieved from http://webcache.googleusercontent.com/search?q=cache:kWBlMjy0Dc0J:www.nla.gov.au/lis/stndrds/grps/acoc/documents/FromAACR2toRDAthestructureandpurposeofRDA.PPT+&cd=1&hl=en&ct=clnk&gl=au

Tillett, B.B. (2011). Keeping libraries relevant in the Semantic Web with resource description and access (RDA). Serials: The Journal for the Serials Community, 24(3), 266-272. Retrieved from: http://uksg.metapress.com/content/0u51740l4t111749/

Week 4: Information Architecture

Information Architecture refers to the art of organising, structuring and labelling websites in order it usable and useful for its users to use (Belam, M, 2010). It is considered to be a method on how to present a content of a system, such as a website. Dan Ryan (2012) explained the importance of IA by stating that “it defines your site’s goals, is the foundation for great web design, and establishes a clear and well-documented plan for what you are about to do”.  The core element of IA is providing the ability to the user to easily be able to find and retrieve information.

Thus, by concluding the “Do” activity, as user, I believe that City of Perth website was the most organised and well-structured website in terms of clear interface, attractive design and great use of media. City of Hobart become second and then City of Melbourne become last in terms of website design. However, City of Perth design approach is different than City of Hobart and Melbourne in terms of how each website presents its information through their website design. City of Perth design shows that it mostly depends on users finding the needed information through searching, as the search bar was in the middle that most websites would place important information instead. However, it was hard to find the needed information without attempting to use their search bar as it the website menu was not clear.

Nevertheless, it is true that City of Hobart and Melbourne website was not attractive, but it both website were clear and rich in terms of finding the needed information, especially City of Melbourne website. It uses a top-down approach where there are categories and subcategories that divieded the website content; also, there were great deal of links and information that are related to the user information need.

Belam, M. (2010). What is ‘Information Architecture’?. Retrieved from http://www.theguardian.com/help/insideguardian/2010/feb/02/what-is-information-architecture

Ryan, D. (2012). The Role and Importance of Information Architecture. Retrieved from http://www.verndale.com/Our-Thinking/The-Role-and-Importance-of-Information-Architecture.aspx

Garrett, J, J. (2011). The elements of user experience. Retrieved from http://blackboard.qut.edu.au/courses/1/INN533_13se2/content/_4922755_1/the-elements-of-user-experience.pdf

Week 2: The information user

It is clear that user experience plays an important role when it comes to offering good service or product. User experience relates with the user feeling towards using technology such as a website. According to Adaptive website (2013), it defines UX as “It is what the visitor feels about the site, their responses and perceptions of the site as a whole”.

For my “Do” activity, I have chosen my aunt as the user that I will observed and interviewed while she is using eBay. It was her first time using eBay. The first thing she did was looking for iPhone accessories. She enjoyed the different of options and information that eBay offers. One of the features that she liked the most was the option to sort out products based on different options, such as prices, location, condition, etc. At the end, my aunt found what she was looking for and she was satisfied with her experience with using and buying from eBay.

From my observation and interview, it appears that eBay has a user friendly design and interface that allow user to easily find and navigate their information need. It offers a great deal of options to its users in order to simplify the searching process of finding the needed information.

For my database design project for this unit and accomplish a good grade for it, I will apply Steven J. Bell method (IDEO method), which it will assist me in offering a memorable, unique and exquisitely simple user experience, which consist of (Bell, S, 2008):

• Understanding what are the needs and challenges of my user will perceive my service
• Observe what confuse people, how they work with it and what they like and dislike.
• Visualize about new ideas and concepts to be applied.
• Evaluate/Refine my service and product through testing it in a regular basis.
• Implement my service database after finishing the 4 previous steps.

 

Bell, S. (2008) Design thinking. Retrefed  from http://stevenbell.info/pdfs/ALdesignarticle.pdf

Adaptive. (n.d.). The importance of user experience. Retrieved 25 Aug, 2013, from http://www.adaptiveconsultancy.com/web-design/website-design/ecommerce-web-design/the-importance-of-user-experience

Lightweight Models & Cost-Effective Scalability – Digg

In the past, most of the business companies were using web 1.0 with the idea of “Get Big Fast” that was not that effective, well it was the opposite that makes some business companies loss their business in the long term. However, businesses start using Web 2.0 feature, which was an excellent step to be successful. As we all know that Web 2.0 provides and offers a lot of great features that gives the opportunity to people and business to do more for less, and that is what they called “Lightweight Models and Cost Effective Scalability”. It means that people can start their business as well as increasing their budget without the needs of applying the “Get Big Fast” theory. Also, it means that there is no need to have a lot of employers to be successful and to get that business to be recognized and famous.

The best example that I can write about is Digg. Digg is a place where people can share and discover content from anywhere on the web such as news form different websites and blogs. It provides a large number of content from many different categories that could get people attention. Also, it is another way that people can socialize as well as making new friends.

The start of Digg was in 2004, with $2000 and $99 per month for single hosted server. After two years, Digg become bigger in a remarkable way, they were having 90 servers and over 100 million page views by the users. Also, there were 15 people working for Digg (at the moment there are more than 70 employers), which make the point of in Web 2.0 the number people working in the website does not matter comparing with the quality and creative idea of the website. In 2006, Digg announced that the have more than 500.000 users visited Digg everyday. Digg never spend any money on advertising for the reason that in 2008 Digg received $28 million form investors such as Highland Capital Partners.

A similar web 2.0 application that could be compared with Digg is Wikipedia, for the reason that it start with the same way and methods that Digg start off with.

So, what do you think is these days’ websites need to be famous such as Digg and Wikipedia?

Leveraging The Long Tail

As it is obvious that people are using the Internet for almost everything, searching, socialising, downloading, sharing and buying and selling. Online shopping is one of the factors that make the Internet important to the people for the reason that the more options that they find as well as different prices of the same products that they looking for.

According to Chris Anderson, the long tail is a term that is used in statistics to explain a curve that continuing above zero for a long time. In other words, it is mean that if you have a business and one of your products keep selling 400 items per month and for the next months the product goes down to 30 items per month, which result to the products it will take long time to reach zero sell. The long tail theory assist small companies to start a good business through selling their product online because of it dose not requires a shop to start with. Also, it is the easiest method to expand the person small business to become an international business for the reason that time is not an issue. It does not matter how long it takes sell just as long as it sells. The cost does not change based on time and the storage is minimal.

My example of the leveraging the long tail is TechBuy. TechBuys is an online shop for computer hardware, printers and accessories.  It provides to the customers a different range of products of different brands that relate to computers. One of the good features of TechBuy is the simplicity of searching as well as the great range of options that users can use such as computer hardware, CPUs, Cables, etc. Also, since there are different uses of computers such as digital designing, programming and gaming user can find a different range of computers that have specific feature for that use with many different options and prices. Also, users cannot only buy already made computers; they also can customize their computers to meet their needs. Also, TechBuy is a global online computer shop that they can send their products to the most countries in the world.

So, what strategy you think online shops need to have or improve?

Perpetual Beta

Nowadays, the Internet becomes something important in our life. The Internet is significantly improving that makes users cannot live without it. Software applications are more likely like service, before creating and introducing new web 2.0 applications they released a “BETA” for several reasons, which are:

1-    Give the users the opportunity to test the application.

2-    Knowing how users interact with the application.

3-    Finding any mistakes needs to be fixed.

4-    Adding new features to application.

The main reason of releasing a beta is to see how the users use the application and making sure that the application will meet its purpose with users. Also, it is a good step from developers to make users participating on their Web 2.0 application.

For today topic I will talk about Google Wave application that was beat and now it is a great Web 2.0 application.

In September 2009 Google released Google Wave beta to 100.000 users that they allowed to invite additional users. They gave users the opportunity to use the application and express the features that it gives as well as how it is work.

However, on May 19, 2010 Google released Google Wave to the public. Google Wave is a Web 2.0 application for real-time communication and collaboration. It gives the users the ability to hare videos, work documents, presentation and photo. Also, users can discuss their work either if it is business or University work through the chat feature that Google Wave provides.

Unfortunately Google Wave did not stay long. In August 2010 Google announced that there are no plan to continuing support Google Wave “we are not continuing active development of Google Wave as a stand-alone product”. Google wave is still working but it will not have Google support.

Google Wave is one of the best Web 2.0 applications I use in my University studies. It was a bad news for me when I heard that they are going to stop supporting one of the best Web 2.0 application, but it still working fine with no support.

This week Question will be, Do you think it was a good step from Google to stop supporting Google Wave?

Software Above The Level Of a Single Device

Since technology is remarkably growing  in many different aspects, the way people want to use it is incredibly increasing. Using social websites and the Internet in general becomes a MUST to most of people, as well as businesses are using the internet for advertising and selling their products more than the old methods such as advertising  through magazines, TV’s or Newspapers. These days’ mobile phones are offering a lot of features that makes browsing the Internet easy and active. Also, many Web 2.0 applications are moving to expand their Web 2.0 application from using it through desktop to any device that can be connected to the Internet. In this week blog, I will talk about  my favorite Web 2.0 application that I use in both Desktop and mobile phone.

One of my best examples of web 2.0 applications that are Software above the level of a single device is Dropbox. Dropbox is the Web 2.0 application that user can store, sync, and, share files online. It is great for University students to share their unit’s files which can be accessed from anywhere and any device. Dropbox expanded their Web 2.0 application to be accessible from many different devices that works with IOS such as Apple products, iPhone and iPad, Android and Blackberry. There are a lot of features that Dropbox provide, which are:

• 2GB of Dropbox for free and 100GB for subscriptions.
• Files are always available from the secure Dropbox website.
• Works with many IOS such as Windows, Mac, Linux, iPad, iPhone, Android and BlackBerry.
• Works even when offline. Users can use their file while offline.
• Users can set the bandwidth limits so it will not slow the connection speed.

With these entire features that Dropbox application provides. Therefore, it is definitely above the level of the single device for the reason that it makes using the Internet and it applications much easier to the users. Also, users can be updated all the time, which is one of the most important factors that Web 2.0 provides. However, one of the main issues of using Dropbox is when users share their file with others, it can be edit from anyone which may results to wrong editing or deleting files. In general, I use Dropbox so much in my University studying especially with my group, because it is the easier way and method to be updated with my unit and group process.

So my question for this week blog is, what other features that could be added to Dropbox?