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Stephanie
Tyson
Hello, I'm Stephanie.
My passion is public libraries.
Goal 3: Knowledge Representation
Students are proficient in the theory and application of skills essential for knowledge representation in evolving technology environments, in any chosen area of specialization.
III.a. Students analyze, organize and describe various formats of information objects.
This assignment was to create a personal inventory/catalog of our own resources - CDs, DVDs, books on LibraryThing.com. Social tagging was used to help describe/categorize the books.
This assignment involved choosing and evaluating metadata for the purpose of cataloging movies. Students had to decide what metadata element to use, find the definition, decide if the field is required, if it is repeatable, and the rationale behind the decision. Basically, we had to figure out what patrons would use to search for a DVD (and what other information they would be interested in seeing) and include those elements.
This assignment had students create a taxonomy based on the media (books, songs, DVDs, personal records) that they currently had in their personal collection. I really liked this, because it was an introduction into how to classify items, and it made me think about things from a user's perspective. If I were searching for a particular song, book, or movie, what information would I expect to look for?
This is just a weekly assignment, but one I feel is relevant to this goal (especially since I haven't turned in the main assignment that would fulfill this). We had to take pictures of art sculptures in our area, post them, and add relevant metadata. The exercise is to get students used to adding metadata to files, and analyzing what metadata needs to be included when archiving. While students are ultimately describing an image, it is also an exercise in describing objects other than books or media.
III.b. Students identify and apply best practices in the use of different technologies for knowledge representation.
This assignment was to create a poster illustrating the different roles of information professionals. This was one of my first assignments in the Masters program, so I was a bit wordier than I should have been. That being said, the assignment teaches a lesson in less is more, and a different technique to get ideas across besides an essay.
Preparing Instructional Media was all about using the technology we have today to convey information to an audience. This presentation is about the history of animation through technology. Initially, when I did this project for the Microcomputer Applications class, it was a screencast as I went through the different videos. Prezi allowed me to put all the relevant information up, as well as videos, and allows users to explore the information on their own time, instead of dealing with the limits put on by video.
Knowledge representation doesn't have to just refer to the actual information patrons need, it can also refer to information about services. While a tri-fold brochure may not be the cutting edge of technology, the new software available to make it is. Learning how to use simple design programs can revolutionize how a librarian conveys information to their patrons. With as many signs, handouts, and brochures as there are in a library, you have to make sure your promotional materials stand out in order to get attendance at programs. We've started training with Canva at my library district, but I've been using it for a couple of years. It makes a big difference in how polished my output looks.
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