The data compression article on Wikipedia discussed the different methods of data compression as well as the different types. I didn't know the difference between lossless vs. lossy, or even that both types existed. It gave a pretty decent overview of the theory behind data compression, though I was not familiar with several of the terms used in that section (like Lempel-Ziv). It definitely illustrated the difficulties we run into when trying to store or transport massive amounts of data. Zip files can only do so much.
The second article on data compression was thorough and used very clear examples that were easy to follow. They showed that not every method of data compression will be efficient for every kind of file and may in fact make the size larger in some cases. I know that audio compression depends on the type of audio file-- for example, I know my audio books can be
compressed more than a music file because the loss of quality is not as noticable when the file is just a person's voice speaking. The side by side photos at different levels of compression were a very clear example of the differences in image quality at different levels.
Imaging Pittsburgh is a very neat project, and I'm glad there are people taking the time to archive so many images. The site described the problems that came up, and that was interesting to follow. Everyone involved seems to have slightly different expectations based on their own specific background (an academic archivist vs. a museum or historical society).
Where one person saw a work of art, another saw an academic resource, and their methods of selection also differed due to their backgrounds. They also discuss the difficulty in creating metadata for thousands of images. They chose to use eight of the fifteen Dublin Core elements.
The YouTube article discusses the possible uses of YouTube in a library setting. They suggest using it to host/store instructional videos, a tour of the library, or tutorials (like how to use a database), among other things. YouTube is easy to use, both for the person uploading the video
and the person watching it. Thinking about how many patrons request basic internet and computer classes, I thought how useful it could be to have a few simple tutorials embedded in a section of the library's website. I think YouTube is a great, free resource for libraries that should
definitely be taken advantage of.
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