Digital Library

Robotic digitization

George Washington University (not to be confused with our own Washington University) has purchased an automated digitization system to investigate whether automated methods are more cost effective for digitization projects. Kirtas Technologies makes the machine, which uses a plastic arm to turn pages and uses cameras to photograph the pages. A vacuum of circulating air also helps turn pages. It will be interesting to see the outcome of this experiment. If nothing else, it's a pretty cool machine and can photograph up to 3000 pages per hour. Read more here.

Facebook Privacy Class

 Services such as Facebook are used in more than just a social context.  For some users, it allows them to interact with friends and family in a more personal way; however, other people may use these sites in a fashion similar to email, expecting to contact co-workers and colleagues.  As social networking sites increase in use, managing your online identity is more important than ever.  To this end, Tim Lepczyk, co-taught a class instructing librarians on how to manage permissions on Facebook.  This included: creating lists of people, restricting profile information, restricting search results and news feed properties, and managing application settings.  Attendees also learned how to hide applications and people from their news feed, and how to change settings to appear online or not.

By learning these skills, the hope is that it will increase comfortable use of Facebook in library instruction and at the workplace.  Slides from the presentation are available via Google Docs.

WU Libraries offer XML training

Washington University Libraries XML Workshop

 

The Washington University Libraries are presenting free workshops on several aspects of XML on Monday through Thursday, November 30, December 1, 2, 3 each from 9-12 noon in Olin Library, Arc computer lab.  These sessions are open to anyone in the area.

The workshop is made up of four sessions on different XML standards and technologies.  Participants are free to choose any or all of the sessions of interest to them.   See below for descriptions of each workshop.  There are no prerequisites, however, those without experience in markup languages (such as HTML) who wish to take other sessions may find the introductory session helpful.  All sessions will be presented at an introductory level.

Register for each session separately using the links in the descriptions.  Seating is limited to 24 per session. Contact Charmaine Scott at 935-7277 or cgscott@wustl.edu for questions /concerns or registration assistance.

Monday, November 30
XML + oXygen:
            The eXtensible Markup Language (XML) is not a language itself, but rather a meta-language used to create markup languages to suit whatever purpose you may have.  In this session you will learn the basic rules of XML and the philosophy behind it.  You will also be introduced to the basics of the popular XML editor, oXygen. Register http://evanced.info/washingtonu/evanced/eventsignup.asp?ID=319&rts=&disptype=&ret=eventcalendar.asp&pointer=inhouse&returnToSearch=&SignupType=inhouse&num=0&ad=&dt=mo&mo=11/1/2009&df=calendar&EventType=ALL&a.

Tuesday, December 1
EAD:
           Encoded Archival Description (EAD) is the encoding and structural standard for archival description and the creation of finding aids using XML.  This course will briefly review the structure of a finding aid, as well as introduce participants to EAD through lecture, demonstrations, and in-class exercises. Register http://evanced.info/washingtonu/evanced/eventsignup.asp?ID=320&rts=&disptype=&ret=eventcalendar.asp&pointer=inhouse&returnToSearch=&SignupType=inhouse&num=0&ad=&dt=mo&mo=12/1/2009&df=calendar&EventType=ALL&a.

 

Wednesday, December 2
XSL & XPath:
           Part of the philosophy of XML is the separation of presentation from content to facilitate output of the content in multiple styles and formats.  The technology used to do this is the eXtensible Style Language (XSL).  The XML Path Language (XPath) is a query language for selecting sections in an XML document, often used in XSL style sheets.  Participants will learn the basics of XSL syntax, and create stylesheets using XPath to transform and output data in a variety of formats.  Register http://evanced.info/washingtonu/evanced/eventsignup.asp?ID=321&rts=&disptype=&ret=eventcalendar.asp&pointer=&returnToSearch=&SignupType=&num=0&ad=&dt=mo&mo=12/1/2009&df=calendar&EventType=Arc+Workshop%2C+Mee.

 

Thursday, December 3
TEI + Roma:
           This session will introduce participants to the Text Encoding Initiative (TEI) — its purpose, parts, organizing scheme, etc. — as well as to Roma — a web-based tool for managing its complexity. Participants will use the TEI to mark up a sample text and will use Roma to validate it. Register http://evanced.info/washingtonu/evanced/eventsignup.asp?ID=322&rts=&disptype=&ret=eventcalendar.asp&pointer=&returnToSearch=&SignupType=&num=0&ad=&dt=mo&mo=12/1/2009&df=calendar&EventType=Arc+Workshop%2C+Mee.