Libraries & Cyberspace

I have worked in public libraries on the south side of Chicago for the past 6 years. For a majority of that time, I was a computer attendant in a medium sized suburban library so I have a feel for how library computers in my area are used by patrons. This class has opened my eyes to just how vulnerable we are in the virtual world and made me see how cybersecurity and threats are relevant to libraries.

Public networks are a good target for hackers because once they get into into one device, they have access to all of the devices on the same network. Library computers are an especially good target because numerous people use the computers throughout the day, everyday, so if anyone was tracing the activity, they would have all of those people's information on just one machine. Of course there is a ton of software out there to combat invaders, new viruses are being developed everyday and these programs are not 100% perfect. Realizing how important cybersecurity is to public libraries, I'm curious what libraries typically use to prevent viruses. Both libraries I have worked at regularly have problems with viruses and both have multiple virus detection softwares on their computers.

Patrons use public library computers to check their email, bank accounts, Facebook, credit reports, and many other accounts with their personal information connected to them. While quite a few express concern that their information is secure and protected, there are many others who have no idea what kind of risks they take by using public computers and are not aware of how cyber-threats even manifest themselves. Many of the patrons at my library who come in to check their email regularly are older or elderly and may not know how to recognize suspicious emails or websites and fall prey to phishing scams or links and ads with viruses and malware. I think it is important for library employees to familiarize themselves with warning signs of sketchy things on the internet so they can look out for patrons who do not know them.

On the discussion boards, another student suggested that it was a good idea for libraries to post information about avoiding suspicious emails and websites or information about popular scams that patrons may encounter. I think this would be really helpful because we hear about different scams and threats that are going around in mass on the news and social media all the time. We can at least warn our patrons of current known threats and try to help them protect themselves while using the library computers and even their own at home. Knowledge of cybersecurity and staying safe on the internet is beneficial to everyone and will only become more important as technology advance and our world becomes even more digital.

Change in IT Fluency

I have really enjoyed learning more HTML through this class. It gave me the motivation to learn further and use google and other websites to figure out the codes for ideas I had for my website. I actually told my manager how much I liked doing coding web design kind of stuff and she told me "Great! You can make a blog for us!" So I did that and it's pretty basic right now... just on Blogger, but I plan on making my own theme with HTML and using Photoshop for custom graphics. This class has renewed my love of HTML from the MySpace days. :) I also liked learning UNIX, as I had never done anything that "back-end" before and it was cool to feel lie I had do much power over this little command box. I think I would prefer to use the FTP program because I feel it is more user-friendly and I don't have to remember commands or try too hard to navigate through folders and whatnot without them being laid out in front of me, but Unix was definitely fun to learn.

IT Fluency

I have always been pretty fluent in technology. I am a very curious person and have been known to teach myself how do to many things such as learning how to use a DVD player and set up video game consoles as a kid. As mentioned in the last post, I also have experience in writing HTML for myspace layouts which was self-taught as well. I'm trying to keep up with new technology, but I'm only 25 and I feel like it isn't coming as easy to me as it used to.

I don't consider myself an expert in any "behind-the-scenes" tech stuff like coding and processing and computer specs, but I am not totally unfamiliar. Working on these modules, I have found that I already know the basic HTML commands and am excited to learn more in depth coding to write HTML from scratch.

The newest thing I have learned IT-wise would probably be learning all of the different types of AV cords like HDMI, VGA, RCA, etc... and what devices typically use which cables and how to set up mutiple monitors for a PC. Over the summer, we had a really bad storm and it knocked out power out. Everything seemed to be working when it came back on, but we noticed that the HDMI port on the TV in the living room was no longer working so I figured out that I could use RCA cables instead and recently bought an HDMI to RCA converter so that we could use an Amazon Fire Stick on that TV. When it comes to tech stuff that I can't easily figure out on my own, I turn to Google and get a second opinion from my boyfriend who works in IT.

LIS 560 Introduction

My name is Stephanie. I live in Homewood, IL, which is a suburb on the south side of Chicago. I currently work at the Harvey Public Library District as the Young Adult Library Assistant. I've been here for about 6 months and before that I worked in Circulation at another library for 5 years. As far as this class goes, I'm very comfortable with computers and technology. I'm almost 25 and have grown up with advancing technology throughout my life. Back in the Myspace days, I was big into writing HTML for layouts, but I used a template so it wasn't too difficult. I'm very familiar with Adobe Photoshop and have dabbled in other programs of the Create Suite. My boyfriend works in IT for a film post-production house and has taught me a lot of "behind the scenes" aspects of computers, but I'm definitely not fluent. I really enjoyed the article about how IT employees are also like therapists because people have meltdowns when their technology isn't working because that is just like me and my boyfriend. He fixes all of my tech problems and saves the day, but also teaches me what he's doing so I know in the future. I'm a quick learner and have always been able to figure new technology out through trial and error so I'm looking forward to this class to learn even more in-depth information about computers.