1. Today in class we discussed Topic refinement and went over eachother's topics. We also looked at different magazines and examined them in terms of what type they were.
2. A "popular" journal is aimed at the general public and designed to entertain. A "trade/professional" journal is used to examine industry, new products and is more specifically aimed at those in a particular industry. "Scholarly" journals usually involve research and are straight to the point, usually aimed at researchers and the media influence of advertising is minimal.
3. Print periodicals can be asier and quicker to navigate to the less technological savvy. However they are limited by size as information and content is added. Electronic periodicals can allow access to much larger amounts of information in one place. Finding the specific information that is needed however can be harder for someone not farmiliar how to effectively search.
Monday, October 29, 2007
Thursday, October 25, 2007
October 25 Blog
1. My topic is when was the first "water balloon" devised and who is credited as the inventor.
2. Some of the search terms that could be used are: "origin" and "water balloon." The words "first" and "water balloon" could also be used together. Another possible combination is "history of" and "water balloon."
3. A possible database to use is Academic Search Premier, but besides that none seemed to go back far enough chronologically to answer my question. I examined many of the other databases' descriptions but none of them related to my topic. The majority of them were for economics, politics and mathematics surprisingly.
2. Some of the search terms that could be used are: "origin" and "water balloon." The words "first" and "water balloon" could also be used together. Another possible combination is "history of" and "water balloon."
3. A possible database to use is Academic Search Premier, but besides that none seemed to go back far enough chronologically to answer my question. I examined many of the other databases' descriptions but none of them related to my topic. The majority of them were for economics, politics and mathematics surprisingly.
Monday, October 22, 2007
October 22 Blog
1. Today in class we discussed different types of plagarism. We also talked about which databases work better in which types of searches. We also talked about narrowing and expanding searches.
2. The most important points to me were the different types of databases. Getting some practice searching for different topics in class helped me understand how different questions shouldn't always be searched for in the same place.
3. I would find a database that gives me an adequate number of results and start there so that i don't have to keep jumping around do different search engines. To do this i might not necessairly use the first database that i get results in, instead i might try 2 or 3 before i pick one that seems adequate.
2. The most important points to me were the different types of databases. Getting some practice searching for different topics in class helped me understand how different questions shouldn't always be searched for in the same place.
3. I would find a database that gives me an adequate number of results and start there so that i don't have to keep jumping around do different search engines. To do this i might not necessairly use the first database that i get results in, instead i might try 2 or 3 before i pick one that seems adequate.
Thursday, October 18, 2007
October 18 Blog
1. My question was: "Who invented the roller coaster and when?"
2. I used "first roller coaster" to conduct my search. It worked ok but seemed to give me too recent of results. Luckily i found part of my answer in a "look back at 100 years of roller coasters."
3. I didn't try any other terms because i was already almost too vague to get the result i was looking for. I tried with and without quotations and got the same results for both.
4. I had too few because of my subject matter. I believe it would have been a search better suited for a regular search engine like "Yahoo." I would consider at least 20 related items enough for a search, where as i had only 7 related but only one of those applied to my question.
5. One of my results answered part of my question (when was the first roller coaster). However it didn't answer who invented it.
6. The grouping of words and the use of "and" and "or" as links between them can help refine the search. The less grouped the words are the more results, however grouping can be more specific and eliminate unwanted results sometimes.
2. I used "first roller coaster" to conduct my search. It worked ok but seemed to give me too recent of results. Luckily i found part of my answer in a "look back at 100 years of roller coasters."
3. I didn't try any other terms because i was already almost too vague to get the result i was looking for. I tried with and without quotations and got the same results for both.
4. I had too few because of my subject matter. I believe it would have been a search better suited for a regular search engine like "Yahoo." I would consider at least 20 related items enough for a search, where as i had only 7 related but only one of those applied to my question.
5. One of my results answered part of my question (when was the first roller coaster). However it didn't answer who invented it.
6. The grouping of words and the use of "and" and "or" as links between them can help refine the search. The less grouped the words are the more results, however grouping can be more specific and eliminate unwanted results sometimes.
Sunday, October 14, 2007
Oct. 15 Blog
1. Today in calss we discussed databases and how to search them.
2. Some of the important points we discussed were how to search the databases using "or" and "and" to get exactly the type of results you want. Another point was the online database on CSUEB.com to find news articles.
3. The techniques can be used to find information for homework, research papers, and narrow down searches to eliminate unwanted information. It is time saving and convienant.
4. It is a very useful search strategy. I have been taught in brief detail the use of "or" and "and" in online searches before but was never informed the exact differences of each. It also seems useful to use the "not" feature for excluding results that keep littering the searches or things you want to avoid beforehand.
2. Some of the important points we discussed were how to search the databases using "or" and "and" to get exactly the type of results you want. Another point was the online database on CSUEB.com to find news articles.
3. The techniques can be used to find information for homework, research papers, and narrow down searches to eliminate unwanted information. It is time saving and convienant.
4. It is a very useful search strategy. I have been taught in brief detail the use of "or" and "and" in online searches before but was never informed the exact differences of each. It also seems useful to use the "not" feature for excluding results that keep littering the searches or things you want to avoid beforehand.
Tuesday, October 9, 2007
Oct 11
1. My first question was "how many firefighters are there currently in the US?"
2. "How does that number compare to other countries?" "How many firefighters are there in each state?"
My final question was "Which state has the highest number of firefighters per capita?"
3. At first I tried to broaden my question, but then realized it was getting harder because I am less familiar with other countries. With that I then began to narrow my question within the US and it I found it easier to expand on.
4. My final question is unique and interesting. It is fairly complex but with more work I could definitely come up with a more complex question.
5. Other questions that might help expand my idea are: What other way can the amounts of firefighters in areas be compared and how do the results compare to amounts of police and EMTs in that area.
2. "How does that number compare to other countries?" "How many firefighters are there in each state?"
My final question was "Which state has the highest number of firefighters per capita?"
3. At first I tried to broaden my question, but then realized it was getting harder because I am less familiar with other countries. With that I then began to narrow my question within the US and it I found it easier to expand on.
4. My final question is unique and interesting. It is fairly complex but with more work I could definitely come up with a more complex question.
5. Other questions that might help expand my idea are: What other way can the amounts of firefighters in areas be compared and how do the results compare to amounts of police and EMTs in that area.
Saturday, October 6, 2007
Oct 8
1. On Friday we discussed different sources of news and what makes them different. We also learned about topic development.
2. One of the most important parts of the discussion to me was how different news agencies report stories differently based on political backround. It is something i hadn't thought about very much before.
3. I will consider my sources for concrete details a lot more closely now before choosing them.
4. It can be hard to determine the orientation of news sources without any outside assistance. They want to appeal to as wide of an audience as possible and this is harder to achieve the more biased they are.
5. Topic development can be difficult but is an important necessity of any "blank page" paper.
2. One of the most important parts of the discussion to me was how different news agencies report stories differently based on political backround. It is something i hadn't thought about very much before.
3. I will consider my sources for concrete details a lot more closely now before choosing them.
4. It can be hard to determine the orientation of news sources without any outside assistance. They want to appeal to as wide of an audience as possible and this is harder to achieve the more biased they are.
5. Topic development can be difficult but is an important necessity of any "blank page" paper.
Monday, October 1, 2007
Oct 4 Blog
1. I tried to answer the question "What is the current prime interest rate?"
2. I used the search engine "Yahoo."
3. The exact wording I used was "current prime interest rate."
4. The search was successful due to the fact that the answer to my question could be found in the first few results.
5. I could try different wording for my search if i didn't get the results i wanted.
6. Some other questions i had were how comparable the search results would be entering the same thing into different search engines.
2. I used the search engine "Yahoo."
3. The exact wording I used was "current prime interest rate."
4. The search was successful due to the fact that the answer to my question could be found in the first few results.
5. I could try different wording for my search if i didn't get the results i wanted.
6. Some other questions i had were how comparable the search results would be entering the same thing into different search engines.
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