Week Twelve 24th May - Social and Ethical Issues

Lecture
Today's lecture was about social and ethical issues. Justine first off started talking about why there problems and the characteristics of the Internet, Internet information, and Internet users. Next she went on to talk about what the problem's were and a bit about each problem. Justine then talked about how ECU sees academic misconduct and how they go about dealing with people. Then Justine talked about the problems with Internet users and a bit about the problems. She then talked about how we could protect ourselves while using the net.

Five things I learnt from the lecture and the tutorial.
1. First thing I learnt today was about the characteristics of the Internet, Internet information, and Internet users.

2. Second thing I learnt was all the problems all three things can have.

3. Third thing I learn today was how we can protect ourselves a bit better than what we already do.

4. Fourth thing I learn about today was about the copyright laws.

5. Fifth thing I learnt about today was

Tutorial
In today's tutorial we had to go to this website http://www.copyright.org.au/ and look at all the articles and read all the ones that would be relevant to us as an undergraduate.

This is a list of the articles that I feel would be relevant to me as an undergraduate:

- Libraries: an introduction to copyright

- Maps and charts

- Videos, DVDs and films: screening in class

- TV and radio: home taping

- INTERNET: COPYING & DOWNLOADING MATERIAL

- Educational institutions: Introduction to copyright

Here is a screen shot of the website:

The second website we had to go today during the tutorial was http://www.usdoj.gov/criminal/cybercrime/ipcases.html.

Here is a list of ways how I'm going to help protect myself while using the web and using my computer.

1. I will make sure my firewall is working.

2. I will update my antivirus at least on a weekly basis.

3. Before I open up attachments I will run them through the antivirus programme.

4. Won't give out my information.

5. I will also turn off my preview on my emails.

Readings
This week there were six readings. I have just summarised what all of them are about.

In the readings this week the topics of the readings were about keeping you, and your computer, and both of your contents safe from viruses and unsafe people on the web.

One site in particular concentrated on security and all the different types of security you should have. The readings refers to guides to basic and in-depth security for your computers. The readings also covered a little bit of information about the effects of viruses. A few of the readings also talked about different programmes that can affect your computer.

Well that's it now. Won't see any next week. :)

Brittany

Week Eleven 17th May - Building Knowledge

Lecture

In today's lecture Justine talked about data, information and knowledge. She started with definitions of what they all meant then she went on to tell us about the characteristics of each one as well. Justine then talked about the importance and examples of data, information and knowledge. She then explained the relationships they all have. Then gave us some definitions on what all three words meant. Justine then went on to tell us about some strategies to use when doing assignments.

Five things I learnt from the lecture and the tutorial.
1. The first thing I learnt today was what data and information and knowledge actually was.
2. The second thing I learnt about importance of them as well.
3. The third thing I learnt today was about some strategies to use while doing assignments.
4. The fourth thing I learnt about was how to draw thing using the programme Word.
5. The fifth thing I learnt about was



Tutorial
In today's tutorial we looked up online dictionaries and record the definitions for data, information and knowledge. The website I used was: http://www.yourdictionary.com/




Data: Factual information, especially information organized for analysis or used to reason or make decisions.


Information: Knowledge derived from study, experience, or instruction.




Knowledge: Familiarity, awareness, or understanding gained through experience or study.



Here is a screen shot of the website:

I also used another website to get the definitions as well. The website I used was: http://www.askoxford.com/

Data: Facts and statistics used for reference or analysis.

Information: Facts or knowledge provided or learned.

Knowledge: Information and skills acquired through experience or education.

Here is a screen shot of this website:

The next thing we had to do in the tutorial was draw a graph of the information using the drawing tool in Microsoft Word.

Here is my screen shot showing I have done this:

The relationship between data, information and knowledge can help you with your university studies by you need all three to learn properly. These three terms I feel are linked to the way we learn thing's. By first you get some data which then turns into information and then you get knowledge from the information.

The third activity we had to do in the tutorial was name 5 organisations that collect information from their clients and why they might do this.

1. Doctors: To keep your health records to make sure your not have regular symptoms to something, to know who you are, to know what medication you are on if you are on anything. These are just a few reasons they may keep your information.

2. CentreLink: To keep track of earnings and benefits paid so they know if people are receiving correct entitlements.

3. Banks: To keep track of peoples savings and loans.

4. Universities: So they know how many students go to the university and to know who is doing course and to know what year they are in when they are doing there course and to make sure they pay their money for the course.

5. Real state Agents: They would keep records of you as when you brought a house or you sold a house or if you were renting a property they would have your contact details just in case something went wrong.

Readings:

There were three reading's this week here are my summaries of each one.

1. Data, Information, Knowledge and Wisdom : This article shows the difference between the four terms. It also gives you the definitions of what each term means as well.

2. Information Literacy: This is a tutorial on information literacy. The lessons or tutorials were based: The Production of Knowledge, The Organisation Of Knowledge, From Thesis to Search Strategy, Fundamentals of Online searching, Using Reference Resources, Citing Your Sources, Copyright and Fair Use.

3. Data, Information and Knowledge: This reading is about Dr Jim Mullaney showing the relationships and questions related to the terms.

That's all for this week. See next week for more.

Brittany

Week Ten 10th May - Online Libraries and Databases

Lecture
Today's lecture was about online libraries and databases. The first topic Justine talked about was why use online libraries and gave us lots of reasons as to why we should. The next topic was the types of online libraries. Justine then went on to give us some examples of online resources we could use. She then talked about limitations of online libraries and also referencing online libraries. The topic after that was copy right issues and Justine explained to us about the copy right issues with online libraries. Justine then started talking about online databases; what they were and the types of online databases there are. She then went on to talk about the advantages and disadvantages of using online databases. To finish off the lecture she summarised online databases and libraries into a few points.

Five things I learnt from the lecture and the tutorial.
1. From today I learnt what online Libraries and Databases were.

2. I learn about some different types of them and some examples of website of them as well.

3. Another thing I have learnt today is how to reference online Libraries and Databases.

4. I learnt today how to use the library website better than what I did and learnt about the functions it can do.

5. The last thing I learnt today is

Tutorial
In today's tutorial we had to go to the library website and make a list of ten useful functions.

Here is my list of ten useful functions:
1. "Information resources" - The subheadings allows you enter into lots of other functions within this function.

2. "Information for Students" - This link allows you to chose from many options on what information you need, even if it's about the library trading hours or external library services.

3. "Resources For" - Some of the subheadings are Students, Researches, Academic Staff, External/offshore Students, Community and Alumni.

4. "Services" - Some services are Multimedia Services, Document Delivery and Loans Services.

5. "ECU Reference Guide" - This link to the referencing guide allows you to access on the net the reference guide and gives information how to write an appropriate guide.

6. "Learning Assistance" - This heading also has subheadings which include Liberty: Learning to Find Information and the ECU Referencing Guide.

7. "Search the Catalogue" - This link lets you to enter either the author, title, publication details or even the lecturer and it will search the database for you.

8. "Information About" - This has the subheading ECU Library which gives students with information about the facilities at the ECU Library.

9. "Online database" - This link allows you to search journal articles on the net through the University database.

10. "Loan Services" - This link tells you everything you need to know about how to borrow from the ECU library.

The next thing we were asked to do was visit the MEDline website and look up a topic and then explain why people would use this service and what they would get out of it.

Here are my answer:

I feel people would use this service as a source of information about a condition they have or think the have. Also about what kind of drug they are using and what is in them and the effects of the drug on them if any. What they would get out the the service would be information about anything they want to know about.

Here is a screen shot of the website:

That's all for this week. See next week for more.

Brittany

Week Nine 3rd May - Using Search Engines

Lecture

Today's lecture was about using search engines. Justine talked about how search engines fall into two main categories. Which are search engines and directories. We were given some search engine examples and some of the problems with search engines. Justine also told us about some things we can click on to get similar pages etc. Justine gave us some helpful hints for us to use when trying to get information that is what we want when using search engines. To finish off the lecture this morning she finished with giving us a few tips with using search engines.

Five things I learnt from the lecture and the tutorial.

1. First thing I learnt from toady's lecture was about when you click on similar pages or cached pages etc it could help you.

2. Second thing I learnt was a few things you can do when trying to find information like using " " when looking for that phrase.

3. Third thing I learnt was how to do a good search using search engines.

4. Fourth thing I learnt this week was how doing a search a bit different can give you different information to what you actually want.

5. Fifth thing I learnt today was how annoying quizzes are when you can't find the right answer.

Tutorial

In today's tutorial we looked at two website the first website we looked at was http://www.monash.com/spidap.html and we had to work thought some exercises. Then we listed four strategies to helps us do a good search.

Here are my four strategies.

1. Search a key work of what you want the information to contain.

2. Search for a phrase or use AND or 'or' etc.

3. Use the similar pages and cached pages buttons.

4. Think about where to look. Do you want a health website or a laws website etc.

After that we had to do an online quiz which contained 20 questions.

The website is:
www.siteseen.co.uk/questions/generalknowlegdehard/

Here is my screen shot of my results page.

When doing this quiz I used Google to help find the answers. I picked out the key word in the question and I searched it. It was very affective doing this and it worked.

I also used define: (and put word in here) and searched it most times it came up with the right answer that I was looking for.

Readings

The first two readings this week had mostly the same information on them. They both had how to successfully research using search engines. The other two readings were about search engine tutorials and the history of search engines. The reading about search engine tutorials I added to my favourites here is a screen shot of this.

That's all for this week. See next week for more.

Brittany

Week Eight 26th April - Evaluation & Authentication

Lecture
This weeks lecture was about searching and finding quality information on the World-wide- web. Justine told us about what information quality is and a bit about it. After that she talked about Information quality context: The World wide web and when she was talking about this topic she also talked about open protocols, open architecture and also about how no-one has control on the web. Then Justine went to tell us about a little bit of History of the World wide web. Evaluating information on the World wide web was the next topic that Justine went on to talk about. She told us about some principles to consider when evaluating information from the web. Justine also told us about some suggested criteria that other people have come up with and then talked about Beck's suggested criteria a bit more in-depth.

Five things I learnt from the lecture and the tutorial.
1. First thing I learnt this week was about the history of the web.
2. The second thing I learnt was about the how important it is to check out website and make sure the creditable. and how to evaluate them to make sure.
3. The third thing I learnt today was how to evaluate or have some idea about evaluating website to make sure there OK to use.
4. I learnt some way's of being able to evaluate a website.
5. Last thing I learnt today was how there are many different ways as to evaluating a website.

Tutorial
Today in the tutorial we were asked to look at some different websites and write about them in our blogs.
The first website I went to was http://www.ithaca.edu/library/training/think.html.
On this website they had 6 strategies to help help evaluate websites to make sure that they we OK and reliable. The first one is Authority - which implies that you need to check the author of the website and make sure that they a reliable person who you can trust what they have written. Second one is Accuracy - which is there enough support on the website to make it so it is accurate. Third one is Objectivity - which means does the author have both sides of the argument not just one side and not showing the other. Fourth one is Currency - this means is the information on this page current or resent or has it been updated. Fifth one is Coverage - this means does the website have the topic that you are researching in, is the information usable. The sixth one is Value - which is was the page worth while going to, was it informative?.

Then we were asked to evaluate a couple of website from this web address: http://www.ithaca.edu/library/training/think60.html.

First website: http://www.lib.virginia.edu/small/exhibits/sixties/index.html
Accuracy: I feel that this website has enough information to be accurate and has enough to back it self up.
Authorship: The author seems quite reliable as it is written by a University.
Purpose: This website does have a purpose of informing people about the sixties and what happened during that time period.
Detail and Design: The design and detail is very simple and quite plain. Though it is easy to find your way around the website which is good. The website seems like it is just a little to simple and plain even which the bright rainbow colours.
Overall Worth: The worth of this website I feel is very good. Has quite a bit of information on it and it is informative like a website should be.

Second website: http://www3.iath.virginia.edu/sixties/
Accuracy: I don't feel that this website has enough support information to make it accurate don't really trust it. It hasn't been updated since 1999 so the information is quite correct to now.
Authorship: It doesn't say who the author of the website is though it does have contact details for to get in contact with them just doesn't say there name. Wouldn't really trust the site because of this.
Purpose: This site has a purpose of to inform people about the sixties and other things.
Detail and Design: Very plain and simple again it lacks something. It is easy to get around the page and get back etc.
Overall Worth: The worth of this website is good but it doesn't really grab your interests. It doesn't have very much information about the sixties, its more stories, poetry, and resources.
Readings
All the readings this week are quite similar on what they are trying to get across to the reader. They all have ways of how to evaluate a website. All the ways vary from each other but there all about the same principles.

That's all for this week. See next week for more.

Brittany

Week Seven 19th April - Using WWW

Lecture
This week's lecture's was about the World Wide Web.

In today's lecture Justine told us all about the World Wide Web and that this is one part and the Internet is the whole thing. The World Wide Web is in the Internet. The web is a space of where you can put information. Also the web wouldn't be there without the Net. World Wide Web was developed by Tim Berners-Lee in 1989. His reasoning was "to facilitate sharing research information". Justine also talked about domain name system's and all the different types. Also about the protocols and what they were. Justine informed us of the tools needed to be able to get on the Web. Web browsers were another topic that was spoken about today. Justine explained to us about the interfaces of web pages and how they can help do things. She also gave us some short cuts using the keyboard to do different tasks.

Five things I learnt from the lecture and the tutorial.
1. I learnt when and why the World Wide Web was developed.
2. I learnt about the domain systems.
3. I also learnt about some more short cuts on the keyboard that I wasn't already currently aware of.
4. I learnt don't trust all websites because of face value even if it is totally believable.
5. I also learn about web browsers today.

Tutorial
In the tutorial today we looked up websites and looked at how authentic they were. The first to websites I looked at were; http://www.haggishunt.scotsman.com/ and http://www.molossia.org/ and answered some questions on them.
Here are the answer's to the them:
1a) Both websites have made an effort to make it look like they are a official website not just a fake website.
1. They over do it by trying to make it sounds so legit that it seems fake.
2. One is a organisational website and the other commercial which says that it could be a official website but then anyone can start up a website and it would be more believable if it had .gov or .edu as then it would be a government site or an education site then it would be more believable.
3. One of the website news section is not really the serious a bit silly really that's another sign of not a serious website.
4. They both talk about things that don't exist.
The second website I looked at was www.martinlutherking.org and did the questions required with this website.
Here are my answers:
2a) Racism, bias information, one sided arguments, and things to do with an organisation.
b) Yes it does it has .org on the end of the website address so that would mean it would be an organisational website.
3. My first impressions of the website were, in a way doesn't seem as bad as what I thought and even still some of the things that the articles titles say and descriptions don't seem right.
4. What I think about the website after reading the articles is that who ever wrote the website was rather against Martin Luther King and wanted to expose him as a bad person in more ways then just one. The website isn't very educational and who ever wrote it seems like they are trying to target people who don't know very much about him and are trying to make him out to be a violent person and a fake.

Readings
Reading 1: This reading was about search engine tutorials. It had a lot of websites you could go to on it to get some help on how to research. The websites were in different categories as to website thought the website and there are other website that aren't with this website. The website also has articles from 2004 and 2003 and 2002.

Reading 2: In this reading there is a time line starting from 1945 and finishes 1995. The time line is about the history of the world wide web. It tells us about how it first started and and it came around. The time lines tells us all the developments the world wide web had and it also states the people who had things to do with what was done to get it up and running. This website would be quite good if you ever had to do an assignment on the world wide web.

Reading 3: This reading is about the Internet it also has the history of the Internet on the website. The website has 5 chapter you can read about some of the history of what inventions are (first chapter), then how the Internet came about (second chapter), then how e-mail came about and the history of e-mail(third chapter), chapter four was about search engines and a bit of history on them and how they work and how to get he best information, and chapter five was about basic net data.


That's all for this week. See next week for more.

Brittany

Week Six

This week's lecture was about using EndNote.

In today's lecture Justine started off by talking a little bit about referencing and bibliographies. Then she went on to talk about what is EndNote she gave a descrition and also told us that it can be used to ways. Justine then told us about how does EndNote work and its a fat-file system. She also told us that ECU uses APA5th in EndNote. She informed us that we can get the program from the library so we can put it in on our computers at home and we can also download it form the internet which she gave s aus the website to do this in. She tolds about the reason of why we should use EndNote. With this she gaves us a fair few good reasons on why we should use it. The last bit Justine talked about was don't expect to "get it" the first time you use it because it does take tim e to learn how to use EndNote properly. She also just gave us a few handy hits that would help us to start being able to use EndNote.

The five knew things I learnt from the lecture and the tutorial are:
1. Firstly I learnt all about EndNote and how good it actually is and how handy it will be for me when doing references etc.
2. Seondly I learnt how to use it.
3. Thirdly I learnt learnt how to use it on its own and also how I can use it with word as well.
4. Fourthly I learnt the standard of what ECU likes us to use when using EndNote.
5. Fifthly I learnt how EndNote is quite easy to use after about the second time of using it.

In the tutorial this week we had to start up and EndNote and put references from the list and reference them into EndNote.

Here is a screen shot of my EndNote refernences.

Well that's all for this week. Next week there will be more :)