Workshop Week Five - 24th March 2008

~ Using Search Engines ~

Lecture

Before you begin to search the web for the information you need, to understand about how different information is stored and accessed on the web.

There are basically three categories of information on the web:
· The free, visible web – use a good search engine or directory to locate this information.
· The free, invisible web – where the category includes contents of sites that provide their articles or information free to users, but that content may only be accessible by going directly to the site, search engines can not index these websites. Many databases including medical, legal and financial also including magazines, newspapers and reference work and other sites. To find this information from these categories you must got to the appropriate database.
· And paid databases over the web – this category includes commercial databases that libraries subscribe to, containing journals, newspapers, court cases and other important information, to access this sort of information categories, you must have access to the database ( through password or on-campus computer) and search directly using the database.

Search tools fall into two main categories:
· Search engines
· Directories

What is a search engine? It is a web-based application that crawls the internet, creating indices of websites usually from the textural information contained on them. Sites are usually indexed according to keywords.

Types of search engines include:
· Google – www.google.com
· Yahoo – www.yahoo.com
· Altavista - http://www.altavista.com/
· All the web – http://www.alltheweb.com/

Problems with search engines:
· Return of too may references
· Limited relevance or quality filtering of results to a search query
· Misuse of the page scoring/ranking system
· Including current “broken” links in a list of results to a query
· Determining how deep to “tunnel” through lower ranked pages
· Building enormous indices that include irrelevant and out dated results to users

Directories
· Are human edited
· Web pages submitted to directories are reviewed and added by manual submission, this is done to insure quality
· This prevents pages being submitted automatically which can lead to troubles, which are deliberately misleading
· After completing the submission process, web pages will be queued for viewing by a human editor prior to listing

Reliable directories

· DMOZ – http://dmoz.org/
· Google Directory – http://directory.google.com/
· Yahoo – http://dir.yahoo.com/
· Looksmart – http://www.looksmart.com/
· About – http://www.about.com/

The search engine interface:
· Gives varied interface, query returns and page ranking results according to algorithms

Of the 9.4 billion searches performed:
· Google – 57%
· Yahoo – 23.7%
· Microsoft – 10.3%
· Ask – 4.7%
· Time Warner including AOL – 4.5%

Types of queries:
· Keywords
· Phases
· Boolean
· Advanced/engine features

Search tips
1. Use several search tools
2. Read the search tips or help information at each search engine
3. For keyword searches use several words
4. Guess a location
5. Select the wheat from the chaff by thinking about what you want
6. Back up to find out where you are
7. Use advanced search functions to narrow down the search




Five things I learnt from the lecture and the tutorial.
1. Look around at different search engines
2. Different search engines give different information
3. How to use key words to search the internet
4. Some information on the internet you have to pay for, some of the good information you need to pay for
5. The internet is not a reliable source for information all the time




Tutorial
We were asked to work through some tutorials on:
www.monash.com/spidap.html to help us structure a good search using the search engines available on to us all on the World Wide Web. I could't find the tutorials on the website.

Four stratagies to conduct a good search

1. Use keywords (titles, authors,and subjects)
2. Use +, -, " " when you can
3. Type all your information in lowercase
4. Make your search short and to the point

Some search engines available to us are:
· Altavista
· Excite
· Infoseek
· Lycos
· Webcrawler
· Hot Bot
· Yahoo
· And Google ( this site does not use Google but
http://www.google.com/ is the most common search engine used)



Then we went to http://www.siteseen.co.uk/questions/historytrivia/ to take an online quiz about general knowledge, which we had to use the search engines to find the correct answer if we didn’t know of it.

Readings

http://www.virtualsalt.com/howlook.htm is a website available to help users with using search engines and finding information on the World Wide Web. In the overview of this site it tells us that there are two main questions that users of the World Wide Web tend to ask themselves when looking for information, these two questions are:

"How can I find what I want?"

and " How do I know what I have found is any good?"

This website will help you answer these questions by helping you understand the internet in categories, free invisible web, free visible web and paid databases over the web. To create a search and find the answers you want you must:

Use several search tools

Use keywords or phases

Guess the location before you search

and always back up to see where you are

http://www.let.leidenuniv.nl/history/ivh/chap4.htm is the site we had come across of in Week fours tutorial, it explains more about the history of the internet, explaining how we ind things on the net, explaining what directories and search engine are and giving you a list of search engines and directories most commonly used in todays society and last but not least they eplain the databases on the internet and library catagories. When it comes to the internet it is not always a reliable sourc of infomation, that is why we stil have libraries and books we need to refer to for information as well.

Search Engine Optimisation is a business to help small businesses to get into the World Wide Web. A majority of small businesses have problems with getting their websites onto the search engine circuit, problms including design components that are incompatiable with search engine criteria,l ack sufficient descriptive text or have navigation problems, plus many more. Search Engine Optimisation analysis of the website is taken to find and insight into popular keywords, so that when your website is linked to the search engines you know what words you would need to type in for your search to be linked with your information.

Emma
xoxox

Workshop Week Four - 17th March 2008

~Using Web-Based Resources~

Lecture

Today’s Lecture was on using web-based resources.

We discussed the World Wide Web.

We looked at the Net vs. Web
· Historical perspective of the Web
· Defining the World Wide Web
· Web protocols
· Web browsers/interface

Net Vs. Web

On the net you will find computers
On the web you will find documents, sounds, videos and most importantly information
On the net connections are cables between computers
On the web connections are hypertext links

The Web
· Is an abstract virtual space of information
· It exists because of the programs which communicate between computers on the internet
· Could not exist without the internet
· Made the net useful because people are really interested in information and they don’t have to know about computers and cables
Before the web – the net
· The first paper was on packet switching theory published in July 1961
· 1965 a computer in Mass. Was connected to one in California using a low speed dial-up telephone
· This was the first computer network ever built
· In 1969, four university host computers were connected together into ARPANET

The web was developed by Tim Bernes-Lee (a researcher CERN) in 1989 to facilitate sharing research information.

The web is a universe of accessible information stored on computers throughout the world. The information is available through a gigantic network called the internet.
World Wide Web

World Wide Web Protocols
· TCP/IP – Transmission Control Protocol/ Internet Protocol
· HTTP – Hypertext Transfer Protocol
· DNS - Domain Name System
· URL – Uniform/Universal Resource Locator

The World Wide Web is the content of a network of computers using TCP/IP to communicate between each other.

TCP allows data/binary signals to be converted into telephone like signals and transferred along existing telephone cables. These are converted back to data at the destination computer.
IP is a protocol that enables data to be routed from one network to another over the internet.
The World Wide Web is the visible part of the internet and it uses HTTP and HTML to instruct a computer how to display and/or exchange data between computers.

DNS – Domain Name System Conventions
· WWW in front of a web address
· Com, org, net are top level domain international
· Au, uk and nz country codes associated with specific countries

Ø Com – Commercial (commercial nature)
Ø Org – Organisational (non-profit)
Ø Net – Network ( when com not available)
Ø Gov – Government
Ø Edu – Educational

Tools needed for the World Wide Web
· Computer
· Modem
· Router
· Dial-up software or browser software
· Telephone line
= WWW

Search engines = intelligent use of the World Wide Web
Web browsers are programs that allow uses to access and explore the pages of the World Wide Web
· Explorer
· Neoplanet
· Firefox
The browser interfaces are relatively similar with most offering the same ( or variant of the same) user tools for searching, navigating and saving snapshots of the World Wide Web.
Back and Forward buttons allow you to navigate to previously viewed web pages in the same web viewing.

Home button takes you back to your internet home page.
History allows you to open previously visited web pages. Internet Explorer will hold three weeks of previously viewed web pages right up to your current session.
Firefox, Mozilla and Explorer 2007 use tabs and bookmarks.


Shortcuts
Ctrl + S – Save
Ctrl + O – Bookmark
Ctrl + P – Print
Ctrl + H – History
Ctrl + F – Find
Ctrl + U – View source
Ctrl + F5 – Refresh
Ctrl + R - Reload

Five things I learnt from the lecture and the tutorial.
1. The internet is a great way to get information
2. You have to look around for informaton, using search engines and directories
3. You have to review your own findings on the internet
4. The information on the internet is not always reliable
5. There is more to the internet then what we see


Tutorial

In this weeks tutorial we had a workshop to complete like every week. We had to look and compare the authencity of two websites.
The two websites were:
http://www.haggishunt.scotsman.com/
http://www.molossia.org/







For my findings I found that http://www.molossia.org/ as the website to appear more authentic, with my findings I had four points as a proof of why we choose this website.
· It’s about an actual Republic
· It gives information about the people, history, government information, culture and media of the town
· They have pictures of the town, land, people, government and houses
· It is a good site to use for research
· And it explains stuff in the Molossia language
After discussing the authencity of the websites, we moved onto predicting what a website contained by looking at the web pages URL.

Four clues that give away each site as being a spoof are:

• misleading information
• hidden URL's
• stay online at all times
• some website are spoofed to find out personal information from you (ie pin numbers, addresses etc)

The URL is: http://www.martinlutherking.org/



My first thought of what the website would be about, was the life of Martin Luther King, the high and low lights of his life, what he did and why he was so famous, and I found that I was almost right in what i thought the web page was about. Martin Luther King fought for equal rights for Black people. It tells us his speeches, about the day they celebrate as a holiday called Martin Luther King Day, which is celebrated on the third Monday of January each year across the United States ( I did some extra searching to find out the day of this holiday using the URL: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Martin_Luther_King_Day) it tells us about the day he was assassinated, also gives us information on Civil Rights and also refers to books about the life of Martin Luther King Jnr.

I think it gives great information of the stories and insights into his life. How he fought for the rights of black people and helped our world become the world we live in today, some of us treat black people the same as they did back then, but most of us have come to treat the black people equally, ewe have accepted how multicultural our world has become.
When he was assassinated he dies fighting for what he believed in, White people didn’t appreciate how much freedom they got in life and they were upset that blacks wanted the same things in life as white people.

Readings

In a brief history of the internet, this reading is about the history of the internet as stated in the title. From the origins of 1962 to the history of the future we can get alot of information out of this reading, ARPANET were the finders of the internet we use today.

http://www.let.leidenuniv.nl/history/ivh/frame_theorie.html is a website in which users can locate infromation regarding the history of the internet including the development of computers, the World Wide Web, History of electronic mail (email), Search Engines and more. Linking off into pages of information each link has more and more to know about the WWW.

Emma
xoxox

Workshop Week Three - 10th March 2008

~Using Online Libraries and Databases~

Lecture

Today’s Lecture was on Online Libraries.

Online Libraries

Advantages of Online Libraries

· Convenient
· Access to many varieties of information
· Up to date information
· Easy on the hand
· 24/7 Access

Disadvantages of Online Libraries

· You are unable to narrow your search on some search engines
· Hidden information you need to subscribe for that specific information

Types of Online Libraries

· Online Text Repositories –
· Online Journals –
· Electronic Books –
· Musical
· Artwork

Limitations of Online Libraries

· Subscriptions
· Copies of information maybe reduced ( giving you a unclear picture of the information you were wanting)
· Not updated on a regular basis

Referencing Online Libraries

· Referencing is very important
· Correct and Accurate referencing is vital
· Deduction on assignments for incorrect referencing
· The quality of your referencing will contribute to the mark of your assignment

Copyright Issues

· Copyright is not needed for notes
· The use of artwork and music is copyright
· Text is only out of copyright if the author has been dead for many years
· IT IS YOUR RESPONSIBILITY FOR COPYRIGHT PERMISSION

Online Databases

What are Online Databases?

· Similar to online libraries
· Data collection focus
· Search and Browse facilities
· Data collection and Distribution

Types of Databases

· People Searches
· E-mail Directories
· Genealogy Resources
· Maps and Atlases
· Government Information and Statistics
· News and Media

Advantages of Databases

· Comprehensive
· Current
· Browse able
· Searchable
· 24/7 Access
· Electronically Formatted

Disadvantages of Databases

· Many databases are subscription only
· Lots of advertising
· Difficult to navigate
· Information overload

Summary

· Online databases and libraries are an extremely useful source of information
· Very similar
· Subscription only for many, also many available for free
· Up to date information
· Vital for university research

Five things I learnt from the lecture and the tutorial.

1. That there are many different online libraries and databases
2. How to search for information using ECU Library
3. There are many ways to search for one thing using one website
4. The internet is broader then what I think and it is expanding every day
5. You can do so much by using a computer it's amazing



Tutorial

In today’s Tutorial we had a workshop to work through which helped us understand how to use online libraries and databases. We used the ECU Library and MEDline Plus, which is a online government website that helps people who are researching health issues and drugs.

ECU Library
http://www.ecu.edu.au/library/



This is where I used main search on the homepage, which looks for books, journals and other forms of information that the library has by using the keyword that you typed in. if what I was looking for did not come up in my keyword search I then expanded my search using the narrow search (which is a link above the main search on the homepage titled: Quick Catalogue Search). In the quick catalogue search it specifies my search by giving me more options to choose from to search, including keywords, title or exam papers, author, journal titles and many more.



I looked through the Ebook, which is a online library that if you can’t make it to the library you can read the books you need to online. Which is a great idea for when there are a lot of people doing an assignment and need the same book as you, the book is at the library and you just download the pages to your computer and read it on the screen. Helps the library out and also the student, the library still has their book on the shelf and the student has the information at their fingertips and can go back and refer to the text at any time instead of having to get it out at the library again or wait around for the book.

We had to use ECU Library to locate a journal

Using MetaQuest is a search engine on the Library, which searches up to 10 databases simultaneously.



Using MEDline Plus (www.medlineplus.gov) is a great website if you want to research any medical and health issue everything that’s in the Medical Encyclopedia, Drugs and Supplements and Health topics for conditions, disease and wellness. I researched Diabetes to see what interesting information they had on the website. I am diabetic and it was interesting to read and view documents that give it to you straight forward, rather then in doctors terms. To see pictures of what is happening to people’s bodies when diabetes occurs and the procedures it takes to control diabetes, puts things into perspective when you don’t really understand a diesease.using the interactive tutorials is a great way to get specific information about certain diesease and conditions, tests and diagnostic procedures, surgury and traetment procedures and prevention and wellbeing.so for anything you wish to know about health issues, diagnostic prcedures and treatment procedures this is a great website available for all ages.



Anyone could use this site, for any purpose, for looking up research on disease or drugs for a assignment or just for general knowledge, some symptoms of diseases and what some drugs could do to you, anyone wanting to know the new medical topics and just people in general who have an interest in medicine. Doctors, hospitals even chemists could use this website for information about a patient’s situation and help with some more understandings with new drugs on the market. This site is a very useful website helping everyone in general, with descriptions and pictures on all topics, explaining topics in the simple texts, so everyday society can understand what they are talking about.

Readings

"Finding what you want on the web" is a written article on how a man has made a new year resolution to advance information search on the internt using search engines and dircetories. Instead of using Google the most common search engine of the internet, there are more search engines out there, giving different information them that of google. By using different search engines for example yahoo or all the web, you will get a variety of information from different websites regarding the information you are searching for.

"Bare Bones Lesson 7: Basic Search Tips" is a website to help you create an advanced search for the information you require. Using +, - and "quotation marks" along with keywords and phases, gives the search engine more to information to search with, giving you a larger range of websites.

Emma

xoxoxo

Workshop - Week Two - 3rd March 2008

~Office Applications~

Lecture

Common PC tasks include:
· File handling – Windows Explorer
· Word processing – Ms Word
· Spread sheets – Ms Excel
· Presentations – Ms PowerPoint
· Internet access – Internet Explorer
· Email access – Outlook/Outlook Express
· Viewing PDF’s- Adobe Acrobat Reader

In using the computer and performing the required tasks, require specific knowledge and skills about the program you are using

· General skills that apply to use most PC applications
· Knowledge regarding which applications suit specific tasks
· Knowledge of how to perform specific tasks within a specific application

File management- using Microsoft Explorer
· Understanding files and folder structure
· ZIP technologies and file compression
· Name conventions
· Windows commands
· Send to, rename
· Move, copy, delete, undo etc

Word processing- using Microsoft Word
· Formatting and styles
· Document mapping
· Working with templates
· Inserting images
· Inserting and formatting tables and other objects
· Not just typing
· Document management
· Assignment presentation
· Working with templates
· Understanding shortcuts
· Toolbar manipulations
· Use of macro technology

Creating spread sheets – using Microsoft Excel
· Formatting and styles
· Columns and rows record keeping
· Data type (currency, text, numbers etc)
· Formulae & functions (Sum, Average etc)
· Multiple record keeping
· Graphs and charts (representation of records)

Creating Presentations – using Microsoft PowerPoint
· Formatting and styles
· Wise use of animation and PowerPoint features
· Using graphics to support a presentation it not rule it
· Note view
· RULES OF PRESENTATION
· Message first (PPT a support tool)

Internet browsing – using Internet Explorer
· Net navigations and hyperlinks
· Bookmarks/favourites
· Search engines
· Information authentication & validation skills

Browser stats – January 2008
Internet Explorer – 37.2%
The Mozilla Suite – 1.3% (Gecko and Netscape)
Safari – 1.9% (Konqueror)
Opcca-1.4%

Sending & receiving emails – using outlook/outlook express
· Email protocols
· Reply, forward, CC, BCC
· Email security
· Spam, attachments and viruses
· Email etiquette
· FWD’s, CC’s, privacy

Viewing PDF’s – using Adobe Acrobat Reader
· Downloading and updating the acrobat reader
· Browser integration
· Viewing PDF’s online
· Choosing zoom level
· Using viewing and note taking tools
· Bookmarks
· Thumbnails
· Saving PDF’s for offline viewing

Listening/watching audio and video
· Windows media played
· Winamp
· Real player

Viewing and editing graphic files
· Ms photoeditor
· Ms paint
· Adobe photoshop

Other useful tasks and applications

· Image fine management –ACDSee
· Screen capture-Snagit

For using and assisting knowledge in university we need to acquire the knowledge in:
· Word processing and presentation – these skills will help to develop well presented assignments
· Email skills – skills to help you communicate effectively with lecturers, tutorial leaders and students/peers
· Internet/browser skills – allow you to use online materials to assist with your learning, including
· Blackboard to access course materials
· WWW to search and use for research and to create and manage an online journal
· And knowledge regarding various applications and their uses for specific tasks – including Endnote (electronic management of reference)

Five things I learnt from the lecture and the tutorial.

1. How to make graphs using Excel
2. How to SUM and AVERAGE using Excel
3. How to adjust margin and line spacing on Word
4. How to alphabetize references
5. How to show my information in different views

Tutorial
In the tutorial I had to follow the tutorial worksheets and display information in ways I learnt from the workshop.

In word I had to copy and paste a written paragraph and adjust the typeface, margins and alignment and line spacing, then I had to create a heading and a header and footer to finish off my paragraph. I then had to alphabetize references given to me. I then added in an appropriate image for my information.

In Excel I had to build a table with headings and labels as indicated on the workshop sheet, I then had to format my tables by adjusting the border and alignment and colour in the toolbars to match the example on the workshop sheet.
After adding in all the information on the table I then had to use the formulae tool to calculate the columns and rows using SUM, when I had finished this I then AVERAGED my table and moved on to make my graphs. I would use graphs with this information to make a presentation more interesting and an easier way to view my findings.

Readings

In the word reading for this tutorial, it explains how to use Microsoft Word for APA tasks, going through step by step tips on how to do things on word, things include,general tips from changing typeface to adding comments to you work. This is a great information spreadsheet for people who are having difficulty with tasks needed to help there word document look more professional.

The second reading we had to look through was Adobe Photoshop, in this reading it explains the difference between file fomats (.bmp,.gif,.jpeg and .tiff) all are well known file formats used to save pictures/images to our computer. It explains what every format is used for and how to use it when it is in this format.

Emma

xoxox