Honors Newsletter

Posted on March 10, 2014 by Andrew Battista

In case you haven’t seen it already, the first edition of the Honors Program newsletter has been released. It included news from the program and a list of classes coming up this summer and fall.

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Language and Information Control

Posted on March 5, 2014 by Lauren Wallis
Celeste

Celeste West, badass librarian

Controlled Vocabulary.  It sounds pretty serious.  It’s the name librarians give to any fixed set of language that is used to describe information.  In our catalog, Library of Congress Subject Headings (LCSH) are the controlled vocabulary.  Different databases have their own sets of controlled vocabulary to describe articles and other materials.

But look at that term again.  Controlled Vocabulary.  The vocabulary–the as-yet-invisible set of words–is actively being controlled by some unknown agent.  And in turn, the vocabulary is doing some controlling of its own–it is permitting or denying access to the information, depending on whether or not you’re able to find the “right” term.

So what happens when you try to wrest control from the all-powerful Vocabulary and the Wizards behind it?  Well, sometimes you get called “a major pain in the ass” by said Wizards, which in my mind is the highest of praise.  That (and more) is what happened to Sanford Berman as he spent his career trying to reform the racism, sexism, and homphobia of LCSH.  He though, quite rightly, that terms with inherent (or sometimes quite explicit) bias and negativity limited patrons’ ability to access the information they really wanted, and he did a lot to make the situation better.  Eventually he got fired.

Continue reading →

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A Look at Income Inequality: A Widening Divide

Posted on March 4, 2014 by Rachael Swokowski
Income Inequality: A Growing Divide

Income Inequality: A Widening Divide

Since we’ve been talking about privilege and systems of power, I thought it would be appropriate to look at the widening income inequality gap here in the United States. This Prezi looks at how income inequality is harmful, how it has increased over time, who is most affected by this inequality, and finally, possible solutions, or steps to closing this income gap.

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What is happening near Montevallo?

Posted on March 4, 2014 by Kayla Pilkington

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A woman from Maylene, Al is charged with murder for leaving her child in her burning car after a car accident. If you would like to know more about the story you can watch http://www.abc3340.com/story/24852203/toddlers-remains-found-in-burnt-out-car?autoStart=true&topVideoCa

This current event goes perfectly with my “Bizarro Research Paper” which I formatted as a prezi. I hope that you enjoy my Prezi .

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The Digital Divide

Posted on March 4, 2014 by Katie Saunders

For my Bizzaro Research “Paper” I did a Venn diagram on the digital divide. I was very  interested in this subject when we discussed it in class because it is something that we can see even at home. I know at Hoover High School, the pros AND cons of having the iPads for every student has been a large topic of discussion. I got most of my statistics from the PewResearch Internet Project and a few other websites that I will post below. Comments on Edutopia is also an interesting site to check out opinions on how moving to digital textbooks will affect the digital divide. Check out my project: bizarro research paper

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A few reasons to learn French

Posted on March 4, 2014 by Hannah Gentry

For my Bizzarro Research “Paper” I created an infographic using a (semi) free website. I compiled information from the French Embassy in the United States and from the International Organisation of La Francophonie and made it more accessible to potential new French speakers. Let’s get real…if you’re not already interested in French, you probably aren’t going to peruse the Francophonie or French Embassy websites. Infographics are popular on social media sites, so they can get information out to a wider audience.

In our later “Spread the Message” assignment, I want to share my infographic on as many platforms as possible. Ideally, it would inspire others to advocate for French education in our schools. Learning French shouldn’t just be a luxury!

Since I decided not to pay the $18 for a membership upgrade, my creation is only visible online (I’m still trying some things to find a way to download it for free…fingers crossed!)

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When Metadata Becomes Data: Mechanisms of Surveillance and Possibilities for Open Knowledge

Posted on March 4, 2014 by Andrew Battista

For my bizzaro research paper, I studied the connection between metadata and our current state of surveillance. Tracing the history of metadata and interweaving key events in the disclosures of Edward Snowden, I created a Timeline JS project.

You also may want to view my project in a new browser window.

Now that the project is over, I’m interested in talking about my process and hearing from other people in class. How did the process of finding evidence and integrating it into your bizzaro research paper assignment projects compare with doing “regular” research papers? Are there advantages and disadvantages, and if so, what are they? I’m looking forward to discussion in class tomorrow.

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Entering a Blogosphere Tools

Posted on February 28, 2014 by Andrew Battista

I’m going to save some of my discussion for entering a blogosphere for my actual creation submission post, but I wanted to share a few general tools and tricks about organizing content online here. This is in no way an authoritative list; rather, it’s just a few ideas that I’ve used to enter blogospheres in the past.

The Burkean Parlor image, via Armstrong.edu

The Burkean Parlor image, via Armstrong.edu

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

As we’ve said before in class, the act of entering a blogosphere is somewhat like showing up to a party late. When you first get there, you discover that there’s a lot of people already engaged in conversations, some very related to each other and some only partially relevant. After you move about the room for awhile, you begin to realize where the best conversations are, where the talk that interests you the most is happening, and where the discussions you’d like to avoid are taking place. Continue reading →

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Getty’s Contribution to Linked Open Data

Posted on February 24, 2014 by Andrew Battista

I wrote a slightly different version of this post for Catherine Walsh’s #ART327 Collection Management class, but I wanted to share it here as well.

You may have seen the news that the Getty has announced the release of its Art & Architecture Thesaurus as Linked Open Data. What does this mean, and what does this mean in terms of this class? And what is Linked Open Data?

Very briefly, the Art & Architecture Thesaurus is one of the vocabularies produced by the Getty. Art historians and archivists use it to catalog objects, and members of a class in the Art Department here at Montevallo are using a parallel version of it to catalog items of art on our campus. By inputting data into Omeka, students create a searchable database of new knowledge.

lod_logoMy huge caveat here is that I am not an expert in Omeka, or Linked Open Data, or metadata, or the Semantic Web. I’m just trying to piece together the general principles behind organizing knowledge and using open-source content management systems to classify it. It seems that the general principle behind Linked Open Data is that large amounts of information, regardless of what they are, need to be in a consistent format in order for a computer or a machine to search it. The explanation of Linked Open Data by Getty is helpful. Continue reading →

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Facebook’s $16 Billion Purchase of WhatsApp & the Age of Data Mining

Posted on February 22, 2014 by Rachael Swokowski
Autocomplete Just One Aspect of Google's Data Mining

Autocomplete Just One Aspect of Google’s Data-Mining

When I first learned of the filter bubble, a result of Google’s data mining abilities, I felt internally conflicted. Part of me loved the fact that today’s technology is so advanced that we can track people’s moves online to tailor the world of information to individual particular needs. At the same time, I worried about what corporations or governments might do with that information. Also, part of me worried that over time I would be shut out to new possibilities, new viewpoints, and new ideas. So, I turned to my friends, hoping they could help give me some perspective. As it turns out, they too, were largely unaware of Google’s data mining ability and its implications, both positive and negative. Finally, I turned to the internet, hoping bloggers and tweeters alike could shed some light on the issue. What I found was that users were less concerned with the filter bubble aspect of data mining and concerned with its security implications. Continue reading →

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