I have learnt a considerable amount throughout this unit in the lectures, however I feel that I always managed a deeper understanding through the learning journals. I always like to critically reflect on the weekly readings however the journals allowed me a concrete way of doing it.
I particularly liked to use the readings as references to inform my discussion each week as I feel this was a more effective way of engaging with them. My biggest problem with them was that I always left them till the last minute. However I often felt like that was an advantage for this course as I was forced to re-learn about each of the respective week's topics. This actually helped me gain a better understanding and allowed the information to stick a little better in my mind.
I really enjoyed writing about recent events in the area of information organisation through the reflections as it gave me an idea of the things I could be dealing with in my future career. Also discussing the changes to old systems actually helped me to understand the new systems better and realise their advantages. In particular I think learning about the Dublin Core Metadata Initiative in this way helped me immensely in the final assignment.
The focus on user experience has been incredibly valuable to me in my personal life as well. I feel like I have a much greater understanding of just what it is about a system that I am finding to be difficult to use for example. It has also given more patience with some systems as I have a much better understanding of how hard it is to make something user friendly.
Overall I have learned a great deal in this course; all of which I think is important in my future career as much of the content was about what will happen in the future due the rapid changes in technology that has affected the entire Library and Information Science industry.
Friday, 1 November 2013
Week 10 Learning Journal
1. How
does user generated content (ie ratings, reviews, tagging) impact upon
or change the way in which users interact with or experience the library
and its collection?
To many people I have spoken to, the advent of modern technology has rendered the library obsolete. One of the most obvious examples of this is the ease of getting free material from the internet (Greenhill & Wiebrands, 2012). Greenhill and Wiebrands state the advent of people getting e-books from torrent sites for example; these methods are of course illegal but it is still happening on a large scale (2012). There is not much a library can do to combat this; due to the process of renting an ebook being more difficult than pirating one.
However a library can still remain relevant in such an environment through the use of user generated content. If a library can support user generated content within its collection, it provides an avenue for people to discuss the content of the library's collection. This is the sort of thing that does not happen with pirated materials. A library's primary purpose is to supply a service for the local community; it is easy to see how incorporating technologies that allow people to rate or tag material is a service that many people find valuable. People like to discuss books they have read and movies they have watched, by providing this to a library user-base, it will not only provide a useful service but encourage people to access the library catalogue more and there is a good chance they will also utilise the other services that the library offers.
References
Greenhill, K. & Wiebrands, C. (2012). No library required: the free and easy backwaters of online content sharing. Paper presented at VALA2012. Retrieved from: http://www.vala.org.au/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=580&catid=87&Itemid=159
To many people I have spoken to, the advent of modern technology has rendered the library obsolete. One of the most obvious examples of this is the ease of getting free material from the internet (Greenhill & Wiebrands, 2012). Greenhill and Wiebrands state the advent of people getting e-books from torrent sites for example; these methods are of course illegal but it is still happening on a large scale (2012). There is not much a library can do to combat this; due to the process of renting an ebook being more difficult than pirating one.
However a library can still remain relevant in such an environment through the use of user generated content. If a library can support user generated content within its collection, it provides an avenue for people to discuss the content of the library's collection. This is the sort of thing that does not happen with pirated materials. A library's primary purpose is to supply a service for the local community; it is easy to see how incorporating technologies that allow people to rate or tag material is a service that many people find valuable. People like to discuss books they have read and movies they have watched, by providing this to a library user-base, it will not only provide a useful service but encourage people to access the library catalogue more and there is a good chance they will also utilise the other services that the library offers.
References
Greenhill, K. & Wiebrands, C. (2012). No library required: the free and easy backwaters of online content sharing. Paper presented at VALA2012. Retrieved from: http://www.vala.org.au/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=580&catid=87&Itemid=159
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