Weeknote 29

This week I have tried to cycle and/or swim before work. After being sedentary for too long, it’s been taking some time to build back my capacity to do such things. It’s funny how I can accept this long on-ramp when it comes to getting into physical shape but I’m so more easily frustrated with myself when it comes to things like writing and coding.

§1 Contains sentiments expressed by the grieving library staff

I am an avid user of Pinboard. As I no longer make my pins public, you are just going to have to trust me when I tell you that I have over 26,000 bookmarks that I have kept since 2015.

With the assistance of the Pins for Pinboard app, I’m finally regularly reviewing this library with the help of its On This Day and Random 20 feature. It’s my personal serendipity machine.

And why I am telling you this?

Because I need to explain how I re-found this again:

§2 Public libraries sought to “engage beyond our walls” with game design for public spaces

Hive Mechanic, made by the Game Center at American University is seeking 20 libraries to become hubs for making games and stories tied to local history and culture.

Open call: more than 20 public libraries will be selected starting August 15 to “engage beyond our walls” with game design for public spaces. Each library will receive modest funding, live workshops with our game designers, and support to launch public events. 

Our approach: There is a growing need for digital media in public space – and “low-tech” for everyone. By joining this program, libraries can become a hub for making neighborhood games and outdoor stories – from escape rooms with local history to audio tours with resident voices. 

Gaming & Libraries Opportunity. , Jessica Spears, GameRT

§3 Researcher finds long-lost technical debt in the archives

I haven’t read Toward a Conceptual Framework for Technical Debt in Archives but I have read Dan reading it. Dan writes:

The authors present three case studies from the University of North Carolina at Charlotte, Carnegie Mellon University and Yale University that examine the impact of technical debt on their operations. The technical debt arose from various deliberate and inadvertent factors including lack of documentation to failure to adopt standards to inconsistency in metadata practices.

Three points the authors make in their conclusion particularly resonated with me that I believe can help inform our work in the University libraries:

“The UNC–Charlotte case study, for example, introduced us to the ubiquitous nature of documentation debt.”

“Likewise, looking at the Carnegie Mellon case through the technical debt framework reveals a deliberate effort to mitigate its own documentation debt—or, at the very least, make it more transparent.”

Finally the use case from Yale views how “…the framework emphasizes how declaring bankruptcy on debt-laden projects can release organizations from a perceived obligation to sustain the unsustainable…” something we need to consider as we continue to migrate content from our so-called Dark Archive.

This is an interesting article that can help frame our discussions around process improvement and decision-making. Further, conceptually, technical debt should be a factor in any of our organizational discussions concerning system development, implementation, use and management, and sunsetting. 

Reading w/Dan: “Technical Debt”, July 17, 2022 / noonan.37@osu.edu