Week 5- Using Search Engines

Week 5- Blog 5 Friday 28th March 2008


Accessing knowledge week 5 was basically all about learning to use search engines an how they work.

In the lecture it explains different engines an three basic categories of information on the web:

• The free, visible web
• The free, invisible web
• Paid databases over the web

Some examples of search engines are Google, Yahoo and Altavista.
In the lecture problems about search engines were discussed such as:

• Return of too many results
• Limited relevance or quality filtering of results to a search query
• Misuse of the page scoring/ranking system
• Building enormous indices that include erroneous, irrelevant and out-dated results to the user

Also briefly discussed in the lecture were topics such as: Directories, the search engine interface, Engine rankings (Google being most common), search engine interaction and search tips such as:
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

Tutorial:
The workshop for week 5 basically revolved around locating, accessing and evaluating data and information from a variety of sources. We used a range of search engines to do simple and advanced searches such as Google, yahoo, Alltheweb and Lycos.

Task one: involved reading through the site “The spider’s apprentice” and listing four strategies that will help me structure a good search.

They are:
1. Knowing where to look first (There are various databases containing specific information that might be more useful to you than a general search engine)

2. Fine-tune your key words (Enter the smallest possible subset that describes what you want. Be specific. Try to meet the search engine halfway by refining your search before you begin)

3. Be refined (Read the help files and take advantage of the available search refining options. Use phrases, if possible)

4. Query by example (Take advantage of the option that many search engine sites are now offering: you can find similar sites to the ones that come up on your initial hit list)
Task two: required us to complete a quiz on the “history trivia online quiz” an show proof below:
-


Task three: The strategies I used to answer the questions on the quiz were simple ones. I used the search engine Google to answer all the questions and made sure i used only main key words that were relevant to my topic. Thankfully Google had all the relevant information to successfully complete my task.

I didn’t actually learn anything new in this tutorial as i already knew how to use most of the search engines, but instead it refreshed my memory about particular search engines and how to use them .


Readings Summary:

1) Robert Harris "web search strategies" http://www.virtualsalt.com/howlook.htm -
The Internet has an enormous quantity of information, with thousands of newsgroups and billions of web pages. The two questions that face any information seeker are, (1) How can I find what I want? and (2) How can I know that what I find is any good? This article treats the first question. A companion article, "Evaluating Internet Research Sources," treats the second. Through the use of a little creativity, some patience, and a few search engines, you will be able to find just about anything you want. Many of the search tools and tool types mentioned in the article are available at "World Wide Web Research Tools."

2) Search Engines http://www.let.leidenuniv.nl/history/ivh/chap4.htm -
This site is basically a overview on search engines and their history. They have subheadings such as "in the beginning", "How do we find information on the net?", "directories", "search engines", "databases" and "Library catalouges".

3) Search engine optimisation for companies-
This site is a link wich helps people search for businesses etc.
The site optimises businesses and helps you find the websites that relate to or for it.
Keyword Analysis- They use several sources for keyword data to provide you with an insight into the popularity of any keywords, including misspellings, that relate to your website's theme or text content.

Week 4- Using the WWW

Week 4-Blog 4 Friday 18th March 2008

Lecture:

Internet vs. Web

• Basically on the net you find computers
• on the web you find documents, sounds, videos... information
• On the net connections are cables between computers
• On the web connections are hypertext links

First it was the internet:

In 1965 a computer in Mass. was connected to one in California using a low speed dial-up telephone line. This was the first wide-area computer network ever built. Then in 1969, four University host computers were connected together into ARPANET.

The Web:

Was developed by Tim Berners-Lee (a researcher at 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.

Protocols of the World Wide Web:

TCP/IP – Transmission Control Protocol/Internet Protocol; allows computers to communicate to one and other. TCP allows the conversion of data signals into telephone like signals. IP allows data to be routed from one network to another over the internet.

HTTP – Hypertext Transfer Protocol; method of communication that allows the interpretation of data to determine how to display and/or exchange data between computers

DNS – Domain Name Server; www, .com, .org, .net, .au, .uk

URL – Uniform Resource Locator

Types of Web Browsers-Internet Explorer, Neoplanet, Firefox

Functions of the browser interface ‘Back’ and ‘Forward’ buttons, ‘home’, ‘history’ newer more advanced IE’s have Tabs, and Bookmark settings, Tabs allows user to have multiple web pages open within the one browser window.



Workshop:

In the workshop the whole topic revolved around differentiating a websites authenticity.

Haggishunt:

• Entering the website an automatically picking out the advertisements is a sign of it being a bit fake
• The site ended up being a competition on finding a “haggis” to go into a draw to win prizes, which seemed a bit ridiculous, also if you spot the ”golden haggis” you win instantly
• The site appears to be that of a promotions company that has a competition currently running, this is an attempt to attract visitors
• The “haggis facts” at the top of the page, and the “haggisclopedia” page, are obviously made as a joke.




Molossia:

• When I entered the site it looked interesting but a bit dodgy
• There was a scrolling banner at the bottom of the page that seemed out of place and when you think about it, if it was a legitimate site and involved the government simple mistakes wouldn’t be allowed or accepted
• As I browsed the site I entered the teachers only link and it obviously explained how the site was fake which confirmed that I was correct



Martin Luther King site:

The site at first looked legitimate and I thought it would have relevant information about King and his work as well as life time achievements. But in fact upon examining the site you can tell that its run by a group of white supremacists, which thus contains large amounts of racist information towards Martin Luther King, and the African Americans. Basically aimed at shaming Martin Luther King and the good he did, their main purpose is to try and discredit any information published about or by Martin Luther King.





Readings summary:

1) A brief history of the internet-
Chapter 1: The Origins and Growth of The Internet and the World Wide Web
Began in the early 1830’s and progressed at a slow pace, world war 2 occurred an advances in technology sped up greatly with the development of many new navigational tables and tracking and aiming devices for anti aircraft guns. In June 1948 Manchester University developed Manchester Mark 1, 3 years later saw the integration of RAM, 1958-59 saw the development of the silicon chip, and it entered into commercial production in 1961.

Chapter 2: From ARPANET to World Wide Web
ARPA was created initially with its focus set on space, ballistic missiles, and nuclear test monitoring; in 1962 ARPA opened a computer research program. ARPANET was created from teams at MIT, National Physics Library, and the RAND Corporation, the final requirement was the design of a protocol to allow computers to send and receive messages and data. In 1971 ARPANET consisted of 23 host computers linked together.
1974 saw the development of the TCP/IP protocol to enable different networks to communicate with each other. Expansion of the internet gradually grew, the amount of people hosting servers and WebPages. In 1991 WWW was released to the public and no longer a military or higher education system.

Chapter 3: History of E-mail
ARPANET developers had considered such a process of electronic mail, at the time when computers where of ridiculous sizes and the everyday person could not afford one, this idea was not overly important. In 1971 Ray Tomlinson of ARPANET sent the World’s first email, he sent it to himself as a test then sent further emails to ARPANET users explaining how to address emails to other users.
1990 saw the democratisation of the internet, 1995 saw internet providers as CompuServe, AOL, and Prodigy start business and deliver a connection to the world.

Chapter 4: Search Engines
The late 1980’s saw so much data on the internet that it was too difficult to rely on tips from other users. In 1992 there were 1,000,000 hosts. This saw the creation of search engines, servers that would catalogue available web pages an allow them to be easily accessed or found search engines included (Archie, The Gopher System, WAIS).
More recent search engines, Google, Yahoo, Alta Vista


2) History of the World Wibe Web- ARPANET was the original internet that transformed into the World Wide Web as we know it today.
Robert Kahn was behind the development of a new protocol which would support open architecture environments, thus the creation of the Transmission Control Protocol/Internet Protocol.
Kahn was successful with his creation of the TCP/IP protocol which worked well on large time sharing systems, people doubted that a PC could handle the complexity of TCP/IP, David Clark and research team from MIT proved it is possible to run TCP/IP on PC’s they reconfigured Khans version and made it suitable for a smaller less complex machine. 1980’s saw the widespread development and implementation of LANS, PC’s and WAN connections.

Because of commercialisation in the 80's private network services were being made available. The net controls alot of activities as most things are now accessible online.

http://www.isoc.org/internet/history/brief.shtml#Origins

http://www.let.leidenuniv.nl/history/ivh/frame_theorie.html

Week 3- Online Libraries and Databases

Week 3 - blog 3 Friday 14th March 2008

Morning lecture: Using online libraries and databases!
Firstly we found out what they are!

Online Libraries:
Online libraries and databases are places where you store books, photos, diaries etc. On the Internet. They are sources for which you can research information about topics with 24/7 with easy access.

Some types of online libraries are:
• Online Text Repositories
• Online Journals
• Electronic Books
• Musical
• Artworks

Some advantages of online libraries are- convenience (Internet access at all times), currency (journals are up to date), electronic format makes it easy for making notes (copy and pasting), any time anywhere 24/7 access.

But there is also some disadvantages to using online libraries: Most of the content may be hidden and you may need to be subscribed to gain access. Also most world wide search engines don't access database and library indexes. Hence most people need specific knowledge on how to access such sites.

Referencing online libraries- Accurate referencing is vital, using the APA format, details found in the Ecu library publications, creating end-not libraries, in many courses marks are deducted for incorrect referencing as well as the quantity may contribute to extra marks.

Copyright Issues: Correct referencing of sources is vital- besides that permission is not required for notes. The responsibility of copyright permission rests with us.

Databases:

(An organised collection of information (data), characterised by the use of data fields, that provide procedural methods for retrieving information. ) Definition from the lecture.

Types of online databases:

• People Searches
• E-mail Directories
• Genealogy Resources
• Maps & Atlases
• Government Information & Statistics
• News & Media
• Portals

Advantages: plain and simply the advantages of databases are their comprehensive, current, browsable, searchable, 24/7 access and electronic format.

Disadvantages : Many databases need subscription, lots of advertising, difficult to navigate and information overload.

Tutorial:
We were asked to find a journal article on a online journal on the economic impact of global warming on business. I used Pro quest as a search engine and found the journal below:



We were also asked to record ten useful functions or search tips on the ecu library site:
1- Searching the catalogues for books, cd’s etc.
2- Searching the data bases for journal articles
3- Searching for specific journal titles
4- Information on referencing
5- Links to other search engines
6- Academic tip sheets
7- Library podcasts and video clips etc.
8- Library workshops and tours
9- Access to SIMO and IT services
10- Learning to find information easy


We were also asked to visit the MEDline plus website and go through some health topics and drug information. I picked prostate cancer to do a more comprehensive search on an clicked on the national library of medicine link and obtained the information below:



I think that males with concerns of prostate cancer are ones which will visit the site to gain more information about the signs, symptoms and cures because their is such a broad range of information which can be narrowed down to main points.

Reading summary:

1) Finding what you want on the web- The whole point of this article is that it explains their is more efficient ways of finding relevant information than just google. Its written by Bill Thompson, he is a regular commentator on the BBC World Service programme Go Digital, and he expresses his thoughts on "wide-ranging web indices" and "searching well". He even commented that "Good online research has to involve more than just typing a couple of words into a search form and clicking a button".

2) Basic search tips- This article pretty much just gives you basic tips on using search engines, tips such as:

• Use the plus (+) and minus (-) signs in front of words to force their inclusion and/or exclusion in searches.EXAMPLE: +meat -potatoes(NO space between the sign and the keyword)
  
• Use double quotation marks (" ") around phrases to ensure they are searched exactly as is, with the words side by side in the same order.EXAMPLE: "bye bye miss american pie"(Do NOT put quotation marks around a single word.)
  
• Put your most important keywords first in the string.EXAMPLE: dog breed family pet choose
  
• Type keywords and phrases in lower case to find both lower and upper case versions. Typing capital letters will usually return only an exact match.EXAMPLE: president retrieves both president and President
  
• Use truncation (or stemming) and wildcards (e.g., *) to look for variations in spelling and word form.

and plenty more.

Sites used: http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/technology/3362913.stm

http://www.sc.edu/beaufort/library/pages/bones/lesson7.shtml

Week 2- Office Applications

Week 2-Blog 2 Friday 7th March 2008

Morning lecture: Applications skills

In the morning lecture we were asked to list the microsoft applications we know, wich are Word, Excel, Power Point, Access, outlook and Publisher. Aswell as some internet browsers we know, Google, Yahoo, Nine msn, Firefox etc.

The lecture focused on what i know about my PC and how to use the programs available. We reviewed some common tasks and the applications used for them for example:

File handling=Windows explorer

Word Processing= Word

Spreadsheets= Excel

Presentations= Power Point

Emails= Outlook/express

View PDF’s= Adobe acrobat reader

More detailed:

• File handling: In explorer includes Understanding of files and folder structure, ZIP technologies and file compression, naming conventions and windows commands (send to, rename, move copy delete etc.)
  
• Word processing: In word includes formatting and styles, document mapping, working with templates, inserting images, Insertaing and formatting tables and other objects, its not just typing it also includes:

- document management

- assignment presentation

- working with templates

-understanding shortcuts

- GUI (toolbar) manipulation use of Macro technology

• Creating and editing spreadsheets: In excel includes formatting and styles, column/row record keeping, data types, formulae and functions, multiple records keeping and graphs and charts (representations of records).
• 
  Presentations: Using power point to create presentations includes formatting and styling, wise use of animations and powerpoint features, using graphics to support presentation and the rules of presentation- message first and keep it simple.
• 
  Internet browsing: Is a simple task that can be done with a number of browsers ranging from google to nine msn or even firefix.
• 
  Sending and recieveing e-mails: through outlook or express, its a simple task but also requires some security as spam, attachments and viruses could be hidden within.
• Viewing PDF’s: Through Adobe Acrobat Reader involves downloading and updating adobe reader, browsing integration, viewing PDF files online (choosing zoom level, using viewing & note- taking tools, bookmarks, thumbnails) saving PDF’s to local PC for off-line viewing.
• 
  Then there is the common PC tasks such as Listening/ watching audio and video, with programs like windows media player, winap and real player. Also viewing and editing graphic files with MS photo editor, paint and Adobe photoshop.

What skills do we need?
· Word processing and Presentation skills to develop well presented assignments
· e-mail skills to communicate effectively with your lecturer, tutorial leader and other students
· Internet/browser skills that will allow you to use blackboard and search the web etc.

The Workshop
In the workshop we were asked to do two exercises one involving word and one involving excel. They were designed to extend our understanding of both programs within the university context.

The Word Exercise: In the word exercise we were asked to copy and paste a text and then use our knowledge and skills to:

· Adjust the TYPEFACE
· Adjust the MARGINS AND ALIGNMENT
· Adjust LINE SPACING
· Create HEADINGS
· KEEP HEADINGS WITH TEXT
· Include a HEADER/FOOTER

We were also asked to copy a few refernces and then alphabatize them in word. Then we also had to cope and paste a table of contents and create dot leaders for them. Finally we inserted an image.
The final product:

The Excel Exercise: In excel we were asked to create a table with a range of data of our weekly activities and how much time we spent on each. We had to:
· Adjust columns and rows
· Place borders
· Fill in the cells with colours
· Enter the data
· Create formulas for certain columns

Then finally create a pie chart and a column graph for certain activites.

The final product:

Reading summary:

1) MS word- The first reading contained information about microsoft word on vista. The whole point of it was to help us get through the first task in the tutorial and at the same time teach us how to use word on vista. As wel as using MS word for doing APA tasks.

It helped us with simple tasks such as changing fonts, margin allignment, indents, spacing, hyperlinks and plenty more.

2) Graphic file formats- Reading two was all about learning the difference between the most common types of graphic file formats, and when to choose which format to use.

It explains how each format works and how to use it. The different formats are:

• Bitmap (.bmp)
• CompuServe (.gif)
• Joint Photographic Experts Group - or Jpeg (.jpg)
• The Tagged-Image File Format (.tiff)
• PhotoShop Document (.psd ~ .psp ~ .spp)

Sites Used:
http://www.knight-web.net/tutorials/photoshop/