ISYS116
THE DIGITAL INFORMATION ENVIRONMENT
THE DIGITAL INFORMATION ENVIRONMENT
Our first assignment is to use and reflect on a number of internet applications, especially website builders and social media. I suspect I already use many of these applications, either as part of my work or in my personal life.
So my goal for this will be to explore these tools in the context of my overall career goal: how can we use IT to improve access to library collections and services?
No. I'm an IT professional with over 20 years experience. And I use the internet extensively in my hobbies and my personal life. I feel very comfortable with all this technology. So again, my focus is in how do I apply what I know to what I want to do.
I'm kind of hoping to build a career out of it. ;)
I'm already a big user of Google Apps. My personal email account is a Gmail one. I write documents in Google Docs, do my personal finances in Google Sheets, and store documents in Google Drive.
Main focus: email and communication.
Personal Use: I use this extensively, communicating with friends, signing up to mailing lists, as my account name to log into many websites...
Use as an Informational Professional: Google Apps provides an organisation with a cheap, easy way to set up a communication infrastructure. Email is much maligned, but is still a key communication tool for any organisation.
How does this app facilitate communication: Email is the primary way most people share information. It's not just sending messages, either. Many people will email documents to each other rather than trying to work out how to share them from cloud services like Google Drive or Microsoft OneDrive.
What are the privacy concerns: There are many. The information is stored on the servers of a private company. They could theoretically read any email you've sent, no matter how confidential. They already mine your emails for data patterns. And because Google are primarily American, your email is subject to American information laws.
Main focus: calendar and event management
Personal Use: Between my work calendar and the calendar on my phone, I've yet to bother with Google Calendar.
Use as an Informational Professional: In my professional life I have a saying; "if it's not in my calendar, it doesn't exist." Organisations need shared calendars to organise meetings, events, and deadlines.
Google Calendars can also be shared with the public, such as a library's calendar of talks, readings and performances.
How does this app facilitate communication: As above, sharing calendars help staff work together, and let organisations share their events with users and patrons.
What are the privacy concerns: All the privacy concerns of Google Mail apply. There is also the possibility of personal information such as birthdays and doctors appointments being accessible.
Main focus: storing and sharing files on the cloud
Personal Use: I use this extensively: transferring files between computers, backing up files, sharing documents with people that I'm collaborating with.
Use as an Informational Professional: sharing documents online prevents document duplication and differing versions (theoretically - as mentioned above, users still like to email docs because sharing requires a new skillset).
Sharing also allows increased control - you can set who can modify a document, and who can just read it.
How does this app facilitate communication: Beyond sharing documents, Google Drive allows collaboration within a document, supporting multiple editors, comments and
What are the privacy concerns: If your account is breached, the hacker has access to all your documents. Documents stored in Google Drive are potentially subject to American data laws.