One of my assignments this semester was to examine HTML and XML, two markup languages written by humans and processed by computers to codify information. The assignment was to explain how XML is better than HTML. That’s a loaded question, as we’ll see. HTML, hypertext markup language, is a markup language specifically designed for the … Read more
One of the things I’ve learned in my time as an autistic student is that I have to adapt neurotypical learning strategies to fit the way my brain works. Rather than taking the instructions provided by my teachers at face value, I have to dig into the underlying concepts and find ways to reverse engineer … Read more
Libraries are often described as anchors of their communities. Their mission statements ramble on about the critical role libraries serve in meeting the needs of their communities. And it’s true! We have programming for technology tutoring, language classes, car seat installation, line dancing, video games, LEGOs, and community gardens. We lend tools and register voters … Read more
Introduction Bibliographic information organization is the process of taking metadata about pieces of information such as books and journal articles, standardizing the metadata into a common format to act as a stand-in for the original information, and organizing the metadata to support information seeking needs. Enough metadata must be retained for the information seeker to … Read more
I will say up front that this is not a how-to guide. This balance is essential to my well-being, but I’m not very good at it. Maybe in writing this I will find some insights I can use. Maybe you will too. If you have any suggestions, please get in touch. Self-care is about managing … Read more
Classifying people into different personality types is a favorite exercise among psychologists. Meyers-Briggs is a well-known model for this, though it’s scientific validity remains in question. The “Big Five” model of personality traits is currently considered the best supported system for this, as far as I’m aware. Assessments for this model are pretty frequently included … Read more
One of the primary tasks of librarians is the classification of materials. Classifying materials into logical groupings and orderings is essential in order to ensure individual items in a collection can be located and to allow for serendipitous discovery of related works via browsing. All classification systems to some extent encode the reality of the … Read more
I am autistic. This affects every aspect of the way that I interact with the world, and presents me with challenges not experienced by my neurotypical peers. I’ve talked here about how moving through a world designed for neurotypicals can be frustrating, and the accommodations I need in order to be on equal footing. Sometimes … Read more
As an autistic, I’m eager to share my experiences and thoughts about how those experiences differ from the neurotypical ones I’m surrounded by. When I heard that the Interagency Autism Coordinating Committee was seeking input about autistic experiences, I thought I’d share some of those thoughts with them. If you’d like to share your thoughts, … Read more
I used to be primarily employed as a healthcare provider. If you’ve read my articles before, this may come as a surprise to you, because I’m a situationally mute autistic person. The care I provided was often during the first time a patient interacted with a medical condition with long-lasting effects, such as asthma, heart … Read more
