WEEK TWELVE

23.05.08

SOCIAL & ETHICAL ISSUES

Lecture

Today's lecture was all about protecting yourself and your PC on the Worldwide Web.
First we watched a short film that was about identity theft and about putting personal information on sites such as My Space and Facebook.
It should a lady that had her personal detail hacked into, just by having her date of birth on her personal My Space account, the man then showed her how easy it was to access her details, such as her tax file number.

We then learnt about the characteristic of the Internet. These are:

• Open Protocols
• No Enforceable stand
• Anyone can publish
• No control over Bias and unethical information
• A lot of smart and dumb people use the Internet

We also learnt about the problems of the Internet. These included:

• Intellectual Property - includes music, movies, ideas
• Copyright - Which means "The right to copy"
• Plagiarism - Using others information without acknowledging the original source
• Security - Multiple computers used to translate data, interception can occur
• Privacy - Freedom V's Protection & Industries V's Organisation
• Freedom of Speech

Last Helen went through all the ways to protect yourself when using the Interent.
These were:

• Install Firewall
• Install an Anti Virus Software
• Beware of attachments
• Be aware of spyware
• DO NOT GIVE OUT PERSONAL INFORMATION ABOUT YOURSELF
• DO NOT reply to SPAM
• Set programs such as MSN Messanger and Internet browsers to maximum security settings
• Use Peer to Peer
• ALWAYS scan documents

Tutorial

Task 1b.

The following screen captures and information is from the 5 different information fact sheets. I believe that the 5 I have chosen are relevant to University studies.

RESEARCH OR STUDY INFORMATION SHEET

The information from the above information sheet if for people who want to know what they can copy for research or study, without the permission from the copyright owner.

Key points

• You will not infringe copyright if you use material for the purposes of research or study, provided that your use is fair.


• You do not need to be enrolled in a course – you could be researching or studying something for yourself.


• In some cases, specific provisions in the Copyright Act allow people working in libraries to copy material for you if you need it for research or study.
  

PROTECTING YOUR COPYRIGHT INFORMATION SHEET

The information on the above information sheet discusses how people who have created copyright material can protect it.

Key points

• Certain material is automatically protected by copyright under Australian law. There is no registration of copyright in Australia, and no formal procedures to go through.


• Copyright gives its owner the legal right to take action in certain circumstances if someone else uses their material. Sometimes, criminal proceedings can be brought.


• There are many myths about how you can prove copyright ownership, which are unhelpful. There are, though, some things you can do that might help you to have relevant evidence for court.


• In some circumstances, copyright owners can rely on presumptions that they own copyright, rather than having to prove ownership.


• In addition to copyright, both technological protection measures and contractual terms can be used to limit other people’s ability to have access to or use copyright material.
  
  
  OWNERSHIP OF COPYRIGHT

The above information sheet is for people who want to know who owns copyright when a work is first created. It is mainly for people who are involved in the creation of new material, and want to know who owns copyright.

Key points

• The creator of copyright material is not necessarily the copyright owner.


• Ownership of copyright is separate from ownership of the physical item: if you buy a picture, book, photograph or CD this does not give you rights to copy it.


• Creators of copyright works have moral rights in relation to what they create, although they may not be the copyright owner.
  
  
  LIBRARIES INFORMATION SHEET
  

The above information sheet briefly sets out the special provisions in the Copyright Act for libraries and archives, including public libraries, libraries in government and libraries in commercial organisations.


Key points

• Libraries can copy certain types and amounts of copyright material for their clients, for their own collections
  and for other libraries.


• A number of amendments affecting libraries came into effect in December 2006.


• To be entitled to copy and supply to clients and to other libraries, a library’s collection (or part of it) must now be accessible to members of the public directly or through inter library loans. It is no longer necessary that the library be non-profit.


• There is a new exception allowing libraries to use copyright material for the purpose of maintaining or operating a library or archives, provided certain conditions are met.


• Libraries can now make replacement copies of editions in certain circumstances.


• Libraries which are “key cultural institutions” can now make three preservation copies of certain original material and editions.


• Libraries can minimise their risk of “authorising” infringement by using warning notices near copying
  equipment.
  
  

INTERNET: COPYING & DOWNLOADING MATERIAL INFORMATION SHEET

The above information sheet is for people who want to copy or download material from the Internet or “swap” files over the Internet using P2P software and networks.

Key points

• Material on the Internet may be protected by copyright, as may emails.


• In many cases, permission to download material from a website is given on the site itself, but the fact that material is available to be viewed on a website, or is accessible using P2P software or networks over the Internet, or is contained in an email, does not, by itself, mean that you can use it as you wish.


• Do not assume that everything on the Internet or in an email was put there or copied with the permission of the copyright owner: if the material was pirated, or the person hosting the site or sending the email was not in a position to give a permission on behalf of the copyright owner, you will infringe copyright if, for example,
  you download or copy it.

Task 2.

For task 2 I went to the following website: http://www.apra.com.au/music-users/online_mobile/online_mobile.asp
and read up on online music, downloading and music copyright.

This is a screen capture of the above URL

This its the information from what I learnt from reading this site.
There is a misconception that music downloads are free. However if people download music from the Internet the song writer's and artists don't get paid.
Any use of copyright music requires the appropriate clearances to be obtained.
Creater's of music have a number of rights, including the right to reproduce their music and the right to communicate their work to the public.

To give a brief overview of music copyright in this context, whenever music is downloaded or streamed over the Internet, there are a number of rights which are exploited. These include:

• the reproduction of a musical work; and
• the communication to the public of a musical work.

Task 3.

For task 3 I went to the following web sites:
http://netsecurity.about.com/
http://computer.howstuffworks.com/virus6.htm http://www.pcmag.com/article2/0,1759,2100282,00.asp

From these sites I wrote up a plan for protect myself from online attacks.

The following are tips on how to protect myself from viruses and online hackers:

• Install Virus protection to all Microsoft applications
• Never double click on an attachment that has extra files attached - such as .DOC . XLS .GIF
• Back-up and restore in Windows Vista
• Never publish personal information over the Internet (eg. on personal account such as My Space.
• Beware of Phishing scams
  
  

Reading.
This weeks reading was all about tips on how to protect you privacy on the Internet. Some exaples given were:

• Do not reveal personal information inadvertently.
• Turn on cookie notices in your Web browser, and/or use cookie management software or infomediaries.
• Keep a "clean" e-mail address.
• Don't reveal personal details to strangers or just-met "friends".
• Realize you may be monitored at work, avoid sending highly personal e-mail to mailing lists, and keep sensitive files on your home computer.
• Be conscious of Web security.
• Examine privacy policies and seals.

WEEK ELEVEN

16.05.08

BUILDING KNOWLEDGE: STRATEGIES

Lecture
Today's Lecture was all about the relationships between the terms DATA, INFORMATION & KNOWLEDGE.

First we took a POP QUIZ which I learnt will be similar to the exam. The question asked were summing up form what we've learnt over the past few weeks.







In the lecture slides were the definitions of the terms Data, Information and Knowledge. I learnt how i can use the relationship of these words to better my learning at University.
I also learnt the characteristics of each term. These are:

Data:

• Factual
• Non-judgmental
• Non-inferential
• Transient
• Has no intrinsic "meaning"
• Has no intrinsic "value"

Information:

• Summative
• Relational
• Dimensional
• Permanent
• Has meaning
• Uncertain Value

Knowledge:

• Inferential
• Experiential
• Judgmental
• Subjective
• Very valuable
  
  

Tutorial

Today's tutorial class is an extension from what we learnt in the Lecture. It was all about the links between Data, Information and Knowledge.

Task 1.
First i browsed the following website and read up about Data, Knowledge, and information.

This a screen capture of the website: http://www.success.co.il/is/dik.html

I then looked up on the Internet for other definition for Information, Data, Knowledge and Wisdom. I used Google to find them and came across the below definitions.
All the definition's of the following are from this website: http://wordnet.princeton.edu/perl/webwn

Data: A collection of facts form which conclusions may be drawn; "statistical data".

Information: A message received and understood. A collection of facts.

Knowledge: Acquired through study or experience or instruction.

Wisdom: The quality of being prudent and sensible.

Task 1a.
From the definitions i found on the Internet I then wrote up my own definitions in my own words for better understanding these are:

• Data: is any fact that leads to a conclusion, it may be a figure or a number.
• Information: Is a collection of material or facts that can be used and understood for later use.
• Knowledge: is the conclusion of a study done or facts collected
• Wisdom: is the ability to be smart or have knowledge that you have collected over time.

Task 2.
I then made my own representation of the terms data, information, knowledge and wisdom in Microsoft Word. I inserted arrows to show how one leads to the other.

This is a screen capture of my representation of the terms.

Task 3.
I believe that relationship between the terms data, information and knowledge will help me at university by:

• Giving me a outline where to start when researching
• Knowing you can have one term with out the other, you need the support of each when doing University studies.

I can use the following strategies for my assignment work:

• Data relates to the research part of assignments, I will use the important words,key terms and definitions to find the data.


• Information will be used for building my assignment. I will research the key terms and definitions to put data together.


• Knowledge will be used to make my own judgments about the topic of my assignment. I will base these upon the information found.

Task 4.
Companies that I think would use the relationship data-information-knowledge would be mainly retail companies that are trying to sell a product.

They will go out the the shops they sell their product to to, see how they are selling by finding out data. Then they would use this to collect information and compare other shops selling their product, and then make judgement on things that may need improving of changing from the information they have found.

Some retail companies that may use this method are:

• CocaCola: Selling their drink product.


• Target: Selling all items from clothes to manchester.


• Cadbury Chocolate: selling their different varieties of products in all types of shops.


• Cleo Magazine: Promoting and selling their magazine.


• Ikea: Promoting and selling their products world wide.

Readings.
http://www.systems-thinking.org/dikw/dikw.htm

The readings were also about the relationship about the terms from the lecture and the tutorial. The web site included definitions about Data, Information, Knowledge, Wisdom and also understanding. The definition of Understanding that was given was:

• Understanding: appreciation of "why"

It also gave examples where this relationship can be used, and also have a diagram of the relationship between terms, similar to the ones shown in the lecture.

WEEK TEN

09.05.08



INFORMATION MANAGEMENT

Lecture

Today's lecture was all about Information Management. We firstly read an article given out by Helen called Warning of 'Internet Overload'.
After reading the article we were then asked the following questions in the below screen capture:





The 3 main points from the article were:

• That the Internet is going to collapse under the weight of the traffic. This means there is too much information on the Internet and not enough space for it all.


• The router can cause this collapse, it cannot carry the capacity of all the users on the Internet.


• Finally, the last thing that can cause this collapse is natural disasters that will cause a digital meltdown.

Question 2: The Internet does not have limits. It it becomes congested and people stop using it, but there is enough money in the Internet to keep it open and flowing.

Question 3 : Internet overload is were there is too much information and everything is not clear. This happens for example when a person receives a lot of unnecessary emails that can clog up their inbox and therefore cause and overload of information.

Question 4: Some technical sources of information include:

• Mobile phones
• Internet
• Radio
• Television

Question 5: Some strategies when managing information can include:

• Inserting information into different folders on your computer
• Different contact names on you mobile
• Having separate folders in your email / student web mail.

Lastly in the lecture we watched a short video all about the Internet, knowing whether the information on the web is true, ie. Wikapedia.
Some people believe that the Internet net is full of oppinuative rubbish that the audience can now produce. Therefore companies can make money from the people adding information.

In the lecture slides continued on with the topic of Information Management.
I learnt that information has gone from being atom-based which includes:

• Books
• Papers
• Reports

Now all the information is Bit-based.
The pros of this are:

• It is flexible- easy to move between formats
• Its cheap- resource implications are much less
• Easy to edit
• Easy to mass produce and broadcast

The Cons of bit based information are:

• Not much Privacy - Easy to copy
• Authenticity - Easy to fake and edit
• Unsolicited broadcast- SPAM
  

This is a screen capture some examples of files that you can save information into.







Tutorial

Today's tutorial class sort of continues on with Information Management, mainly focusing on managing the information you are using, by using favourites on the Internet.

Task 1.
In task one we were asked to go to the web site http://www.inette.com/aibtinette/favoritesI.html
and do the tutorial work from the site. This included all information on how to add web sites into your personal favourites collum.

This is a screen shot of the Favourites site we went to and later used for task 2.

Task 2.
In task 2 we were to use the information in the above web page to make 3 folders in our favourites and then add 2 different web sites to each. The instructions were very easy to follow.
The folders i made have the following web sites saved:

Folder #1:
http://www.apple.com/itunes/overview/
http://www.ecu.edu.au/

Folder #2:
http://www.blink182.com/
http://www.youtube.com/

Folder #3:

http://www.google.com.au/
http://www.facebook.com/

Task 3.
For task three we went to ta the web site:
http://archives.obs-us.com/obs/english/books/nn/bdcont.htm
This online archive was written by a man called Nicholas Negroponte. I focused on the DNA of Information section which included information on bits and atoms.

This is a screen capture of the DNA Information section of the online archive.

After reading this I have to agree with was Negroponte is saying. Even though this was written 13 years ago the idea of an object become a bit is not going to happen anytime soon. I believe

that atom based information is the most reliable and still the most easiest way to send, read, receive and rely on hard copies of information.

The Cons of bit based information is that is is not a hard material. This can be untrustworthy. For example, if you wish to send an important email containing a document, the computer you are sending it from has to use other connections (computers/networks) to send it to the recipient. This can cause problems, as you may send it to a few people, the other computer may not receive it, even though you did send it.

Although I believe hard copies are the most reliable and easiest way to send information, Bit based information can come in handing. Using the above example it is easy to send important information quickly and on time if you cannot make it there in person.

Overall I believe eventually in many years to come, there will be no atom based information left and everything will be sent, received, through computers and on the Internet.

Reading.

This weeks reading is all about how the Internet and technology can advance the classrooms for the better of students. The example given that students can access everything of the Internet with a click of a button may well become very true.

It also gives examples of "wires-schools" and how these can benefit students in the future.

WEEK NINE

02.05.08

COMMUNICATION STRATEGIES

Lecture
Today's lecture was all about Communications.
Helen explained how we communicate today is very different compared to 20 years ago because of Information and Communication Technology (ICT).

There are different ways people can communicate between each other. There are:

• Between individuals
• Between individuals and organisations
• Within business's and organisations.

Communications take place within networks. These networks include:

• Chain networks
• Circle networks
• Wheel networks
• All Channel networks

This is a screen capture from the lecture slides. It indicates the four different types if communication which are:

• Synchronous
• Asynchronous
• Place Dependent
• Place Independent

Lastly in the lecture Helen discussed all the different types of Information and Communication Technology uses. These were:

• Mobile phones (3G Net) Mobile include the Internet
• Video Conferencing
• MSN- Instant messaging
• Bulletin Boards & Forums
• Internet Relay Chats (IRC)
• Pod casts (download these from the Internet or iTunes)
• Social Networking
• Wiki Webs
• Blogs & PhotoBlogs

Tutorial

In today's tutorial we were continuing work about Communications. We had to locate, access and evaluate data and information from a variety of sources including the Internet.

Task 1.
Our firsts task was to use Google and search a term using the GROUP Tab.
The term i search that interest me was 'dogs'.
The results a got form searching dogs were all different. Some examples of these title included:

• Owners Like Dogs
• American Indian Dog Owners Group
• Dogs may be designated as livestock
• We need some help with our dogs.

This is a screen capture of the search results using the search term 'dogs'.

Task 2.
For task 2 we had to look at one of the groups that was found when searching using the term that interested us. We had to look at the discussion on the bulletin boards and take not of what was being discussed and posted onto it.
I chose to look at the title 'We need help with our dogs'.
The URL for this website was http://groups.google.com.au/group/rec.pets.dogs.behavior/browse_thread/thread/d00c15ac70c66880/941323a7ff46d4e5?hl=en&lnk=st&q=dogs#941323a7ff46d4e5

There were a lot of topics on the bulletin, mainly about seeking help for dogs their dogs bad behavior. Some others included:

• My dogs has bad behavior
• How to walk a dog on a leash
• Seeking advise. Help?

Also added to the bulletin was people updates on how there dog is going after receiving help.
As well as links added to different web sites that may also be helpful.

This is a screen capture of the bulletin board and the topics discussed.

Task 3.

I then visited the web site http://podcasts.yahoo.com/ and types in "Mika" into the search engine to find a podcast. Mika is one of my favourite singers.

This is a screen capture of the Podcast. It is one of Mika's songs called Lollipop. After downloading this pod cast I would then be able to listen to it on my IPod.

Task 4.
I believe that Pod casts will be great for University studies. For example, if a student is unable to attend a lecture for important reasons, the student may then be able to download the podcast of the recorded lecture and not miss out on important information.

These podcast can also be email between teachers and students that they can refer to later and re-listen to points they may not have picked up on previously.

Reading.
This weeks reading is all about using emails. The first reading gives tips about the Do's and dont's of emails. An example of these are:

Do:

• Get to the point right away.
• When asking a question, be sure to ask the question.
• Specify who should respond.
• Don't forget the rules of grammar and punctuation.

Don't:

• Don't make any assumptions about the sender's emotional state.
• Don't escalate a conflict by sending an emotionally charged response.

The next reading was all about email etiquette. This includes:

• How to address recipients properly
• Select an Appropriate Tone
• Avoid Irony and Sarcasm
• Attachments- Don't send them to people you don't know without asking.
• Edit Your Message

WEEK EIGHT

25.04.08

PRESENTATION STRATEGIES

Lecture
Today's Lecture was all about learning how to present an effective oral presentation using helpful presentation strategies. The power point slides also gave tips on how to do so.

First I learnt there are different types of presentations. These are:

SELF CONTAINED PRESENTATIONS

• CD ROM
  Web-page
  Video
  
• WRITTEN PRESENTATIONS
  Essay
  Paper
  
• STAND AND DELIVER
  Oral Presentations
  

I also learnt that its very important when making a PowerPoint presentation to choose a subtle back ground, don't use a lot of animation, don't use sound effects and also never use irrelevant graphics.


Tutorial
Today's tutorial class focused on making a PowerPoint presentation.


Task1.
After looking at the web site: http://www.personal.psu.edu/uxg3/blogs/undergraduateresearch/2008/02/online-resources-for-how-to-pr.html
I made a list of the top five strategies for making an effective PowerPoint presentation. These are:

• Start the presentation with an interesting topic and end with a BANG
• Know your audience
• Keep the PowerPoint slides simple
• Define the problem and state the central question, then indicate the importance of what was done or state what was found
• Believe in the presentation
  

Task 2.
These following slides are my example of a PowerPoint presentation that is simple and effective. The slide includes top notch tips on how to make PowerPoint slides.

Readings.
The first was called Presentation Helper. It focused on how to give bad presentations, with giving examples of what NOT to do.
These points were set out like the 10 commandments.
Some examples of these were:

• Thou shalt not waste space
• Thou shalt not write large
• Thou shalt not use colour
  

The second reading was continuing on with how to give a bad presentation. Some examples of these were:

• DON’T just wing it
• DON’T abandon your objective

WEEK SEVEN

11.04.08

CREATING & MAINTAINING END NOTE LIBRARIES

Lecture.
Today's lecture was mainly introducing the class to Endnote.
Endnote is a reference guide, that helps you to format your references easily in the correct APA format.
Endnote can be used in two ways:

• As a stand alone program. Keep a list of all you references.
• Or you can integrate End Note with Microsft Word. You can use the program to correctly format you end-text references or bibliography.

Helen showed us how to download End Note onto our home computers, and how to create our own End Note library.
Helen also advised us of a few principles to go by when first using End Note.
These principles were:

• Don't expect to understand End Note the first time
• Begin using it as a standalone application, as a way of keeping a list of you references
• Eliminate clutter and simplify the display
• Back the End Note library up. This is very important to have several copies of everything you save. (for example, on your thumb drive)

Tutorial.
This class was en extension of learning how to use End Note. Our tasks included making our first End Note library and using this with Microsoft word to add in-text references, quotes and end-text references.

Task 1.
Our first task was to review the online referencing guide that we accessed through blackboard. We were then asked to record 5 references that were of electronic material, such as:

• A web page
• Online Journal
• Image found on the Internet
• Email with information

This is a screen capture of the online referencing guide. Its the same as the hard copy.

First I searched Google for a site that I knew would be authentic and have all the details needed to reference it. I went to http://www.vestwest.com.au/ The reference for this is:



Vetwest. (2007). Retrieved April 11, 2008, from http://www.vetwest.com.au/




The second search I did was for a picture. I again used Google to search for a picture of a dog. I chose this one.

The reference for this image is:



Cute Dogs. (n.d). Retrieved April 11, 2008 from
http://www.photopumpkin.com/photo-blog/category/dogs.


I also referenced two journal articles that i located from Pro Quest, from the ECU Library home page. The two references for the two articles are:



Jones, G. (2007). Marketing. [Electronic Version]. BBC Worldwide Ltd. 12



Walsh, M. V. (1999). Illegal Whaling for Humpbacks by the Soviet Union in the Antarctic.
[Electronic Version]. Journal of Environment & Development. 8(3), 307




The last reference I did was for another web page. I went to Yahoo and typed in tattoos to find a website about tattoos. I found one called Tattoo Johnny.



The reference for this website is:

Tattoo Johnny. (n.d). Retrieved April 11, 2008 from http://www.tattoojohnny.com/


Task 2.
We than had to complete the 'End note v11 Exercises for Vista'
This included having to open a new End Note library and referencing the documents assigned on the exercises. We had to copy and paste the references. This included in-text references and end-text referencing. I really .enjoyed using End Note, it saves a lot of time and in one of the exercises there was a short cut to referencing. On a online journal you can link the citation to Microsoft Word and End Note retrieves all the information needed for a reference for you.

I found this task really helpful and I know using End Note will save me a lot of time.

These two screen captures is the final document once I copied and pasted all the requirements in the exercises.

Reading.

There was so specific reading in this weeks tasks, but there was additional End Note help. That could not be accessed.

WEEK SIX

4.04.08

EVALUATION & AUTHENTICATION OF RESOURCES

Lecture.
Today's lecture was all about 'Finding Quality Information on the Web'. Firstly we all discussed the answers to the questions below in the lecture. These were questions that need to be considered when searching for information on the Internet.

This is a screen capture of the 1st Lecture Slide.

As a group we discuss that certain web sites may not be fit for use or fit for a certain purpose.
I learnt that there is no control on some web sites. Some have no publisher, and anyone can go
on there are change information or add to the site. A lot of sites a lot are no relative to the topic you have searched.

In the lecture slides there were some examples on how to evaluate the WWW.
These slides included some important topics to consider. These were:

• Accuracy- standards, error free, is there an editor?
• Authority- Is the page signed? Is there an author? Last updated date?
• Objectivity- Does is show a bias/sway of opinion? Is there advertising on the page?
• Currency- Is it recent? Current links?
• Coverage- In depth material? What does the page have to offer? Topics covered?
• Authentic Consideration- Who wrote it? Name/ Position?

Lastly Helen spoke of using you first impression to quickly evaluate a web site. Quickly scan through then content and compare with ease-of-use. A question to ask yourself is What is the visual feel?
Your first impression can quickly determine whether a site is authentic and fit for your purpose.

Tutorial.
The tutorial was all about how to evaluate and recognise an authentic site.
We were also given the Group Assignment and chose groups of three for it.

Task 1.
Our first task was to visit the site http://www.ithaca.edu/library/training/think.html and look at the strategies or criteria for evaluating a web site

This is a screen capture that I edited in paint that highlights the 6 main suggestions to evaluating a website.

I found that to 6 criteria were the same shown to us in the lecture slide this morning.
Including Accuracy, Objectivity, Currency, Coverage and Authentic Consideration.
These 6 suggestions are things to consider. They are very important and I believe are very helpful. For example, if the information found on a website is no recent and does not show a date that is was last updated, the facts may no longer be true, as things change with time.

Task.2
The next task was to go to the website http://www.ithaca.edu/library/training/think60.html
This site listed 5 different websites. We were asked to chose two and evaluate them thoroughly.

The first one I chose was called 'American Cultural History: 1960 - 1969.'
At first glance to site looked authentic. It included facts about the decade, and dots points of other information you could find on the site. After scrolling through the site, i found it have an author, a last updated date (which was December 2006, which would make the sites information quite recent). It also had details about Copyright, and lots of pictures, headings and bullet points. I do believe this web site is authentic and would be very useful to some one who was researching American Cultural History.

This is a screen capture of the American Cultural History site.


The second site I chose to look at was called 'The Sixties Project.'
My first thoughts from having a quick look at the site where that I didn't believe it was authentic. The home page was dull and not very inviting. To me it didn't look like there was going to be an obvious author and details to prove it was a fit for use site.

Underneath the main heading there are 3 sub-headings. These were links to certain parts of the site. These headings were:

• Scholars
• Sixties Survivors
• Casual Surfers

After looking carefully on the home page I did find an author and contact information, including a postal address and an email address. Underneath this in really small writing was the last updated date, which was January 1999.
Although this site did seem to be authentic, I don't believe it would be very relevant to a topic. The information had been edited 9 years ago. This information may not be very reliable anymore and not true.

This is a screen capture of the Sixties Project Home Page.

Reading.
On Blackboard there is no reading that needed to be included in my learning log.

WEEK FIVE

28.03.08

USING SEARCH ENGINES
Lecture
In the lecture today the main topic was 'search engines'
We learnt there are different types of search engines such as:

• Yahoo
• Google and Google Advanced Search
• Ultra Vista
  
  
  

We also we told the problems with some of the search engines and also learnt about search tools and feature or advances searches.
I learnt there are three different categories of information on the web.
These are:

• Free Web, Visible Web
• Free Web, Invisible Web
• Paid database over the web.
  

Lastly we were shown on the lecture slides tips when using search engines.
Some of these are:

• Use several search tools
• Read tips of help information
• Guess a location
• Use advanced to narrow you search
• Think about what you are searching (Key terms)
  

Tutorial
Task 1.
In toady's tutorial we were given a few tasks that continued on from our main topic in the Lecture 'search engines'.
We were asked to visit the web site http://www.monash.com/spidap.html and consider four strategies that will help us to structure a good search in our Learning Log.

The four strategies are:

• Define the key term. Put thought into what you are searching and type the main key term first.
• Use a Web Directory. This is a 'tree style catalogue' that consists of major topics and subject such as art or education. When you use this to search it breaks down the topic.
• Don't use 'stop words'. These unimportant words such as is, or, and, the are words that will not narrow down your search. Therefore you may get hundreds of search information to look at.
• Use the BOOLEAN system. These are located on the advanced search of an engine. You firstly type in the key term, then in the AND and OR sections type in important words that may be used.

This is a screen capture of the web site used to find the strategies.



Task 2.
We then had to complete an online quiz that consisted of random history questions.
Some examples of questions asked were:

• Who invented Dynamite ?
• Which of the famous people below died in 1939?
• In what year did the "Boston Tea Party" protest take place?

We had to use the strategies above to find the answers. I used Google's advanced search and also the search engine Ask Jeeves.
It was sometimes hard to narrow down the topic and find the answer. Using the advanced search helped a lot.

This is a screen capture of my results for the Online Quiz.

Task 3.
Some tips when searching for answers on the web or by using search engines are:

• Use key terms when typing
• Use quotation marks " ".
• Use a few search engines, not just the one.

These tips are very effective when searching for information on topics from the Internet using different search engines. It important to narrow down the key term for specific search results.

Reading.
This reading was a Web Search Strategies / Guide.
It included how to fine what you want on the web, but also make sure that is good and helpful research. It included categories of information on the web and search tool types when using the web.
This guide is very helpful when trying to narrow a topic down and search some thing specific.

WEEK FOUR

21.03.08

USING THE WWW

Lecture
Today's lecture I did from home because it is Good Friday. I downloaded the power point presentation from Black Board and took some notes.
From the slides I learnt the difference between the Internet and the Web.

• Web: You can find documents, sounds, video's and information from programs.
  Connections on the web are hypertext links.
• Internet: Connections to the Internet are cables between computers.
• Internet finds computers.
  

I also learnt to define WWW (world wide web)
Its a universe of accessible information that's stored on computers throughout the world. This information is available on a gigantic network called the Internet.

This is a screen capture of one the slides. The slide shows what tools are needed when connecting and using the WWW. (ie, computer, modem etc.)

I also learnt from the slides that web browsers allow users to access and explore the pages from the WWW.
For example the program FireFox. http://www.firefox.com/ allow the user to search for useful information on the Web.

From the slides i learnt some WWW Protocols. Some of these include:

• TCP/IP - Transmission Control Protocol/ Internet Protocol
• HTTP - Hypertext transfer protocol
• DNS - Domain Name System
• URL - Uniform/ Universal Resource Locator.

Tutorial

Task 1.

For this week I also had to do it all at home. I downloaded the worksheet from Black Board and did the tasks myself.
The lecture was focusing on the Internet and the Web. Continuing from that, in task 1, we were asked to look at the two websites given http://www.haggishunt.scotsman.com/ and also http://www.molossia.org/.

We then had to look at the sites and see if we thought they were authentic and real.
Four reasons why i do not believe the haggis site is authentic is:

• There is no such animal as a haggis, it is a type of cooked food.
• There is no Contact Us on the home page.
• The Haggis Facts where all jokes
• You cannot hunt an animal when it does no exist.

This is a screen capture of the haggis wed site we had to look at.

Task 2.
For task 2 we were asked to look at a website www.martinlutherking.org
Before doing so we were to write down what we thought the web site may contain. I thought it might consist of:

• Information about
• History of Martin Luther King
• Details of the speech he did
• When he died
• The effect he had on the people
  

When I opened the site the first thing a saw was a picture of King and tabs surrounding him.

This is a screen capture of the Martin Luther King Web site.

Task 3.
My first impressions of the web site where the following:

• The site included some information on King
• It advertised promotional video's
• It suggested other links and sites to go to of similar information
• It also included some fun novelties such as a quiz and racial rap lyrics.
  

Task 4.
After looking at the site I found that is was not authentic. After further progress is discovered the site had links to information on Martin Luther King. It also had a very racial rap song written about him. This included link to people's essays on human rights, the Jewish community and also civil rights. These links would allow the user to access for advanced information on a certain topic.

Reading.
This week there were two readings. The first one was called 'The History of the Internet'. This included:

• Time lines
• Initial Internetting
• Authors
• Origins of the Internet
• Introduction to the Internet
  and more.

I think this information is important to understanding what the Internet is and how it all started

The second reading was called "History of The World Wide Web'.
This included how the web started and different items found on the web, including:

• Development of computers
• History of electronic mail
• Different Search Engines
• Basic Internet Data.
  
  
  

WEEK THREE

14.03.08

USING ONLINE LIBRARIES & DATABASES

Lecture
In the lecture for week three Helen told us to get into pairs and write what a Online Database is. I didn't know what one was. I learnt that they are a online program that stores information, book, pictures and articles. You can find books, journals, research and information on a Online Database. The advantages of a Online Database are:

• You have access to the database 24 hours a day, 7 days a week.
• The information is very currant
• You can order the information from the database through the library.
  
  The disadvantages of a Online Database are:
• Some databases are only accessed by subscription or password only.
• Some information is not updated. (usually on a database anything 5 years old is out of date)
• Sometimes its a information overload (if not your not specific with 'key words' when searching some topic can come up with 15000 or more findings.
  

Helen also explained that referencing any of the article's or journals used from the Online Databases is very important. The reference has to be accurate and in APA format. Tutorial Following up what we learnt in the

Tutorial
Task 1.
Gary showed us how to access to Online Journals and Article using the ECU Library Home Page.
Our task was to spend some time going through the search functions on the Library Home Page.

This is the screen capture of the ECU Library Home Page.

TASK 2.

Once we had accessed this, we were then given a task to search a topic. Before we did so, Gary gave us tips on how to narrow our search down by using a key term. Some tips were:

• Recognise the "key term" (ie. Global Warming)
• Type the key term with quotations " ........"
• Use AND not OR when using the advanced searching boxes (ie economic impact AND business)
• Use the drop down boxes next to then key words used in the AND sections. Change these to subject, title etc.
  
  

This is a screen capture of searching for a journal article.

We were then told to search the topic 'the economic impact of global warming on business'. Using the tips above was able to search 5 different findings on topic words I had typed in. The Online Database and tips given on how to do advanced searching will be a huge help for UPC0002 Research and Writing Processes.

This is a screen capture of some of the results from my search.


Task 4.
The next task was to visit the web site http://www.medlineplus.gov/ and spend time going through the health topics and drug information.

This is a screen capture of the Mediline Web site.

Task 7.
I believe anyone can use this helpful website. It covers a wide range of different health issues and topics that are easy to understand, and are very Insightful. People who may be worried about a certain issue who may not be able to afford to go to the local doctor might use this sight to get more of an idea what may be worrying them.

Reading.
Week three's reading was all about finding what you want on the web. It also included how it was important not to think Google was the only effective search engine.
It included how to also be a good online research and how to look for go good research.













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