Digital Commons Network^™

Coping With Constant Obsolescence: A Lifelong Task, Di Su

Publications and Research

Knowledge and skill obsolescence is a common obstacle in individual, organization, and society development. Thanks to the modern technologies, the rate of obsolescence accelerates rapidly in the information age. In the library workplace, obsolescence occurs constantly. We may be used to routines, but changes are inevitable as we have witnessed the evolution in library services and librarian workplace since the advent of the internet. To cope with obsolescence, it is crucial to have a lifelong learning mindset, make it a habit, and find ways to update our knowledge and skills to stay competent and serve the clientele effectively.

Novel Technologies To Characterize And Engineer The Microbiome In Inflammatory Bowel Disease, Alba Boix-Amorós, Hilarly Monaco, Elisa Sambataro, Jose C. Clemente

Publications and Research

We present an overview of recent experimental and computational advances in technology used to characterize the microbiome, with a focus on how these developments improve our understanding of inflammatory bowel disease (IBD). Specifically, we present studies that make use of flow cytometry and metabolomics assays to provide a functional characterization of microbial communities. We also describe computational methods for strain-level resolution, temporal series, myco - biome and virome data, co-occurrence networks, and compositional data analysis. In addition, we review novel techniques to therapeutically manipulate the microbiome in IBD. We discuss the benefits and drawbacks of these technologies to increase awareness …

Technology In The Security Sector: Mexico, Vanessa J. Gutierrez, Melina Ponte, Angiee Rosario, Arleen Castillo, Henry Saldarriaga, Hector Tejeda, Stephanie Reich, Rosemary Barberet

Publications and Research

The use of technology in policing seeks to improve the efficiency and effectiveness of the daily duties police officers may encounter. However, there is mixed empirical data on the use of technology and if it is really contributing to the institutional goals of the security sector, or, if it is contributing to other factors. This report provides an exploratory approach to understanding what information technology is being used in Mexico at the state level, in order to compare where broader application of information technology could make impactful contributions to the security situation in the country.

With a focus on six …

Designing Respectful Tech: What Is Your Relationship With Technology?, Noreen Y. Whysel

Publications and Research

According to research at the Me2B Alliance, people feel they have a relationship with technology. It’s emotional. It’s embodied. And it’s very personal. We are studying digital relationships to answer questions like “Do people have a relationship with technology?” “What does that relationship feel like?” And “Do people understand the commitments that they are making when they explore, enter into and dissolve these relationships?” There are parallels between messy human relationships and the kinds of relationships that people develop with technology. As with human relationships, we move through states of discovery, commitment and breakup with digital applications as well. Technology …

Bitcoin: The Pioneer Of Cryptocurrency With A Limited Dream, Anna M. Gellerman, Benjamin Zheng

Publications and Research

BitCoin is the most well known and adaptable cryptocurrency today. Due to the evolvement of the cryptocurrency market, many are thinking what this could mean for society; is the world ready for a new mainstream medium of exchange? This poster argues that although BitCoin is functional for small scale payments, it is inadaptable to become a payment tool comparable to cash and card.

Mobile Authentication Assurance Statement (Maas) Draft Specification, Noreen Y. Whysel, Tom Jones, Jeff Brennan, Salvatore D'Agostino, Jim Kragh, Catherine Schulten

Publications and Research

Authentication assurance is a statement of the level of protection that the authenticator enforces to assure that a user retains control of the credentials used in authentication. Protected secret credentials enable user authentication at high levels of assurance. This specification describes the format of a message for mobile assurance along with a healthcare provider use case, involving the user’s acquisition and operation of an app on a smartphone that uses the statement in an authentication protocol.

Nursing Skills Video Selfies: An Innovative Teaching And Learning Strategy For Undergraduate Nursing Students To Master Psychomotor Skills, Cynthia Sterling-Fox, Julius P. Smith, Ophalyn Gariando, Pamela Charles

Publications and Research

Introduction: The quality of care for patients is linked to the performance and competence of nurses. Nurse educators are challenged to prepare graduates to deliver safe, competent, patient-centered care. Nursing skills video “selfie” is an innovative teaching and learning strategy in which nursing students use technology to create videos of themselves (video selfie) performing psychomotor skills.

Method: The instructional exercise of creating the video selfie was administered to a group of nursing students in a medical–surgical class. The laboratory instructors identified three psychomotor nursing skills. In the skills lab, the instructors showed videos to demonstrate how the skills were …

What Impedes The Success Of Late Mover It Clusters Despite Economically Favorable Environments? A Case Study Of An Indian It Cluster, Harini Mittal, Punit Saurabh, Devang Rohit, Kathak Mehta

Publications and Research

The Information Technology (IT) industry in India, is one of the major contributors to the country’s growth story. It is organized in a few strong and dominant clusters across the country. Recent research focuses on the emergence, growth and success of the seven big IT clusters that account for 96.55  of total software exports from the country. Unlike the six successful late mover clusters, there are several other late mover IT clusters that have not experienced similar growth. Why do some of the late mover IT clusters in India succeed while others fail to take off despite favorable economic conditions? …

Curating Digital Pedagogy In The Humanities, Rebecca Frost Davis, Matthew K. Gold, Katherine D. Harris

Publications and Research

This is the published introduction to the born-digital, open-access, peer-reviewed Digital Pedagogy in the Humanities. More a rationale and scholarly study of both Digital Pedagogy and DPiH in general, this introduces and articulates the uses, theory, and rationale about digital pedagogy as it has been shaped in U.S. institutions since the explosion of Digital Humanities in 2009. As a separate field now, Digital Pedagogy is built on the generosity of its practitioners, but saving the stuff of teaching and pedagogy is difficult. The introduction historicizes this now-published project, its open peer review process, and its development in the early …

Designing Smart Applications Using Ar (Augmented Reality), Kimberly A. De La Santa

Publications and Research

Augmented Reality is rapidly developing in popularity because it brings elements of the virtual world, into our real world. Augmented Reality (AR) is a variation of Virtual Reality (VR). VR technologies immerses a user inside an imaginary environment. While immersed, the user cannot see the real world around them. In contrast, AR allows the user to see the real world, with virtual objects and information intertwined. Therefore, AR supplements reality and enhances the things we see, hear, and feel. This research project will implement a Web page that gives the user the opportunity to experiment with AR.

Emancipatory Learning, Open Educational Resources, Open Education, And Digital Critical Participatory Action Research, Jason Leggett, Jay Wen, Anthony Chatman

Publications and Research

Given that we must prepare students for the future workforce today how can we use the power of Open Educational Resources (OERs) and Digital Social Science research to improve student learning and help students develop technical skills needed for the high-tech workforce? In this article, we use transformative learning theory (Mezirow, 1978) and Digital + Critical Participatory Action Research (D+CPAR) to analyze the effectiveness of integrating OERs into a course and reflect on how we used OERs to support student learning and make civic engagement more equitable at an urban community college. In a criminal justice course analyzing the legal …

Developing In-House Digital Tools In Library Spaces: Introduction, Meredith Powers

Publications and Research

No abstract provided.

The Algorithmic Rise Of The “Alt-Right”, Jessie Daniels

Publications and Research

As with so many technologies, the Internet’s racism was programmed right in—and it’s quickly fueled the spread of White supremacist, xenophobic rhetoric throughout the western world.

Behar Unites The Arts And Technology., Aldemaro Romero Jr.

Publications and Research

“I was always artistically inclined from the time I was small, and I think I was fortunate to have parents who were very supportive of me.” This is how Professor Katherine Behar begins her life story, but she doesn’t claim that her family had no doubts whatsoever. “What I enjoy is doing a lot of different things. This was one of things that my parents were most concerned about, how I was going to find a career where I would be able to do all of the different things that I like doing.”

She has fulfilled her life’s ambitions by …

Apis And Libraries, Robin Camille Davis

Publications and Research

This column introduces APIs (application programming interfaces) and discusses how APIs are used in various library projects. APIs allow developers to use and reuse information in new ways and on a larger scale. In the landscape of digital libraries, APIs are enabling exciting new endeavors and simplifying routine tasks. Included is a table of library-related APIs from organizations such as OCLC, Ex Libris, and the New York Public Library.

Apps In Higher Education: Criteria And Evaluation, Rebecca Arzola, Stefanie Havelka

Publications and Research

In this article, the authors will consider different evaluation methods for mobile applications. A closer look is taken at app criteria and benchmarks by librarians, by topic, accessibility, and rubrics.

Social Media Use And Hiv Transmission Risk Behavior Among Ethnically Diverse Hiv-Positive Gay Men: Results Of An Online Study In Three U.S. States, Sabina Hirshfield, Christian Grov, Jeffrey T. Parsons, Ian Anderson, Mary Ann Chiasson

Publications and Research

Though Black and Hispanic men who have sex with men (MSM) are at an increased risk for HIV, few HIV risk reduction interventions that target HIV-positive MSM, and even fewer that use technology, have been designed to target these groups. Despite similar rates of social media and technology use across racial/ethnic groups, online engagement of minority MSM for HIV prevention efforts is low. Since minority MSM tend to have less representation in online HIV prevention studies, the goals of this online anonymous study of HIV-positive gay-identified men were to test the feasibility of conducting targeted recruitment by race/ethnicity and sexual …

Apps And Technology Share - A Student Disability Services And Library Collaboration, Rebecca Arzola

Publications and Research

The Library and Office of Student Disability Services at Lehman College provide a collaborative presentation on engaging students in sharing apps and technology they use in higher education to support their educational needs for a successful academic career. Presented at the 6th Annual CUNY Accessibility Conference, Student Success in the Digital Age, May 1st, 2015, John Jay College of Criminal Justice, New York City.

“My Brain Database Doesn’T See Skin Color” Color-Blind Racism In The Technology Industry And In Theorizing The Web, Jessie Daniels

Publications and Research

In this article, I examine three interconnected notions about color-blind racism and the Internet. The first is the fantasy that the Internet as a technology is color-blind with regard to race; the second is the reality that color-blind racism operates in the tech industry. The third notion is the way color-blind racism shapes Internet studies of race and racism, in which race is contained as a “variable” or as an “identity” that inhere exclusively in people of color, but that leaves the way race is embedded in structures, industry, and the very idea of the Internet unexamined. To explore these …

Teaching The Network: A Brief Demonstration Of The Internet’S Structure For Information Literacy Instruction, Robin Camille Davis

Publications and Research

A basic understanding of the Internet’s physical and operational structure is one element of information literacy. In this article, “traceroute” and “whois” commands are demonstrated as tools that librarians can use to illustrate how the Internet is geographically distributed, how businesses enable and control information sharing, and how to check a source's credibility by determining website ownership. With these tools, students can gain a better understanding of how online information is created, accessed, and affected in ways that may be otherwise invisible.

Rethinking The Dissertation: Opportunities Created By Emerging Technologies, Katina Rogers

Publications and Research

This is a position paper for a workshop convened by the Council of Graduate Schools on rethinking the dissertation. In it, I reflect on what new technologies enable us to do with this critical milestone in graduate study. My main argument is that while the affordances of specific technologies can be exciting, more important is the shift toward collaborative, creative, accessible, and public-facing scholarly work that today’s digital platforms allow.

A Vision For Inclusion: An Lgbt Broadband Future, Jessie Daniels, Mary L. Gray

Publications and Research

This report provides an overview of the current scholarship and policy around the particular needs of LGBT people and the Internet.

Student Library And Technology Questionnaire, Jean Amaral

Publications and Research

This questionnaire was used in a research study, “Community College Student and Faculty Information Needs and Information Seeking,” at Queensborough Community College, 2013-14.

Faculty Library And Technology Questionnaire, Jean Amaral

Publications and Research

This questionnaire was used in a research study, “Community College Student and Faculty Information Needs and Information Seeking,” at Queensborough Community College, 2013-14.

Planning A Reading And Discussion Series In An Academic Library, Rebecca Arzola

Publications and Research

Planning a reading series for an academic library takes an initial investment of time, energy and attention to detail. When you consider all the elements involved with planning and executing a reading, the initial investment of time and effort to devise a smoothly run event series is well worth the results. It can be as creative a venture as you have time for. Do what is comfortable for you

The Pencil, The Pin, The Table, The Bowl And The Wheel, Valerie Allen

Publications and Research

The commodity created under global capitalism originates from everywhere and seems to have been made by everyone. Endlessly fungible, it is also endlessly divisible. Analysis of the commodity reveals the indissoluble link between commodification and technologization. Although the medieval commodity is a very different kind of object, not issuing from an economy dedicated to commodity production, and being produced more regionally, the link between production and technology applies to the Middle Ages as much as it does to now. Medieval technology, in particular road-building, is commonly regarded as a regression in comparison to Roman engineering skills. I argue, however, for …

Cloaked Websites: Propaganda, Cyber-Racism And Epistemology In The Digital Era, Jessie Daniels

Publications and Research

This article analyzes cloaked websites, which are sites published by individuals or groups who conceal authorship in order to disguise deliberately a hidden political agenda. Drawing on the insights of critical theory and the Frankfurt School, this article examines the way in which cloaked websites conceal a variety of political agendas from a range of perspectives. Of particular interest here are cloaked white supremacist sites that disguise cyber-racism. The use of cloaked websites to further political ends raises important questions about knowledge production and epistemology in the digital era. These cloaked sites emerge within a social and political context in …