Page 6: Creative Commons (and Duplicates)

While the Creative Commons is an innovative approach for a work’s creator to determine the extent of how his / her work may be used by others (duplicated), these licenses do not provide the same legal protections which are provided by filing a copyright. However, by work’s creator selecting a license specifying how various may be permitted to use or reproduce his / her original work (whether images, sound files, and other forms of digitized media), a free alternative form of protection is applied to digital works in this rapidly changing online environment. Yet inserting the Creative Commons button does not insure that people will not improperly utilize (duplicate) the work, since this is a completely voluntary resource and the Creative Commons Corporation disclaimer states that they do not provide legal services for utilizing this public license.

I chose the Attribution – Non Commercial 2.5 License because I intended to permit other individuals to (duplicate) copy, distribute, display, and to make derivative works based on my papers as they attribute their authority to me and my papers. Yet, I did not permit others to use (duplicate) any of my written works for commercial purposes, especially my review of library automation systems. However, I converted all of my research papers and writings from a word-processed format to a PDF (Portable Document Format) file, to make the copying of text from any paper and pasting the text into an individuals word-processor incredibly difficult. This included scanning two of my actual graded papers (I did not have the original file) and then Adobe Acrobat 6 Professional converting these digitized images into a PDF format.

For this assignment I purely utilized Macromedia Fireworks MX 2004 to create the canvas, the layers, and the buttons with the rollover property. Each button location (the same button was copied and pasted) had three button appearances (text statements) for when the button was in the up position, the mouse was over the button, and for when the button was pressed down. I pasted the designated URL for each specific PDF document (all located in the images6 folder) into the referring URL link field for Macromedia Fireworks. However, a minor problem I discovered after creating this page was that the moment a button was pressed down (to read what the button states in this final position), Adobe Acrobat is launched making it incredibly hard to read what buttons state in the down position.

Page 5: Time Capsule- Politics as manipulation of photographs & philosophies

Included in this digital time capsule are common types of modern methods for self-expression, along with transportation, residential dwellings, and the regional suburban habitat’s season. Representations of Americans’ controversial differing political viewpoints- justifying for / against the continued support to keep United States soldiers in Iraq, two weeks before the 2006 Congressional election, is the theme of images in this digital capsule. These materials should help future generations understand this time period in history, and ways people express personal attitudes.

The Support Our Troops and the Freedom Isn’t Free ribbon stickers should help people in the future see how typical Republicans / Conservatives justify keeping soldiers in Iraq and gas-guzzling vehicles they usually drive.

In comparison, the ribbon / bumpers stickers on the more fuel efficient car will help people in the future understand how Democrats / Liberals dispute the Bush administration’s and the Republican Congress’ unending support to keep soldiers in Iraq and the undefined defined War on Terror.

While Yahoo’s Time Capsule enables users from across the world to define and share digitized documentation of important personal issues, current corporate and technological problems brings the future of the capsule into doubt. Will Yahoo exist twenty years from now- given it’s financial problems, and will the data’s accessibility be limited if Yahoo goes out of business (despite the confidence expressed in Forbes’s article)? If technology and software is unable to be read the stored data twenty years from now, will the Smithsonian Institution be relied upon to translate documents, particularly given the loss of equipment to read older data formats?

While Yahoo!s Time Capsule enables users from across the world to define and share digitized documentation of important personal issues, despite MSNBCs perspective, I believe current corporate and technological problems brings the future of the capsule into doubt. Will Yahoo! exist twenty years from now- given it’s financial problems, and will the data’s accessibility be limited if Yahoo! goes out of business (despite the confidence expressed in Forbes’s article)? If technology and software is unable to be read the stored data twenty years from now, will the Smithsonian Institution be relied upon to translate documents, particularly given the loss of equipment to read older data formats?

Rather than simply photograph to encapsulate a controversial issues at or before a monumental moment in time, I photographed and altered these images with some of Web Team 3s demonstrated Fireworks MX techniques, along with Photoshop. All of the automobile ribbons, bumper stickers, and the lawn signs were pasted into the photographs to represent the political views I wanted to demonstrate as examples of what is typically found. Since these images are not an accurate representation of the automobiles ribbons / bumper stickers attached, and house lawn signs, I have not made this as a contribution to Yahoo!s Time Capsule

In Photoshop, the Bring Our Troops Home- End The War Now (red, white, and blue) sign was rotated two degrees and then cropped to cut out trees, the street, and the house in the background (from another physical location). The image size was shrunk to 54 pixel width and 50 pixel height. Brightness was then decreased by 25. In Fireworks, the image was imported and distorted so that the sign was in alignment with the house (as it may appear if someone drove from the opposite side of the street), through Modify > Transform > Distort.

For the Support Our Troops- Bring Them Home NOW! sign, the sign was rotated one degree and then cropped in Photoshop to remove the sidewalk, street, sky, shrubs, and houses. The image size was shrunk to a 50 pixel height and a 57 pixel width, and the contrast was decreased by 40 so the signs brightness was decreased. In Fireworks, the image was imported and distorted so that the sign would be in alignment with the house (as it might appear if someone drove from the closer side of the street), through Modify > Transform > Distort.

Page 4: Libraries Digitizing Future Collections & Copyright

More photos of Digitizing in the Grenander Reading Room & Preservation Department, posted below this week's essay

Despite Trudi Bellardo Hahn’s claims that mass digitization will drive greater usage of libraries and collections, after reading Impacts of Mass Digitization Projects on Libraries & Information Policy my doubts about the future of print-based libraries have increased. Librarius: of books (Latin). American Heritage Dictionary, posted on Dictionary.com.

By scanning and providing access to entire books (except for opt-outs and still copyright protected materials), why would one visit a library or bookstore (franchise or online) to check-out a particular book (with the exception of rare / hard-to-find books) when s/he can download it for free from the web? However, there is nothing like the convenience and personal experience of feeling and moving the pages of a book in one’s hands. Yet, why does Google not search for the publisher or author of a book before scanning the copyright protected item, when they have created such a powerful online search engine?

Despite Professor Hal Varian’s statement that Google TENDS NOT TO OWN anything, by indexing the world’s knowledge Ms. Bellardo Hahn is implying Google owns its data (a searchable index) which HAS a resale VALUE, along with advertising revenue from Google Book Search to hyperlinked online bookseller items. Google may also lease its comprehensive searchable index to online databases, which many libraries subscribe to. Finally, once the book is no longer copyright protected, Google in the future may offer downloads from it’s Dark Archive a book at a price lower than publishers, and to libraries.

Lawrence Lessig’s presentation at times almost mocks the Authors Guild’s and American Association of Publishers’ arguments, and by presenting his points to almost an absurdity. Mr. Lessig articulates not only why Google believes digitizing books is not only fair use, but also how the public (including libraries) benefits from increased access to information. I found Mr. Lessig’s explanation fascinating- people will lose access to the past if Google is found in violation of copyright laws, by not getting copyright owner’s permission first.

Web Page 4 is designed for people researching copyright and related restrictions ONLY for libraries digitizing collections, providing direct access to resources on these topics. After reviewing Google’s top 50 retrievals on “Library or libraries AND digitizing AND copyright,” I selected the five best resources (web-pages and downloadable documents) on U.S. Copyright restrictions on digitizing, along with one organization in the United Kingdom’s web-page, since Oxford University participates in the Google Book Program. These online resources discuss or outline copyright restrictions on Google and libraries (among other organizations) digitizing various collections from past, present, and future.

Digitization of books and archives, along with libraries providing online access to these resources and subscription vendor databases, has shifted libraries’ and archives’ mission from meeting patrons needs who visit their facility, to providing patrons with convenient access to a wide range of information resources online, from inside or outside the facility. I believe this blending of environments will not only continue libraries reducing funding for the acquisition and retention of print sources (see the UA Libraries News & Events), along with bookshelves, furniture, and microforms, but also increasing funding for online resources and information technology to provide alternative access to similar resources.

From the Preservation Department

From the Grenander Reading Room

Page 3: Fall into Sunshine & Shade

While many natural objects are close-up in many non-panoramic landscape-orientation views of country sides, and a few photographs have animals as a still-life image, Paul Cezanne’s impressionistic style was the focus on my photos. However, whether objects are close-up or distant in my photographs, much attention is paid to depth and perspective along with the differing positions of sunlight and shadow, and resulting impact on color.

Despite none of the photos being manipulated in Photoshop to have an impressionistic distortion, images 001, 007, 018, and 023 were edited significantly. Color was changed and other modifications were made so the combination of natural light and the natural colors would be reproduced closer to how they appeared when they were photographed.

Aside from cropping image 001, I decreased the brightness by about -30 and increased the contrast by about +20, because the original photograph appeared incredibly bright with sunlight than when I captured the photo. Following Group 2’s “Basic Photo Editing and Sharpening” tutorial, I selected Layer > New Adjustment Layer > Levels. Through these color manipulations, one can more easily see the contrast of sunlight, shade, and the delicious intensity of bright autumn colors from the sun shining down on the leaves. In addition, one may be surprised by the similar characteristics of my photograph with the perspective and depth of Cezanne’s “Bend in Forest Road” painting, particularly the contrast of shadow and darkness of some leaves with the brightness of the other leaves.

In addition to cropping the image (to remove much of the incomplete tree on the right), the intense sunlight diminished the color intensity of the Neilson Farm-House’s exterior and the canon. To compensate color, I increased the Hue by about +15 and decreased the Saturation by -10. Following the “Basic Photo Editing and Sharpening” tutorial, I selected Layer > New Adjustment Layer > Hue / Saturation from the menu. Another artistic characteristic to note is how the farm house provides a frame of reference as an architectural element to the entire photograph, despite being in the bottom right corner.

While no Photoshop color manipulations per se were made to image 018, I “flattened” the image so the close-up vegetation appeared to be clearer. Unlike the “Basic Photo Editing and Sharpening” tutorial directions for sharpening, I selected Filter > Sharpen > Smart Sharpen. Also, the image was cropped so that a greater focus of the image would be on the deer and less on the non-panoramic landscape of up-close vegetation.

Aside from cropping image 023 (to focus more of one’s attention on the cows and less on the roadway), the brightness and contrast were significantly manipulated so the colors are much closer to how they appeared when the photograph was taken. The brightness was decreased about -25 and the contrast was increased by about +10, so that the intensity of the ambient light remained within the gradually decreasing intensity of the final photos.

NOTE: All references to Paul Cezanne Landscape artistic characterizes were cited from Cezanne, Paul: Landscapes” at and from my two courses in Art Appreciation with Helen Langa, Ph.D. at American University.