Week Ten, 9th May 2008: Information Management

Lecture
In this week's lecture we learnt about Information Management. Information Management are different ways of managing your information on the computer.

There are two types of Information Management formats that we learnt. These are; atom-based and bit-based. Atom-based are for such things as books, papers, reports etc. The pros for atom-based information are that;
-Exists in space … we can see it
-We can know where it is
-Easily concealed … we can hide it
-Easy to protect
-Difficult to change
-Difficult to copy.

There are also many con’s for atom-based information are that;
-Bulky – Encyclopedia Britannica
-Costly – Resource implications
-Difficult to edit
-Difficult to distribute
-Inflexible … not interchangeable

Bit-based are for such things as digital reproductions, electronic content, etc. The pros for bit-based information are;
-Very Flexible – easily move between formats
-Very Cheap – Resource implications much less
-Easy to Edit
-Easy to mass produce and broadcast

The cons of bit-based information are;
-Privacy – easy to copy and steal
-Authenticity – easy to fake, alter and edit information
-Unsolicited broadcast – SPAM

There are many way of organizing and retrieving information, such as;
-File extensions
-Folders/directories
-Create metadata
-Search function (OS)
-Search engines

This week's lecture was very informative, and when it comes to stroing information on the web that I want, this would come in very handy.

Tutorial (Work Shop Ten)
The first task in this week’s tutorial was to an online tutorial on how to use and make bookmarks and favourites (http://www.inette.com/aibtinette/favoritesI.html). After the online tutorial, we were to make our own favourites list, with three folders and two websites in them. I made a screen shot of this, that you will find below.

The second task was to visit “Being Digital” on http://archives.obs-us.com/obs/english/books/nn/bdcont.htm and read ‘The DNA of information’ by Nicholas Negroponte. After reading this, we were to write at lease 150 words on, if it still relevant today considering in was written 13 years ago. This is what I came up with.

After reading ‘The DNA of Information’ by Nicholas Negroponte, I realized the differences between atoms, bits, and there pro’s and con’s. There are many good points Nicholas made in this part of his book, many of which are the changing of businesses trying to go ‘digital’. As this book was written 13 years ago, his point of view was pretty much proven. This book 13 years ago was atom based, and would have been bought in stores, or ‘FedEx’d’ to many places around the globe, now this book has transformed in to bit based (on the internet), where anyone can access and just copy it. There are many positives in atom-based information, more so books, which has a high-contrast display, is light weight, easy to read through and not too expensive, although there are many positives to atom based information, there are many negatives, which include, they are easy to lose, which is proven by the stats given by Nicholas, and how $3 billion out of $12 billion dollars in U.S video rental business are late fines. Atom based information is also harder to ship, where as inventory can get lost or help up in customs, as well as the cost of shipping it makes it easier for people to turn to bit based information. Bit based information is easy to access and easier to send to other people as it is sent through such things as e-mail and it is always there, compared to atom based where books or magazines can get out of stock or date. Unfortunately, bit based is not all good; the negative towards bit based information is that it is easier to plagiarize and copy.

This week's tutorial gave me a deeper understanding to bits and atoms and how they are different and all the pros and cons of each.

Screenshots

Print screenshot of my three 'favourites' folders with two websites in each.

Readings
Reading One: ‘Grazing the Net’
This reading is about raising a generation of free range students. This article is includes things to inform people it is important to raise young students to think, explore and make meaning for themselves.