[portfolio]
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Contents
Information Architecture (LIS-634)
The course introduces the concepts and
practices of Information Architectures (IA) for a website within the context of the organization it serves. It aims to acquaint students with principles and process of information architecture for user-centered design of websites. It also provides students the opportunity to develop practical skills related to the design of information organization and navigation systems. The course prepares students for the companion technical course of “content management systems” where they will apply the theories and techniques studied in this course to the implementation of a fully functional website.
Assignments
IA Awareness
A short Information Awareness critique of a selected website.
IA Critique
A (more in-depth) critique of an assigned website.
Projects
Paper (step 1)
This individual project involves an imaginative redesign of an existing informational website. Very often, information architects are asked to redesign an information system that already exists. I conducted a context, content, and user analyses for the website. Note: After I completed this part of the overall project, I realized that the instructor was one of the creators. I told him that I felt like I was “kicking his dog”.
Design and Documentation (step 2)
A proposal to redesign the website. This step of the project creates blueprints and wireframes proposing changes to the client’s website and its web pages based on research conducted at the prior stage (i.e. project installment #1).
Prototype and IA Strategy (step 3)
The third installment and final prototype of the redesigned website in which we implement the organization system, labeling system, navigation system, and search system. In addition, the IA strategy plan for your website is provided.
Topical Presentation – Search
A short presentation about search technologies and why it’s a lot harder than it looks
Foundations of Information Technology (LIS-636)
The course introduces the concepts and practices of Information Architectures (IA) for a website within the context of the organization it serves. It aims to acquaint students with principles and process of information architecture for user-centered design of websites. It also provides students the opportunity to develop practical skills related to the design of information organization and navigation systems. The course prepares students for the companion technical course of “content management systems” where they will apply the theories and techniques
studied in this course to the implementation of a fully functional website.
Assignments
Script Programming
In this exercise, I was asked to create various short script files. Note: Scripting isn’t my strongest suit but I knowhow to do it.
Basic HTML
For this assignment, I was asked to create a basic Web page using HTML and upload it to the campus SWEB server. Note: Again, I was already fairly competent in HTML and web technologies.
Operating Systems
I was asked to examine different operating systems and to interact with the computer with both a command and graphical interface. This assignment was intended to familiarize the class with Windows as well as the Windows command shell. Note: since I work in IT, I am already very
conversant with Windows, Mac, and Unix.
Databases
For this assignment, I was asked to create a database for songs, artists, and albums; then query it. Note: Although I am not a DBA, I curate about 1 Billion rows in my corporate digital library, so this was very familiar to me.
Paper
In this assignment, I was asked to develop an information technology/service plan for one of the following types of libraries: public library, school library, or academic library. The IT plan report needed to include: (1) the general challenges and opportunities of your library, (2) six information technologies and services for your library (critical, innovative, or both), and (3) implementation of your library IT plan and its evaluation.
Note: with the instructor’s concurrence, I modified this assignment to be an IT plan for my digital library at work. In that capacity, it has proved to be useful already. This link goes to the full plan modified under LIS690.
Knowledge Management (LIS-658)
Description: Organizational knowledge is a valuable strategic asset. Knowledge management refers to the systematic management of an organization’s knowledge assets so that they can be leveraged for sustainable advantage. This course examined how knowledge is created, captured, organized, diffused, and implemented in an organization. Topics covered include knowledge management processes and practices, corresponding technologies, collaboration tools, and people and cultural issues.
Thesis
Organizational processes and practices that enhance quality knowledge gathering and utilization are needed to foster increased participation in the information management cycle and further the development of better, more effective information in the organization’s repositories. You can access my paper addressing the thesis above here: “Identifying the determinants of knowledge management in organizations”.
Knowledge Management Blog
I was asked to maintain a blog discussing our developing views of knowledge management as we progressed through the course. Each blog post had to choose 3 readings selected at random and build upon that foundation weekly. The Knowledge Management section of this site is dedicated to that exercise. Specifically, we were asked to:
- “Write at least 11 blog entries on the WordPress blog sites. Each blog post was to include a critical discussion of three article readings drawn from the reading list. The blogs should be publicly available. Posts should be at least 500 words in length and must include full references for each work discussed”.
- “Use the blog posts to keep notes on the readings, to synthesize thoughts, and to critique the literature. By the third post, link to classmates’ blog posts and draw connections between what they are reading and what you are reading. Do not wait for your classmates to write entries on the same articles before linking to their posts. Instead, link to each others’ posts based on ideas”
I thought this was a very clever way to get a set of differing perspectives on the topic of Knowledge Management. If you give the class 31 different papers to read, then the likelihood that two students will read the same three papers in any one class is very low. In that way, the whole class gets valid, differing perspectives all around. My first blog post, Knowledge Management taught like Rashomon, is about this idea.
Bibliographic Management (Links to an external site)
We were asked to develop and discuss our efforts to develop a taxonomy of our readings by putting everything on a bibliographic management site (Bibsonomy, in this case). My discussion of the success of my taxonomic tagging system is discussed in the Progress Report.
Introduction to Digital Libraries (LIS-665)
Description: This course examines fundamental issues, problems, technologies, and approaches to the creation and management of digital libraries. This course aims to develop a broad understanding of digital libraries, ranging from basic concepts, digital content, metadata, system architecture, and legal issues. In particular, it emphasizes the new approaches and techniques of collection building, organization, storage, and access of digital material and the evaluation of digital projects.
Enhancing the Quality of Scanned Images
I was asked to demonstrate my understanding of optimization settings, and image creation/manipulation; by editing & optimizing various digital images.
Dublin Core Exercise
Create an XML document using Dublin Core Metadata.
Digital Library Management Survey
An evaluation of Omeka and its capabilities
Case Study
Abstract: The New York Public Library is the largest public library system in the world. It has been working on digital collections since 2005. For the past three years, the New York Public Library has been using a custom second-generation digital collection management system, developed in house. This survey will provide an overview of the system: where it is deployed, what the internet traffic is, and how the Digital Collection fits within the New York Public Library’s overall mission and vision. While the Digital collection holds only a small fraction – less than two percent – of the library’s total holdings, it exemplifies the diversity of those holdings. The IT department has moved the Digital Collection – in fact, nearly all of the digital systems – to the public cloud; the Digital Collection is currently running on Amazon Web Services. This survey relies heavily on information published by the library as well as interviews of the library staff subsequently published as use cases and customer testimonials on Amazon’s web site.
Digital Library Prototype
Links to an external site. I was asked to create a small-scale digital library prototype using Omeka. The prototype should include at least “ten” digital objects that can be accessed through search and browsing. The project needed to demonstrate your ability to collect digital objects, create metadata, and present them to potential end-users.
Special Topics in LIS: Social Media (LIS-690)
Description: The goal of this course is to introduce major theories and methods for understanding and analyzing social media. This course will review topics such as social networks, ethics and policy, marketing approaches, and social analytics, and then discuss various applications of social media in different disciplines and organizations including scholarship, library, healthcare, and education.
| Social Media Network Analysis | A network analysis of the characters in Les Miserables using open source tools. |
| Social Media Messaging | A critique of two promotional message examples taken from social media channels of my local library comparing and contrast the two based on the readings above or other external sources (making sure to include both in-text and end-of-text citations). |
| Social Media Analytics | Assess tools, metrics, messages for a ‘client’ who is conducting a social media outreach program |
| Social Media Strategy | Update of the Library IT Plan with the needs uncovered from the Social Media analyses performed in the steps above. |
Social Network Analysis
A network analysis of the characters in Les Miserables using open source tools (Gephi). If you want to repeat what I did, see the instructions here.
Jean Valjean’s social network
Creating Effective Social Media Messages
A critique of two promotional message examples taken from social media channels of my local library comparing and contrast the two based on the readings above or other external sources (making sure to include both in-text and end-of-text citations).
Social Media Strategy Project
For this project, I expanded the work done for the Library IT plan – previously submitted under LIS636 – to be incorporate a social media plan for my digital library concept.
Social Media Analytics
I was asked to make suggestions as to how my client (which in this case is me) could better use what social media analytics tool(s) (e.g., including additional metrics, checking them more often/regularly, re-evaluating what they measure actually measure what they want to measure, etc.) already in use.