Air Force Aims to ‘Rewrite Laws of Cyberspace’

In my searching for information for my term paper, I ran across this very interesting article where it appears Big Brother is a bit irritated and may be about to encroach upon individual privacy rights. I understand that the Air Force must be able to keep its’ network safe against cyber attacks in order to better defend the nation, but I am not sure I like the direction they are heading. I don’t like the fact that it seems that the aim of their plan, at least initially is to gain access to all computers on a network. I am not worried about the government seeing what is on my computer as I have nothing to hide, but what they may do with this information is what bothers me. Even worse, what happens if it is hacked and taken by someone not so trustworthy. I know that being on the Net takes away some of my anonymity but I don’t need the government using the security excuse to get into my computer and what not.

One thing I was fascinated about when it came to digital collections and the article was the fact that the Air Force is aiming to try to change the rules of the internet to make things more secure. This could help those presiding over digital collections by enhancing security and preventing individuals from doing things to hurt the integrity of the collection. I am curious to see where the Air Force efforts go and what it is going to do to internet security as well as to the privacy of everyone.

Google turns on OCR for scanned PDFs

Well Google continues to find ways to make searching the Net for information more efficient and easy. In surfing the web I came across this article concerning PDF’s and how they are indexed by Google. Google is starting to use optical character recognition on PDF’s that are indexed there which is going to expand the number of sources one is able to find by utilizing the search engine. I am curious as to how accurate this technology is and what efforts are being made to make it more accurate. If it were accurate it could make indexing digital collections of manuscripts much easier and effective. This could save money and also allow archivists and others increase the number of documents they could be online in short order.

Super-Targeted Ads Coming to a Browser Near You

Google seems to be at it again as they have come up with another innovation that will allow them to better target users with ads. This is understandable considering that the well being of the company is based on how much money it can generate through the sale of ads. I found it amazing that through information given off by your browser while on the Web the company can now target users with ads based on geographical location. The article even states that eventually the software that enables this kind of tracking will get down to the street and neighborhood level. I found this to be really interesting, but at the same time a bit disturbing because it kind of shoots down any illusion of privacy people feel they have while online.

I can see the usefulness for advertisers, but also had a crazy idea that it could also be useful for archives when it comes to trying to highlight collections. If a digital collection had this technology available, it could build a site where collections of interest to a particular area could be highlighted for that use as they access the site. It would give the site a feeling of being personalized and many may find it to be something very attractive about the site. At the same time, it may also creep people out as it may give off the feeling that big brother is watching and that things may not be as anonymous on the Net as they may think.

Just my thoughts on the subject and just curious as to what others may think about this……… 🙂

DRM and Archives

Library of Congress: DRM a serious obstacle to archiving

DRM or digital rights management is something that has come along to protect the rights of those that produce various works that appear in a digital format. Any of us that use ITunes understand the issues of DRM and the difficulties it causes in trying to keep your library archived in case your computer hard drive should crash. Until running across this article, I had never really thought of the issue in reference to archives and libraries and their struggle to ensure that items in their collection are preserved so that future generations can access them. The article discusses copyright law and a report issued by the Library of Congress.

According to the article libraries have a three copy limit for published works, which means that libraries are permitted to copy a published a work three times but only to replace those publications that are damaged. This is very strange to me because, as the author points out, this means libraries can only take action once a publication is damaged instead of being able to take early steps to ensure the library will always have a good copy of the work. What the copyright laws also do not address very well are those that are in other mediums aside from print. According to the laws today libraries and archives cannot legally make copies of an item unless that medium is obsolete. Like in reference to LP’s, most of us do not have record players but under these laws a library could not copy a LP record because there are still LP’s available on the market. The laws do not take into account that this is a dying technology and that if libraries/archives wait that the technology to convert these materials may no longer be around and make the information inaccessible.

I was really surprised by what I read in the article because it just showed me how far behind copyright law is as our society transitions into the digital realm. I also found it curious that things have been further complicated by the Digital Millennium Copyright Act, which should have actually helped address the issues of the digital age. According to the act the Library of Congress can establish exemptions to the rules every three years, but even if it does it still does not help libraries. The reason it does not help libraries is under DMCA it is illegal to distribute anything that could be used to circumvent the DRM protections many digital materials have, which leaves libraries without the equipment to do anything even if allowed.

I think this whole thing is very disturbing because more and more material is being born in a digital format and may be lost to future generations if things are not changed. There will be large chunks of our history that is going to disappear in our libraries and archives because of not having the proper technology to access them, if information professionals are not given the right to preserve the materials in other formats soon. It may be something that the ALA and SAA may need to get involved in, so that Congress understands what is at stake and what needs to be done.

National Standards Adopted in Sweden

SE: ODF made national standard in Sweden

While surfing the Net today to do some further research for a project I am doing, I ran across this interesting article.   It discusses the adoption of the open document format by Sweden which has also been passed by Brazil, Croatia, Italy, South Korea, and South Africa as well.  I am curious in the coming months or years if any of the the leading countries around the globe follow the examples of the countries.  I think it just goes to show the direction the world is going when it comes to information and the global economy.  In order for the economy to be efficient the formats that various countries and companies use are going to have to be uniform.

This could be a great move for digital collections because it will make it easier to build platforms on which to place digital forms and artifacts.  This will be really beneficial because the platforms will be able to be made so that it will be easier to enable many to add to various collections and further the movement where people are not only consumers of information but also the producers.  It could be very useful in archival collections where people may be reluctant to give up their stuff to others, but may be willing to do it for an organization if given the ability to do so.

This movement towards common standards is one that is very interesting and it will be intersting to see if the US jumps on board early or is slow in adopting common standards.

Interesting User Comsumer/ Consumer Creator Site

Goodreads

After my digital collection class had a Saturday meeting, I came home and thought about what Dr. Martens said about how the web is changing so that people are not just consumers of information but also producers of information.  One favorite site/collection that I like that kind of reflects this movment is Goodreads.  I guess you could say it is part of the Web 2.0 thing that is occurring in that not only can one gain information from the site, but one can also be producers of information.

This site is one that if you are an avid reader you will love because not only can you let others know what you reading, but can also see what others are reading and make friends with others that have your same interests.  I thought it would be interesting if certain types of digital collections could incorporate the aspect of users adding to a collection, like on good reads.  I could see it working with a collection in education that housed lesson plans or something, or even local history collections.  Many people may not want to give up their stuff in order to have it placed on the site, but if given the chance to do it easily themselves the collections could benefit.  I know that steps would have to be taken concerning copyright and metadata, but I think it could be worth examining.   I actually started a local history project when I was teaching and found many were not willing to give up family heirlooms or historical artifacts to place on the site, even though they thought the site was a good idea.   I just think this is something that may need to be thought of by those creating archives or digital collections that may be strengthened by artifacts that are not readily available.

While wanting to raise this issue concerning digital collections, I also felt the website was an intersting way of building a collection, of books, and sharing them with others.  I only wish it allowed for the ability to do the same with other things people read, but they may be added in the future.

American Memory Collection Technical Information

http://lcweb2.loc.gov/ammem/about/techIn.html

This website I felt could be useful as one starts to write their proposal.  It provides some insight into how the library of congress constructed the American Memory project and could help serve as a model as one creates their own digital collection.

Interesting Article on Digital Archives

Building Relationships “A Foundation for Digital Archives”

This article is one that I found very interesting and is something to consider when it comes to establishing a digital archive and maintaining it for the long term.  This article discusses the experience of six digital archives and the alliance they created in order to develop a federated approach to data archive.  In order to do all this each digital library had to build relationships with one another at levels starting with development all the way to administration of the archive online. The hope of the alliance is to promote the development of common standards that could diminish the cost of digital collections and hope more institutions to create digital collections and maintain them for the long term as budgets decrease and the demands on those with digital collections increase.

I really liked that the group worked with software developers in an open access format was fascinating as I feel that open access to information is something that is eventually going to be the way of all information on the Net.   I also like the fact that this alliance, like many others, is moving towards a uniform standard of metadata which will help make search engines and platforms so much more effective in helping people access the information more effectively.

The next step the alliance wants to take is to bring in data repositories which will further enhance their efforts and will greatly effect how information is presented and stored digitally in archives across the country and around the world.

Open Archives Initiative

Open Archives Initiative

In doing research for my project for my digital libraries course, I came across this interesting site dealing with what is called the open archives initiative. I had never heard of it before but think it is an interesting attempt to provide open access standards to institutional repositories. I did not realize that open access was something that was an issue when it came to archives. Upon reflection though I should have because many institutions develop archives in order to not only save their history, but place it online so that others can access the information and gain a greater understanding of that institution. I felt it was really a good source to use when attempting to build an archive because at least then the archive would be built in a manner that would allow it to be compatible and be able to move content and ideas between sources easily.

The one thing that I found most interesting was the standards appear to be quite comprehensive and really address metadata. Metadata seems to be key to this model as the group developing the standards seem to want to develop some sort of controlled vocabulary as well. I at least know what metadata set I am going to use, Dublin Core, as it is the one format that is required under the standards. In order to fully understand all of the standards I am going to have to do some more reading on metadata, so that I have more full understanding of all the subject entails. I feel this could be a great site for anyone to look at as they go to write a proposal for a digital archive. Please take a look and tell me what you think.

DLF evaluation of the Open Archives Initiative

Open Archives Forum – OAI-PMH Online Tutorial

Hulu

HULU

One of my favorite digital collections on the web is one that I never really thought of as a digital collection/library until recently. The site I use on a regular basis is one called Hulu. It is site that was created \by NBC Universal and News Corp to help people find and view video content. On the site one can find TV shows, movies and clips of other programs all for free. I think it is a great collection that is constantly updated. In order to keep the site free, users must deal with the occasional commercial while viewing the program or clip, but they are relatively short and you can always look at another website while it is playing. I find it a small price to pay to be able to get access to my favorite. The site has been around for a little over a year and has been quite successful, as the site continues to add more content.

What makes this collection so great is that it is very user friendly and one can find programs and clips using a keyword search. Another great thing about the site is that is not only allows one to view shows from the past week, but in some cases you can go back and watch past seasons of a show. That has been great for me because when I need a break from studying I go back and watch the various episodes of my favorite shows. Here lately I have been trying to watch at least the last show of the previous season as many TV shows are starting their new season in the next week or two. At least by watching these episodes I will be prepared for what may come up this coming season. As a user you can also rate the shows and provide feedback for future viewers. This I have found very useful as I make decisions about what to view on the site, and I think would be useful in a digital library setting as well. If patrons of a digital library could provide feedback as to what they thought about the content it could be very useful to future users and the library staff as well. The type of comments a resource illicited could be another thing that allows librarians to determine what resources to buy or invest in, and what ones to do away with. Since a library is supposed to be user centered, the feedback from patrons could be key in helping to meet their information needs.

Ever since I signed up for the beta version of this site I have found it to be a fascinating collection. It allows users to have their own portable video collection that they can access from anywhere there is a Internet connection. I feel it is an excellent example of where an entity has gone out and created a service to meet user needs as people are not always able to tune in to a program when it is on or want to invest in a DVR. In order to better serve the public this site allows people to have access to their favorite programs when they can best enjoy them. This step by the television industry is very similar to the reason libraries have turned to allowing remote access to certain library resources. I am curious to see how this site changes over the next year or so as it becomes more popular.

* One neat thing the site is doing this week is allowing people to watch the first episodes of some shows a week before they are broadcast on TV. Kind of an interesting marketing ploy if you ask me…… 🙂