Assignment #6

Here is my website!

http://www.pitt.edu/~lag77/index.htm.html

The Muddiest Point- Week 10(11/17/09)

I have no Muddiest Point for this week.

Comments

Week 10-

http://christaruthcoleman2600.blogspot.com

http://djd2600it.blogspot.com

Readings- 11/17/09

Web Search Engines-

Part 1 of this two part article address basics of how search engines work, how they crawl through web sites and spread their search load among different servers. These search engines, referred to in this article by the acronym GYM (Google, Yahoo, Microsoft), have politeness filters built in so they do not overwhelm any one site. The second part of this article talks about how the search algorithm works to index the web and find the best match to one's search. Many issues addressed in this article have been seen previously in past articles we have read about how Google was created and works. While informative, I did not feel that I was being told anything that I did not already know.

Current developments and future trends for the OAI protocol for metadata harvesting-

This article takes a look at the OAI, how it was developed, how it is now being used and what the future holds for the database. One of the most interesting things about the OAI database is that there are multiple contributers who archive for their specific communities. So while the metadata requirements are the same for all items archived in this database, each community interprets it a different way and while it does not end up to be complete chaos, there seems to be some confusion within the communities on how strictly each group must adhere to the rules. It was great to see different groups coming together and contributing towards a common goal of archiving information, and for there to be a central place for them to do just that.

The Deep Web: Surfacing Hidden Value-

This article delves deeper into the issues of the deep web and finding information located that far down in the web. There is a huge amount of information out there that we dod not have access to because of how search engines work. They merely skim the surface of things as opposed to searching deep down. Many of the websites located in the deep web are public sites, and those that are not are accessible by paying a fee, such as sites like JSTOR. With the wealth of information available below the surface of the web we have come to know, it is now time to start being able to search for that information. This article clearly lays out just how much we are missing and in a day and age where finding the most relevant information is imperative to many people, ignoring this recourse can only be detrimental to our learning process in the end. The graphs using boats and fish were also highly amusing.

The Muddiest Point- Week 9 (11/10/09)

I have no Muddiest Point this week.

Comments

Week 9-

http://rachelnashintroit.blogspot.com/

http://bombrisk-lis2600.blogspot.com

Readings- 11/10/09

Introducing the Extensible Markup Language-

This article goes over the basics of XML. It is a markup language that specifically defines each element in a document so that the documents can be easily changed and transfered over the internet into different forms. It marks all the various elements within a document so you can easily find what you are looking for. They are defined by sets of tags and can be used not only for text but for images and other graphics as well.

A survey of XML standards: Part 1-

This article was a wonderful compilation of site for people beginning to navigate the world of XML. It separated all of the components of XML and provided resources and links for understanding and using these components. It gives you the basic idea of what is expected when using XML and then where to go to learn more. It is a amazing resource for anyone looking to expand their knowledge of XML.

Extending your Markup: a XML tutorial-

This article explains XML in simple and concise terms. Out of all the articles we read, it was this one that really helped me feel comfortable in my knowledge of XML. The examples that they give are clear and easy to follow and help illustrate the language. XML has many great attributes and uses and allows one to really customize and adjust the markup language to their personal needs.

XML Schema Tutorial-

This tutorial was the same as the ones for HTML last week, offering a further understanding of XML and giving a lot of examples to let those who are new to the language have a chance to see how it is written. Once again another solid tutorial for those of us who are new to the world of XML and markup languages in general.