Week 7 Readings

The “How Stuff Works” article about Internet infrastructure was very helpful in describing how a computer connects to the Internet.  (Where Tyson loses me a little, however, is when he gets into Company A and Company B and NAPs, which I guess connect large ISPs to each other.)  Routers enable computers to send information between one another.  The explanation of IP addresses was also informative--I’ve used the term forever, it seems, and never knew that it stood for “Internet Protocol.”  I wish I would’ve had this article last semester, when I was trying to explain in a presentation the “official” terms for the parts of a URL address:  top-level or first-level domain name (.com, .org, .net, .edu, and .gov); second-level domains, and host.  The DNS server role is amazing, in that it does its work so seamlessly and quickly.  It’s pretty amazing, when you stop to think about it, that these “backbones” of our technological world are what’s behind being “able to talk to everyone else on the planet.”  I think it’s safe to say that most of us never even think about all of these components that drive the engine of the Internet.  But without them, there would be no Internet.

I can imagine how computers revolutionized the library world in the 80s and 90s, what with their ability to automate everything from checking in and checking out books, tracking circulation and interlibrary loans, purchasing acquisitions and subscriptions, and providing a public interface for patrons, among other things.  But I guess as technology has progressed, libraries are realizing how “inflexible and nonextensible” these early systems are, and they now must choose between starting all over, at great cost, or purchasing a stand-alone product (what I think of as a “patch” that meets a particular need), also costly, or coming up with their own solution (which would require a staff person with technological know-how).  Pace argues that libraries don’t pay enough for technology, and are going to have to face the music that “better costs more.”  At the same time, I do think developers and vendors need to design and market products that are interoperable--they’re doing it for other systems (HR and course management), why not for library systems?  Till that happens, I suppose the answer for some libraries is open source ILS, like Koha, or Evergreen (two such systems I’ve heard of). 

Much to my surprise, I really enjoyed the video “Inside the Google Machine.”  I guess I’ve been a bit jaded when it comes to Google, even though it’s my search engine of choice, my go-to for just about everything.  I found the early minutes of discussion and lighted maps showing how many people are using Google the world over to be fascinating, even though I felt really sad about Africa being literally in the dark.  I’d never even heard of Orkut or Google Answers (and I guess these never really took off).  But what this video demonstrates to me is that this is a company that has a true entrepreneurial spirit--they’re not afraid to give their employees freedom to pursue what interests them--and on company time!--and it’s often worked out in their favor.  And they won me over with allowing dogs to accompany their owners to work.  Are they hiring???  :)