Reading IV

Databases
The entry on Databases had lots of useful information pertaining to the background of databases as well as information on the components included in them. I found this particularly interesting because I use databases at work and for school everyday. After reading about them I realized how much I never knew (I am very sure that sounds completely cliché. I am also very sure that sentences very similar to this will be popping up in peoples blogs when they have nothing of particular interest to say about a subject). Databases, like so many things revolving around computers, are simply just one of those things that I use daily and have never taken the time to learn about. Note to self: towards the end of this entry, the word paradigm appears. I (and probably every single person in LIS 2000) am so tired of reading about paradigms it is not even funny.

Metadata
I really like this idea of Metadata. I am not just referring to the concept of information about information, but rather compilations of stored information. The ability to gather tons of information from different sources by means of one main source really does promote the accessibility and dispersion of information. I am sure that I have used all kinds of things that are considered to be linked with Metadata, but recently, because my job at the Hunt Library I have started to use MetaLib. It is pretty neat, although somewhat confusing at times. It easily allows one to gather all kinds of information from a variety of sources quickly and, when it works, efficiently.
One thing that I guess I did not think about was that Metadata does not need to be digital. For some reason while I was reading the document I was only thinking in terms of digital sources. Once thinking in broader terms, it is quite clear that of course it does not have to be digital. Unfortunately, because this is an IT class when ever I begin to read things all I think about is computers instead of other outlets of information organization. Note to self- IT does not always really mean computers. Duh….

DCDM
The idea of standardizations that DCMI presents is rather important. With the expansion of specializations, it becomes essential to create logical ways of recording information as well as presenting it. In terms of Metadata, if the idea of it is to be a searching tools that is cross disciplinary, without a clear set of standards it would be difficult to find what one is looking for efficiently.