For the 540 database we did a site plan, wireframes, visual mock-ups, an entity relationship diagram, and some SQL work -- everything but the "magic," as Jeffrey Kim put it, which would be done by programmers. This project was a real lesson in working in groups, not just to brainstorm and to use the theories taught in class, but to create a multifaceted technology product using skills that were new to all of us. In this project, we bridged the gap between the humanities-based methods of collaboration that we'd all been used to, and a new way of working in which the end result depends not just on coalescing ideas, but also complex code and graphical communication.

A dynamic database that can handle queries of different variables and return results in changeable ways is a lot different from choosing one item from a drop-down menu and seeing a static list returned. In this database, one could choose to input part of a movie title, song title, director, actor, or song artist -- or one could choose to search all fields. There was a similar search for lyrics, useful when one knows part of a lyric and is looking for the title or artist of the song -- or the movie in which it appears. The specs for the database are here (PDF), and the non-live web page where you can see the visual interface is here.

The page I made in LIS 541, a web version of the paper I wrote on the Space Needle and Seattle Center for LIS 508, and is more impressive (in my book, anyway) because it's an actual working website, located here.

I had learned HTML in a walk-in workshop, but in this class Mr. Ballantine taught us why XHTML is now the standard, because of exactly that: It has standards. It's more adaptable and aligns better with and supports adjacent technologies such as screen readers for the visually impaired. Once we had a foundation in XHTML, he introduced CSS. It was valuable to me to learn the way that CSS interacts with, supports, and expands upon XHTML. Plus, it really spoke to my innate desire for efficiency and parallel structure: if you change the CSS, that change in design will appear on all web pages, streamlining the creative process. It's one thing to learn "< b > ...< /b >", but it's quite another to combine an entirely different kind of technology with HTML. Now I can see how other technologies combine together, and the methods used to create content on the internet seem limitless.

This knowledge has helped me in my day-to-day work in the library; when the blog needs to be reinstalled or tweaked for our needs, it means I don't have to call on the tech leads in the computer lab. I am perfectly capable of diving in to various minor programming problems by trying the "Change something - reload the page - see how it's different" method of experimentation. When the Libraries web site is redesigned and we're asked for comments, I can understand both our users' needs and the technology behind the changes, and am better prepared to suggest feasible changes. And when this redesign confounds our patrons, I've already experimented with workarounds and new methods of searching that will hopefully help them fulfill their library needs.

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