Calendars:Networked Media Calendar/Networked Media Calendar/16-05-2018 -Event 2
XPUB1- RW&RM - Steve in the small project space
BEFORE LUNCH
If not... here is plan B
Template:
Describe proposed project (interface) [what? (250) how will it be made? (125) and why is it necessary? (125)]
= 500 words
Relation to project as whole (how does it interface with the rest of the interfacing the law project)
200
Relation to your self-directed research (how does it interface with previous work or abiding interests? what new interests are you following?)
200
Issues arising
200
What needs to be done?
= breakdown tasks and make timetable
= what help will you need?
= who can help? (line up your ducks)
200
Bibliography - media-links
Use Harvard method
link to yesterday's pad:
https://pad.pzimediadesign.nl/p/itl-9
AFTER LUNCH
XLIB
1) GENERAL PROJECT
What is it?
How?
Why?
2) INDIVIDUAL PROJECTS
How are you interfacing?
Describe proposed (interface) [what? (250) how will it be made? (125) and why is it necessary? (125)]
Relation to project as whole (how does it interface with the rest of the interfacing the law project)
Relation to your self-directed research (how does it interface with previous work or abiding interests? what new interests are you following?)
Timeline= now=June
Tash
What? (250)
The default web interface of the library is a space for researching as well as reading. Here users can choose to navigate through the entire X-LIB catalogue, or through various stacks. Unlike most search engines, X-LIB's is designed to prioritize ecosystems and interactions instead of results or objects. Multiple queries for non-existant items in the collection are tracked and automatically made into red links, which are visualised and placed back into the library. In this way the collection is always represented in relation to its own limits, outsides and peripheries. Making these 'wishlists' visible also offers context: we get to know our fellow researchers, situate our own knowledge with theirs. Within the core network, pirate downloaders and outlaw uploaders can interact more directly with each other. When you see an empty item, either in the full catalogue or in someone's stack, you can choose to upload to it. You can create an entire stack of wished-for items and wait for others who may have the file to help you to complete it. The search engine also offers more playful orderings like randomization or by reading time.
How will it be made? (125)
The search engine can be made using html, python and CGI scripts. The files would be stored in separate directories and JSON files which can be called and created via a web interface. Another option is to use the Semantic MediaWiki platform, which already has built in functions like the automatic creation of red links, categories and tags for archiving, and also supports the maintenance of these files. To research further: how each of these platforms will deal with user accounts / anonymity / interactivity.
Why is it necessary? Relation to project as whole (how does it interface with the rest of the PZI library project) (125)
We want this library to exist in the space between researching and the act of downloading/uploading. Piracy is necessary for studying – but it is not just about file sharing. It is also about learning what it means to be a librarian, to pass on information and to explore questions of data provenance. In this way it is important that the default interface of X-LIB explores more social modes of reading and searching.
Relation to your self-directed research (how does it interface with previous work or abiding interests? what new interests are you following?)
This project continues my research into feminist ways of representing data, of making visible what is included and what is excluded in archive. My research into the social aspects of the digital library is also relevant to the concept of enunciative materiality, which we started to explore last trimester.
Alice
I am interested in developing an added feature to the bulk collection of books in the library, represented in the idea of stacks. A stack is a number of books that are alternatively read at a certain point in time. What makes them cohesive is the fact that they follow a certain study path, while not necessarily having the same topic. A stack of books can be a very personal collection that one keeps close, that may or may not have a specific order or hierarchy, and that makes it easy to be browsed over and over again. The stacks can also be represented through a certain time period that the reader needs to dedicate in order to go through, and can thus be edited and remixed according to this parameter. One of the main theoretical bases for this research is the study "'Isms' In Information Science: Constructivism, Collectivism and Constructionism", which describes three of the most important theories and perspectives in information science. For this project, the concepts of social constructivism and constructionism are the most relevant ones that will help be better define the idea of stacks. In addition to this, I am also interested in the possibility to combine certain parts of texts, in order to create a mixtape that caters to your knowledge needs.
Another central interest is developing an interface that would be best suited for a library that serves our community. The library will provide a platform for sharing and discussions, with the potential to grow at any time. It is important that the project is always in a state of work in progress. In this way, anyone who is or wants to be part of the network can develop new features and adapt the library to cater to the ever changing needs of our community.
Joca
How are you interfacing? Describe proposed (interface)
- what? (250)
- how will it be made? (125) and
- why is it necessary? (125)]
- Relation to project as whole (how does it interface with the rest of the PZI library project)
- Relation to your self-directed research (how does it interface with previous work or abiding interests? what new interests are you following?)
X-lib's non-human librarians are a collection of bots that serve as an interface for maintaining the collection and discovering interesting items. The bots interact in a playful way with the users of the library, sometimes helping people, but also demanding attention for their work and fighting with the users. Each bot is responsible for one activity. These vary from crawling the collection with strange combinations of queries (e.g. Scanned pdf, orange cover, published in Slovenia) to highlight them on the frontpage, to making stacks of books that have never been downloaded. And these jobs can go as far as offering non-sensical autocomplete suggestions in the searchbar. A bot can even chase users with pop-ups to force them to add metadata after spending too much time in the X-lib without contributing books, stacks, or annotations.
The working methods of this swarm of bots balance between offering a satyric view on algorithmic assistances and supporting people in contributing to the X-lib and its community. A well-known example of bots that maintain a website and collaborate with humans are the anti-spam bots made for Wikipedia. In In the Company of Bots Christina Cochior describes this relation as operating "at the intersection of technical infrastructure and social superstructure". The X-lib bots try to challenge the traditional social role of the bot as an assistant.
Each bot is a script that performs a specific task. It works periodically, or it is activated by specific actions of users; think of typing in the search bar for example. Then it will request information form the library catalog, using the application programming interface (API) offered by the infrastructure of the X-lib. The bot processes the data, for instance by pairing a book title with meta data provided by an external service. The result can be part of the interface in the form of a highlighted book, dialogbox showed to the user, or even be sent back to the catalog as additional data that part of an item in the collection.
The project builds upon the research I did for the past special issue. I looked into ways how computers read text and structure the found information. Besides that, I made a reader the profession of librarianship, where the role of serving users already started at the start of the first librarian school (Dewey, 1886). The X-lib offers an interesting context to experiment with the role of the librarian in a digital pirate library. The bots live as elements of the 'default' library interface. In addition to the curation by 'human librarians' in the stacks, the non-human librarians offer a way to explore to explore the collection in a programmatic way. Another use of the bots within the X-lib is to visualize the invisible work required to maintain the library, nudging people to add metadata to the collection. It raises interesting questions about what it takes to keep the collection useful on the long term, and what it means to collaborate with bots that sometimes tend to use their masters as their human assistants to complete their work.
References
- Cochior, C. (2016). IN THE COMPANY OF BOTS. Retrieved from http://www.randomiser.info/project/inthecompanyofbots.html
- Dewey, M. (1886). Librarianship as a profession for college-bred women. An address delivered before the Association of collegiate alumnæ, on March 13, 1886. Library bureau, Boston.