Week 9: Cascading Style Sheet

(1) Cascading Style Sheets, CSS, is a style sheet language used for describing the look and formatting of a document written in a markup language.  (2) A style sheet is a set of one or more rules that apply to an HTML document. (3) CSS allows a web designer to specify the various elements including font sizes and colors that would enable them to make their webpage unique. (4) CSS contains 'rules' that are statements about a stylistic aspect of one or more elements. (5) A rule will consist of two main parts: a selector and a declaration. (6) The selector is the link between the HTML document and the style. Selectors specify what elements will be affected by the declaration. (7) The declaration, then, is the part of the rule that states what the specific effect will be. (8) A declaration can be further broken down into two parts: a property and a value. (9) A property is the quality or characteristic that something possesses and the value is the exact specification of that property. (10) An example of CSS coding would be H1 {color: green}. This rule is stating that the heading will be in green font. Although it is not necessary for web designers to 'hand write' CSS codes or to memorize them, it appears that it is more common for them to do so.  'Hand writing' their own CSS codes for a specific webpage allows them to be able to design their webpage to be exactly what they want.

Notes from Required Readings:
1) W3 School Cascading Style Sheet Tutorial: http://www.w3schools.com/css/
2) CSS tutorial: starting with HTML + CSS http://www.w3.org/Style/Examples/011/firstcss
3) chapter 2 of the book Cascading Style Sheets, designing for the Web by Håkon Wium Lie and Bert Bos (2nd edition, 1999, Addison Wesley, ISBN 0-201-59625-3) http://www.w3.org/Style/LieBos2e/enter/

Muddiest Point: Week 8

Is it common for web designers to memorize all of the HTML coding?

Muddiest Point: Week 7

Since I wasn't in class this week (due to the Historic Pittsburgh Fair), I don't have a particular muddiest point.  Several of my peers filled me in on the information that was discussed in class and during the lab.  I also received my Koha username and password.

If I have any problems access the tools or questions regarding the PowerPoint slides, I'll be sure to post these in the comments of this post.

Week 8: HTML and Web Authoring Software

(1) Hypertext Markup Language, or HTML, is a standardized system for tagging text files to achieve font, color, graphic, and hyperlink effects to create web pages.  (2) HTML has a short list of tags that are commonly used.  Once these HTML codes are understood, a creator would need to determine in which order to assemble the codes.  (3) Because there is often a lot of repetition with HTML coding (such as using "<p>...</p>" to create a define paragraph), properly coding can take quite some time.  (4) There are several tools available for novice HTML coders to utilize in order to make this process go much quicker and smoother.  (5) Sources, such as Webmonkey, provide users with cheatsheets to help those who have not yet memorized the codes.  (6) Many professional web developers and coders often prefer to create codes from scratch in order to get the page exactly how they intended it.  (7) HTML coding can be used for a large variety of tools while creating or editing a webpage.  Some of these include inserting images, changing background colors, inserting tables, hyperlinking webpages, or even adding hyperlinks for emails.  (8) A huge form that I did not know how to do prior to this, was inserting a HTML form in to a webpage.  After reviewing the HTML codes used for HTML forms, I believe that I could easily create a form that users could fill in for a webpage.  (9) One code that I have used in experiences (other than creating MySpace page layouts) was the first form control, or widget.  I've used this while at my internship when creating and updating LibGuides.  (10) Something I've learned while completing these readings is that HTML coding looks extremely complex, but is actually repetitive and relatively easy to understand.

Notes from Required Readings:
1) W3schools HTML Tutorial: http://www.w3schools.com/HTML/
2) HTML Cheatsheet http://www.webmonkey.com/2010/02/html_cheatsheet/3) Pratter, F.E. (2011) Introduction to HTML, Chapter 2 of Web Development With SAS by Example, 3^rd Edition (Google Book) http://books.google.com/books?id=l_MFZYMv3YgC&pg=PA15&lpg=PA15&dq=introduction+to+html+pratter&source=bl&ots=nXRgMFYZHz&sig=muV0UY1c_ePZO1pcdu8_V_IdbwQ&hl=en&sa=X&ei=Mvs4ULG9O4Gf6QG8h4GICw&ved=0CC0Q6AEwAA#v=onepage&q=introduction%20to%20html%20pratter&f=false
4) Goans, D., Leach, G., & Vogel, T. M. (2006). Beyond HTML: Developing and re-imagining library web guides in a content management system. Library Hi Tech, 24(1), 29-53.

Week 7: Internet and WWW Technologies

(1)The internet is a complex system of interconnected networks.  (2)The internet has a variety of elements that allow the internet to function in the manner that it does.  With so many users, devices, URLs, IPs, etc., I've always wondered how the internet was monitored.  (3)According to Tyson (2001), the Internet Society was formed in 1992 and oversees the formation of the various policies and protocols that define how users access, use, and interact with the internet.  Because the internet is so massive and, naturally, worldwide, there are a large variety of resources available to users of all sorts.  This is especially true for those in the information sciences, such as librarians.  (4)Google is a huge example of an online resource used by countless individuals and organizations across the globe.  (5)In 'The Genesis of Google' (2004), Brin and Page show that billions of inquiries are being submitted each second.  (6)However, for a variety of reasons, certain areas of the world are better equipped for Google inquiries than others.  (7)Although this video was created in 2004 and some of the information about is Google is dated, an interesting element discussed is the idea of AdSense.  This tool allows Google to generate advertisements for each user based upon the individual search inquiries.  Thus making advertisements relevant.  (8)Advertisements are important for Google because they allow the organization to make enough revenue in order to not accept payments for search results.  (9)Google is a great example of an internet tool for anyone to use, but Integrated Library Systems (ILS) are more tools specifically used for library services.  ILS allow libraries to track various elements of the library including books borrowed, orders made, bills paid, etc.  (10)Purchasing (or developing) and maintaining ILS take a lot of work and often cost a lot of money.  Pace (2004) states that even incremental improvements to systems are increasingly expensive for libraries.

Notes from Required Readings:

1) Tyson, Jeff. How Internet Infrastructure Works.  http://computer.howstuffworks.com/internet/basics/internet-infrastructure.htm

2) Andrew K. Pace “Dismantling Integrated Library Systems” Library Journal, vol 129 Issue 2, p34-36. 2/1/2004 http://lj.libraryjournal.com/2004/02/ljarchives/dismantling-integrated-library-systems/

3) Sergey Brin and Larry Page: The genesis of Google (Inside the Google machine). http://www.ted.com/talks/sergey_brin_and_larry_page_on_google

Muddiest Point: Week 6

Is there a specific way, using Google Scholar, that researchers can search specifically for Conference Papers?