“From Babel to Knowledge” Reaction

I rather enjoyed this reading because it gave us a glimpse at how work in academia is changing in the digital age.  Many of the prior readings, especially the ones from the textbook, were much more technical.  “From Babel to Knowledge” combined the technical aspects with practical application to show how/why digital research is useful, the status of such programs, and their potential for the future.  It was really cool to get a glimpse at the projects Professor Cohen has been working on, and it further enlightened me on the purpose of this course.

Starting out with the story of the Library of Babel was a good way to get the reader’s attention and ease into the subject.  In the syllabus finder section Cohen shows the advantage of creating a more specialized API for a specific purpose such as mining syllabi so that professor and students can enhance their class experience.  I think this is a great idea, multiple brains are always better than one.  Being able to find new course materials, such as readings and assignments, makes the class more enjoyable for both parties.  There are some professors who teach the exact same course year, after year, after year.  The problem with that is that readings can become dated and the professor is stuck into routine- grading the same assignments time and time again.  Having the ability to search syllabi and adopt new material increases the quality of a course and encourages professors to continue learning.  I liked that Cohen walked us through how he developed the program as well.  It made the thought of creating such a program much less intimidating.

The author expresses three lessons he has  learned through his research:

  1. More emphasis needs to be placed on creating APIs for digital collections.
  2. Resources that are free to use in any way, even if they are imperfect, are more valuable than those that are gated or use-restricted, even if those resources are qualitatively better.
  3. Quantity may make up for a lack of quality.
I agree on all of these points, but my question is what he sees for the future in resolving the issue of restricted access.  I cannot speak for others, but I can say for certain that this article convinced me that APIs are not just something for computer scientists.  I really feel there is going to be a major shift in the near future in the approach to academia, and I think it is really cool that George Mason has a team dedicated to this cause.  It makes me wonder how many universities have such programs, or teach courses like our digital history course that is an IT approach to a subject typically falls far from the IT department.

 

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