Film Internship Week 6

At the Heinz History Center today, I inspected two films. The first film was larger than the others I have inspected thus far. It had sound strip and a magenta hue throughout the film. Overall, it was in relatively good condition. It looked like the color was fading from the film, and in parts there were black spots near the edges. The second film I inspected was in pretty good shape as well. There were not any scratches, tears, or splices. It was in Technicolor and had sound as well. Again the color in this film seemed to be fading. While inspecting the film, I noticed there was a very thin line of magenta that ran along the soundtrack throughout the film. It was only about the width of a pin, but noticeable. I was curious if that is supposed to be there or not? If it is not, what makes this magenta line show up and what is the ultimate effect it has on the film? The other thing I noticed about this particular film was not that it smelled like it had vinegar syndrome, but it had a musty or mildew odor to it when I got a good whiff. Is this odor just from the age of the film, or is it an indicator of further deterioration problems ahead?

Film Internaship Week 5

My film internship at the Heinz History Center this week was pretty uneventful. I inspected two films. The first film I inspected was not in really bad condition, but I did think the color was off. The whole film was a magenta color. I was wondering if it was purposely filmed on a specific colored film stock or does the color or tint have something to do with the color deterioration of the film? The other film I inspected was entitled “Laser Animation.” The film was pretty dirty and has suffered a few scratches, but other than that looked pretty good. This was a neat one to inspect because it was a bunch of frames of bright lasers in different shapes. It reminded me of the laser light shows that were timed to music you would see at science centers or museums. I was pretty surprised how bright the colors remained after thirty plus years.

I also talked to David, my supervisor, today about some of the problems with the film collections and the storage spaces and conditions we are currently dealing with at the History Center. He said he would be glad to discuss this and some of his ideas and problems with the spaces further when I asked him about using the Heinz History Center as a case study for my paper. He also had some suggestions on literature that could be helpful for my paper, which I can look at next week.

Film Internship Week 4

On Thursday, I worked on two films at the Heinz History Center. The first film was pretty uneventful, but the second one I inspected was a mess. It was actually pretty exciting to see a film with the different problems that we read about up close. The film was incredibly dirty. I needed to get a new set of gloves after I was finished. The film had emulsion scratches, rips, tears, sprocket damage, color fading, large repeating black spots and the beginnings of vinegar syndrome. Needless to say, it was a chore to go through the reel, but very interesting as well. One of the things that caught my attention, was that the reel indicated that it was a silent film. When I was doing the inspection, it looked like it did have sort of soundtrack on the film. I consulted the Film Preservation Guide for what sound is supposed to look like. In comparing them, they looked to be magnetic sound, but what I was looking at and what was shown in the example pictures did not quite match up. Later on on the reel the part that looks like sound just disappeared and that side of the reel was black. I found this to be rather odd. I finished the inspection, and mentioned what I encountered to David. He found this to be odd as well, and had a few suggestions, but as I continued to explain the other things I ran into with the film, it just became more complex. So what could have possibly been going on with this film?

Week 3 Internship

This week I processed two films. One was in black and white, which was the first one I have encountered thus far. It was silent as well and also in relatively good shape. The other one I did was color and silent too, but this reel had some problems. Most of the sprockets were torn or jagged for the first half of the reel. It was causing a bit of a problem and I had to proceed very carefully because the jagged edges would catch on my gloves. I initially thought that this was caused by the projector, but about half way through the reel, the jagged edges just disappeared and were not present on the rest of the reel. I was curious how the jaggedness was only on half the film? Was it caused by the projector or was it something else?

I spoke with David and he wanted me to look into getting more tools for the film inspections. Basically looking to see what is out there and how much things would cost. So I am compiling a list. I am looking for a splicer, tape, leader and small storage boxes for reels. I think I read that there are grants out there to purchase materials for film, but I will have to check into this. I also think this research can also be used for my research paper.

Film Internship Week 2

Yesterday, I was at the Heinz History Center to learn how to physically do
inspections. Tuesday is not my usual day to be there, but do to scheduling
conflicts, I arrived Tuesday morning and worked on film from 9:30am-12pm.
I must say I had a lot of fun doing inspections. David showed me how to
set up the machine and the reel. Then he demonstrated how it worked and
things to look for in the film. We also went over the inspection sheets as
well with the film preservation guide. With each film I will be writing
down the observations from the reel, such as the title, what kind of film,
sound, color, and the date, measuring the reel for the approximate number
of frames, and noting any emulsions, splices, or damages. All of the cans
need to be checked for vinegar syndrome which will be done at a later
date.  Today I inspected three films. I was nervous about breaking
something, so I went very slowly, which did not make my film wind as
nicely as it could have. I do feel that I am beginning to get the hang of
the inspection process. David said that most of the films are in decent
shape and should not have too much trouble with any breaking, which is
good because we do not have a splicer. There is a lot of Westinghouse
Electric films and David said he thinks we have a few of training for the
Navy submarines, which would be pretty cool to view. More next week!

Film Internship Week 1

Yesterday I met with David Grinnell, the Chief Archivist at the Heinz History Center, about my field placement. I will be working on the George Westinghouse film collection and conducting film inspections. It was suggested that I look at the Film Preservation Guide because it gives great information and procedures on how to preserve film. I will be following a checklist from the guide while doing the inspections. I will also be running a test to determine the amount of deterioration using testing strips. David also wanted to begin working on policies and inspection procedures for film preservation at the History Center, including reformatting standards and preservation. I am greatly looking forward to this internship.

Comments

I commented on Nate's blog:

https://www.blogger.com/comment.g?blogID=301150766198525940&postID=3368777487964238988&page=1

Nate,

I would have to agree with you on the Deep Web. Wouldn't it make everyone's life a bit easier if Google and other large search engine websites did some deep penetration (sorry needed to get my Madden in)and make available more relevant information for research?

I commented on E. Griswold's blog:

https://www.blogger.com/comment.g?blogID=3799366651359702810&postID=6151296410983352629&page=1

I thought the second article was interesting as well. It seemed initially that IT and librarians got along just fine until the internet showed up. It just ruined a potentially beautiful relationship. Why can't we all just get along...

Muddiest Point

I understand with controlled vocabulary, websites cannot different between homonym meanings. I was wondering if one but an adjective of adverb with the respective homonym, such as record sound, Apple computer, or polish shoes, if the website would be able to differentiate these meaning easier.

Assignment 6

Here is my link for my website. I could not get it on the server, but at least it is somewhere in cyberspace. Thank you to everyone in LIS2600 who gave suggestions and helped me accomplish this small feat.

http://sites.google.com/site/theresaslis2600site/Home

Week 10 Comments

I commented on Eric's Blog:

https://www.blogger.com/comment.g?blogID=6036476990105941684&postID=1089692876255855227&page=1

I thought the article about the deep web was interesting. I just don't understand why there are not more projects researching it if it is known that the information is much better. I would think it would be much more beneficial for everyone.

I commented on Lauren's Blog:

https://www.blogger.com/comment.g?blogID=4181925387762663697&postID=3072857614832667163&page=1

You did an excellent job in summing up the point's of the articles. It definitely makes some of the confusing "deep" information easily understood. Thank you also for some great links!

Readings for Week 10

Web Search Engines

I thought this article was interesting. It is so amazing to me how quickly a system can filter through so much information and supply results in a few seconds. The only problem is the relevance of the results of the search or inquiry. The information about indexing algorithms and so on went a bit over my head, but I believe I understood the general basic information the article was trying to supply.

OAI Protocol for Harvesting Metadata

This article discussed trends and developments in harvesting metadata. The OAI world is divided into either data providers or service providers. It also discussed the challenges of the service providers and ideas to cut down on the problems. I liked reading about the different projects universities around the country are doing, especially the four that are digitizing sheet music. Overall I thought this article was pretty interesting.

The Deep Web

This article discusses the problems with being able to find relative information with the wealth of information available. Traditional search engines could not retrieve information in the deep web, but according to the author, the value of the deep web is immeasurable. I was curious what exactly is considered "the deep web." In looking at the chart, a few sites that are considered deep web I found surprising, such as eBay and Amazon. The article was interesting, but the more I read the more I felt that "the deep web" was a mystical place or similar to the black hole. Maybe there will be a cheesy sci-fi thriller entitled "The Deep Web" or maybe that is Captain Ahab's next adventure.

Muddiest Point

With mark up, do you have to use a code to indicate color, like HTML, or just write it? I was also curious if you needed a HTML basis before you use mark up?

Comments for week 9

I commented on Susan's Blog:

https://www.blogger.com/comment.g?blogID=5671000685629389967&postID=5419411615626226200&page=1
I regards to your muddiest point, I am in agreement with you that this last assignment might be giving quite a few of us fits. It might help if you tackle it with the cheat sheet we had in the readings two weeks ago or so and also look at other people's online to figure out what does what. I think it might be the best way to tackle this and at least you know what works and does not from looking at other people's websites.

I commented on Peter's Blog:

https://www.blogger.com/comment.g?blogID=4619180577856147392&postID=7019179531229777074&page=1

If you are not an IT professional this stuff becomes very confusing, as it is for me. I think Dr. He clarified HTML pretty well in class, which made the readings make for sense. Let's hope it will be the same for XML.

Week 9 Readings

Introducing the Extensible Markup Language (XML)

This article was an overview of XML. From my understanding, XML was designed to make it easy to interchange structured documents over the Internet. I am assuming it is "better" than HTML, but not exactly sure. That is about all I got out of the article, unfortunately. I basically went right over my head.

A Survey of XML Standards: Part 1

This article summarized the most important XML technologies and how they fit into the greater scope of the XML world. The site also had explanations with tutorials and other references to use XML. There was a mass of information, but easier to muddle through than the first article.

Extending Your Markup: an XML tutorial

This article states that XML is important for presentation, exchange, and management of information. HTML is about layout and XML is about the content of the data. I thought the article had good examples and good references to resources, software, and material to help you on your way. I still do not feel I am very solid on the lingo.

XML Schema Tutorial

From what I gathered from this article, XML schema is the successors of DTD's, whatever those are. The article also gives listings of what XML schema can do for you. It also provides examples and comparisons between simple XML document, DTD file, and XML schema as well as more details such as elements, attributes, and values. Hopefully at some point I will see the Holy Grail in all of this and it will make sense.

Muddiest Point:
How did someone come up with the color code for HTML? I was confused as to why it is in numeric code instead of written?

Assignment #5 Koha

Here is the link to my virtual shelf

http://pitt4.opacwc.liblime.com/cgi-bin/koha/opac-shelves.pl?viewshelf=39

Week 8 Comments

I commented on Lauren's Blog:

https://www.blogger.com/comment.g?blogID=4181925387762663697&postID=6842639853632380331&page=1

I commented on Amanda's Blog:

https://www.blogger.com/comment.g?blogID=271112965323219834&postID=2641527911712725877&page=1

Week 8 Readings

W3 schools HTML Tutorial

I thought this article was a nice step by step on how to use HTML. There were lots of examples, which was nice. The tutorial mentioned that us can use HTML or HTML extension and I am not really sure what that really is. Maybe when I create a website I will figure it out.

HTML Cheat sheet

I do not really have a whole lot to say about this site. It basically had a list of what you need to type in HTML and what effect it will have. It was very straight forward.

W3 School Cascading Style Sheet Tutorial

First, I would like to say I have never heard of CSS, but then again I have also never made a website or did any programming. I think it is one of those things, that if you start using it, it will make more sense. From my understanding CSS defines how things are displayed and all major browsers support CSS. That is what I got out of the tutorial. There were many examples, which basically went over my head.

Beyond HTML

What stood out to me in this article was the fact that the Georgia State University library had a ridiculously crappy system as of 2000! Not to mention the library liaisons did not seem to care about the fact it was so bad and kept on producing really bad stuff. I would think if you had a group of people who did not want to make their site any better, why not have someone come in a get it fixed sooner instead of waiting three years? I just do not understand how there were no standards, management or oversight. Other than that it seems that the CMS system works rather well and sets a standard and is easy to use. Unfortunately it is not an universally adopted system.

Muddiest Point

When people "steal" other people's internet and are looking up repulsive and illegal things like child pornography and the authorities discover this, does it get traced back to the person who is paying for the internet or can it be traced to the person who actually is committing the crime?

Jing Project

Here is my screencast URL for part I:
http://www.screencast.com/users/TheresaRea/folders/Jing/media/d334f9b3-86d1-4fcf-a13c-6adb91326616

I thought it would be easier to watch with the flicker slide show:
http://www.flickr.com/photos/theresarea/sets/72157607792965956/show/

And here are my pictures for part II:

1. http://www.flickr.com/photos/theresarea/2918940075/in/set-72157607792965956/
2. http://www.flickr.com/photos/theresarea/2918814461/in/set-72157607792965956/
3. http://www.flickr.com/photos/theresarea/2918819877/in/set-72157607792965956/
4. http://www.flickr.com/photos/theresarea/2919676406/in/set-72157607792965956/
5. http://www.flickr.com/photos/theresarea/2918837787/in/set-72157607792965956/
6. http://www.flickr.com/photos/theresarea/2918843351/in/set-72157607792965956/
7. http://www.flickr.com/photos/theresarea/2919694420/in/set-72157607792965956/
8. http://www.flickr.com/photos/theresarea/2919699694/in/set-72157607792965956/
9. http://www.flickr.com/photos/theresarea/2919702954/in/set-72157607792965956/
10. http://www.flickr.com/photos/theresarea/2918860671/in/set-72157607792965956/

Week 7 Comments

I commented on Joan's blog:

Joan,

I also found it interesting to contemplate that no one really "owns" the internet. It would be nice if someone companies did get together and came up with a universal library system, but realistically, I don't ever see that happening. Just working in the hotel industry, each department had their own computer system besides the general hotel one and that was at one place! Cheers to hoping.

https://www.blogger.com/comment.g?blogID=1306183455487090817&postID=7394625550741266624&page=1

I commented on Lauren's blog:

You are very right about taking a step back and thinking about how far we have come with the internet in such a short time.

I also liked the Google presentation.
It does go to show the world will not be taken over by Hal or some other computer because there will always be need for the human thought process. Whew! Safe for now!

https://www.blogger.com/comment.g?blogID=4181925387762663697&postID=481855389631007759&page=1

Week 7 Readings

How Internet Infrastructure Works-Jeff Tyson

This article was a basic informative overview of the structure of the internet, domain name servers, network access points and how they connect and work with other systems and components. I never really thought of the internet being a network of networks, but I guess it is. I also did not know there were different levels of domain names, so I thought that was pretty neat as well.

Dismantling Integrated Library Systems-Andrew Pace

I found this article slightly difficult to get through. The article discussed the changes from the traditional integrated library system to a much more sophisticated system. There are many options, but libraries need to figure out what will best suit their institution and at what cost, with the idea of integration being the key. I was curious about the information about open source software. It obviously allows libraries to offer more services, but the article also said that a full scale system that would work in the largest institutions has not come about. I was curious as to why that was the case?

Inside the Google Machine

I thought the model of where people where using the internet and in what languages in the beginning of the lecture was rather neat. I also think both Sergey and Larry explained information about their company well. Almost too well. I wouldn't mind if my company took me on vacation. It seemed almost like they were doing some recruiting at the lecture as well. I was rather impressed about the was the company goes about ideas and innovation. It would seem that anyone can try an idea out and if it is successful, great and if not, no one is losing sleep. I also liked the end comment that they feel their responsibility is to get good information for its users.

Muddiest Point:

In class this week we were discussing the IP addresses. I was curious who comes up with the sequence of numbers for the address and why are they in groups of four?

Week 6 Comments

I commented on Jeremy's blog

I think the reason why the author said that it s possible to beat the RFID is to let everyone know that no system is really foolproof. I might trust people a little too much and think to myself, "Why would anyone steal something from a place that offers it for free for a few weeks?" but that is just me. I someone really wants to take something they are going to devise a way to do it.

https://www.blogger.com/comment.g?blogID=3413864360557025238&postID=5401832781746000853

I commented on Nicole's blog

I found the it interesting about micro chipping in animals the same technology as well. I think self check out in libraries is awesome. I am a do-it-yourself type person, but like it is in the grocery store, there are glitches. Maybe at that point is when librarian assistance might be needed.

https://www.blogger.com/comment.g?blogID=1491308052360981630&postID=107352555931312506&page=1