Journal Entry Final Reflection

At the end of being part of this unit INN533 Information Organization, I feel I have acquired a clearer understanding by learning about the information user and the information professional and their roles in terms of organizing information. I have learnt how to use different information tools to acquire specific resources whether I am using a classification system to locate the resource, a library catalogue such as the National Library of Australia’s catalogue or using a database. Through writing journals I have found the weekly topics interesting and have improved on elaborating the significance of user experience on the design of a database after learning about the elements that enhance user experience. 

I found a few parts of the unit challenging, but there was not many concepts that were entirely new to me so I handled myself well with the new tasks I was required to accomplish. The most challenging part of the semester was being able to balance the workload involved in this unit along with the workload within other units of my final semester. In my final units I found myself in three different groups for the subjects I undertook this semester and that meant that I had to improve on my multitasking skills in order to add my input to all three groups for the assessments. The subject of information organization itself, assisted me in managing the majority of the information I had in all my subject in this semester and helped simplify my time management. 

I have gained a greater understanding with the concept of developing a database, and additionally, with understanding the concept of information organization and applying the skills of it to the assessments that were given. I have enjoyed assisting my team members in creating the ContentDM Database and I’m looking towards the future to apply my acquired knowledge and skills to a workplace environment.

Journal Entry Week 10: The future of information organisation or does information organisation have a future?

Library 2.0 is a closely related term to user-generated content as the two are both related to each other.  According to Partridge et al (2010), Library 2.0 is a term use to describe the changes seen between the interactions of libraries and their users Library 2.0 is a concept that takes its name from Web 2.0 and follows the principles and techniques of Web 2.0 in terms of how it can be utilized within libraries. Technologies such as RSS Feeds, Podcasts, Weblogs and wikis are all examples of Web 2.0 that can be useful within libraries. With these technologies, users can publish text, sound and videos in a very quick manner. User-generated content enables users to index resources such as links, photos and videos. An example of a website that is very popular for enabling users to use these techniques is Wikipedia. With this said users can interact with libraries in a different way. Users-generated content can give the records of collection in libraries a more sophisticated look and however, make them easier to retrieve. With the use of tagging, reviews, and ratings users can greatly engage with libraries to provide multiple descriptions of a resource. Tagging behaviour is being carefully watched by those in the area of information organization (Chang and Iyer, 2012) as it is a means of understanding user motivation which in turn can inform information system design such as library catalogues and databases. Nevertheless, the future of user-generated content may see techniques such as tagging being incorporated in several libraries to assist users with categorizing collections and archiving different content from different resources.

References

Chang, H. & Iyer, H. (2012). Trends in Twitter Hashtag applications: design features for value-added dimensions to future library catalogues. Library Trends, 61(1), 248-258. Retrieved from: http://muse.jhu.edu/journals/library_trends/v061/61.1.chang.html

Partridge, Helen L., Lee, Julie M., & Munro, Carrie (2010) Becoming "Librarian 2.0": the skills, knowledge, and attributes required by library and information science professionals in a Web 2.0 world (and beyond). Library Trends, 59(1/2), pp. 315-335.

Journal Entry Week 8: Classification

In this week’s activity we learnt about the classification schemes of the Dewey Classification (DDC) and the Library of Congress Classification (LCC).  These two classification concepts are used by general libraries to group collections that are similar together.  According to Shirky (2005), these terms are "the act of organizing a collection of entities, into related groups. In this particular week’s activity we were required to use these two classification schemes to classify a book by Jamie Oliver.

The use of these two schemes was designed for physical resources. With this said, both these schemes have been around for the past 200 years meaning that they may be harder to incorporate to our digital age.  Shirky (2005), states that while these systems have been adapted somewhat, new less rigid measures like subject tagging are showing up their limitations. The DDC is the most popular scheme used for classifying books within libraries. The usage of LLC and DCC depends upon the workload since Dewey decimal system is more widely used whereas complex system of a library could be handled with LLC (Broughton, 2004).The enumerative scheme that is used in the DDC classification scheme can be used to create notations for physical resources that have complex string numbers as subjects for classification. Thus, with resources that don’t need specific searches to locate them, the DDC is very appropriate. The DDC uses a decimal system in order to categorize collections since it’s method of categorization is numerical. Nevertheless, its weakness directly associates with resources that have subjects with longer strings.

All resources should be classified with the appropriate method to assist users and librarians with understanding them.  

References

Broughton, V. (2004). Essential classification. New York: Schuman

Shirky, C. (2005). Ontology is overrated: Categories, Links and Tags. Accessed 05/10/13.  Retrieved from:http://www.shirky.com/writings/ontology_overrated.html.

Journal Entry Week 6: Resource Description

Resource description is can be defined as the process of describing a resource or an item for easy access to the user. With this said the resource should be accurate and organized so that users can categorize resources between databases. Due to the fact that there is consistency in cataloguing, two standards of cataloguing have been introduced. These standards are known as the Resource Description and Access (RAD) and Anglo-American Cataloguing Rules (AACR). Both of these standards have their advantages and disadvantages.

In comparison, I feel as if the RDA is clearer and better. According to JSC Secretary (2009), RDA is a flexible framework for describing resources and is independent of encoding schemas. RDA is a newer standard and was developed for the online environment. According to Zabel & Miller (2011), RDA was designed for online environment, is more principles-based, and better accommodates formats other than print. AACR is a standard used that was designed before online environments. In our technologically advancing world, AACR would not be a suitable standard for an online environment. I found more difficulties in reading AACR due to the fact that I found some trouble in terms of understanding what all the abbreviations meant since some of them were in English and others were in Latin. Tillet (2011) states that despite being altered over the years, the lack of logical structure and individual rules make AACR2 an illogical choice for 21st century cataloguing. Nevertheless, RDA helps users navigate through library resources easier as it is more appropriate for the online environment.

References

JSC Secretary, (July, 2009). Joint Steering Committee for development of RDA. Retrieved on August, 9^th, 2013, from http://www.rda-jsc.org/rdaimpl.html

Zabel, D.& Miller, L. (2011). Resource description and access (RDA): An introduction for reference librarians. Reference and User Services Quarterly, 50(3), 216-222. Retrieved on August, 2^nd, 2013, from http://rusa.metapress.com/content/wrg1501514721g7n/

Journal Entry Week 4: Information Organisation on the web

Information Architecture can be explained as organizing information in a certain way to meet user needs. Ryan (2012) states 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. Information architecture is significant as it simplifies the process of users finding and/or retrieving information. So basically, information architecture is the organization of information to support findability, manageability, and usefulness from the infrastructural level to the user interface level (Downey & Banerjee).

In the “Do” activity for Week 4 it was required that we visit 3 local council websites and observe them closely. The website that belonged to the City of Perth council was the most user friendly in my opinion due to the fact that the interface was simplest and the designs used was the most attractive. It also had a search box to simplify the search process for the user without looking through the menus. Nevertheless my experience using this site was the most enjoyable. All the sites had elements that improved the user experience; elements such as methods to navigate and retrieve information.

Incorporate a search box for a local council website is appropriate because users for this site tend to be searching for information on the city and information about the city. Thus, using a search box was very suitable for this sort of website. This is an example of how taken information architecture into account can greatly improve the experience of the user.

References

Downey, L. & Banerjee, S. (2010). Building an information architecture checklist. Journal of Information Architecture, 2(2). Retrieved from  http://journalofia.org/volume2/issue2/03-downey/

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