Chapter 6 Textbook

1. Check out the introduction to the uBio project mentioned on pages 114 and following:

http://www.ubio.org/index.php?pagename=background_intro

http://www.ubio.org/index.php?pagename=nb_facts_opinions

http://www.ubio.org/index.php?pagename=clsbank

Share your thoughts and impressions.

I believe that it is a great way to organize information. As it was mentioned in a previous module, people have different opinions about classifying information. The uBio Project enables users to give more flexibility. On the other hand, as Weinberger says, because it includes and postpones, it does not deliver an answer but to provide the maximum potential knowledge. I think uBio could be a good model of organizing, but also has many problems remaining.

2. The chief librarian at the Marine Biology Lab in Woods Hole created uBio as a way to make sense of and allow for the different opinions and classifications that scientists give to the same species.

Are there other information resources that use this model? Does Wikipedia?

One of the resources that use this model is JSTOR (http://www.jstor.org/). JSTOR is a shared digital library founded in 1995 to help academic libraries and publishers.

I searched “bonito” through Wikipedia as the textbook did. There were two pages: “Bonito”, and “Bonito (disambiguation)”. In the page of “Bonito”, it showed bonito was in two categories: “Scombridae” and “Edible fish”. But for “Bonito (disambiguation)”, it was in the category of “Disambiguation pages”. The page explained that bonito was a name given to various species of fish, and showed different names of bonito.

What ideas do you have for using this model to create similar information resources that might help us see the many different connections between bits of information in the digital age?

I think it may help to use this model for organizing photographs. For example, how do you categorize the following picture?

It can be; corn, statue, Ohio, commemorative photo, sightseeing, and etc... It could be different depending on who categorize it. In fact, majority people in Oregon probably do not know this place is in Ohio. Therefore, I believe using the model would help to see the many different connections between bits of information in the digital age.

3. On page 116 Weinberger writes of modern biologists being more like accidentalists than essentialists.

What would be the definition of a librarian or information professional as an essentialist? As an accidentalist? Think especially about the social construction of knowledge.

I think for a librarian or information professional, it can be both an essentialist and accidentalist. For example, a patron may ask a librarian to help find some information. I think it is important that a librarian is able to hear the essence because sometimes a patron does not know what he or she really wants.

A librarian or information professional would often be an accidentalit. Because the technology is always changing and it is required to be adapted. Also, every patron has different personality and background, so every encounter would be unique and accidental.

4. On. p. 126 Weinberger writes of the intertwingled world of the near future. Write about this in relation to the TEDTalk video assigned for this module.

In the TED talk, Clay Shirky mentioned that the Internet and social media help people to have group to group communication, and the impact of being able to communicate anyone around the world. I think that both Weinberger and Shirky’s point was that by communicating group to group, we can be initiative to change the world.

I know that even Chinese government try to control access to social media; they can only control citizens in mainland. Chinese people around the world still use social media and send messages around the world. They are all connected Chinese people in mainland China. So no one can stop the connections and communications around the world.