Dear Reader:
This essay is for the final.
Here is a Boolean logic sting for the topic: "Does the expansion of ebook options impact how much people read?"
(ebook or "reading device" or technology) AND reading.
I used ProQuest for my deep web search. I input my search string. In the boxes below the search windows I clicked the box for full text so that I could be able to evaluate my source more easily. I clicked Last 12 months to increase the chances it would be timely. In the source type I clicked conf. papers and proceedings, magazines, newspapers, scholarly journals, and trade journals. In the document type I clicked article, with language being English.
The source I chose was an article in a scholarly journal, and is cited here:
McClanahan, Barbara, et al. "A Breakthrough for Josh: How use of an iPad Facilitated Reading Improvement." TechTrends 56.3 (2012): 20-8. ProQuest Research Library. Web. 1 Jan. 2013.
For my open web search I used good old Google Advanced Search.
I input the search string. I limited it to a source published anytime in the past year, in English, only use .com top level domain, and only in the United States. After the search was complete I looked for an article to cite. This is the one I chose:
Alter, Alexandra. "Your E-book Is Reading You." The Wall Street Journal. The Wall Street Journal, 19 July 2012. Web. 31 Dec. 2012.
I evaluated the sources.
The first was from a scholarly journal. Within it were the credentials the author. There were sources cited throughout, and it was peer reviewed, which means I could use it as a primary source. It was also timely, and addressed the primary question of my search, to a degree, in that it addressed technology's roll in teaching and enhancing reading.
The second source was an article from the Wall Street Journal, a publication that is known for it's level of integrity. The author is a staff writer for the WSJ and has many articles under her belt. Her topic is well researched and very informative. The article is authoritative, very evenly written in it's coverage, and it's purpose is to inform.
The article entitled "Your E-book Is Reading You" is more relevant to me. I am an avid reader and have a sizable collection in my abode. I am thinking about purchasing an e-book or something of that nature. Just now I make-do, shall we say, with just my home computer. Be that as it may, this article had a lot to say about an aspect of e-books that I hadn't really thought of before: that the device allows others to see what you read, to an extent.
As to the original question above, this article does address it, but indirectly. This is probably the best one could hope for considering that the question was not asked of the author. The author's primary focus is initially on the Nook, an e-book by Barnes & Noble. She talks about the way the Nook can report the reader's level of interest by noting whether or not the reader has underlined certain passages, the speed the reader read, whether or not the reader read the book through and/or re-read passages.
The author is careful to stick to the facts and does not judge the merits of any brand of e-book. This is good for me because it allows me to become familiar with the various devices and some of their options. Overall I would say this author had done her research carefully. This is the sort of article that I look for when I do research for a writing project.
It is good to know that e-books can keep track of our reading habits in that an informed author is better able to target his or her work to the audience. This results in a more rewarding experience for both parties: the writer feels he or she is being appreciated, and the reader feels he or she is reading something that he or she really wants to read.
Monday, December 31, 2012
Unit 10 FINALLY!
Dear Reader:
It would seem somebody 'down there' is out to get me. It has been a rough term, but I'm almost done! (whew!)
Today I did a totally new (for me) thing: I created -- okay, I altered -- a web page!
You can view it here.
I have joined the world wide web! I have used the internet to put content on the web that I generated. How cool is that?!
However, this only goes to show you that anybody, with the proper knowledge, can put anything on the web. It doesn't have to be relevant, and it doesn't even have to be true.
Nobody is out there acting as web police. For the most part nobody is checking to ensure that what you can see on your computer is accurate, safe, tasteful, legal, moral, or aesthetically pleasing. In fact, some web pages are just there to fool you, take your money, misinform you, waste your time, and/or steal your identity.
The world wide web is not a safe playground for children, and a good many adults. It is up to us to become informed and then to use that information to our advantage.
In this valuable class I have learned what the difference between the web and the internet is, how to find the information I seek using Boolean logic, how to judge if the information I've found is sound, and ways to find verification for the sources I find.
The things I have learned here will help me be a more effective writer and a more savvy person as a whole.
Thank you, Professor Bullock, for your time and efforts on my behalf. I really do appreciate what you have done. You made an effort and allowed me to finish this class.
I really want to finish this degree. You have helped make that possible. Thank you.
-- Lori Kay Chamberlain Reed
It would seem somebody 'down there' is out to get me. It has been a rough term, but I'm almost done! (whew!)
Today I did a totally new (for me) thing: I created -- okay, I altered -- a web page!
You can view it here.
I have joined the world wide web! I have used the internet to put content on the web that I generated. How cool is that?!
However, this only goes to show you that anybody, with the proper knowledge, can put anything on the web. It doesn't have to be relevant, and it doesn't even have to be true.
Nobody is out there acting as web police. For the most part nobody is checking to ensure that what you can see on your computer is accurate, safe, tasteful, legal, moral, or aesthetically pleasing. In fact, some web pages are just there to fool you, take your money, misinform you, waste your time, and/or steal your identity.
The world wide web is not a safe playground for children, and a good many adults. It is up to us to become informed and then to use that information to our advantage.
In this valuable class I have learned what the difference between the web and the internet is, how to find the information I seek using Boolean logic, how to judge if the information I've found is sound, and ways to find verification for the sources I find.
The things I have learned here will help me be a more effective writer and a more savvy person as a whole.
Thank you, Professor Bullock, for your time and efforts on my behalf. I really do appreciate what you have done. You made an effort and allowed me to finish this class.
I really want to finish this degree. You have helped make that possible. Thank you.
-- Lori Kay Chamberlain Reed
Sunday, December 30, 2012
Unit 9: Evaluating Information
Dear Reader:
Okay, break out your hand held magnifying lens, slap on your deerstalker hat, and let's sit down and carefully examine the veracity of some information sources.
The metasearch tool I have chosen for today is Dogpile. After looking at it closely for an assignment and then playing with it just for the fun of it, I have decided I like it. Enough for this assignment, anyway.
Today I will be searching for information on federal or state laws involving assault weapons.
Into Dogpile's advanced search I entered the following:
In the "All of these words" box I entered "assault rifle*" OR "assault gun*".
In the "Any of these words" box I entered: federal, state, law*, regulation*.
I chose English because that's the language I am most comfortable with.
I will be limiting my search to four top level domains: .com, .org, .edu, and .gov. From resultant four searches I will select one website and evaluate it.
Please note: Dogpile does not declare how many hits it comes up with for each search.
1. For the first search I clicked the "Include Domain" button, and in the box I entered ".com".
At this point Dogpile returned so few results that it was obvious I needed to alter my search. There was a suggestion to include the number 22, so I tried that, but that gave me only references to .22 caliber weapons, so I went into the search box and removed all the inserted numbers and then hit search. That gave me the search results I was after.
The link I chose was to the New York Post article entitled: "New York can’t afford assault rifle buyback - it could cost the state $1B" cited here:
Dicker, Fredric U. "New York Can't Afford Assault Rifle Buyback - It Could Cost the State $1B." New York Post. New York Post, 24 Dec. 2012. Web. 30 Dec. 2012.
The author is one Fredric Uberall "Fred" Dicker, a longtime columnist and current state editor for the Post. He holds a BA in history from Long Island University and an MA in history from University of Massachusetts. From his credentials and awards, which are extensive, I would presume him to be a fairly good authority on his topic.
Fred's purpose in writing this article seems to be informative rather than inflammatory. He gives us his conclusion as an opening statement, and then states the facts that will back up his claim. His coverage of this topic is carefully even. He makes it clear that he has investigated city, state, and federal levels of government find out what is being done about gun control and who is responsible.
2. For the second search I input my search string and included only .org sites. This time Dogpile returned no search results. As before, in the suggestion below the search box the number 22 was inserted, so I gave that a whirl. Again I was treated to all kinds of links for .22 caliber weapons. When I went into the search box and deleted all the 22s and then hit search, I finally got what I wanted. I don't know why Dogpile has this problem, but there is a work-around.
The link I chose this time was to an article entitled "Obama Supports New Bid To Ban Assault Weapons, Close Gun Show 'Loophole'". It is cited as follows:
Memmott, Mark. "Obama Supports New Bid To Ban Assault Weapons, Close Gun Show 'Loophole'" NPR. NPR, 18 Dec. 2012. Web. 30 Dec. 2012.
This article is on NPR.org on a news blog entitled "The Two Way: Breaking News From NPR, National Public Radio". This blog focuses on breaking news, analysis, and compelling stories.
The post is written by Mark Memott, one of the hosts for The Two Way. Prior to joining NPR in 2009 he worked for nearly 25 years as a reporter and editor at USA Today where he focused on a range of coverage including politics, foreign affairs, economics, and the media.
This timely blog post was well researched and sources were linked to, such as to the Washington Post, Fox News, a recent Presidential speech which is also quoted within the blog, and other articles from NPR one of which can be found here.
The main purpose is obviously to spark debate on gun control, but in a respectful manner. Reading the comments under the blog post it is clear that conversations are indeed going on about gun control or the lack thereof, and some effective solutions are proposed.
3. The third search will be for a .edu site.
In order to circumvent the issues I've had before with Dogpile's search methods I made the least amount of change to the search string. I did not re-enter the search string, but only altered the top level domain. This time Dogpile returned valid sources the first time around.
For this search I wanted my main focus to be centered around finding something especially timely. Dogpile's advanced search does not have on option that allows one to specify when the source was updated or published so it is up to the searcher, me, to ensure the timeliness of the source.
My choice of link is to a blog post written by Sam Wang from the Princeton Election Consortium entitled "Did the federal ban on assault weapons matter?", and is cited here:
Wang, Sam. "Princeton Election Consortium." Princeton Election Consortium RSS. Princeton University, 14 Dec. 2012. Web. 30 Dec. 2012.
Professor Sam Wang holds a PhD in Neuroscience from Stanford University. He has published more than 40 articles on the brain in leading scientific journals and worked at Bell Laboratories and various universities before coming to teach at Princeton. He has published at least two books for the general public on the subject of the brain. Sam Wang is currently an associate professor, Department of Molecular Biology and the Princeton Neuroscience Institute, and is one of the hosts of the Princeton Election Consortium blog.
I would say he is a credible source.
The post's sources are also impressive. There are charts, tables, quotes, and links to other sources, all well cited.
It was written and posted on December 14, the very day of the Sandy Hook shootings, so it would seem to me to be very timely.
4. For my fourth and last search I will limit the search to .gov sites.
Again I went into Dogpile and, without re-entering the search string, made only one change by changing the top level domain parameter to .gov.
The site I chose for this top level domain is the one maintained by the Office of the Secretary of the United States Senate. It is the official website for Senator Dianne Feinstein of California, and can be found here.
The reason I chose it is this: in January, Senator Feinstein will introduce a bill to stop the sale, transfer, importation and manufacturing of military-style assault weapons and high-capacity ammunition feeding devices, or magazines. The website is cited as follows:
"United States Senator Dianne Feinstein." The Official Website of Senator Dianne Feinstein. The Office of the Secretary of the United States Senate, 28 Dec. 2012. Web. 31 Dec. 2012.
It contains links so that a person can email Senator Feinstein, read her official biography, and read her voting record and so forth. This website is also referenced by other reputable sites, such as NPR.org.
Herein also can be obtained the full text of the bill she will introduce in January, as well as all the other bills she has introduced and their histories.
For my purposes, this website is authoritative, covers all aspects of Senator Feinstein and her efforts to introduce this bill, and is timely in that this bill could potentially help curb the manufacture and sale of assault weapons in the United States.
In conclusion, I would like to make a few observations. Despite the websites I found using Dogpile, in the future I think I'll try other metasearch tools because Dogpile showed me a tendency to be a opinionated as to what I should be looking for as opposed to what I really was searching for. Perhaps next time I'll use ProQuest. As to doing research on the web, it would seem to me that for my research purposes, my choice of top level domain does not matter so much as the content and trustworthiness of the websites I choose. The subject of state and federal laws and regulations concerning assault weapons continues to be one of politics and opinions. Yes, we all want to protect our children and vulnerable populations, but there are orders of magnitudes of difference in opinion when it comes to how we should be going about this.
In my opinion, the top level domain should matter most when you consider carefully what you are doing research on. Caveat emptor should always be foremost in your mind. Be aware of who is writing this stuff, who they are writing it for, why it is on the web, what it is that you are looking for, how it is presented, and how trustworthy it is.
Okay, break out your hand held magnifying lens, slap on your deerstalker hat, and let's sit down and carefully examine the veracity of some information sources.
The metasearch tool I have chosen for today is Dogpile. After looking at it closely for an assignment and then playing with it just for the fun of it, I have decided I like it. Enough for this assignment, anyway.
Today I will be searching for information on federal or state laws involving assault weapons.
Into Dogpile's advanced search I entered the following:
In the "All of these words" box I entered "assault rifle*" OR "assault gun*".
In the "Any of these words" box I entered: federal, state, law*, regulation*.
I chose English because that's the language I am most comfortable with.
I will be limiting my search to four top level domains: .com, .org, .edu, and .gov. From resultant four searches I will select one website and evaluate it.
Please note: Dogpile does not declare how many hits it comes up with for each search.
1. For the first search I clicked the "Include Domain" button, and in the box I entered ".com".
At this point Dogpile returned so few results that it was obvious I needed to alter my search. There was a suggestion to include the number 22, so I tried that, but that gave me only references to .22 caliber weapons, so I went into the search box and removed all the inserted numbers and then hit search. That gave me the search results I was after.
The link I chose was to the New York Post article entitled: "New York can’t afford assault rifle buyback - it could cost the state $1B" cited here:
Dicker, Fredric U. "New York Can't Afford Assault Rifle Buyback - It Could Cost the State $1B." New York Post. New York Post, 24 Dec. 2012. Web. 30 Dec. 2012.
The author is one Fredric Uberall "Fred" Dicker, a longtime columnist and current state editor for the Post. He holds a BA in history from Long Island University and an MA in history from University of Massachusetts. From his credentials and awards, which are extensive, I would presume him to be a fairly good authority on his topic.
Fred's purpose in writing this article seems to be informative rather than inflammatory. He gives us his conclusion as an opening statement, and then states the facts that will back up his claim. His coverage of this topic is carefully even. He makes it clear that he has investigated city, state, and federal levels of government find out what is being done about gun control and who is responsible.
2. For the second search I input my search string and included only .org sites. This time Dogpile returned no search results. As before, in the suggestion below the search box the number 22 was inserted, so I gave that a whirl. Again I was treated to all kinds of links for .22 caliber weapons. When I went into the search box and deleted all the 22s and then hit search, I finally got what I wanted. I don't know why Dogpile has this problem, but there is a work-around.
The link I chose this time was to an article entitled "Obama Supports New Bid To Ban Assault Weapons, Close Gun Show 'Loophole'". It is cited as follows:
Memmott, Mark. "Obama Supports New Bid To Ban Assault Weapons, Close Gun Show 'Loophole'" NPR. NPR, 18 Dec. 2012. Web. 30 Dec. 2012.
This article is on NPR.org on a news blog entitled "The Two Way: Breaking News From NPR, National Public Radio". This blog focuses on breaking news, analysis, and compelling stories.
The post is written by Mark Memott, one of the hosts for The Two Way. Prior to joining NPR in 2009 he worked for nearly 25 years as a reporter and editor at USA Today where he focused on a range of coverage including politics, foreign affairs, economics, and the media.
This timely blog post was well researched and sources were linked to, such as to the Washington Post, Fox News, a recent Presidential speech which is also quoted within the blog, and other articles from NPR one of which can be found here.
The main purpose is obviously to spark debate on gun control, but in a respectful manner. Reading the comments under the blog post it is clear that conversations are indeed going on about gun control or the lack thereof, and some effective solutions are proposed.
3. The third search will be for a .edu site.
In order to circumvent the issues I've had before with Dogpile's search methods I made the least amount of change to the search string. I did not re-enter the search string, but only altered the top level domain. This time Dogpile returned valid sources the first time around.
For this search I wanted my main focus to be centered around finding something especially timely. Dogpile's advanced search does not have on option that allows one to specify when the source was updated or published so it is up to the searcher, me, to ensure the timeliness of the source.
My choice of link is to a blog post written by Sam Wang from the Princeton Election Consortium entitled "Did the federal ban on assault weapons matter?", and is cited here:
Wang, Sam. "Princeton Election Consortium." Princeton Election Consortium RSS. Princeton University, 14 Dec. 2012. Web. 30 Dec. 2012.
Professor Sam Wang holds a PhD in Neuroscience from Stanford University. He has published more than 40 articles on the brain in leading scientific journals and worked at Bell Laboratories and various universities before coming to teach at Princeton. He has published at least two books for the general public on the subject of the brain. Sam Wang is currently an associate professor, Department of Molecular Biology and the Princeton Neuroscience Institute, and is one of the hosts of the Princeton Election Consortium blog.
I would say he is a credible source.
The post's sources are also impressive. There are charts, tables, quotes, and links to other sources, all well cited.
It was written and posted on December 14, the very day of the Sandy Hook shootings, so it would seem to me to be very timely.
4. For my fourth and last search I will limit the search to .gov sites.
Again I went into Dogpile and, without re-entering the search string, made only one change by changing the top level domain parameter to .gov.
The site I chose for this top level domain is the one maintained by the Office of the Secretary of the United States Senate. It is the official website for Senator Dianne Feinstein of California, and can be found here.
The reason I chose it is this: in January, Senator Feinstein will introduce a bill to stop the sale, transfer, importation and manufacturing of military-style assault weapons and high-capacity ammunition feeding devices, or magazines. The website is cited as follows:
"United States Senator Dianne Feinstein." The Official Website of Senator Dianne Feinstein. The Office of the Secretary of the United States Senate, 28 Dec. 2012. Web. 31 Dec. 2012.
It contains links so that a person can email Senator Feinstein, read her official biography, and read her voting record and so forth. This website is also referenced by other reputable sites, such as NPR.org.
Herein also can be obtained the full text of the bill she will introduce in January, as well as all the other bills she has introduced and their histories.
For my purposes, this website is authoritative, covers all aspects of Senator Feinstein and her efforts to introduce this bill, and is timely in that this bill could potentially help curb the manufacture and sale of assault weapons in the United States.
In conclusion, I would like to make a few observations. Despite the websites I found using Dogpile, in the future I think I'll try other metasearch tools because Dogpile showed me a tendency to be a opinionated as to what I should be looking for as opposed to what I really was searching for. Perhaps next time I'll use ProQuest. As to doing research on the web, it would seem to me that for my research purposes, my choice of top level domain does not matter so much as the content and trustworthiness of the websites I choose. The subject of state and federal laws and regulations concerning assault weapons continues to be one of politics and opinions. Yes, we all want to protect our children and vulnerable populations, but there are orders of magnitudes of difference in opinion when it comes to how we should be going about this.
In my opinion, the top level domain should matter most when you consider carefully what you are doing research on. Caveat emptor should always be foremost in your mind. Be aware of who is writing this stuff, who they are writing it for, why it is on the web, what it is that you are looking for, how it is presented, and how trustworthy it is.
Thursday, December 27, 2012
Unit 8: Search Engines and Web Sites
Post-Christmas Greetings, dear Reader! Here's hoping your holiday season is going well.
Today's blog post will concentrate on two misnomers: Search Engines and Web Sites. One sounds like a mechanical thing, and the other sounds like it should have a spider on it. Who names these things anyway?
Seriously, today's blog post will concentrate on the features of various methods of searching for information.
First up: The Search Tools. They are used by most people for everyday-type searching, like when you want a recipe for fried okra. Search tools have a huge list of websites that are found using a little program called a 'spider' or a 'bot' that 'crawls' around in the 'web' searching for new websites. This little spider program doesn't look to see how useful the website is to anybody. It's just looking for a website. Once found, that website is examined to see what it is all about. This is just a sort of once over. Key words from the website that describe what that website is all about and many of it's contents are stored in the Search Tool's database and linked to the website. That way, when you want to search for something, say, that recipe for fried okra, then the Search Tool can point you in the right direction. "The thing you are looking for might be in that website. At least, I think it's over there, because the words you are looking for are there. Click on that link and see if it's what you want."
1. One search tool that I had never used before but had heard about is Lycos. I decided to give it a try.
Interesting note: Lycos appears to derive it's name from a the genus name of the large wolf spider, Lycosa. I see a little geek humor, there.
Lycos can be found here. It does support advanced searching. However, to be able to do that you need to scroll down to the bottom of the page and click on the 'help' link almost in the middle of the bar at the bottom. Once on the next page you will find the words, "advanced search" in tiny print above the search button on the upper right. Click on that, and an advanced search window will open.
Above the search window Lycos tells you that you can truncate or stem from your original term by using an asterisk strategically. Also, "+include or -exclude words with +/-". Lycos, by default, will put an 'and' between the words you input into the search box unless you stipulate otherwise.
If that's not easy enough, in the list below the search box you can click buttons that will allow you to:
2. The Metasearch engine I chose is again one I have heard about but never used: Dogpile. It can be found here. The difference between a search tool and a metasearch tool is, well, I'll let Dogpile explain it for you:
"What is Metasearch? Metasearch means instead of getting results from one search engine, you'll be getting the best combined results from a variety of engines, and not just any engines, but industry leading engines like Google, Yahoo!, and Yandex."
According to Dogpile, the information gleaned by search engines only overlaps about 1%, which means that searching with only one search engine might not get you the results you are looking for.
Dogpile has an advanced search option. It does not strictly allow you to use boolean logic, but it will allow you to search for:
However, neither a Search Tool nor a Metasearch tool can take you past the front door of websites that are password protected. That is, you have to have a password that works as a key to allow you to search within the site.
Today's blog post will concentrate on two misnomers: Search Engines and Web Sites. One sounds like a mechanical thing, and the other sounds like it should have a spider on it. Who names these things anyway?
Seriously, today's blog post will concentrate on the features of various methods of searching for information.
First up: The Search Tools. They are used by most people for everyday-type searching, like when you want a recipe for fried okra. Search tools have a huge list of websites that are found using a little program called a 'spider' or a 'bot' that 'crawls' around in the 'web' searching for new websites. This little spider program doesn't look to see how useful the website is to anybody. It's just looking for a website. Once found, that website is examined to see what it is all about. This is just a sort of once over. Key words from the website that describe what that website is all about and many of it's contents are stored in the Search Tool's database and linked to the website. That way, when you want to search for something, say, that recipe for fried okra, then the Search Tool can point you in the right direction. "The thing you are looking for might be in that website. At least, I think it's over there, because the words you are looking for are there. Click on that link and see if it's what you want."
1. One search tool that I had never used before but had heard about is Lycos. I decided to give it a try.
Interesting note: Lycos appears to derive it's name from a the genus name of the large wolf spider, Lycosa. I see a little geek humor, there.
Lycos can be found here. It does support advanced searching. However, to be able to do that you need to scroll down to the bottom of the page and click on the 'help' link almost in the middle of the bar at the bottom. Once on the next page you will find the words, "advanced search" in tiny print above the search button on the upper right. Click on that, and an advanced search window will open.
Above the search window Lycos tells you that you can truncate or stem from your original term by using an asterisk strategically. Also, "+include or -exclude words with +/-". Lycos, by default, will put an 'and' between the words you input into the search box unless you stipulate otherwise.
If that's not easy enough, in the list below the search box you can click buttons that will allow you to:
- 1. find all words (default: the word 'and' is implied between search terms)
- 2. find any words (the word 'or' is implied between each search term)
- 3. find exact phrase (as if you had placed quotation marks around your whole search string)
- 4. by ID (this looks for a website by it's numeric ID)
2. The Metasearch engine I chose is again one I have heard about but never used: Dogpile. It can be found here. The difference between a search tool and a metasearch tool is, well, I'll let Dogpile explain it for you:
"What is Metasearch? Metasearch means instead of getting results from one search engine, you'll be getting the best combined results from a variety of engines, and not just any engines, but industry leading engines like Google, Yahoo!, and Yandex."
According to Dogpile, the information gleaned by search engines only overlaps about 1%, which means that searching with only one search engine might not get you the results you are looking for.
Dogpile has an advanced search option. It does not strictly allow you to use boolean logic, but it will allow you to search for:
- All of these words (which is the same as putting an 'and' between your search terms)
- The exact phrase (like you put quotes around it)
- Any of these words (as if you put an 'or' between your search terms)
- None of these words (as if you put a 'not' or a minus sign before each word)
- Language (search in a specific language)
- Include or Exclude domain (allows you to specify a certain domain, like any .edu site)
However, neither a Search Tool nor a Metasearch tool can take you past the front door of websites that are password protected. That is, you have to have a password that works as a key to allow you to search within the site.
One such type of website that can also acts as a kind of search tool is
a Subject Directory. A Subject Directory
is usually part of the deep web and contains things that cannot usually be
found on the web that is available to the public at large, but there are
exceptions to this rule. One such is About.com
which allows free access to its database.
For the most part, however, Subject directories are closed to the
general public. That is, they are not
easy to access. ‘Spiders’ or ‘bots’ from
search engines can’t go into these to find out what they contain. You have to have a password, and sometimes
you have to input characters that are displayed in unique fashions in order to
prove you are not a ‘bot’. Subject
Directories are generally run by actual people.
They choose what are in these repositories, and who gets access.
3.
One such that I chose is Digital Librarian. It has books available for browsing,
pictures, music, movies, maps ... in fact, most of the things you can access at
a normal public library. However, it
does not contain items that are not in the public domain. That is, it does not contain works that are copyrighted
because to do so would violate copyright laws. However, it does contain links
to other deep websites that require passwords and sometimes require membership
fees.
The Digital Librarian itself does not require the user to use a password. Only when you link to pages like the de Young
Fine Arts Museums of San Francisco are you required to become a member and use
a password.
So there
you have it, the difference between Search Tools or Search Engines, Metasearch
Tools, and Subject Directories.Wednesday, December 26, 2012
Unit 7: Types of Information: Periodicals
Hello, Reader!
Next up, periodical articles: those pieces of publication, professionally or publicly positioned that are published and/or promulgated at predictable periods.
But first, I would like to say this about Twitter: I find it a largely non-essential form of social media. As a rule, I don't use it. There have been a few moments when I have given it a whirl. However, almost invariably someone tries to get chummy, then looks up my name on Facebook and tries to 'friend' me on the flimsy premise that we share an affection for cats or something, and I have to turn them down because that's nothing to base a friendship on. 5 minutes worth of interaction does not entitle just anyone to the privilege of viewing my private stuff. Yes, I know how to navigate the quagmires of life, but that's because I have lived twice as long as most of those who use Twitter. Nonetheless, I've gotta put those boundaries in place. I'm not a trained therapist.
Okay, I shall step off the soapbox and back into the assignment now.
In step 3 of the assignment is says, "Refer to the comment I left in your blog post for Unit 6." There was no comment so I am going to presume my research question and the Boolean logic string I proposed would be acceptable, at least for this initial try.
I shall give ProQuest my business this trip.
I entered "U.S. OR United States AND (federal OR state)" AND "(law OR regulation*)" AND "assault rifle* OR assault weapon*" in separate lines as indicated. I then went through the rest of the limiting fields and checked or unchecked blocks as I saw fit. I included full text, in English, in the Continental U.S., and the document type could be any one of a number of things such as biographies, editorials or interviews. I limited my initial search to magazine articles.
The search gave me "102135 results"* (no duplicates).
1. The magazine article I've chosen is as follows:
Andrew Cohen, The Atlantic. "The NRA is no Match for the Parent Lobby." National journal Dec 17 2012. ProQuest Research Library. Web. 26 Dec. 2012 .
By way of annotation I shall now offer edited quotes from the article itself .
"On Saturday afternoon, a grim state official, ... (stated) that the primary weapon used on the Sandy Hook school victims was not a handgun but rather a long gun, a Bushmaster .223 assault rifle, a formidable killing machine eschewed by most hunters, unwieldy for self-defense, similar to weapons used by U.S. soldiers in Afghanistan ... Nancy Lanza loved guns, her friends told The Times, and would talk about her collection at local bars. * * * The shootings at Sandy Hook Elementary are first of all a tragedy of families, of the parents and grandparents who now are enduring the darkest moments of grief ... ."
I thought this article would be relevant given recent events. However, the emotionally charged language used by the author in this piece clearly is employed to bias the reader toward increases in gun control laws and regulations. The article is not primarily meant to explore the topic.
I shifted the focus of ProQuest to newspaper articles and got "315202 results"* (no duplicates).
2. The newspaper article I've chosen is as follows:
Higham, Scott, et al. "History of Gun Control in U.S. Portends a Bitter Fight Ahead." The Washington Post: A.1. Dec 23 2012. Los Angeles Times; National Newspapers Core; The Washington Post. Web. 26 Dec. 2012 .
Again I'll offer an annotation, but this one is gleaned from the abstract of the article.
"The ideological chasm was on full display in Washington on Friday when ...Wayne LaPierre held a take-no-prisoners news conference in which he called for a federal program to put armed guards in every school in the country, saying, "The only thing that stops a bad guy with a gun is a good guy with a gun." First comes a shocking event, then calls for action, then prolonged legislative battles, and at the end of it all a new law might come crawling out of Congress so enfeebled by exemptions that it has limited effect in the real world."
This piece is a little better researched than the magazine article, but again it would seem to be slanted toward inflammatory language. Nonetheless, it is carried in the Washington Post which has a reputation for accuracy and comprehensiveness. As such I would consider it a worthy candidate for inclusion.
I then reconfigured ProQuest's advanced search to look for a research article. It was important to click peer reviewed to ensure I had a good primary source that was approved of by others in the field. I changed the Source type to Scholarly Journal, adjusted the Document type to reflect what one could anticipate in a Scholarly Journal, and clicked on Search.
I was rewarded with "842 results"* (no duplicates).
Here I wanted to pay attention to timeliness. There were a great many good primary sources, but I needed one that was more recent to reflect the current state of the legal atmosphere.
3. The Scholarly Journal article I've chosen is:
Barlow, E. G. "United States v. Reese and Post-Heller Second Amendment Interpretation." Brigham Young University Law Review 2012.2 (2012): 391-406. ProQuest Research Library. Web. 26 Dec. 2012.
This would appear to be a very nice primary source. It is current, being published December 2012, it has been peer reviewed by those responsible on the staff of Brigham Young University Law Review, among others, the author's name and academic credentials are clearly spelled out at the bottom of the article, and it's sources are cited by way of extensive footnotes throughout. Further, for me at least, it is very relevant because it discusses domestic violence issues and the laws that appertain thereto in various states.
In conclusion of this blog post I would like to say that I am pleasantly pleased with the amount of learning I do in this course. This time I learned to differentiate between and evaluate various print and online sources, including newspaper articles, magazine articles, and scholarly journal articles. Boolean logic is nothing new to me, but using it to conduct a productive search has been fascinating. I look forward to finishing this course and doing further research into my future book projects.
Next up, periodical articles: those pieces of publication, professionally or publicly positioned that are published and/or promulgated at predictable periods.
But first, I would like to say this about Twitter: I find it a largely non-essential form of social media. As a rule, I don't use it. There have been a few moments when I have given it a whirl. However, almost invariably someone tries to get chummy, then looks up my name on Facebook and tries to 'friend' me on the flimsy premise that we share an affection for cats or something, and I have to turn them down because that's nothing to base a friendship on. 5 minutes worth of interaction does not entitle just anyone to the privilege of viewing my private stuff. Yes, I know how to navigate the quagmires of life, but that's because I have lived twice as long as most of those who use Twitter. Nonetheless, I've gotta put those boundaries in place. I'm not a trained therapist.
Okay, I shall step off the soapbox and back into the assignment now.
In step 3 of the assignment is says, "Refer to the comment I left in your blog post for Unit 6." There was no comment so I am going to presume my research question and the Boolean logic string I proposed would be acceptable, at least for this initial try.
I shall give ProQuest my business this trip.
I entered "U.S. OR United States AND (federal OR state)" AND "(law OR regulation*)" AND "assault rifle* OR assault weapon*" in separate lines as indicated. I then went through the rest of the limiting fields and checked or unchecked blocks as I saw fit. I included full text, in English, in the Continental U.S., and the document type could be any one of a number of things such as biographies, editorials or interviews. I limited my initial search to magazine articles.
The search gave me "102135 results"* (no duplicates).
1. The magazine article I've chosen is as follows:
Andrew Cohen, The Atlantic. "The NRA is no Match for the Parent Lobby." National journal Dec 17 2012. ProQuest Research Library. Web. 26 Dec. 2012 .
By way of annotation I shall now offer edited quotes from the article itself .
"On Saturday afternoon, a grim state official, ... (stated) that the primary weapon used on the Sandy Hook school victims was not a handgun but rather a long gun, a Bushmaster .223 assault rifle, a formidable killing machine eschewed by most hunters, unwieldy for self-defense, similar to weapons used by U.S. soldiers in Afghanistan ... Nancy Lanza loved guns, her friends told The Times, and would talk about her collection at local bars. * * * The shootings at Sandy Hook Elementary are first of all a tragedy of families, of the parents and grandparents who now are enduring the darkest moments of grief ... ."
I thought this article would be relevant given recent events. However, the emotionally charged language used by the author in this piece clearly is employed to bias the reader toward increases in gun control laws and regulations. The article is not primarily meant to explore the topic.
I shifted the focus of ProQuest to newspaper articles and got "315202 results"* (no duplicates).
2. The newspaper article I've chosen is as follows:
Higham, Scott, et al. "History of Gun Control in U.S. Portends a Bitter Fight Ahead." The Washington Post: A.1. Dec 23 2012. Los Angeles Times; National Newspapers Core; The Washington Post. Web. 26 Dec. 2012 .
Again I'll offer an annotation, but this one is gleaned from the abstract of the article.
"The ideological chasm was on full display in Washington on Friday when ...Wayne LaPierre held a take-no-prisoners news conference in which he called for a federal program to put armed guards in every school in the country, saying, "The only thing that stops a bad guy with a gun is a good guy with a gun." First comes a shocking event, then calls for action, then prolonged legislative battles, and at the end of it all a new law might come crawling out of Congress so enfeebled by exemptions that it has limited effect in the real world."
This piece is a little better researched than the magazine article, but again it would seem to be slanted toward inflammatory language. Nonetheless, it is carried in the Washington Post which has a reputation for accuracy and comprehensiveness. As such I would consider it a worthy candidate for inclusion.
I then reconfigured ProQuest's advanced search to look for a research article. It was important to click peer reviewed to ensure I had a good primary source that was approved of by others in the field. I changed the Source type to Scholarly Journal, adjusted the Document type to reflect what one could anticipate in a Scholarly Journal, and clicked on Search.
I was rewarded with "842 results"* (no duplicates).
Here I wanted to pay attention to timeliness. There were a great many good primary sources, but I needed one that was more recent to reflect the current state of the legal atmosphere.
3. The Scholarly Journal article I've chosen is:
Barlow, E. G. "United States v. Reese and Post-Heller Second Amendment Interpretation." Brigham Young University Law Review 2012.2 (2012): 391-406. ProQuest Research Library. Web. 26 Dec. 2012.
This would appear to be a very nice primary source. It is current, being published December 2012, it has been peer reviewed by those responsible on the staff of Brigham Young University Law Review, among others, the author's name and academic credentials are clearly spelled out at the bottom of the article, and it's sources are cited by way of extensive footnotes throughout. Further, for me at least, it is very relevant because it discusses domestic violence issues and the laws that appertain thereto in various states.
In conclusion of this blog post I would like to say that I am pleasantly pleased with the amount of learning I do in this course. This time I learned to differentiate between and evaluate various print and online sources, including newspaper articles, magazine articles, and scholarly journal articles. Boolean logic is nothing new to me, but using it to conduct a productive search has been fascinating. I look forward to finishing this course and doing further research into my future book projects.
Monday, December 17, 2012
Week 6
Dear Reader:
This time around I am going to be playing with Boolean logic strings.
My statement choices are as follows:
1. Has the U.S. trade and globalization policy hurt the middle class?
(A potential Boolean logic string might look like this)
"U.S. trade*" and "globalization polic*" and "middle clas*"
2. What breeds of dogs make good therapy pets?
breed* AND dog* AND therap*
3. What are the similarities between the Great Depression of the 1930s and the current economic problems?
("Great Depression" OR "The Depression" AND *30*) AND ("recent economic problems" OR "current economic problems")
4. Is the current lack of sunspot activity affecting global warming?
sunspot* AND "global warming"
5. Are big box stores like WalMart and Target good for the economy?
("big box stores" OR Walmart OR Target) AND econom*
This next section deals with my revised research question:
This time around I am going to be playing with Boolean logic strings.
My statement choices are as follows:
1. Has the U.S. trade and globalization policy hurt the middle class?
(A potential Boolean logic string might look like this)
"U.S. trade*" and "globalization polic*" and "middle clas*"
2. What breeds of dogs make good therapy pets?
breed* AND dog* AND therap*
3. What are the similarities between the Great Depression of the 1930s and the current economic problems?
("Great Depression" OR "The Depression" AND *30*) AND ("recent economic problems" OR "current economic problems")
4. Is the current lack of sunspot activity affecting global warming?
sunspot* AND "global warming"
5. Are big box stores like WalMart and Target good for the economy?
("big box stores" OR Walmart OR Target) AND econom*
This next section deals with my revised research question:
"What are the federal laws and state laws in the US concerning
assault rifles?"
A boolean string for this query might look like this:
"U.S. (federal OR state)" AND "(law* OR regulation*)" AND "assault (rifle* OR weapon*)"
I know it's not required, but I went ahead and posted this on good ol' Google, just to see what would happen. It came up with 53 MILLION results. I might need to pare down my research statement should I ever research this topic. At this point I think I would need to limit my sources with a sit:.edu or a site:.gov sort of string.
Friday, November 30, 2012
Week 5, a few weeks late ...
Dear Reader:
Okay! Back at this blog after a hiatus. Abdominal surgery isn't fun. I wouldn't recommend it.
The assignment for this unit has to do with finding credible sources. To begin to understand what I would be learning I read through all the IRIS Modules and lessons, as well as one video on YouTube.
The video was interesting because the narrator's accent helped the material stick in my head.
One thing I learned from the IRIS modules is that there is a difference between 'natural language', and 'controlled vocabulary'. Natural language is used in the keyword search. It is term or phrase and results in a broader search. Controlled vocabulary is a term or phrase used in the subject field and is more specific. All controlled language comes from the Library of Congress Subjects Headings. It can be used to narrow the topic being searched for.
I am to be looking through databases for books or other resources with an eye to finding sources that would be applicable to my research.
I opened up the Clark College Library website. As far as I understand it, the 'search option' searches in the database of the library in order to help me find a book or other resource that will have information on the topic I am interested in.
In the search box I typed in, "military AND regulations AND female AND enlisted AND personnel". In the first drop down box after "Limit by: " I chose 'periodicals'. The second drop down box I left reading 'All Material Types'.
The results stated, "No Entries Found".
Hm.
I tried again, but this time I chose Circulating Items instead of periodicals. Still "No Entries Found".
Um-hm. Okay, this time I tried All Locations instead of Circulating Items. Still "No Entries Found".
That's odd.
I checked the spelling in the search box. No, that's not the problem.
Then I tried the advanced search option. This time I tried different keywords. I typed in "Women's AND Uniforms AND US Navy". I left the other options wide open so I could search through the whole database.
Yet again, "No Entries Found".
Alrighty then, perhaps the AND qualifier isn't needed. I'll try not using it.
I type in "military uniform regulations" in the advanced search options search box.
"No Entries Found". Every time that phrase is displayed there is a box accompanying it that suggests I try my search in SUMMIT.
I will try yet another keyword search, and then I'll try SUMMIT.
This time I type 'military regulations' in the search box.
Pay dirt! 10 Entries!
Here is the citation information on the one book that I thought looked promising.
Maddow, R. (2012). Drift: The unmooring of American military power. New York: Crown.
It's subject headings are as follows:
It contains bibliographical references and it is indexed, which would make it easier to fact check. It was published this year, so it's recent. I googled the author (is googled supposed to be capitalized, or not? ... not sure) and found that MSNBC claims her as a host for a top rated prime time show, "The Rachel Maddow Show". She has other credible credentials as well. Crown Publishing is a division of Random House Publishers, which is a well known publisher. Some of the authors that contract with Crown are President and Michelle Obama, Martha Stewart, Deepak Chopra, M.D., and other non-fiction writers of good reputation. Thus it is my hope that this would be a good reference for my work.
Thus far, lesson learned: keep the search options rather loose. Tighten only after you have a list to search through.
Now, let's see what SUMMIT has to offer.
In the search box I type in "military AND regulations AND female AND enlisted AND personnel", as I did for the previous catalog search.
The search took .32 seconds and resulted in 24 items, but none of them would suit my needs at all. I think I shall try the advanced search option which will allow me to specify the age of the material.
In the Advanced Search keyword box I type in "uniform AND regulations AND female AND enlisted AND Navy". I figure the word 'personnel' is adequately implied, and the word 'Navy' would be more useful. Under 'Narrow your search', in the 'Library' drop down box I chose Summit. In the 'Year' fields I entered '1978 to 1987'. In the 'Format' drop down box I chose 'Book', and for language I chose 'English'.
"No results match your search ..." Hm. Okay, we try a different tack.
I went back to the generic search field and typed in "women's AND uniforms AND US Navy", then I hit the search button again.
This time I was treated to 79 items in .70 seconds. Most of the titles presented only had a mere reference to my keywords, but there were some potentially good sources listed.
The book I chose was as follows:
Bradford, J.C. (2006). International encyclopedia of military history. New York: Routledge.
Subject heading, or in this case Related Subject, is: Military History -- Encyclopedias.
It can be found in 9 different libraries, the closest of which is Lewis and Clark College in Portland, Oregon. It is a reference work, so if I want to take a peek I would have to go to this library. However, the call numbers are: D25.A2 I58 2006 v.1 and D25.A2 I58 2006 v.2. Apparently this is an extensive work.
James C. Bradford is a writer of some renown. He has 79 works in 152 publications in 3 languages, all to his credit. He is an Editor, Compiler, and an Author of introduction.
Routledge, the publisher, is a global publisher of quality academic books, journals & online reference, and it says so right on the website which can be found here . They are well known as a publisher of textbooks for universities and colleges.
All these would lead me to think this would be another good reference work.
The next stop in this assignment is the IT Pro Collection of E-books. As instructed I entered "Home PC" as keywords in the search box. It brought up 2083 hits, the first of which really caught my eye. It is, "Computing for the Older and Wiser: Get Up and Running On Your Home PC!" As I approach the 'older and wiser' era of my life I'm thinking it might be wise for me to concentrate on this area of computer support. A lot of people senior to myself might feel more comfortable accepting advise from someone who is closer to their age group.
I began to explore the rest of this website, and found it very friendly to this user. The advanced search fields were very similar to the types of search fields mentioned in the Australian YouTube video. There were Additional Fields where one could make full use of Boolean logic words in order to narrow the search parameters.
"And last but not least we have ..." Google Books. Good old Google, who wants so bad to be everyone's favorite search engine. They do pretty darn good, too.
In the Google Books search field I typed in "US Naval Uniforms, female", and got quite a few interesting hits. The first one that caught my eye was as follows:
Collins, W. Q., Captain, US Navy. (1997) More Than a Uniform: A Navy Woman in a Navy Man's World. Denton: University of North Texas Press.
Google Books lists the publication page, which tells me that the author and co-author were recommended by none other than Arleigh Burke, a full Admiral in the US Navy, who wrote the forward for this book. He has a whole class of ship named after him. The Arleigh Burke Class Destroyers.
Admiral Burke's recommendation alone tells me that this book is worth my time.
The book is also indexed. It includes photos of the author before and during her career. This is a book I would dearly love to read, so you can bet it's on my 'to do' list.
The four search interfaces that I have explored today have informed me and surprised me, which was a fun ride! Cannell Library is probably not the best source for information on my topic, but that's not its fault. Summit is a better source, with Google following close on it's heels. IT Pro is only a little better than Cannell, though. All in all, I'd say this journal entry has re-energized my desire to finish writing about my time in the Navy.
Okay! Back at this blog after a hiatus. Abdominal surgery isn't fun. I wouldn't recommend it.
The assignment for this unit has to do with finding credible sources. To begin to understand what I would be learning I read through all the IRIS Modules and lessons, as well as one video on YouTube.
The video was interesting because the narrator's accent helped the material stick in my head.
One thing I learned from the IRIS modules is that there is a difference between 'natural language', and 'controlled vocabulary'. Natural language is used in the keyword search. It is term or phrase and results in a broader search. Controlled vocabulary is a term or phrase used in the subject field and is more specific. All controlled language comes from the Library of Congress Subjects Headings. It can be used to narrow the topic being searched for.
I am to be looking through databases for books or other resources with an eye to finding sources that would be applicable to my research.
I opened up the Clark College Library website. As far as I understand it, the 'search option' searches in the database of the library in order to help me find a book or other resource that will have information on the topic I am interested in.
In the search box I typed in, "military AND regulations AND female AND enlisted AND personnel". In the first drop down box after "Limit by: " I chose 'periodicals'. The second drop down box I left reading 'All Material Types'.
The results stated, "No Entries Found".
Hm.
I tried again, but this time I chose Circulating Items instead of periodicals. Still "No Entries Found".
Um-hm. Okay, this time I tried All Locations instead of Circulating Items. Still "No Entries Found".
That's odd.
I checked the spelling in the search box. No, that's not the problem.
Then I tried the advanced search option. This time I tried different keywords. I typed in "Women's AND Uniforms AND US Navy". I left the other options wide open so I could search through the whole database.
Yet again, "No Entries Found".
Alrighty then, perhaps the AND qualifier isn't needed. I'll try not using it.
I type in "military uniform regulations" in the advanced search options search box.
"No Entries Found". Every time that phrase is displayed there is a box accompanying it that suggests I try my search in SUMMIT.
I will try yet another keyword search, and then I'll try SUMMIT.
This time I type 'military regulations' in the search box.
Pay dirt! 10 Entries!
Here is the citation information on the one book that I thought looked promising.
Maddow, R. (2012). Drift: The unmooring of American military power. New York: Crown.
It's subject headings are as follows:
- National Security -- United States
- United States -- Military Policy
- United States -- Armed Forces -- Appropriations and expenditures
- Militarism -- United States
- Political Culture -- United States
- United States -- Foreign Relations -- 1989-
- United States -- Politics and Government -- 1989-
It contains bibliographical references and it is indexed, which would make it easier to fact check. It was published this year, so it's recent. I googled the author (is googled supposed to be capitalized, or not? ... not sure) and found that MSNBC claims her as a host for a top rated prime time show, "The Rachel Maddow Show". She has other credible credentials as well. Crown Publishing is a division of Random House Publishers, which is a well known publisher. Some of the authors that contract with Crown are President and Michelle Obama, Martha Stewart, Deepak Chopra, M.D., and other non-fiction writers of good reputation. Thus it is my hope that this would be a good reference for my work.
Thus far, lesson learned: keep the search options rather loose. Tighten only after you have a list to search through.
Now, let's see what SUMMIT has to offer.
In the search box I type in "military AND regulations AND female AND enlisted AND personnel", as I did for the previous catalog search.
The search took .32 seconds and resulted in 24 items, but none of them would suit my needs at all. I think I shall try the advanced search option which will allow me to specify the age of the material.
In the Advanced Search keyword box I type in "uniform AND regulations AND female AND enlisted AND Navy". I figure the word 'personnel' is adequately implied, and the word 'Navy' would be more useful. Under 'Narrow your search', in the 'Library' drop down box I chose Summit. In the 'Year' fields I entered '1978 to 1987'. In the 'Format' drop down box I chose 'Book', and for language I chose 'English'.
"No results match your search ..." Hm. Okay, we try a different tack.
I went back to the generic search field and typed in "women's AND uniforms AND US Navy", then I hit the search button again.
This time I was treated to 79 items in .70 seconds. Most of the titles presented only had a mere reference to my keywords, but there were some potentially good sources listed.
The book I chose was as follows:
Bradford, J.C. (2006). International encyclopedia of military history. New York: Routledge.
Subject heading, or in this case Related Subject, is: Military History -- Encyclopedias.
It can be found in 9 different libraries, the closest of which is Lewis and Clark College in Portland, Oregon. It is a reference work, so if I want to take a peek I would have to go to this library. However, the call numbers are: D25.A2 I58 2006 v.1 and D25.A2 I58 2006 v.2. Apparently this is an extensive work.
James C. Bradford is a writer of some renown. He has 79 works in 152 publications in 3 languages, all to his credit. He is an Editor, Compiler, and an Author of introduction.
Routledge, the publisher, is a global publisher of quality academic books, journals & online reference, and it says so right on the website which can be found here . They are well known as a publisher of textbooks for universities and colleges.
All these would lead me to think this would be another good reference work.
The next stop in this assignment is the IT Pro Collection of E-books. As instructed I entered "Home PC" as keywords in the search box. It brought up 2083 hits, the first of which really caught my eye. It is, "Computing for the Older and Wiser: Get Up and Running On Your Home PC!" As I approach the 'older and wiser' era of my life I'm thinking it might be wise for me to concentrate on this area of computer support. A lot of people senior to myself might feel more comfortable accepting advise from someone who is closer to their age group.
I began to explore the rest of this website, and found it very friendly to this user. The advanced search fields were very similar to the types of search fields mentioned in the Australian YouTube video. There were Additional Fields where one could make full use of Boolean logic words in order to narrow the search parameters.
"And last but not least we have ..." Google Books. Good old Google, who wants so bad to be everyone's favorite search engine. They do pretty darn good, too.
In the Google Books search field I typed in "US Naval Uniforms, female", and got quite a few interesting hits. The first one that caught my eye was as follows:
Collins, W. Q., Captain, US Navy. (1997) More Than a Uniform: A Navy Woman in a Navy Man's World. Denton: University of North Texas Press.
Google Books lists the publication page, which tells me that the author and co-author were recommended by none other than Arleigh Burke, a full Admiral in the US Navy, who wrote the forward for this book. He has a whole class of ship named after him. The Arleigh Burke Class Destroyers.
Admiral Burke's recommendation alone tells me that this book is worth my time.
The book is also indexed. It includes photos of the author before and during her career. This is a book I would dearly love to read, so you can bet it's on my 'to do' list.
The four search interfaces that I have explored today have informed me and surprised me, which was a fun ride! Cannell Library is probably not the best source for information on my topic, but that's not its fault. Summit is a better source, with Google following close on it's heels. IT Pro is only a little better than Cannell, though. All in all, I'd say this journal entry has re-energized my desire to finish writing about my time in the Navy.
Sunday, October 21, 2012
Week 4: Information Sources
Dear Reader:
There were 5 practice research questions assigned that I will address here.
1. Is a vegetarian diet healthier than a meat-based diet?
This question presumes that two dietary choices are possible: vegetarian, without stipulating the level of vegetarianism, and meat-based. There are many gradations of diet possible. However, I will address this question in a broad manner.
One source I found that I would trust is to be found here: http://www.vanderbilt.edu/AnS/psychology/health_psychology/vegpage.html
It was written by Higgins,Kristin, 1998 or 1999 (the precise date is not clear), Psychology Department, Vanderbilt University, Nashville. It is carefully researched and thoroughly cited.
2. Target often forces musicians to alter lyrics in order to have their CDs sold in Target stores. Is this cencorship?
This would appear to be a question of opinion and less a question of law, so a periodical or some other source with public input would be a good source. After opening the search box in Google I typed in the following: "Target stores" AND (music) AND censorship. In the results I found a series of comments on the Target Mobile Site, found here. There was also a link to Clark College Libraries, here, where there were ways outlined to define a search, which was helpful. However, in my opinion the best source would be found here. The author has carefully researched this issue, and looks to me to be the best source for information on this topic.
3. How much more can a college graduate expect to earn over someone with a high school diploma?
For this question I decided to focus on earnings. I opened Google and typed in "average salary high school graduates versus college graduates" and got 3,370,000 results in 0.41 seconds. The best link to be found was here. Click on the link and you will find the site for the National Center for Education Statistics where the facts are carefully laid out, including narrative, a table, and a list of sources and resources at the bottom.
4. Should educators use commercial services to combat plagiarism?
For this source I would think an actual educator would be the best source. A conversation with each of my instructors would be a good course to take. Also, consulting a librarian or two would not hurt as they are actually educators at heart.
5. Is the current lack of sunspot activity effecting global warming?
This question is of a scientific bend. First I searched the open web for sunspot activity and found this site which gives an exhaustive amount of data on sunspots in this solar cycle. It was quite apparent that there is no current lack of sunspot activity. Then I typed the question in question directly into Google. This rendered a lot of blogspot hits, which I ignored, and that allowed me to find this site which addresses global warming.
Next I am going to try to identify the most useful information sources for three of the questions I posed in my last post.
Question 1. What uniforms were worn by enlisted and commissioned personnel in the era during which I served?
The definitive source is a book, the United States Navy Uniform Regulations NAVPERS (number) of 1981, which was published by the United States Department of Defense. In order to acquire this volume I would have to request to purchase one from the archives of the US Navy. The easiest and fastest way to do that is to call their phone number, which I will do on October 22nd or 23rd.
There is at least an online reading room with information addressing this question, found here:
http://www.history.navy.mil/library/online/readingroom.htm
It connects to a digital archive of resources, but few of them are as current as I need.
The book source is the best source because these were the regulations that were used as the standard for personnel inspections when I was serving. The online sources, however are the most recent that can be accessed by civilians.
2. Why were the uniforms I wore in flux?
The reading room link mentioned above has a link to the specific section of their database that addresses the history of US Naval Uniforms. It is found here:
http://www.history.navy.mil/library/online/uniform_history.htm
This link does answer some questions as to why the uniforms changed. However, it has nothing very specific, which is in keeping with the military tradition of information dissemination. If they are not downright secretive then they err on the side of brevity. The paramount consideration for the lack of specifics is "Need to Know": i.e., if you don't need to know, we won't tell you.
3. What was the historical context of the level of gender integration in the US Navy during the era that I served in?
I found a PDF from the archives of The Colonial Williamsburg Foundation site, which can be accessed here: http://www.history.org/History/teaching/enewsletter/volume7/images/nov/women_military_timeline.pdf
It covers what women were formally authorized to do and when in the US Military's various branches. However, actually finding out why these decisions were made might be a little trickier. I've had no luck so far with confirming why decisions were made after the Korean Conflict.
It would seem I need to go in to the library on campus and ask a librarian for assistance. Hopefully there is an answer in an Academic Encyclopedia.
I hate to do this, but I feel I must. Wikipedia has a pretty good article about Women in the United States Navy, and it seems to be well documented. It can be found here: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Women_in_the_United_States_Navy
It has information about all three of the questions listed above. I have only begun to research the veracity of the sources cited, but one at least does check out. It is a book by Jean Zimmerman, an author of quite a few books. She did indeed write "Tail Spin: Women At War In The Wake Of Tailhook", primarily about women in the US Navy, but other branches are mentioned. It is well recommended by authoritative sources.
Another is a publication by the Bureau of Naval Personnel, but the website is unavailable at this time, possibly due to upkeep, so I will check back later.
"And that's it for this episode! Tune in next week, folks, for more exciting adventures!"
There were 5 practice research questions assigned that I will address here.
1. Is a vegetarian diet healthier than a meat-based diet?
This question presumes that two dietary choices are possible: vegetarian, without stipulating the level of vegetarianism, and meat-based. There are many gradations of diet possible. However, I will address this question in a broad manner.
One source I found that I would trust is to be found here: http://www.vanderbilt.edu/AnS/psychology/health_psychology/vegpage.html
It was written by Higgins,Kristin, 1998 or 1999 (the precise date is not clear), Psychology Department, Vanderbilt University, Nashville. It is carefully researched and thoroughly cited.
2. Target often forces musicians to alter lyrics in order to have their CDs sold in Target stores. Is this cencorship?
This would appear to be a question of opinion and less a question of law, so a periodical or some other source with public input would be a good source. After opening the search box in Google I typed in the following: "Target stores" AND (music) AND censorship. In the results I found a series of comments on the Target Mobile Site, found here. There was also a link to Clark College Libraries, here, where there were ways outlined to define a search, which was helpful. However, in my opinion the best source would be found here. The author has carefully researched this issue, and looks to me to be the best source for information on this topic.
3. How much more can a college graduate expect to earn over someone with a high school diploma?
For this question I decided to focus on earnings. I opened Google and typed in "average salary high school graduates versus college graduates" and got 3,370,000 results in 0.41 seconds. The best link to be found was here. Click on the link and you will find the site for the National Center for Education Statistics where the facts are carefully laid out, including narrative, a table, and a list of sources and resources at the bottom.
4. Should educators use commercial services to combat plagiarism?
For this source I would think an actual educator would be the best source. A conversation with each of my instructors would be a good course to take. Also, consulting a librarian or two would not hurt as they are actually educators at heart.
5. Is the current lack of sunspot activity effecting global warming?
This question is of a scientific bend. First I searched the open web for sunspot activity and found this site which gives an exhaustive amount of data on sunspots in this solar cycle. It was quite apparent that there is no current lack of sunspot activity. Then I typed the question in question directly into Google. This rendered a lot of blogspot hits, which I ignored, and that allowed me to find this site which addresses global warming.
Next I am going to try to identify the most useful information sources for three of the questions I posed in my last post.
Question 1. What uniforms were worn by enlisted and commissioned personnel in the era during which I served?
The definitive source is a book, the United States Navy Uniform Regulations NAVPERS (number) of 1981, which was published by the United States Department of Defense. In order to acquire this volume I would have to request to purchase one from the archives of the US Navy. The easiest and fastest way to do that is to call their phone number, which I will do on October 22nd or 23rd.
There is at least an online reading room with information addressing this question, found here:
http://www.history.navy.mil/library/online/readingroom.htm
It connects to a digital archive of resources, but few of them are as current as I need.
The book source is the best source because these were the regulations that were used as the standard for personnel inspections when I was serving. The online sources, however are the most recent that can be accessed by civilians.
2. Why were the uniforms I wore in flux?
The reading room link mentioned above has a link to the specific section of their database that addresses the history of US Naval Uniforms. It is found here:
http://www.history.navy.mil/library/online/uniform_history.htm
This link does answer some questions as to why the uniforms changed. However, it has nothing very specific, which is in keeping with the military tradition of information dissemination. If they are not downright secretive then they err on the side of brevity. The paramount consideration for the lack of specifics is "Need to Know": i.e., if you don't need to know, we won't tell you.
3. What was the historical context of the level of gender integration in the US Navy during the era that I served in?
I found a PDF from the archives of The Colonial Williamsburg Foundation site, which can be accessed here: http://www.history.org/History/teaching/enewsletter/volume7/images/nov/women_military_timeline.pdf
It covers what women were formally authorized to do and when in the US Military's various branches. However, actually finding out why these decisions were made might be a little trickier. I've had no luck so far with confirming why decisions were made after the Korean Conflict.
It would seem I need to go in to the library on campus and ask a librarian for assistance. Hopefully there is an answer in an Academic Encyclopedia.
I hate to do this, but I feel I must. Wikipedia has a pretty good article about Women in the United States Navy, and it seems to be well documented. It can be found here: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Women_in_the_United_States_Navy
It has information about all three of the questions listed above. I have only begun to research the veracity of the sources cited, but one at least does check out. It is a book by Jean Zimmerman, an author of quite a few books. She did indeed write "Tail Spin: Women At War In The Wake Of Tailhook", primarily about women in the US Navy, but other branches are mentioned. It is well recommended by authoritative sources.
Another is a publication by the Bureau of Naval Personnel, but the website is unavailable at this time, possibly due to upkeep, so I will check back later.
"And that's it for this episode! Tune in next week, folks, for more exciting adventures!"
Sunday, October 14, 2012
Unit 3 Research Questions
Dear Reader:
It has come to my attention that I need to compose three research questions which will be used later on in the course.
To that end I shall included four in this post, just in case I need spares.
Question 1: What was the historical context of the level of gender integration in the US Navy during the era that I served in?
Question 2: What uniforms were worn by enlisted and commissioned personnel during the era I served?
Question 3: Why were they in flux?
Question 4: What were the regulations regarding deployment of female personnel during my enlistment, and how did they change?
That should satisfy the requirement for research questions. At least, I hope so.
-- Writer
It has come to my attention that I need to compose three research questions which will be used later on in the course.
To that end I shall included four in this post, just in case I need spares.
Question 1: What was the historical context of the level of gender integration in the US Navy during the era that I served in?
Question 2: What uniforms were worn by enlisted and commissioned personnel during the era I served?
Question 3: Why were they in flux?
Question 4: What were the regulations regarding deployment of female personnel during my enlistment, and how did they change?
That should satisfy the requirement for research questions. At least, I hope so.
-- Writer
Friday, October 12, 2012
Further ruminations
Dear Reader:
After posting the previous information I found I still had other bits that I wanted to include, so I thought I would post them here.
I queried Google scholar about the history of gender integration in the military. There were a few good articles and a book or two referenced there. The first that caught my eye can be found at http://afs.sagepub.com/content/26/2/229.short
entitled, "The First Wave: Gender Integration and Military Culture" by Regina F. Titunik of the University of Hawaii at Hilo, titunik@hawaii.edu
It was published in Armed Forces & Society Winter 2000 vol. 26 no. 2 229-257
This link included a link to a PDF of the full article.
Another good was article, "The Citizen-Soldier Tradition and Gender Integration of the U.S. Military" by R. Claire Snyder of the public and international affairs department at George Mason University, rcsnyder@gmu.edu who's article was published 2003.
Yet another source, and quite unexpected, was a blog post which can be found here: http://blog.usni.org/2012/07/14/on-midrats-this-sunday-episode-132-the-naval-author-with-r-l-crossland This blog post was actually about writing, and using one's military background as reference.
-- Writer
After posting the previous information I found I still had other bits that I wanted to include, so I thought I would post them here.
I queried Google scholar about the history of gender integration in the military. There were a few good articles and a book or two referenced there. The first that caught my eye can be found at http://afs.sagepub.com/content/26/2/229.short
entitled, "The First Wave: Gender Integration and Military Culture" by Regina F. Titunik of the University of Hawaii at Hilo, titunik@hawaii.edu
It was published in Armed Forces & Society Winter 2000 vol. 26 no. 2 229-257
This link included a link to a PDF of the full article.
Another good was article, "The Citizen-Soldier Tradition and Gender Integration of the U.S. Military" by R. Claire Snyder of the public and international affairs department at George Mason University, rcsnyder@gmu.edu who's article was published 2003.
Yet another source, and quite unexpected, was a blog post which can be found here: http://blog.usni.org/2012/07/14/on-midrats-this-sunday-episode-132-the-naval-author-with-r-l-crossland This blog post was actually about writing, and using one's military background as reference.
-- Writer
Unit 3: Exploring Topics
Hello, dear Reader!
Today I have been learning how to do more thorough research using subject encyclopedias, different levels of the web, and other sources. I shall document a portion of what I did on this blog.
To be honest, I have been wanting to learn how to do this for some time. The internet is a big playground, and navigating it is essential in this age.
My research subject for this blog entry will be of a military nature. For some time now I have been writing a loose memoir of my military experiences. While doing so I have found that my memory of certain activities and terms isn't enough. I need to be able to more accurately recall my experiences, and doing a little research into the attitudes and activities of the US Navy at that time is a logical step. To that end I decided to use Women in the US Navy as my focus topic, with secondary focuses being the history of gender integration in the military, and the evolution of attitudes toward women in the military. I also need to be able to recall all the vernacular terminology of the time. The uniforms were in flux while I served my country, and being able to remember what uniform items I dealt with is important. Personal grooming regulations were changed, too, so I would need to pin those down. The ships I had experience with and the bases I was assigned to have also changed, and knowing a bit more about them would be helpful. Lastly, the history of the political atmosphere would also be pertinent.
To facilitate my research I started with good ol' Wikipedia. However, I have long since learned not to use this site as a definitive source, so I only used it as a sort of compass: "The subject you are looking for looks rather like 'this' and is over 'that-a-way'." I also looked within Gale Virtual Research Library and Google Scholar. There are also sites for Veterans that I have access to that I used. Two are http://wn.com/uss_acadia_%28ad-42%29/wiki
which is a site set up to memorialize one of the ships I served aboard, and http://www.togetherweserved.com/
which is a site that allows present and past military members to connect with other military members.
In Wikipedia I looked up the history of the US Naval Uniform. The article I found was entitled, "Uniforms of the United States Navy". The contributors to this article were many. I shall cite some here.
Kube, Courtney (17 July 2008), "New Navy uniform goes retro", usnews.msnbc.msn.com/
United States Navy Uniform Regulations NAVPERS 15665 published by the US Navy at least once every two years.
"NAVADMIN 374/09: Navy Working Uniform Type II and III". Chief of Naval Operations. CDR Salamander. 4 January 2010.
One article I found that is quite enlightening in GVRL is "Uniforms, Military" in a volume called, Encyclopedia of Clothing and Fashion
Ed. Valerie Steele. Vol. 3. Detroit: Charles Scribner's Sons, 2005. p364-369.
I intend to continue researching so as to solidify my memories of that time. I want my memories of that time to be easily understood by those who read my memoir.
-- Writer
Today I have been learning how to do more thorough research using subject encyclopedias, different levels of the web, and other sources. I shall document a portion of what I did on this blog.
To be honest, I have been wanting to learn how to do this for some time. The internet is a big playground, and navigating it is essential in this age.
My research subject for this blog entry will be of a military nature. For some time now I have been writing a loose memoir of my military experiences. While doing so I have found that my memory of certain activities and terms isn't enough. I need to be able to more accurately recall my experiences, and doing a little research into the attitudes and activities of the US Navy at that time is a logical step. To that end I decided to use Women in the US Navy as my focus topic, with secondary focuses being the history of gender integration in the military, and the evolution of attitudes toward women in the military. I also need to be able to recall all the vernacular terminology of the time. The uniforms were in flux while I served my country, and being able to remember what uniform items I dealt with is important. Personal grooming regulations were changed, too, so I would need to pin those down. The ships I had experience with and the bases I was assigned to have also changed, and knowing a bit more about them would be helpful. Lastly, the history of the political atmosphere would also be pertinent.
To facilitate my research I started with good ol' Wikipedia. However, I have long since learned not to use this site as a definitive source, so I only used it as a sort of compass: "The subject you are looking for looks rather like 'this' and is over 'that-a-way'." I also looked within Gale Virtual Research Library and Google Scholar. There are also sites for Veterans that I have access to that I used. Two are http://wn.com/uss_acadia_%28ad-42%29/wiki
which is a site set up to memorialize one of the ships I served aboard, and http://www.togetherweserved.com/
which is a site that allows present and past military members to connect with other military members.
In Wikipedia I looked up the history of the US Naval Uniform. The article I found was entitled, "Uniforms of the United States Navy". The contributors to this article were many. I shall cite some here.
Kube, Courtney (17 July 2008), "New Navy uniform goes retro", usnews.msnbc.msn.com/
United States Navy Uniform Regulations NAVPERS 15665 published by the US Navy at least once every two years.
"NAVADMIN 374/09: Navy Working Uniform Type II and III". Chief of Naval Operations. CDR Salamander. 4 January 2010.
One article I found that is quite enlightening in GVRL is "Uniforms, Military" in a volume called, Encyclopedia of Clothing and Fashion
Ed. Valerie Steele. Vol. 3. Detroit: Charles Scribner's Sons, 2005. p364-369.
I intend to continue researching so as to solidify my memories of that time. I want my memories of that time to be easily understood by those who read my memoir.
-- Writer
Friday, October 5, 2012
Unit 2: Plagiarism
I viewed all the videos and web pages referenced in the
Plagiarism Video Fest on the Moodle course page at https://moodle.clark.edu/course/view.php?id=17973. This might sound rather dry, but in truth was
fun. Those sources were carefully chosen
to keep the interest of the audience, and to inform at the same time.
I also went to the
IRIS site for Clark College at http://www.clark.edu/Library/iris/
and went through all the information recommended by the instructor, including
the quiz at the end. That experience was
a dry one, but not everything can be entertaining, so I did it and survived. At least I had the satisfaction of taking the
quiz at the end and knowing I was absorbing all the material correctly.
The following are my
responses to the “Safe Practices” exercise at http://owl.english.purdue.edu/owl/resource/589/04/. This should be interesting.
1. This first passage appears to be correct without
the use of a citation. The author is
relaying to the audience personal experiences while traveling, and only relays information
about things in the realm of common knowledge.
2.
This passage needs a citation. If memory serves me correctly, this author is
paraphrasing the Declaration of Independence.
Such a citation in text, and in the MLA style, would look like this: (Jefferson
et al). It would of course need a bibliographical
entry, which might look like this:
Jefferson, T., et all. The Declaration of Independence. Paragraph 2.
1776. Print.
An argument could be made as to whether or not this information is in the
public domain and as such is common knowledge, but to be on the safe side I
would cite my sources.
3.
It would appear that the author of this passage
is quoting a statistic. As such, the
source of that statistic would need to be cited in the text as well as in the
bibliography.
4.
The author of this passage needed to cite his
source within the text and in the bibliography because s/he is paraphrasing the
previously mentioned passage from Martin Luther King Jr.’s “Letter from the
Birmingham Jail”.
5.
This passage, also from the M.L.King. Jr. letter,
is correctly cited, with the omission of one detail. It includes the original speaker’s name, but
the suffix of Junior was omitted.
6.
Again, the suffix of Junior was omitted in this
passage. Also, the paragraph number
would need to be cited at the end of the passage. Otherwise, this passage looks to have been
done correctly.
7.
The author of this bit would not need to cite his/her
source as it is stated in the text that this is only a friend, and the comment
seems to be of a casual nature.
8. The author paraphrased this passage from The
Bill of Rights. There should have been a
citation in the text, as well as a bibliographical entry, which should include
the title, authors, place, and year. The
publisher can be omitted from the bibliography as this document was originally
printed in the late 1700s, and as such is now in the public domain. However, even a document or book in the
public domain needs to be correctly attributed.I wrote the preceding entry in Word, but when I copied it to here the formatting was changed considerably. I've never had that happen before. Next time I compose something in Word I will use as little formatting as possible so that it will copy to this blog more easily.
In conclusion, I would like to reiterate what I have learned.
It's important to cite your sources, both in text and in a bibliography, so that it is clear that you respect the work of others. If you respect the work of others then your work will be more likely to be taken seriously. You should always state in your sources the title of the work, the name of the author, the publisher, the place it was published, and the year it was published. I will, as I have always done, make every effort to establish all the facts I can about my sources and always cite them properly.
-- Writer
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