Comments for Seeing the picture http://blog.lib.uiowa.edu/hardinmd Thoughts while working on Hardin MD on digitization & libraries Sat, 07 Nov 2009 13:20:42 -0600 http://wordpress.org/?v=2.8.5.2 hourly 1 Comment on Google Books Integrated into Google Search Results by myrtille http://blog.lib.uiowa.edu/hardinmd/2009/10/30/google-books-integrated-into-google-search-results/comment-page-1/#comment-1778 myrtille Sat, 07 Nov 2009 13:20:42 +0000 http://blog.lib.uiowa.edu/hardinmd/?p=4548#comment-1778 This is very useful information to me. I want to get more information about this. Keep up the good hard work man, this article has really blown me away ! This is very useful information to me. I want to get more information about this. Keep up the good hard work man, this article has really blown me away !

]]> Comment on MeSH is a Buried Treasure by uberVU - social comments http://blog.lib.uiowa.edu/hardinmd/2009/08/07/mesh-is-a-buried-treasure/comment-page-1/#comment-1771 uberVU - social comments Thu, 05 Nov 2009 02:56:09 +0000 http://blog.lib.uiowa.edu/hardinmd/?p=3560#comment-1771 <strong>Social comments and analytics for this post...</strong> This post was mentioned on Twitter by ericrumsey: blog: MeSH is a Buried Treasure #PubMed (thx @rabnett) http://bit.ly/RSdWm... Social comments and analytics for this post…

This post was mentioned on Twitter by ericrumsey: blog: MeSH is a Buried Treasure #PubMed (thx @rabnett) http://bit.ly/RSdWm…

]]> Comment on Seadragon and Ebooks by Graham Storrs http://blog.lib.uiowa.edu/hardinmd/2008/09/23/seadragon-and-ebooks/comment-page-1/#comment-1770 Graham Storrs Wed, 04 Nov 2009 22:31:50 +0000 http://blog.lib.uiowa.edu/hardinmd/?p=567#comment-1770 Lol! Links to the projects? Afraid not. This was all many years before the Web was available. Besides, it was all commercially confidential work for paying customers and was never published. The rights to it belonged to the company I worked for but the division that did the work was shut down more than ten years ago and the whole company has merged with a big Dutch company since. I doubt there is any way to trace the records of those projects - if they still even exist. The academic research on which it was based will still be available I assume - although maybe not online. Sadly, after 25 years, I've forgotten the names of the researchers who did the work. Most things exciting came from Xerox PARC in those days, so that might be a plce to start looking. Lol! Links to the projects? Afraid not. This was all many years before the Web was available. Besides, it was all commercially confidential work for paying customers and was never published. The rights to it belonged to the company I worked for but the division that did the work was shut down more than ten years ago and the whole company has merged with a big Dutch company since. I doubt there is any way to trace the records of those projects – if they still even exist.

The academic research on which it was based will still be available I assume – although maybe not online. Sadly, after 25 years, I’ve forgotten the names of the researchers who did the work. Most things exciting came from Xerox PARC in those days, so that might be a plce to start looking.

]]> Comment on Seadragon and Ebooks by Eric Rumsey http://blog.lib.uiowa.edu/hardinmd/2008/09/23/seadragon-and-ebooks/comment-page-1/#comment-1768 Eric Rumsey Wed, 04 Nov 2009 15:14:41 +0000 http://blog.lib.uiowa.edu/hardinmd/?p=567#comment-1768 Sounds fascinating! - Do you have any links to the projects you describe, or more specific project names that would be searchable? Sounds like it would be worth writing up. Sounds fascinating! – Do you have any links to the projects you describe, or more specific project names that would be searchable? Sounds like it would be worth writing up.

]]> Comment on Seadragon and Ebooks by Graham Storrs http://blog.lib.uiowa.edu/hardinmd/2008/09/23/seadragon-and-ebooks/comment-page-1/#comment-1765 Graham Storrs Wed, 04 Nov 2009 11:48:19 +0000 http://blog.lib.uiowa.edu/hardinmd/?p=567#comment-1765 Way back in the '80s I used similar systems to create 'data spaces' in software development projects. One I ran on behalf of the UK's CAA used something almost identical to this for document retrieval. It is very effective and can be taken much farther than this. We had a powerful search tool running where each pixel represented a document. Pixels were located, brightened and coloured according to algorithms that worked on the document metadata. You can imagine how much data could be displayed in a small amount of screen real-estate. It's odd that this kind of system (which was in the research literature long before I came across it) is now 'owned by Microsoft'. I assume they managed to patent it too, despite all the 20-odd-year-old prior art. Way back in the ’80s I used similar systems to create ‘data spaces’ in software development projects. One I ran on behalf of the UK’s CAA used something almost identical to this for document retrieval. It is very effective and can be taken much farther than this. We had a powerful search tool running where each pixel represented a document. Pixels were located, brightened and coloured according to algorithms that worked on the document metadata. You can imagine how much data could be displayed in a small amount of screen real-estate.

It’s odd that this kind of system (which was in the research literature long before I came across it) is now ‘owned by Microsoft’. I assume they managed to patent it too, despite all the 20-odd-year-old prior art.

]]> Comment on More Metadata Problems in Google Books?: Word Clouds by Mike Bradley http://blog.lib.uiowa.edu/hardinmd/2009/09/30/more-metadata-problems-in-google-books-word-clouds/comment-page-1/#comment-1760 Mike Bradley Tue, 03 Nov 2009 19:00:00 +0000 http://blog.lib.uiowa.edu/hardinmd/?p=4134#comment-1760 One shouldn't expect much of an automatically-generated word cloud, but, unfortunately, people will. The clouds are no more reliable than automatically-generated indexes, which have long since been abandoned even in geeky computer manuals. Software engineers simply cannot devise software that matches an informed human brain. The US Copyright Office recognized the value and uniqueness of human-generated indexes when it granted them copyright status. I expect it will grant human-generated word clouds the same protection for the same reason. One shouldn’t expect much of an automatically-generated word cloud, but, unfortunately, people will. The clouds are no more reliable than automatically-generated indexes, which have long since been abandoned even in geeky computer manuals. Software engineers simply cannot devise software that matches an informed human brain. The US Copyright Office recognized the value and uniqueness of human-generated indexes when it granted them copyright status. I expect it will grant human-generated word clouds the same protection for the same reason.

]]> Comment on MedlinePlus Needs a New Name by Chris Shaffer http://blog.lib.uiowa.edu/hardinmd/2009/10/21/medlineplus-needs-a-new-name/comment-page-1/#comment-1737 Chris Shaffer Wed, 28 Oct 2009 14:34:24 +0000 http://blog.lib.uiowa.edu/hardinmd/?p=4336#comment-1737 Definitely agree ... From <a href="http://twitter.com/ChrisTheCat/statuses/5045456722" rel="nofollow">Chris Shaffer’s Tweet</a> on this article. Transferred as a comment by Eric Rumsey. Thanks, Chris! Definitely agree … From Chris Shaffer’s Tweet on this article. Transferred as a comment by Eric Rumsey. Thanks, Chris!

]]> Comment on Jon Orwant on Google Book Search at TOC by The Kindle Chronicles - TKC Extra Boston Book Festival 09 http://blog.lib.uiowa.edu/hardinmd/2009/02/20/jon-orwant-on-google-book-search-at-toc/comment-page-1/#comment-1730 The Kindle Chronicles - TKC Extra Boston Book Festival 09 Mon, 26 Oct 2009 01:36:07 +0000 http://blog.lib.uiowa.edu/hardinmd/?p=2100#comment-1730 [...] the session and gave his engaging overview of eBooks at the beginning. He was followed by Jon Orwant, engineering manager for Google Books, Google Magazines and Google Patents. The final speaker on [...]

]]> Comment on Why Apple & Google Win – And Libraries Don’t by Fran Toolan http://blog.lib.uiowa.edu/hardinmd/2009/10/22/why-apple-google-win-and-libraries-dont/comment-page-1/#comment-1725 Fran Toolan Fri, 23 Oct 2009 18:27:55 +0000 http://blog.lib.uiowa.edu/hardinmd/?p=4397#comment-1725 A Picture's Worth 1000 Words - From <a href="http://twitter.com/ftoolan/status/5077751083" rel="nofollow">Fran Toolan's Tweet</a> on this article. Transferred as a comment by Eric Rumsey. Thanks, Fran! A Picture’s Worth 1000 Words – From Fran Toolan’s Tweet on this article. Transferred as a comment by Eric Rumsey. Thanks, Fran!

]]> Comment on Why Apple & Google Win – And Libraries Don’t by Twitter Trackbacks for Seeing the picture » Blog Archive » Why Apple & Google Win - And Libraries Don’t [uiowa.edu] on Topsy.com http://blog.lib.uiowa.edu/hardinmd/2009/10/22/why-apple-google-win-and-libraries-dont/comment-page-1/#comment-1720 Twitter Trackbacks for Seeing the picture » Blog Archive » Why Apple & Google Win - And Libraries Don’t [uiowa.edu] on Topsy.com Thu, 22 Oct 2009 19:54:01 +0000 http://blog.lib.uiowa.edu/hardinmd/?p=4397#comment-1720 [...] Seeing the picture » Blog Archive » Why Apple & Google Win - And Libraries Don’t blog.lib.uiowa.edu/hardinmd/2009/10/22/ – view page – cached Many possible takes on this picture. What comes to my mind first is the idea of the Attention Economy –The idea that in the days of the traditional library, before the Internet, information was a... (Read more)Many possible takes on this picture. What comes to my mind first is the idea of the Attention Economy –The idea that in the days of the traditional library, before the Internet, information was a limited resource. Libraries could afford to work under the assumption that “we’ve got the good stuff, and our users have to to come to us to get it.” There was little motivation to improve overly-complicated search interfaces like the picture on the right above, because users had no choice. In the new environment of the Internet, however, the limiting factor is not information, but attention. (Read less) — From the page [...] [...] Seeing the picture » Blog Archive » Why Apple & Google Win – And Libraries Don’t blog.lib.uiowa.edu/hardinmd/2009/10/22/ – view page – cached Many possible takes on this picture. What comes to my mind first is the idea of the Attention Economy –The idea that in the days of the traditional library, before the Internet, information was a… (Read more)Many possible takes on this picture. What comes to my mind first is the idea of the Attention Economy –The idea that in the days of the traditional library, before the Internet, information was a limited resource. Libraries could afford to work under the assumption that “we’ve got the good stuff, and our users have to to come to us to get it.” There was little motivation to improve overly-complicated search interfaces like the picture on the right above, because users had no choice. In the new environment of the Internet, however, the limiting factor is not information, but attention. (Read less) — From the page [...]

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