Readings- week 5

-Data compression: The wikipedia reading was about the basic information behind what data compression is and why it is used. Data compression is compressing information or objects so they use less space (bits), and take less time to send. The person who is compressing and sending the information and the person receiving and decompressing the information must have the same encoding scheme. Once data is compressed, it must be decompressed to be accessed, and this can take time based on the type of file, especially a video. The second reading was very in-depth about what data compression is, what types of compression are available, and how it all works. This reading took some time to get through, and I am still not sure I fully understand. Lossless data compressing is a form of data compression in which the data is fully reconstructed when it is decompressed. Lossy data compression is when some aspects of the data is combined, and may not be able to be exactly the same when decompressed. The past about video compression said that videos are just sequential pictures, they can be compressed in a similar way as pictures, it just is more complicated.

-Galloway: This article was about a digital image collection where all the pictures center around Pittsburgh. The University of Pittsburgh received a grant to digitize many historical photos of Pittsburgh. I think this is a great idea, because it allows more people to access this material. This was one of the main reasons for this project, to bring these images to the public. One part of the article stated that, “metadata is the glue that holds this collection together.” They used the Microsoft Access database management system. I thought this article was interesting, because it had a lot to do with some of the things talked about in last week’s class. It also showed how digitization can be used in libraries and archives.

-Webb: This article is about how YouTube, the popular online video website, could be used to enhance libraries. YouTube is a free site that is easy to sign up for, and that anyone can use. Webb suggests that libraries could make short videos about their available sources, and post them on YouTube, with links to these videos on the library web page. This would allow Library patrons to see these videos from anywhere. This is one way that a website that is very popular could be used for educational purposes in a library.