-Today was a remarkably warm day. At one point I heard that the temperature was being reported as 29, though I find that hard to believe. Also remarkable was that the sun quickly gave way to showers which then gave way to gray skies. I guess that having only one or two rainfalls in a month is not actually all that good. Presumably there will be more rain in the coming days
-With the addition of traditional spring loaded traps to the arsenal we have managed to catch our third mouse. This mouse, caught after only one night with the new equipment, was a fair bit larger than the second mouse. Though this may be the last mouse, we have replaced the used trap and will continue to keep monitoring the trap lines until we go some number of weeks without a confirmed sighting or other evidence of mouse related activity.
-After a several week absence I am back at work on a controlled vocabulary side-project that I have been working on for the past several months. The original goal was to create a vocabulary of 2000 terms, something that seemed easy at the time. It still seemed easy after an early flurry of activity. Unfortunately, after about 1300 terms it no longer seems as easy. To be fair, with a little bit of effort and organization it shouldn't be all that hard to flesh things out and add a few thousand more terms without really stretching myself too much. Adding fewer than 20 new terms a day is just laziness on my part (something which I have plenty of).
-On Wednesday I have to hand in a project, most of which was done some number of days ago. The part of the project that was holding me up was the one page write up. For hours I stared at a computer screen, edited and re-edited, and wrote and re-wrote. Finally I have something that covers most of what I want to say, but still manages to be less than perfect. I guess I am out of practice when it comes to writing papers.
-After almost a month I finally unpacked my final two boxes this evening. Sadly, the motivation was create a space for my hand-truck, which I was tired of seeing in the front entrance. At the moment, my new 10 kg bag of flour is resting on the 'bed' of truck, ready for a quick evacuation.c
Showing posts with label controlled vocabulary. Show all posts
Showing posts with label controlled vocabulary. Show all posts
Wednesday, September 26, 2007
Saturday, May 19, 2007
A Few Quick Notes 97
-Today has been quite an unusual day for St. John’s. At the moment it is about 20 degrees, overcast, and humid. All in all, it is not what I would call an ideal day. On top of this, it is supposed to rain later this afternoon.
-This morning I got up at about 9:30. Basically my first action was to find my sister and see if she wanted to head out on a few errands with me. As she was up and not doing all that much of consequence when I found her, she seemed keen to head out for a while.
In just a few minutes we were both ready to go. Though she warned me that it was warm outside, I will admit that I had a hard time believing her, mainly based on the look of the sky. As it turned out, she was correct, a warm and sticky day was clearly ahead of us both.
Our first stop was the local Tim Horton’s where I purchased my typical x-large black coffee (double cupped) and Kirsten ordered a small Iced Cappuccino. Both of us were as satisfied as expected with our purchases, though my lasted for a longer period of time than hers.
The next stop was Monty’s, where I purchased my copy of the Saturday Globe and Mail. As usual, I had my money out and ready to pay. I am not really sure if this is appreciated, but it is something that I try to do when I buy my Saturday papers.
We then set out for Georgetown Bakery. We managed to cross through the Valley without incident, and then continue up the other side and past the brewery, also without incident. I was a little disappointed that the smell of the brewing process was more limited than usual. Soon enough we arrived a Georgetown Bakery.
As we entered I was surprised to see that the shop was almost empty, something that is uncommon on Saturday mornings. I also soon noticed that they were out of bagels, the reason for our trip. Kirsten was encouraged to ask when they might have more bagels. She was told that it would just be a few minutes. We decided to wait it out.
After just a few minutes our mechanic arrived. After speaking to him for just a moment they brought the bagels out. Amazingly, during this process the store basically filled up and the line became well formed. Some nice older ladies let us go in front of them as we had been there before them, and soon we were in a position to order. As usual, I ordered a dozen sesame bagels.
As we exited the bakery with our purchase Kirsten immediately noticed how fresh our bagels were. At one point she actually complained that they were too warm to carry, though she didn’t seem to have too much of a problem eating one moments later. We continued to eat these bagels as we walked back home. By the time we made it back six of the twelve bagels had been consumed. Before 3:00 PM this afternoon all twelve had been demolished, six of them ending up in my stomach.
-I have spent a little bit of time working on the creation of a thesaurus. This is a much more daunting task that I had originally envisaged. I am really not sure if I am up to it. So far I have just been working on a section relating to games and noticing how much labour it is going to take. I guess when I am able to compile a few more terms and their relationships I might be able to grasp how long I should expect to get something that will be minimally functional as a broad set of terms. Please feel free to submit subject areas that should be covered, and how these areas might fit together in a hierarchical manner (if that is possible).
-The CLA conference is next week. It turns out that the Canadian Association of Research Libraries is also having a conference here at the same time. This place will be overrun with librarians. I wonder what people with think with this infusion of buns and cardigans.
-If we end up getting leaves this year, I worry that we will also end up getting another elm spanworm infestation.
For the last number of years these worms (also locally known as inch worms or leaf rollers) have managed to eat/destroy the leaves on almost every tree in certain sections of town. Aside from looking as though some form of defoliant has been applied, these worms end up hanging down and getting caught in one’s hair, making sidewalks unusable for some number of weeks during each infestation. In some instances people have claimed to hear the worms eating at night, the leaves slowly falling apart.
A few weeks after the initial infestation the city is then overrun with the final form of the elm spanworm, disturbingly white moths. These pure white moths flock to lights by the hundred each night. At some point during their short lives they seem to find the time to lay eggs, setting the stage for the next year’s infestation.
-My judicial/industrial inquiry project is starting to take shape. While this is generally satisfying, it is a little bit odd to spend my days reading about the gritty details of tragic deaths. I guess without reading these documents I wouldn’t know that it isn’t such a hot idea to have a bar on the fourth floor of a building and then have escalators as part of the standard exit route (as some people might manage fall off and die).
-While I won’t be going camping this weekend, I am looking forward to it being a long weekend. The fact that snow isn’t in the forecast (though we do have rain) is nice. Maybe by the end of the weekend there will even be some evidence that the trees are actually still alive and about to bear leaves.
-Still no word on the ILL request that I submitted a few weeks ago at the Public Library. Unfortunately this lack of success does not surprise me (which is not something that is meant as a negative reflection on the library system). Hopefully I will get this book before I leave at the end of the summer.
-This morning I got up at about 9:30. Basically my first action was to find my sister and see if she wanted to head out on a few errands with me. As she was up and not doing all that much of consequence when I found her, she seemed keen to head out for a while.
In just a few minutes we were both ready to go. Though she warned me that it was warm outside, I will admit that I had a hard time believing her, mainly based on the look of the sky. As it turned out, she was correct, a warm and sticky day was clearly ahead of us both.
Our first stop was the local Tim Horton’s where I purchased my typical x-large black coffee (double cupped) and Kirsten ordered a small Iced Cappuccino. Both of us were as satisfied as expected with our purchases, though my lasted for a longer period of time than hers.
The next stop was Monty’s, where I purchased my copy of the Saturday Globe and Mail. As usual, I had my money out and ready to pay. I am not really sure if this is appreciated, but it is something that I try to do when I buy my Saturday papers.
We then set out for Georgetown Bakery. We managed to cross through the Valley without incident, and then continue up the other side and past the brewery, also without incident. I was a little disappointed that the smell of the brewing process was more limited than usual. Soon enough we arrived a Georgetown Bakery.
As we entered I was surprised to see that the shop was almost empty, something that is uncommon on Saturday mornings. I also soon noticed that they were out of bagels, the reason for our trip. Kirsten was encouraged to ask when they might have more bagels. She was told that it would just be a few minutes. We decided to wait it out.
After just a few minutes our mechanic arrived. After speaking to him for just a moment they brought the bagels out. Amazingly, during this process the store basically filled up and the line became well formed. Some nice older ladies let us go in front of them as we had been there before them, and soon we were in a position to order. As usual, I ordered a dozen sesame bagels.
As we exited the bakery with our purchase Kirsten immediately noticed how fresh our bagels were. At one point she actually complained that they were too warm to carry, though she didn’t seem to have too much of a problem eating one moments later. We continued to eat these bagels as we walked back home. By the time we made it back six of the twelve bagels had been consumed. Before 3:00 PM this afternoon all twelve had been demolished, six of them ending up in my stomach.
-I have spent a little bit of time working on the creation of a thesaurus. This is a much more daunting task that I had originally envisaged. I am really not sure if I am up to it. So far I have just been working on a section relating to games and noticing how much labour it is going to take. I guess when I am able to compile a few more terms and their relationships I might be able to grasp how long I should expect to get something that will be minimally functional as a broad set of terms. Please feel free to submit subject areas that should be covered, and how these areas might fit together in a hierarchical manner (if that is possible).
-The CLA conference is next week. It turns out that the Canadian Association of Research Libraries is also having a conference here at the same time. This place will be overrun with librarians. I wonder what people with think with this infusion of buns and cardigans.
-If we end up getting leaves this year, I worry that we will also end up getting another elm spanworm infestation.
For the last number of years these worms (also locally known as inch worms or leaf rollers) have managed to eat/destroy the leaves on almost every tree in certain sections of town. Aside from looking as though some form of defoliant has been applied, these worms end up hanging down and getting caught in one’s hair, making sidewalks unusable for some number of weeks during each infestation. In some instances people have claimed to hear the worms eating at night, the leaves slowly falling apart.
A few weeks after the initial infestation the city is then overrun with the final form of the elm spanworm, disturbingly white moths. These pure white moths flock to lights by the hundred each night. At some point during their short lives they seem to find the time to lay eggs, setting the stage for the next year’s infestation.
-My judicial/industrial inquiry project is starting to take shape. While this is generally satisfying, it is a little bit odd to spend my days reading about the gritty details of tragic deaths. I guess without reading these documents I wouldn’t know that it isn’t such a hot idea to have a bar on the fourth floor of a building and then have escalators as part of the standard exit route (as some people might manage fall off and die).
-While I won’t be going camping this weekend, I am looking forward to it being a long weekend. The fact that snow isn’t in the forecast (though we do have rain) is nice. Maybe by the end of the weekend there will even be some evidence that the trees are actually still alive and about to bear leaves.
-Still no word on the ILL request that I submitted a few weeks ago at the Public Library. Unfortunately this lack of success does not surprise me (which is not something that is meant as a negative reflection on the library system). Hopefully I will get this book before I leave at the end of the summer.
Wednesday, January 17, 2007
Comments on Blog functionality
While many of the new features provided by Blogger make the upkeep and arrangement of a blog much easier it would be nice if a few complementary elements were also added.
I guess in particular I am thinking about the ability to add cross references (x-refs) in the label section, though this may just be a library student bias.
X-refs allow two things, referral to additional, possibly relevant, information or to the location where the location where the desired information is actually stored. The first type of x-ref is call a ‘see also’ reference while the second type is called a ‘see’ reference. In the days of the card catalogue these were quite common, and in some ways are still quite common in the world of indexes.
A ‘see also’ reference would be good when related information would be filed under two or more distinct terms. One example might be that a items relating to George Bush would be filed headings related to his position as President, as well as his position as Governor, and as a private citizen.
A ‘see’ reference might indicate that instead of information being filed under ‘Dubya’ it is instead filed under ‘Bush, George W.’ In other words, it directs the user to the authorized form of the heading.
With our current level of programming skill these references can typically be made available to the use in a very easy fashion. ‘See also’ references might be made available as a note with the label, while a ‘see’ reference might even be done automatically.
Some form of controlled vocabulary, or list of available labels, might be nice. Unfortunately, given the circumstances of the blogging world I don’t think that this is yet possible, though Neil and I could work on one for ourselves, though this would be aided by the ability to use the x-refs that I mentioned above.
I guess in particular I am thinking about the ability to add cross references (x-refs) in the label section, though this may just be a library student bias.
X-refs allow two things, referral to additional, possibly relevant, information or to the location where the location where the desired information is actually stored. The first type of x-ref is call a ‘see also’ reference while the second type is called a ‘see’ reference. In the days of the card catalogue these were quite common, and in some ways are still quite common in the world of indexes.
A ‘see also’ reference would be good when related information would be filed under two or more distinct terms. One example might be that a items relating to George Bush would be filed headings related to his position as President, as well as his position as Governor, and as a private citizen.
A ‘see’ reference might indicate that instead of information being filed under ‘Dubya’ it is instead filed under ‘Bush, George W.’ In other words, it directs the user to the authorized form of the heading.
With our current level of programming skill these references can typically be made available to the use in a very easy fashion. ‘See also’ references might be made available as a note with the label, while a ‘see’ reference might even be done automatically.
Some form of controlled vocabulary, or list of available labels, might be nice. Unfortunately, given the circumstances of the blogging world I don’t think that this is yet possible, though Neil and I could work on one for ourselves, though this would be aided by the ability to use the x-refs that I mentioned above.
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