There are different search techniques that I would like to take away with me from this class. First of Boolean operators, because this seems to be important in all different databases. Main Boolean operators are: and, or, not. These help centralize your search and cut out irrelevant sources. Truncation also is important. To truncate is to use an *, to show that any words with the same base can be found in the search. For example if you type in medic*, you will bring up results that include medicine, medical, medicaid, etc. We have also learned about proximity searches, where you can insert an N5 in between your phrase to find words that are within five words of each other. An example of a proximity search would be: ground N5 water. Inserting W8, searches for words that are within 8 words of one another, but what differs from N5 is that with W8 they will only be found in the order of which they were entered, and with N5 the order doesn’t matter. You can switch the numbers to switch the number of words: N7, W4, N14, etc. Wildcard searching is where a ? is entered in place of an unknown letter. The database will fill in that letter, but not exclude that letter’s position. For example ban?, would find bank or bang, but would not pull up ban. Adjacency is when the words are next to each other, but quotations must be used so that stop words aren’t included in an adjacency such as a title, “Dividing up is hard to do.”
Stebbins pgs. 153-159 October 26, 2008
Stebbin’s article discussed what plagiarism is and how it can be avoided. The article shows how no matter if plagiarism is intentional or unintentional, it is never dismissed and is always very serious. It discusses how if you take time and take notes with citations properly you can avoid missing citations in your research. Also, it shows that you should avoid using too many quotations or paraphrasing incorrectly.
I have previously read about these topics in ENG201, and this article just backed up everything that I previously have learned. I brushed up on good note taking procedures such as putting everything from the original source in another color, to avoid copyrights infringement. I also have heard over and over from different professor to avoid quotations unless necessary, so this article further discussed this too.
This reading is very relevant to a class on information and research because research is ineffective if it is not done properly with citations that credit the original author’s research and writing. Information needs to be studied and learned and then one can apply their own viewpoint, and learning how to properly take notes and use sources will effectively help this process.
I can apply this to my life because in the article it showed respectable people who have gotten into trouble with plagiarism. As a student I need to constantly be aware of copyright rules, and citations, so as to use my time effectively and not have to worry about making a mistake that could cost my education at a well renowned university.
This relates to what I learned in ENG201 because I connect this article to the tactics I have used on all of my past research papers. This reminds me to take precautionary measures, because with copyright and plagiarism a second chance isn’t usually given.
Vocabulary from October 22 October 26, 2008
Vocabulary from October 22
- Database: A system that organizes and arranges data into fields and provides the means to sort, group, and retrieve information from those fields. The Library Catalog is a type of database. Many of our other indexes and databases are electronic versions of print indexes.
- Citation Databases : contain only the citations of journal articles, citations consist of the title of the article; its author; the name of the journal; the volume number; the issue number; date; and page number of the article, once you have a citation, to obtain the full text you need to see if the journal is held in the Library, either as a print journal or as an e-journal in another library database, Examples: INFORMIT databases; COMPENDEX Engineering Village 2; Web of Science
- Citation and Abstract Databases : citation databases often supply an abstract (a brief summary) of the article; A short, non-evaluative description of the contents of a book, an article, or another library resource. Abstracts often appear with citations in online indexes and databases. Abstracts are summaries provided by the author or database publisher.
- full text databases : These contain the complete journal or newspaper article (ie: the full text). Examples: EBSCOHost: Academic Search Premier; FACTIVA
Sources:
Davidson College’s Library Jargon, http://www.davidson.edu/administrative/library/refer/jargon.asp, 2007.
University of Southern Queensland, http://www.usq.edu.au/library/help/ehelp/databases/default.htm, 2007.
Altman and Revkin October 26, 2008
In Altman and in Revkin’s articles, finding accurate data is discussed in terms of science and medicine. Altman discusses a system of peer reviews in medical journals and talks about how non scientific data can slip through the cracks and what needs to be done to reduce this and keep data precise and accurate. Revkin looks from a different standpoint of not looking for data that supports your viewpoint, but looking through sources from all standpoints. He also discusses how sometimes with scientific articles terminology is changed so the general audience can understand, but this may affect the article’s point.
I learned from Altman’s article about how information needs to be caught before it is published because otherwise it could cause a chain reaction. Once information is published on the internet, there is no telling who reads it and retells it before the original bad source can be edited or deleted. Revkin’s article was to teach how to find clarity and reliability in sources, but I have already learned about this in my LIB103 class.
These readings are relevant to a class on information and research because they reiterate that one should not believe everything they read, even if it is claimed to be scientific or medical. They show how when you are researching you need to find sources from all different viewpoints and make a stand, not to make a stand and then find sources that back you up.
I can apply these to my life as a student because I need to learn how to read and research critically. I find myself gullible sometimes and I need to remember that I do not know the authors of the works that I read and I need to search for credibility.
This also relates to what I’m studying in marketing, because we are learning how to fish through company ploys and false advertising. Both relate to how you need to look further, and do extensive research in order to reach a good conclusion, that can be backed up with data.
Part B of Annotated Bibliography Assignment (written originally on October 10, reposted on this page) October 13, 2008
When I first began attempting to narrow down the topic, privacy in the digital age, I ran into problems because everywhere I looked for research I was getting the same generic results. At this point I decided that I needed to add in some keywords to try and get different results. I continued to fish around google.com and other search engines, through repetitive information and I decided that the importance of this topic is protecting ones self from letting others see information they had not intended. Therefore I decided that my research would go towards deciding what people expect to keep private, and then deciding how they can do this in such an advanced digital age.
What is expected from the word confidentiality and how can that be achieved in the present digital age?
When I decided to look for books on my topic, I went to Randall Library. Like when searching on the internet, I needed to decide which keywords would bring the results that I was looking for. At first I searched using “confidentiality and internet,” which was not a successful search and I only received one result. I then decided to use what I had learned in class and searched “(confidential*) or (private*) and (internet) or (digital age).” Once again I was unsuccessful, so I went back to the broad category, and looked through the keywords to decide my next search. The final successful search was, “(privacy or libert*) and (internet or digital age)”.
Zittrain, Jonathan. The future of the Internet and how to stop it. Connecticut: Yale University Press, 2008.
Jonathan Zittrain, the author of The future of the Internet and how to stop it, wrote this book for internet and technology users. He writes not only so the readers can relate to him, but so that the readers can understand and relate to each other. The book first talks about how the internet has risen into society, and then it discuss some lessons that the readers should have taken away from their time on the internet. He then discusses strategies and solutions for stopping the risks of the future of the internet. It was very impressive how Zittrain looks at a generative future, not just today, because technology is always changing. This novel is relevant to my research hypothesis because it discusses the internet in whole first, to help answer the question of what one needs to keep confidential. It also provides insight into the second part of my hypothesis because it offers advice of steps to take once you have realized that the internet is not all good.
Solove, Daniel. The future of reputation: gossip, rumor, and privacy on the Internet. Connecticut: Yale
University Press, 2007.
Daniel Solove, the author of The future of reputation: gossip, rumor, and privacy on the Internet, writes to anyone who has ever or will ever be slandered by the internet, or has slandered someone else, intentionally or accidentally. This book looks at all different aspects of the internet, such as blogs and chat rooms, instead of focusing purely on webpages. The dark side of the internet is shown and implications are made to help protect oneself from future employers, neighbors, and even family members. Critically, Solove should have looked more at the bright side also, because this book seems to make people paranoid and over protective, because only the dark side is focused on. This will be very relevant for research on how confidentially can be protected in the digital age because it makes me people think twice about what they are posting on the internet, and shows alternatives to protect themselves.
Part A of Annotated Bibliography Assignment (written originally on September 26, reposted on this page) October 13, 2008
The topic that I have chosen to research is privacy in the digital age. I chose this topic because I believe that technology is the future and learning how to decipher between what should and should not be on the internet is hard enough. Now, not only do we have to make this decision, but we also have to figure out how to keep information private. Keeping information private should not be such a hard task, but there are people who try to phish and hack, and we need to focus on keeping information private from these especially.
This topic is so broad that I could take and narrow it down talking specifically about different techniques in keeping confidential information private on the internet. This would be a different road to take instead of talking about what type of information should be kept private and why. In talking about different techniques I could discuss pros and cons and find our way to the most effective practices in a paper 8-10 pages in length.
Some possible research questions to start investigating are what forms of technology need to have facets focusing on how to keep information private. We could research this farther by investigating what practices in privacy are already out there, and what we can do to expand on them. Also I need to brainstorm some new and original ideas of how to keep information private; obviously password protection has been hacked into multiple times. Some hypotheses to investigate are outside forces that have already been looking into privacy and developing their own opinions. Not only can I learn from their previous research, but I can build my own ideas based off of ideas that my research has trigged.
Terminology 9/22 October 2, 2008
Wikis: a collaborative Web site set up to allow user editing and adding of content
Interlibrary loan: a system of book borrowing set up between or among libraries for the use of their customers
WorldCat: a website catalog that allows you to search libraries from different locations to either use their information from your computer, or possibly set up to have an interlibrary loan
Microforms (microfiche & microfilm): An arrangement of images reduced in size, as on microfilm (a film bearing a miniature photographic copy of printed or other graphic matter, usually of a document, newspaper or book pages, etc., made for a library, archive, or the like.) or microfiche (a flat sheet of microfilm in a form suitable for filing, typically measuring 4 by 6 in. (10 by 15 cm) and containing microreproductions, as of printed or graphic matter, in a grid pattern.).
Annotation: a critical or explanatory note or body of notes added to a text.
Citation: The information needed for someone to find the item. For example, the bibliographic citation for a book would contain the Title, Author or Editor, Edition, Place of Publication, Publisher and Year of Publication. The bibliographic citation for an article would contain the Title of the Article, Author of the Article, Title of the Periodical, Volume Number, Issue Number (or sometimes the month and date), Year of Publication, and the Page Numbers. Sometimes also referred to as a bibliographic entry, reference, or just as a CITATION.
SOURCES:
Dictionary.com Unabridged (v 1.1). Random House, Inc. 01 Oct. 2008. <Dictionary.com http://dictionary.reference.com/browse/citation>.
Library Glossary/Library Terminology/Library Jargon. Boise State University, 08 Dec. 2006. <http://library.boisetate.edu/reference/bbrin/jargon.htm>
Class Response #1 to October 1st’s class October 1, 2008
Today, October 1, in class the Student Library Collection Presentations were given. The topics of the group presentations were the General Collection, Reference Collection, Periodicals, and Government Documents. In the presentations the group members explained what was found in each category, how to find it and anything else they thought we should know about the collection.
I liked this class meeting because I felt like everyone was actively participating. I also enjoyed how each group had a different style so I never found myself getting bored. I also liked seeing all of the different materials that the groups had pulled from there collection. The huge atlas from the reference collection was very unique. I also liked how my group worked together!
If I had to change something to make the class meeting better I would probably say that the groups could direct questions to the audience. This way it would make the rest of the students continue to actively participate even when there group isn’t presenting.
I think that the instructor intended for us to take away a general knowledge of what you can find in the library, where you can find it, and how it is helpful. I think a deeper intention is for us to use these resources not only in this library class, but in our other classes so we will have better sources of research.
I took away from this class a better all around knowledge about the library. I now feel that when I am researching I won’t stick to the internet so much, because I now realize there are so many other sources out there. I also took away a new understanding of periodicals, because I was able to investigate farther while meeting with my group.
