Notes on 26 Jan 2009 Class
I am posting the notes from last week. While I have everyone’s questions (thanks to everyone who sent them over to me), simply copying and pasting them would take the entire 4 pages! So, if you need to see the questions, specifically, check individual’s blog. I have decided to “theme” out the questions and discussion we had after all the clerical information. If I got anything wrong, someone let me know!
Notes from 26 January 2009
House Keeping
· If you haven’t sent your learning contract to Johannes, please do so.
· We all have blogspaces now, it is expected that you will keep up on the posts and respond, when necessary. There is no expectation for activity on blogspaces.
· Remember—please bring 3 copies of the weekly questions to class each week: one for yourself, one for your neighbor, and one for the scribe.
· For next week, read the background folder.
Questions on Syllabus
· Can you clarify the format of the projects?
o You will receive these back from Johannes along with comments on the learning contract
· All the books on the list are in the library?
o If they are not, see Johannes
Mini Lecture
The popularization of information science began when the USSR sent Sputnik into space. Initially attracting many librarians, the field grew to encompass those that were interested in how to store and use data.
The Army research center created the first “net” (Internet 1—can be seen as a highway system) with its ARPA. This system was a network of nodes (live boxes) that connect. If one shuts down, the communications are rerouted to another live box. At some point, everything we do on the Internet can be traced to a physical place somewhere on this network.
Academics grew unsatisfied with the Internet and created Internet 2, which is not available to the public. Academic credentials are required.
The Internet is the physical backbone, the physical infrastructure of the WWW, which is the graphical display.
A short history of the internet, according to Johannes
1972 internet became public
1973 seventy five percent of activity on the internet was email
1982 TCP/IP standards adopted
1989 concept (CERN)
1990 first browser released
1994 Hotmail lives
1996 Mirabilis (Israel) starts ICQ
1998 Google is founded
Reading Discussion (themed)
Importance of the Internet
1. What would we do as a society if the internet and all associated networks went down? We’d panic. We’d find alternative sources. We would find other networks (i.e. experienced human resources). We’d revert back to an oral culture. Johannes argued that the internet is indeed doing all these things—our oral culture has come full circle. The internet is an oral repository in written format. When something fails, we use this network to go out, seek out expertise and knowledge.
2. Allowed a learning community to develop in Geek Chorus. Learners were able to discuss in real time, during the lectures. They were able to engage themselves and take control of their own learning—they were active, not passive.
Networks versus Community
1. A long discussion took place on the distinct difference between networks (as extrapolated from Watts) and communities. We discussed the Geek Chorus and the IM group. Specifically did their action fragment the class instead of unify it? Or were three networks created? Was community formed? Can community exist without a network?
2. An image of a simple chart I made based on our discussion is above.
