I'm lucky to have incredibly interesting classes this semester. Interesting does not equal easy. Digital preservation is blowing my brain out of my ears.
While its becoming more and more important to understand and plan for, its also laden with problems and a lack of evidence as to what really works.
An alarming amount of literature on the topic calls for no action; a sort of wait-and-see and maybe there will be a cure-all. But in the meantime, what happens to the information that gets lost until this magical cure appears out of the mist?
But on the other hand, there is no tried and true method we know will work. So for now, we're saving imperfectly. We're altering the bit-streams, therefore not saving the document, but saving a representation of the document. So how much is okay to change? Do we use emulators to save the "look and feel" of each item (still altering the bit stream), or do we migrate and save the content, albeit altered content? And on and on and on.....
So anyhow, my project for the semester is to reconstruct as best as possible, with whatever digital archeology techniques we can find, with a small group of peers, a website that has been lost. The Pittsburgh Project established a model for electronic record-keeping. Ironically enough, it was lost due to a server glitch, having not been backed up. Whoops!
I like the idea of doing this, from scratch, and figuring out what works and what doesn't, cause I think this is going to become a huge obstacle/common problem in the near future. At the same time, its a big undertaking. Since this was a project that happened in the mid-1990's, none of us have ever seen the original site, and here we are, trying to make an as-exact-as-possible replica. So along with the actual doing of the project, we're tracking our methods and results and trying to get them published.
Its gonna be a hectic semester. See everyone in April.
Monday, January 21, 2008
Friday, January 11, 2008
Setting feminism back 50 years....
I've been reading a lot of stuff for school lately and have become increasingly annoyed with pronoun choice.
Yes women should have the right to vote. Yes, we should get paid at least 2/3 of what our male counterparts are making (kidding....), but really, do you have to type he/she, his/hers every single freaking time?
Just pick one!
You can argue that I'm (as the title implies) reverting to a male-dominated society and mindlessly throwing however many years of feminism down the proverbial drain, but really, what is so freaking wrong with some writing 'his'? And if you have that big a problem with it, write 'her.' That simple!
The only issue I've come across was in a book I read last week, Why Read, by Mark Edmunson. Its possible that the occurrence was due to his wish to please all by picking switching between the two. However, he picked some convenient times to switch to 'her.' It seemed every time there was a general question of intelligence, he went with the feminine. I dont have the book in front of me, but it would be something like this:
"When a student is done and he goes to follow up on his impenetrable research, he looks into the multitude of literary criticism and is awestruck by its intrepid tower of incredulity." (yeah, i thought the book was a little pretentious if you cant tell..."
versus
"When a student is unsure of her overall tenacity in the face of doing anything remotely involving intelligence whatsoever, she cannot but grasp at straws, hoping somehow to maintain her sense of ignorance."
No, these are not direct quotes, and its possible that my perception was bent by the bad taste of academic snobbery that the book emanated, but it seemed that there was a pattern to his pronoun choice.
AAAAAnyhow, use 'his' use 'hers' I dont care, as long as you're consistent. My eyes are just getting too tired from all of the unnecessary backslashes./////////////////
Thats all he/she wrote.
Yes women should have the right to vote. Yes, we should get paid at least 2/3 of what our male counterparts are making (kidding....), but really, do you have to type he/she, his/hers every single freaking time?
Just pick one!
You can argue that I'm (as the title implies) reverting to a male-dominated society and mindlessly throwing however many years of feminism down the proverbial drain, but really, what is so freaking wrong with some writing 'his'? And if you have that big a problem with it, write 'her.' That simple!
The only issue I've come across was in a book I read last week, Why Read, by Mark Edmunson. Its possible that the occurrence was due to his wish to please all by picking switching between the two. However, he picked some convenient times to switch to 'her.' It seemed every time there was a general question of intelligence, he went with the feminine. I dont have the book in front of me, but it would be something like this:
"When a student is done and he goes to follow up on his impenetrable research, he looks into the multitude of literary criticism and is awestruck by its intrepid tower of incredulity." (yeah, i thought the book was a little pretentious if you cant tell..."
versus
"When a student is unsure of her overall tenacity in the face of doing anything remotely involving intelligence whatsoever, she cannot but grasp at straws, hoping somehow to maintain her sense of ignorance."
No, these are not direct quotes, and its possible that my perception was bent by the bad taste of academic snobbery that the book emanated, but it seemed that there was a pattern to his pronoun choice.
AAAAAnyhow, use 'his' use 'hers' I dont care, as long as you're consistent. My eyes are just getting too tired from all of the unnecessary backslashes./////////////////
Thats all he/she wrote.
Thursday, January 10, 2008
Not so secret I guess....
So this is the new blog. Wee-haw! While I find I have lots to talk about concerning what I do, I think that my other blog is not quite the place for it. Although I have worked on some thesis ideas there.
So the world of archives? Not so secret. But pretty confusing! And full of scandal and intrigue. Thank god!
I've been doing my best to keep up with it all, and have come across an interesting theory. In a posting on his/her anonymous blog, the Annoyed Librarian, whomever its author might be, discusses the concept of careers in the library field. While I'm not technically a librarian, I think this can easily transfer to archiving.
He/she bemoans the desire for young professionals who are too keen on having prestigious careers, refusing to work their way up the ladder and willing to settle only for top positions.
I wont deny that I want to be good at my job. I wont deny, either, that I want a job that interests me and that allows me to further my knowledge. Yes, I'd like to publish material. Yes, I'd like to do a lot of things. And I'm a driven person, so I don't doubt that I will do them.
BUT
When it comes to the idea of competition, the AL seems to assign it to only a certain group of bratty librarians. I think the competition is, at least in part, forced on us.
I am in a program that is about 20 + people too large. After a semester that I worked my ass off on, I still am known by name to only 1 professor. The others notice me with a vague recognition that they've seen my face before. These professors are the ones who will be writing my recommendations when it comes time to go out into the big, bad world.
How do I make myself 'known' without being competitive? And I'm not talking about being competitive in the way that demeans other students or is in any way snobby, I'm just talking about, a couple months down the line when the recommendation forms come rushing in and someone sees my name on it, will they know who I am and what I've done in my time here?
So yes, I'm choosing to be vocal about my opinions, even if they are not the commonly held, just saying them aloud so I sound smart ones. I am spending time that I would normally spend reading fun books taking charge of group projects and revising papers. And while it might look like I'm some competitive, cut-throat person willing to do whatever to be in a higher position than others, I think I'm merely trying to ensure that I have a chance to do something that I love and be good at it.
So the world of archives? Not so secret. But pretty confusing! And full of scandal and intrigue. Thank god!
I've been doing my best to keep up with it all, and have come across an interesting theory. In a posting on his/her anonymous blog, the Annoyed Librarian, whomever its author might be, discusses the concept of careers in the library field. While I'm not technically a librarian, I think this can easily transfer to archiving.
He/she bemoans the desire for young professionals who are too keen on having prestigious careers, refusing to work their way up the ladder and willing to settle only for top positions.
I wont deny that I want to be good at my job. I wont deny, either, that I want a job that interests me and that allows me to further my knowledge. Yes, I'd like to publish material. Yes, I'd like to do a lot of things. And I'm a driven person, so I don't doubt that I will do them.
BUT
When it comes to the idea of competition, the AL seems to assign it to only a certain group of bratty librarians. I think the competition is, at least in part, forced on us.
I am in a program that is about 20 + people too large. After a semester that I worked my ass off on, I still am known by name to only 1 professor. The others notice me with a vague recognition that they've seen my face before. These professors are the ones who will be writing my recommendations when it comes time to go out into the big, bad world.
How do I make myself 'known' without being competitive? And I'm not talking about being competitive in the way that demeans other students or is in any way snobby, I'm just talking about, a couple months down the line when the recommendation forms come rushing in and someone sees my name on it, will they know who I am and what I've done in my time here?
So yes, I'm choosing to be vocal about my opinions, even if they are not the commonly held, just saying them aloud so I sound smart ones. I am spending time that I would normally spend reading fun books taking charge of group projects and revising papers. And while it might look like I'm some competitive, cut-throat person willing to do whatever to be in a higher position than others, I think I'm merely trying to ensure that I have a chance to do something that I love and be good at it.
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