Week 5 Reading Notes

Wikipedia: Data Compression
Data Compression Basics

Out of the two reading selections, I found the Data Compression Basics the most interesting to read. The information outlined in the article was for the most part easy to conceptualize.

The articles covered lossy and lossless forms of data compression.
Lossless compression-the info is guaranteed to be exactly identical to the original.
Lossy compression- the info is not guaranteed to be exactly identical/ loss of fidelity.

The Data Compression Basics article went on to cover Data, Stills, Audio and video compression.

I was interested to note that the difference between two sets of numbers can be recorded as a compressed version of an image or sound.

Also, knowing which colors/ brightness ranges are most sensitive to the eye allows for lossy data compression in images.

Imaging Pittsburgh...by Edward A. Galloway

This seemed a monster of a digitizing/archiving project taken on by University of Pittsburgh’s Digital Research Library. Assembling a collection of this size faced many challenges.
Selecting photographs to be included in the collection proved to be a challenge. In assembling photographs from split collections, members of different departments had to collaborate in selecting photographs.

On top of that, Metadata had to be created for the entire collection...and these were just a few of the challenges faced. The amount of work involved makes me think twice about the costs vs. benefits aspect of digitization.

YouTube and Libraries...by Paula L. Webb

This was an entertaining and informative article about how libraries can use Youtube as a way to reach out to patrons. I enjoyed watching 'The Library Mystery Tour." It made me want to go out and make a YouTube video about the library where I work. Also, the fact that you can attach a video to a blog, and have an RSS feed, makes this a creative way to market a library.