Class Assignment:
I found the readings/videos in this module very exciting. I look forward to the day that we have a true Semantic web—I feel like I’ve been waiting for it forever! I’m also looking forward to not having to drive my car.
The Borland article was pretty fascinating—it was interesting to think about how the organizational methodology of librarianship could be applied to emerging technologies. I wish this were a bigger field of exploration in our MLIS studies generally.
I think one of the most interesting elements of the Semantic Web is the criticism of how complicated it is. (I like that it might employ some catalogers). But, really, what isn’t complicated in web infrastructure and coding? It’s not like everybody learned HTML and SEO in high school (perhaps in some areas these days, of course, but not most). Like so many businesses with a presence online, as the Semantic Web is rolled out, the top tier companies will take on the endeavor because they already understand that functionality means business—real business and real dollars. Why do companies spend so much on SEO? SEO can be pretty complicated and time-consuming but it can also make a fledgling business hit the tipping point.
I’m also not opposed to keeping it simple. In fact, it’s the only way to do it on a mass scale. Leave complicated Semantic Web linking to organizations that need them and would truly benefit from the interconnectivity.
And while I know we’re supposed to tie everything to libraries, I actually think the Semantic Web will result in more jobs for knowledge management professionals—and I think that’s good news. Libraries will benefit from the implementation of a more organized Internet but I’m not sure how they will help create it—at least in public libraries (OCLC and Zepheira aside). I can see how academic libraries could implement these things. And god knows that the databases libraries regularly employ need some better search functionality.
I saw this posting on Allan’s Library and I couldn’t help but think this is the problem with library discourse. There are lots of “ooh, this is connected to something about libraries…†And I see the parallels and how it’s connected? Lots of things are closely connected in concept but that doesn’t mean they truly intersect, create stability in funding for libraries, or create library jobs.
And what, exactly, are librarians bringing to the Web 3.0 table? I hope it’s organization but I’m not sure.