YouTube and Libraries: Utilizing YouTube in libraries is a great idea, in my opinion. As those of you may or not know, libraries face serious competition due to the fact that there are new Internet tools like Google. Information that was once only available in libraries is now available at the touch of your fingertips in the comfort of your own home. Thus, in order to compete, libraries are now having to come up with new ways to serve customers. I agree with the article that YouTube would be a great way for libraries to serve customers, and it would also be a good promotion tool for libraries. Libraries need to step up and come up with new ideas if they are going to survive in the Information Age.
Imaging Pittsburgh: The “Imaging Pittsburgh” project was also really great. I was particularly amazed at all of the images of the Digital Library. Since I am not originally from Pittsburgh and have only lived here 6 months, I enjoyed getting an inside look of the city. I thought that this project was beautiful, and that it's an incredible gift to the city of pittsburgh.
Data Compression: The Data Compression wiki was interesting. I didn't even know what data compression was until I read this. There is more to encoding data than I ever realized. Also, the part about "machine learning" was particualrly interesting, as it can predict the posterior possibilities of a sequence. I hope to learn more about the concept of data compression as the class goes on.
Doug, I think you're absolutely right that Youtube could be a great promotional tool for libraries. Our public library has a Facebook page, but to be honest, I rarely read their posts--too much text. But I would probably click on a Youtube link. And if the promotion were well done, I would click on the next link I got from the library. I believe most public library patrons (and school library patrons, for that matter,) are only getting a small percentage of what's available. And if they knew what they could do at the library, they would come back more frequently.
ReplyDeleteI also loved your comment about the Imaging Pittsburgh project being "an incredible gift to the city." I hadn't thought of it that way, but you are absolutely right.