Local Area Network (wiki)
I am always surprised at how “old” some of the technology I am familiar with. The article says that the “octopus” network from Lawrence Radiation Laboratory, which could be considered a primitive LAN was created in 1970.
Computer Network (wiki)
I followed this article to the wiki on IP addresses, because I wasn’t exactly sure what they are. Beside finding out about their function, I learned that until 1995, IP addresses were defined by 32-bit numbers. Due to the explosion of the Internet’s popularity, a new addressing system was needed with 128-bit numbers. They ran out of numbers and had to make more! Impressive.
Common Types of Computer Networks
I’m glad to know that you can pronounce Metropolitan Area Networks as “MANs.” Or should that be “MEN”?
Management of RFID in libraries
At first I was skeptical about the necessity of RFID. In terms of security, it does not seem very different from what electronic sensors/barcodes do now. There seems to be plenty of room for error. When the author talked about how swiping patron IDs and scanning books is “mind-numbingly dull,” I took offense because I have always enjoyed interacting with patrons and seeing what they are reading. On the other hand, when the author wrote about RFID potential for stack-reading, I was very excited. I can remember spending hours going through stacks, moving each book just enough so I could scan the bar code, counting the seconds until my shift ended. In that situation, I would be all for RFID.
On the other (other) hand, I would hate to see this or any other technology replace the human interaction found at the circulation desk. I think it is a vital part of the library experience that technology will never be able to duplicate or replace.
More articles like this, Please!
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The IP needing more numbers reminds me of how old telephone numbers were far shorter than they are today. I guess it goes to show that the net has become as universally adopted as the telephone was 100 years ago.
ReplyDeleteI agree. Most of the base for what we do now is older than I realize - like the LAN example. I also found your point about the IP addresses to be pretty cool. It makes a lot of sense but I hadn't ever thought they might need to do something like that.
ReplyDeleteYeah, the RFIDs seem to have a lot of potential but I too worry about the potential lack of patron and librarian interaction that would occur even more frequently with their usage.
I agree about interacting with patrons. I hadn't realized it much before, but after reading the article I've been actually paying attention to it. That interaction is such a huge part of things at the library - some people will come in, return their books and grab a couple new ones, and then just chat for a while with the desk people. This seems to be especially true in small-town libraries (it might be true for huge libraries, but I wouldn't know) - the workers and the patrons seem to have a very good relationship, and know each other by name, and things like that. I once worked at a medium-small library, and one woman I worked with came from an even smaller one. We weren't huge, but even so, she said she missed how close-knit everyone was at the one she came from.
ReplyDeleteSo, basically what I'm trying to say is, the interaction with patrons is a thing a lot of librarians enjoy, and they wouldn't want to be relieved of that.