Unit 10 Tables are Zen

It took a while for me to realize that right and left joins are more about the output of the data rather than some 'floating' table that happens to be right instead of left. I have to admit that most of what we’ve been learning has been challenging, but I’ve really enjoyed the hands-on exercises from this week’s unit. I also like that mysql is a language comprised of statements and Boolean expressions, and how you can break up a statement by clicking enter. Sometimes I am premature in pressing enter, and with mysql it is nice to know that by pressing enter I’m not activating a command but just breaking it up. The semi-colon is like the period at an end of a paragraph (it feels that way too, as the inner joins pack a lot of instructions into one statement).

Conceptually I think that learning about tables & mysql is easier to understand than some of the information in earlier units because of the ability to easily visualize the concepts. With the unit on Networked environments, for example, I felt that I had to have a lot of the concepts spelled out for me in order to understand, whereas with tables I think that I’m so used to functioning in a work environment comprised of information in tables that these concepts were much easier to grasp.

Thinking of different queries to run during this week’s query exercise was a challenge but also a lot of fun. Especially when the joins differed from those in the assignments (and especially when the queries worked!). I think I’m coming closer to understanding the difference between a primary key and integer, or in the language of mysql, an int unsigned not null auto_increment vs. an int not null.

Unit 9 and I feel fine:)

Some of the SQL tutorials became a little difficult for me once we moved on to the later sections, but everything before that point was relatively straightforward, especially after having done the tutorial in the content section. I really enjoyed listening to Mostafa, but at one point when he moved to integers, I admit that I started to feel lost.

I’m still struggling a bit with relationships between entities and normalization, although the more examples I look at and think about the concepts, the more “ah ha!” moments I have. I’m really looking forward to using Mysql, and exporting a table as a text file. I’m also looking forward to working on our final project for this class. I think that one of the most humbling challenges has been the quizzes, as I usually don’t fare as well as I would like. Although I swear I will go through each and every one again, trying to obtain the highest score, before the final exam.

Overall this unit has been very informative; as I’ve worked with several databases throughout the years, it’s very interesting to think about conceptualizing a database from scratch, the types of queries you will need to run, and defining the separate entities and attributes along with the unique identifier primary key.

Technology planning

One of the readings from this week's unit that I could most identify with was Stephens’ Technoplans vs. technolust, as I see quite a few people around me enamored with technolust, although I don’t think this is a bad thing so long as it helps the library users, the users being the overriding concern of any technology plan. I also liked Stephens’ point that technology plans are often implemented without full regard as to how the affect the front lines. As a middle manager this is part of my job, to be the buffer between the technology and other implementations from the top and the front-line staff. Procedures and workflows help considerably, but it’s also important to make sure that you’re not overloading your staff.


I really enjoyed Schuyler’s article “Life is what happens to you when you’re making other plans.” I see this all the time with our library technology group. They are constantly dealing with small but time consuming issues that are not written into the technology plans, such as a cyberattack on self check hard drives, viruses in the digital signage software, new printers needing to be configured, etc. I’ve also noticed how our primary technology services coordinator quickly moved up the command chain in the last 3 years, and deservedly so given the responsibilities of his job and the greater part that technology plays not only in the work of staff but in the day-to-day needs of our users.

Introduction to XML

I worked through the entire “basic” section of the W3Schools web tutorials. I thought the tutorials and examples were very clear. I would still like to go through the UACBT tutorials, as I really enjoy these and I like the narrator’s clear and informal presentation. However working 50 + hours a week I’m having a difficult time making it through every single reading, and I thought the W3Schools tutorial very clear. I like the straightforward examples directly under each point made throughout the tutorials, and thought the tutorial made the differences between elements and attributes very clear. I love the fact that XML tags, which are not predefined, allow for a great deal of flexibility. Although with this flexibility is the issue of standardization of metadata.

My XML document included some photographs from my trip to Washington D.C. last week. I linked my photographs according to Professor Fulton’s instructions in one of this week’s activity responses. I didn’t see any errors when opening my XML document with a browser (after some troubleshooting the first time around), so hopefully all went well. I added CSS at the top, but I didn’t see any difference in the form of the document, so hopefully this is something we will go into greater detail later on.

I don't have an MLIS, and my primary jobs at the library are in library services and exhibits, so I'm really trying to absorb the sections on Metadata, especially MARC, Dublin core, MODS & METS, and I'm looking forward to learning more about how XML create interoperability and flexibility across different metadata schemes.