Week 2: Computer basics, Digitization

First, it is beneficial to read articles about computer hardware and software. Thanks to the development of computers, computers are becoming more like an appliance rather than an electronic gadget. As a person uses a dishwasher without knowing its structure, a current user uses a computer without knowing its basic structures and its application. For example, in 1989, when our family bought a computer for the first time, it was not easy to turn it on and turn it off because there was no simple application and accessory such as Windows Explorer and a mouse. At that time, a user should have higher level of knowledge about computer hardware and its algorithm than a current user’s. In this view, reading what is vital hardware and software is meaningful and significant to me.

Second, Stuart D. Lee’s Is digitization worth it? is related to data compression closely. To discuss the relationship between digitization and data compression, let’s find out Lee’s opinion about digitization. He advocates the benefits of digitization; ‘increasing access, preservation, and meeting strategic goals’, and I generally agree with him. However, I want to suggest that the purpose of digitization should be focused more on expending dissemination of information rather than convenient and effective way of preserving resources. As we already learned from Wikipedia’s article about data compression, there are chances to lost data partially after lossy data compression. After lossy data compression, the output of digitization is not exactly same quality of original resource, especially arts and audio files. Nicholson Baker states this negative result of digitization clearly in his book, Double Fold. Librarians and archivists should continue to pay their attentions on that the output of digitization could not be substituted with the original resources perfectly and to make an effort in preserve the original items.