Last week, you worked on breaking your technology into its technical components. Today, we’ll use those components as the basis for diving deeper into each part, to discover which standards are relevant to the technology you’re exploring.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
It’s likely that your technology adheres to many different standards \u2014 probably too many to investigate at length! Therefore, as you’ll see in the revised write-up assignment<\/a>, I’d like you to include a paragraph-long overview of the major standards used by your technology, and then, in the bulk of the write-up, focus on just one or two standards to explore at greater length. Choose the standard(s) that you find intriguing, controversial, or especially relevant to your technology.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Today, you’ll get a jump-start on that assignment by performing some preliminary research about your technology and the standards it embodies.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Here are some points to remember about how standards operate. Standards:<\/p>\n\n\n\n (These observations are drawn from an article by Martha Lampland and Susan Leigh Star called \u201cReckoning with Standards,” which I recommend! I put it in CCLE for you.)<\/p>\n\n\n\n Make a list of “big” component parts. For example, with TikTok in mind, I think of:<\/p>\n\n\n\n Now focus in one one of those components. Since only one of these, the app, is really specific to TikTok, I’ll choose that. What technologies does it use? I snooped around online<\/a> and made some observations. TikTok contains:<\/p>\n\n\n\n Now I’ll take each of those modules in turn, with the understanding that it’s likely to contain a nested cascade of standards. Examining the video module by snooping around the internet, I see that TikTok:<\/p>\n\n\n\n Tip: Remember that we have access to proprietary databases. Here<\/a> is a list of technology-related business DBs that may be helpful.<\/p><\/blockquote><\/figure>\n\n\n\n Aha, now we can look for the standards themselves! Where might these standards come from? Obviously, a web search will be helpful here, but it’s also useful to know about some of the main technology standards-setting bodies. Note that this is not a comprehensive list.<\/p>\n\n\n\n The ISO is “the world’s largest developer of voluntary international standards.<\/a>” You can find its catalog of standards here<\/a>. Note that some ISO standards are free to access, while others cost money. If your standard is not free to access from ISO, see what you can discover about it by reading articles elsewhere.<\/p>\n\n\n\n The ITU-T is another international standards body that coordinates with, but is separate from, the ISO. It recommends specifications for elements of the global infrastructure of internet communication technologies. Its standards (“recommendations”) are devised by study groups, which you can find listed here<\/a>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n The IETF is an international body that sets standards for internet architecture (including TCP\/IP). It is composed of working groups, which are divided into categories called “Areas.” You can find the areas listed here<\/a>, and the working groups listed here<\/a>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n NISO sets information standards (including Dublin Core and other metadata specifications) and is the official US delegate group to the ISO. You can find its catalog of standards here<\/a>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n W3C is the main international standards body for the world wide web. Its oversight includes setting standards for HTML, the lingua franca of most websites. You can find W3C standards here<\/a>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n IEEE SA is a “community” that develops a range of standards for multiple industries. It is separate from ISO and some of its standards compete with ISO’s. You can find its standards here<\/a>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Thanks to my sleuthing, I’ve discovered that the H.264 video compression standard is devised and maintained by the ITU-T. I can download it here<\/a>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Now that I’ve identified and located a standard, I can start devoting some thought to it. Here are some questions to ask about your standard:<\/p>\n\n\n\n You have a choice! Working with a few others, you can complete an accessibility audit of Young Research Library, Powell Library, or a library e-resource.<\/p>\n\n\n\n We will use a portion of the International Federation of Library Associations and Institutions (IFLA) checklist, which you can find in its entirety here<\/a>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Choose a database from this list<\/a>. (Or pick another library e-resource you’re curious about.) Scan it for accessibility in two ways: with an automated checker<\/a> and by manually checking it against the W3C’s accessibility guidelines<\/a>. (Multiple automated accessibility checkers exist; you might compare the first checker’s results against the WAVE tool<\/a>.)<\/p>\n\n\n\n Activity one: A standards hunt Last week, you worked on breaking your technology into its technical components. Today, we’ll use those components as the basis for diving deeper into each […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"parent":0,"menu_order":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","template":"","meta":{"_eb_attr":"","footnotes":""},"class_list":["post-183","page","type-page","status-publish","hentry"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"http:\/\/miriamposner.com\/classes\/is270w20\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages\/183","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"http:\/\/miriamposner.com\/classes\/is270w20\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages"}],"about":[{"href":"http:\/\/miriamposner.com\/classes\/is270w20\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/page"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/miriamposner.com\/classes\/is270w20\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/miriamposner.com\/classes\/is270w20\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=183"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"http:\/\/miriamposner.com\/classes\/is270w20\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages\/183\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"http:\/\/miriamposner.com\/classes\/is270w20\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=183"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}Break down your tech<\/h3>\n\n\n\n
Drill down<\/h3>\n\n\n\n
Find the standards<\/h3>\n\n\n\n
The International Organization for Standardization (ISO)<\/a><\/h4>\n\n\n\n
ITU Telecommunication Standard Sector (ITU-T)<\/a><\/h4>\n\n\n\n
Internet Engineering Task Force (IETF)<\/a><\/h4>\n\n\n\n
National Information Standards Organization (NISO)<\/a><\/h4>\n\n\n\n
World Wide Web Consortium (W3C)<\/a><\/h4>\n\n\n\n
IEEE Standards Association (IEEE SA)<\/a><\/h4>\n\n\n\n
Think about your standard<\/h3>\n\n\n\n
Activity two: Accessibility audits<\/h2>\n\n\n\n
Library buildings<\/h3>\n\n\n\n
Library e-resources<\/h3>\n\n\n\n
Additional accessibility resources<\/h3>\n\n\n\n