Week 1

Response to Readings

Information technology is necessary to the sharing of information. As with any medium in which we do things, we have to have an understanding of the devise that allows us to act. To call someone on the telephone you need to know how to use it. To ride the bus you need to be able to read the map. Communicate between people these days requires the knowledge to navigate different arenas on the web. With many of these arenas being created everyday and replacing former modes of communication, it has become necessary for everyone to learn much more than how to type and surf the internet. We now need to know about the technology of information in order to utilize the tools that make possible different forms of societal interaction. Although, just because we take the time to teach ourselves the emerging tools does not mean they are here to stay. This posses problems for established systems like libraries (as discussed in the article about the Lied Library at UNLV) but also has positive points in that it encourages growth and creativity.

The idea that it is the content that matters more than the container in which it comes to us (2004 Information Trends: Contents, not Containers) is encouraging to me because it suggests a lack of loyalty to the provider (as said in class). This requires that we have an understanding of how the infrastructure works so we can use the new systems that form everyday. It provides us with a greater flexibility to grow as a technical community and be less dependent upon systems created by established providers. However, this makes information harder to locate, which is where libraries have traditionally come into the picture but currently search engines like Google have filled that role. Innovation lies where it lies, which is why Google has done so well, but it seems to me that if libraries had had the capacity and saw the need for a unifying "information getter" then they would have filled that role instead.


"The Muddiest Point"

I understood most of the principles in class and look forward to discussing them further. The only point that I am unclear on is the measurement of digital information (terabytes, etc) and how it translates into physical space, digital space, cost, etc..