Brittany

The first issue that I encountered involved the translation of my notes from the notebook to the Rolodex/database. I found that notes that were in the form of lists were difficult to tag since they tended to be broad and also, it would require more effort than deemed necessary to be able to convey it properly in a database. There was also an issue with short notes that were only written down as a quick reminder. Some of these kinds of notes were ambiguous, making them hard to tag. I decided to leave out lists and small reminders because they would either require too much time or weren’t important enough to include. However, in my final project I would like to incorporate the lists because they have biographical meaning to me.

Another issue I found was that it was near impossible to arrange all the notes in chronological order in the Rolodex as they appear in the notebook. To do that would require a complex indexing system, and I preferred to keep it simple. It would have been possible with the database, as I could have entered them in order of when they appear in the notebook. Even still, the only notes that had specific dates were the journal entries.

Figuring out a way to index the entries in the Rolodex was challenging. I wanted to be able to add entries to the index while still keeping the index in some kind of order. Originally I wanted to just list the tags in the index by alphabetical order, but I realized that if I were to do that then I would run into problems when trying to add new tags. Putting each tag on a separate card could solve this, but I felt that would consume too much space.

Overall, I really enjoyed experimenting with various forms of organizing my notebook and the challenge of fitting my personal notes into two very impersonal systems. I think I did a good job of expressing the idea that the contents of the Rolodex and the database were very personal entries based on the way I developed the forms to fit my need. Although I had some difficulty including every personal aspect of the entries into the organizing forms, I think what I produced is a clear indicator of my project idea. However, I do believe the project could be improved upon. I would have liked to make the Rolodex more personal by decorating it like some of the ones I had seen online. I also wish I could have found a vintage Rolodex so as to really instil the idea of it being an “old” form of organizing. Moreover, they just look more interesting than the ones sold today. The database could have been improved by adding a few more details to the entries where possible, such as dates to the journal entries. However, I am pleased with what I accomplished considering my lack of experience with MySQL.

One thing I think I am not too pleased about is my incorporation of theory and historical research into my project. This is where I really struggled, as conceptual projects are not my strong point. I often found felt confident when speaking to Graham about the idea behind my project, but when I tried to implement it on my own I became lost and directionless. This is something I would like to improve upon and I plan to spend more time focusing specifically on developing a solid theoretical and historical background for my final project.

Although many people may not realize this, a notebook can be a work of art. Its pages may contain drawings, collages, thoughts, ideas, stories (fictional and non-fictional), notes, lists, contacts, etc. Its contents can serve as inspiration, reminders for the future, and memories of the past. The beauty of a notebook can be seen and felt in its personalization. It is literally the mind of a person expressed in a tangible form.

The problem with keeping a notebook is that the things that ones writes tend to get lost within the pages. Personally for me, using a notebook to record ideas for creative projects can be a lost cause since once something gets written down it usually ends up forgotten about. With this in mind I decided to investigate the history of information management and how it has changed through the advent of digital technologies. The ultimate goal of the Notebook Project is to organize and make searchable my personal notebook in a way that explores the organizational methods of the past and present while considering the complications with using depersonalized information management techniques to organize personal information.

Analogue Notebook

The first part of the project was to create an analogue version of my notebook. Through researching non-digital information management methods, I decided that the best format to go with would be the Rolodex. However, I found it difficult trying to figure out how to fit my personal information and needs into the Rolodex’s already functioning system. Originally designed to hold address information, when used to store personal notes, issues arose while trying to create an index in order to make the system searchable.

All of the entries were printed out and glued to individual rolodex cards. Then each card was categorized into sections based on what type of note they were. There were four sections:

* Journal entries
* Ideas
* Thoughts
* Directions

Each entry was assigned an ID number, as well as tags to help identify its topic. These tags were used to search for a specific entry.

At the beginning of the rolodex I created something similar to an index one would find at the back of a book. There was a separate index for each section and the index listed the ID numbers in chronological order. Listed next to each ID number were its assigned tags. This allows a person to find an entry based on its category and topic.

Digital Notebook

For the digital version I thought the best choice would be to create a MySQL database seeing as how databases seem to be the most commonly used digital form of information management for websites and office computers. To create my database I had to first install all the necessary software onto my computer. After MySQL was up and running I used the Terminal command line to create my database.

The database consists of three tables: notes, tags, and note_tag_list. The notes table contains all the notebook entries with a chronologically assigned ID number. However, these ID numbers do not correspond with the ID numbers from the Rolodex. The tags table contains every tag that was assigned to each entry. Each tag was also assigned an ID number and they are the same tags used in the Rolodex index. The note_tag_list table connects the notes to the tags by matching up their corresponding ID numbers. For instance if note entry ‘1′ has the tags ‘journal’ (which has the ID number ‘1′), ‘death’ (which has the ID number ‘5′), ‘effort’ (which has the ID number ‘6′), and ‘excuses’ (which has the ID number ‘7′), then the table would look something like this:

Once all the notes and tags and ID numbers had been entered into each table, this command was used to search for entries by tags:

select * from notes, note_tag_list, tags where tags.tag_id = note_tag_list.tag_list_id and note_tag_list.note_list_id =  notes.note_id and tags.text_tag like “[tag goes here]“;

An example of the result you would get searching for the tag ’silence’ can be seen here:

Indexing

Many forms of indexing were and still are used as a way to organize information. However, the word “index” is a broad term used even in fields such as publishing, I.T., mathematics, design, and economics with varied meanings. For the purposes of my project I focused solely on the forms of indexing which had to do with information organization and retrieval.

Before computer catalogues, libraries used card catalogues as a form of indexing. These catalogues were:

a register of all bibliographic items found in a library or group of libraries, such as a network of libraries at several locations. A bibliographic item can be any information entity (e.g., books, computer files, graphics, realia, cartographic materials, etc.), that is considered library material (e.g., a single novel in an anthology), or a group of library materials (e.g., a trilogy), or linked from the catalog (e.g., a webpage) as far as it is relevant to the catalog and to the users (patrons) of the library. (From the Wikipedia entry on Library Catalogs)

Rolodexes

Scientific management, also known as Taylorism, was a system of workplace management developed by Frederick Winslow Taylor. I didn’t have to go far to find one of his books as a free copy of  “The Principles of Scientific Management” is available on the internet through a creative commons license. After reading through some of the text it became obvious that although the text was interesting for its own reasons, I would not find much description on old information management techniques through specifically researching scientific management.

The text is basically a guide to making labour more productive, efficient, and cost effective. He claimed this could be achieved by introducing a scientific approach to the management of labour. Taylor believed in developing a strict method to be followed for each process involved in a job. He also believed that the person best trained and experienced with a specific job should be responsible for it. Also, he introduced worker incentives that were meant to influence better productivity from workers.

While scientific management has been said to best be suited for manual labour, it was also a big influence on a man named Peter Drucker. Drucker was a big proponent of knowledge management and attributes its creation to Taylor. So what is knowledge management? Well after some researching I’m still trying to pin it down, but it appears to be the development and incorporation of ways of managing knowledge so that it is easy accessible and can inspire human creativity. Apparently asking, “What is knowledge management?” is like asking, “What is art?” Everyone has a different answer and the field is extremely broad with many different disciplines and subdivisions. However, I think it is fair to say that it is useful and relevant in today’s information age.

I did come across something called personal knowledge management, which deals with knowledge and the individual, whereas knowledge management deals more with organizations and companies. Although this may prove useful in my overall project I decided to move on for the time being and continue my search for office information management techniques.

When I first began looking into office management techniques before computers I was surprised to discover that it was an arduous task to find any information on the subject. I was sure there had to be some information out there, but I thought I might not have been searching with the right terms. I did manage to find a book written in 1925 called “Office Management - Principles and Practice”, by William Henry Leffingwell. However, it proved to be an extremely difficult task to find a copy, as it was old and seemingly obsolete.

During my next meeting with Graham I informed him of my plight. He was excited by the fact that this was a topic in which no one seemed to be interested. In turn, I became even more enthusiastic about the prospect of exploring an unchartered topic. We discussed some areas that I should look into, such as:

• Scientific office management
• Indexing (Various forms)
• Rolodexes

He also suggested I start with reading a book by Georgina Ferry, “A Computer Called LEO”. This was much easier to find than Leffingwell’s and so I began my research there. The book tells the story of how the Lyons & Co. teashop was the first company in the world to build and use a computer for office management and accounting. An accounting manager in the company, John Simmons, realized the potential of electronic machines to do the most menial accounting tasks, leaving humans the freedom to put their intelligence to good use. He also recognized the need for an alternative to paper records as they became difficult to manage and consumed a great deal of space. Interestingly enough the reasoning behind the creation of the first office computer is similar to the one behind my project. However, I will explain this in greater detail later when I write specifically about my project.

A little more important in my research on LEO is that the book actually mentions that John Simmons was a proponent of Leffingwell and Taylor’s methods, and actively tried to incorporate scientific management into the three main clerical departments and Lyon & Co. With this piece of information I decided that I should continue my research in the direction of scientific management.

After deciding that I did indeed want to come up with a new project I met with Graham. I spoke to him about my concerns regarding my lack of interest in my original idea and explained to him that I wanted to work on something more personal and closer to the idea I had on associated words. He remembered me speaking of my notebooks, which were the inspiration behind my idea in the first place. My notebooks are where I write down things I want to remember. This includes:

• Contact information
• Journal entries
• Story, essay, and film ideas
• Lists
• Notes
• Directions
• Thoughts and words of wisdom

The problem with these notebooks is that my ideas tend to get lost and forgotten within the pages as more and more things get added to it. With this in mind we came up with the idea of creating a searchable analog and digital version of my notebook. The analog version would be something tangible, like the notebook itself, however it would be in an organized, searchable form. It was suggested that I look into old office information management techniques before computers for inspiration. The digital version would use current technologies. For this purpose I chose create a database, as it seemed to be the most appropriate form for a digital version of my notebook and would also related to the theme of office information management techniques.

My minor project was based around an idea I had been developing on word associations. The idea was as follows:

Word Association Website…

• For writers with bad memories, make associations on website to be saved to a database.
• Share associations with others.
• You can attach words or phrases to other words or phrases in order to use it later for writing purposes
• Make lists of words to use and their definitions to remember what they are
• Example- Procrastination: (attach to it) Douglas Adams (famous procrastinator)
• “My level of procrastination would put Douglas Adams to shame.”
• Example- Fruition: (word to use more often) attainment of anything desired; realization; accomplishment. (definition)

You could also create categories in which these associations could be organized.

I consulted Graham about my idea and his advice was to try to incorporate this concept into Jean’s project somehow since I had already been working with him on his website. He led me in the direction of Richard Rogers‘ Issue Crawler seeing as how it was related to my idea since it tracks associations on the internet. More specifically, the Issue Crawler is “a server-side Web crawler, co-link machine and graph visualizer. It locates what Rogers and colleagues have dubbed ‘issue networks’ on the Web – densely interlinked clutches of NGOs, funders, governmental agencies, think tanks and lone scientists or scientific groups, working in the same issue area. Unlike social networks, issue networks do not privilege individuals and groups, as the networks also may be made up of a news story, a document, a leak, a database, an image or other such items. Taken together these actors and ‘argument objects’ serve as a means to understand the state of an issue either in snapshots or over time.” (Taken from the Richard Rogers Wikipedia Article)

Since the Issue Crawler is more or less a political tool used mainly by NGOs to track and visualize internet networks I found it difficult and confusing to use. This was mainly because I lacked a starting point and a solid grasp of the issue I was researching. I understood the gist of the project but my attempt to use the Issue Crawler to locate a network surrounding illegal Morrocan immigration (the basis for Jean’s project) proved to be a failure as it produced no results. However it is more than likely that I was using it incorrectly.

Using the concept of the Issue Crawler I developed my original project idea. Graham further assisted me by lending me Richard Rogers’ book, “Information politics on the Web”. I began reading the book in order to develop a theoretical background for my project, however I lacked interest in the subject matter. (note to self: describe what the book is about, what didn’t interest you and why). At this point I was also starting to feel more and more disinterested in my original project idea. It was undeveloped and based on someone else’s project, whose politics I was not particularly passionate about. I decided it was probably best to go back to the drawing board.

My Objectives:
•    Research past and present methods of information management.
•    Create an analogue version of my notebook which will be searchable in some form.
•    Create a digital version of my notebook which will be searchable in some form.

The resources and strategies I will use are:
•    Research into non-digital information management methods.
•    Research into current information management methods, specifically databases.
•    Work with Graham and Alan to learn MySQL for database creation.

The proof of accomplishing this activity will be:
•    A Rolodex version of my notebook.
•    A database version of my notebook.

Evaluation criteria and means of validation will be:
•    Feedback from students and lecturers.
•    Working, searchable database.
•    Searchable Rolodex.
•    Own personal satisfaction with project.

February 23 – March 1

Experiment with scraper from Graham to understand how it works.  Tweek to fit needs of original project idea and explore the different kinds of results it produces.

March 2 – 8

Build database to store and organize search results to be used in final project. Experiment with how search results can be used to portray original project ideas and explore other possibilities.

March 9 – 15

Decide exactly what you want to do with results.

March 16 – 22

Finalize project and build web interface to be used on Jean’s website.

March 23

Present project

For this project I propose to work alongside Jean Demars’ current project having to do with assisting illegal Moroccan immigrants. I will create a supplement to the website already being made for his project. This will be in the form of a web search database which will have two parts:

1)There will be a search function that will use certain keywords having to do with illegal Moroccan immigration in order to do an internet search. The webpages retrieved will be analysed for commonly used terms and these will be used to do another search. This will be performed several times until a web of associated words begins to emerge. These words and the websites they were retrieved from will be stored in a database.

2)I will also attempt to trace the history of the conflicts which have spawned this illegal immigration by creating a search function that will allow me to gather information about the issue and order it chronologically

This work will allow for a greater understanding of the historical progression of the issue and will analyse the popularity of the terms surrounding it.