Tuesday, March 17, 2009

Essay

To find more information about Ocean Warming the first strp I took was going to the Library Catalog. I went to the library catalog because I believed that Is where I could fine a good source of information. When I recieved the information back from the library catalog I was not pleased. I found one source that gave me what I was looking for but decided to keep looking. The sources I chose all together were Academic Search Premier, Britanica Online, Google, and the Library catalog. I chose each of these sources because I believed this is where I could get my most valuable information from. Each step to find information I did the same thing. I made sure that my search was specific and tried to narrow it down the first stime so I would not have to keep searching. For my searches I used Boolen Operators steps because In the past My searches have been very successful using those steps to get the best information I can. To make sure I was getting for What I was looking for I looked at the title of each search to make sure it had at least some what information to what I was looking for. When I found a search that I thought had to do with what I was looking for I clicked on it to find more information. After clicking on that search I would determine if that was what I was looking for, If not I would move on until I could find the best information. When researching information about "Ocean Warming" I came up with these resources.
Library Catalog- Author Dowsett, Harry J
Title Bracketing mid-Pliocene sea surface temperature [electronic resource] : maximum and minimum possible warming / by Harry Dowsett
Library Has Internet version only
Publ. Info. Reston, Va. : U.S. Geological Survey, 2004
Edition Version 1.0

Acadenic Search Premier- Warming oceans are absorbing less carbon dioxide.
Source:Geographical; Mar2009, Vol. 81 Issue 3, p11-11, 1/4p
Document Type:Article
ISSN:0016741X
Accession Number:36857955
Persistent link to this record (Permalink):
Database: Academic Search Premier
View Links:Check SFX for more information

Current Event Database-MLA style:
"Ocean warming." Encyclopædia Britannica. 2009. Encyclopædia Britannica Online. 17 Mar. 2009 .

World Wide Web-National Center For Atmospheric Research. "Tropical Ocean Warming Drives Recent Northern Hemisphere Climate Change." ScienceDaily 6 April 2001. 17 March 2009 .
The two sources that I found the most information were from google "National center for atmospheric research" and Brittanica online. These two sources gave me the most information about Ocean Warming and I was Satisfied with the information provided. To narrow my search I would make sure I know exactly what I was looking for and use boolen to help me find what I am looking for since I have had a good experience naroowing my search with this operator before.
Two Questions That I have are..

How would the world be different if Ocean Warming did not occur?

What can people do to learn more and educate others on Ocean Warming?

Two additional databases I would use to complete my searches would be yahoo and aol. Like the other search databases I have found valuable information and have been pleased with my search results from these engines.

Final Part 1

Library Catalog- Author Dowsett, Harry J
Title Bracketing mid-Pliocene sea surface temperature [electronic resource] : maximum and minimum possible warming / by Harry Dowsett
Library Has Internet version only
Publ. Info. Reston, Va. : U.S. Geological Survey, 2004
Edition Version 1.0

Acadenic Search Premier- Warming oceans are absorbing less carbon dioxide.
Source:Geographical; Mar2009, Vol. 81 Issue 3, p11-11, 1/4p
Document Type:Article
ISSN:0016741X
Accession Number:36857955
Persistent link to this record (Permalink):
Database: Academic Search Premier
View Links:Check SFX for more information

Current Event Database-MLA style:
"Ocean warming." Encyclopædia Britannica. 2009. Encyclopædia Britannica Online. 17 Mar. 2009 .

World Wide Web-National Center For Atmospheric Research. "Tropical Ocean Warming Drives Recent Northern Hemisphere Climate Change." ScienceDaily 6 April 2001. 17 March 2009 .

Self Assessment

1. This Quarter I ahve made progress on learning different ways to search for a topic. Before learning these different ways it would take me a long time to find what I was looking for. I now know how to narrow down my searches and find what I am looking for in half the time.

2. My areas of weakness that I have identified is understanding the steps of MLA Format and APA format. It took me the longest to understand and learn how to write correctly. There are so many steps to these processes and I know it will take a lot more practice to get the hang of.

3. For myself to grow in literacy I am going to continue to educate myself on the different ways I can research and focus on the correct steps to following the MLA and APA formats.

Monday, March 9, 2009

Unit 6 Research Log Entry 2

1. How can a balance be achieved between protecting privacy and meeting the needs of national security?

Balance can be achieved between protecting privacy and meeting the needs of national security by not giving out information to the public.

2. How did you react to the list of challenged books (were you surprised, for example)? Do you think some books should be banned or should books be freely available? Why?

I was surprised about the list of challenged books. I think all books should be available because in America there is freedom of speech and not everyone has to like all books that people like therefore people should be able to write what they want and books should never be banned.

3. How have your overall ideas about information ethics changed or not changed after completing this unit?

My thoughts about information ethics has really changed. I didn't know how much work went in to not only writing a book but all the copyright information and publishing takes a lot of time and detail. I will now start valuing this information a lot more and take time out to read it.

Unit 6 Assignment 9

1.discuss how the author, the publisher, the faculty member, the library, and the students can be accommodated
The author, the publisher, the faculty member, the library, and the students can be accommodated. The author is accommodated with money and so is the publisher. The author is the one who allows the information to be used by being public and the publisher lets the faculty members use the information. The library makes the information more available to students who buy the information which ends up giving profit to the author, the publisher, the faculty member, the library and the students.

2.How can a fair arrangement be achieved?
A fair arrangement can be achieved by distributing the information fairly.

3.What are the challenges in creating a fair arrangement for everyone?
The challenges in creating a fair arrangement for everyone is that there will not always be enough for everyone.

Sunday, February 22, 2009

Unit 4 Part 2

1.What is the main subject of your question?
How do people know when a Tornado is coming?

2.What subject guide or guides did you use to identify the relevant databases for your question?
I used Geography & Environmental Studies to do my search.

For each database you chose:

1.Which database did you choose for your search?
The database I chose for my search is JSTOR and Web of Science

2.What terms did you enter to conduct your search?
I entered in the term "Tornadoes" to conduct my search.

3.How many results did you retrieve?
I first Retrieved over 2,000 results on JSTOR and 9 results on web of science


4.If there were more than about 100 results, how did you refine your search terms to narrow your results?
In order to narrow my search I refined my search by saying "Tornadoes in the MidWest."

5.Once you got your results to around 100 (or fewer), how did you determine they were meaningful?
I determined if they were meaningful by how much the topic related to my search.

6.Which article did you choose? Give the bibliographic information for that article (I must be able to access this article).
Using the JSTOR Search I chose an article titled
"Terror of the MidWest"
Author(s):Ann Ewing
Science News Vol. 94, No. 16 (Oct. 19, 1968), p. 396
Published by: Society for Science & the Public
Stable URL: http://www.jstor.org/stable/3953622

Using the Web of Science search I chose an article titled
The tornado hazard in southern New England: History, characteristics, student and teacher perceptions
Author: Lewis TR
Source: JOURNAL OF GEOGRAPHY Volume: 105 Issue: 6 Pages: 258-266 Published: NOV-DEC 2006
IDS Number: 176ML
ISSN: 0022-1341

7.How did you determine these articles were meaningful?
I determined the articles were meaningful based on how well they fit my search.

Tuesday, February 17, 2009

Research Log Entry 2

first database:
1.Which database did you choose for your first search?
The database I chose for my first search was Britannica Online (subscription database)

2.What terms did you enter to conduct your search?
The search term that I entered was violent Tornadoes.

3.How many results did you retrieve?
I retrieved 27 results.

4.If there were more than about 100 results, how did you refine your search terms to narrow your results?
There was not more than 100 results.

5.Once you got your results to around 100 (or fewer), how did you determine they were meaningful?
To determine they were meaning I looked for keywords that were relevant to what I was searching for.

6.Which article did you choose? Give the bibliographic information for that article (I must be able to access this article).
I chose Violent Tornado
tornado." Encyclopædia Britannica. 2009. Encyclopædia Britannica Online. 17 Feb. 2009 .

7.How did you determine this article was meaningful?
I determined that this article was meaningful because It fit my search for what I was looking for.

Academic Search Premier

1.What terms did you enter to conduct your search?
The term I entered was violent and tornadoes

2.How many results did you retrieve?
I retrieved 67 results

3.If there were more than about 100 results, how did you refine your search terms to narrow your results?
There was not more than 100 results

4.What differences did you note in how you needed to manipulate your search terms in this different database?
I noted that I needed to be very specific in my search terms.

5.Once you got your results to around 100 (or fewer), how did you determine they were meaningful?
To determine they were meaning I looked for keywords that were relevant to what I was searching for.

6.Which article did you choose? Give the bibliographic information for that article (I must be able to access this article).
I chose the article Oklahoma tornado leaves 4 dead.
Author:THE ASSOCIATED PRESS
Source:New York Times;2/11/2009, pg.17,

7.How did you determine this article was meaningful?
I determined this article was meaning full based on how recent of an event it was and how the keywords fit with what I was looking for.

Friday, February 13, 2009

Unit 4, Part 1 Assignment

Research Log Entry 1

1.What three periodicals did you choose?
The three periodicals I chose were Time, American Bar Association Journal, and Journal of Comparative Psychology

2.Name three articles, one from each of the three journals you chose.
From the Time magazine I chose an article called "Wasting our Watts", By Michael Grunwald. From the American Bar Association Journal I chose an article called, "President By Chance, Chief Justice By Choice By Alpheus Thomas Mason". For the the last article from the Journal of Comparative Psychology I chose, "Impression Management Ability in Psychiatric Hospital Examples and Normals" By Charles G. Watson.

3.What are the major differences among these articles?
The major differences among each articles is their topics. For example, in the Time journal the article I chose was about energy and how there are many ways people can conserve in our day to day lives. In the American Bar Association Journal the article was about how President William Howard was the only man in American history to become both president and chief justice. In the journal of Comparative Psychology the article gives background in formation on Schizophrenia.

4.What are the major differences among these periodicals?
The major difference among each periodicals is of course the physical appearance.
The Time journal is a thin magazine with a lot of up to date information on what is going on in the world. American Bar Association Journal is a hard cover book like the Journal of Comparative Psychology but is a lot bigger with more pages.

Friday, February 6, 2009

Unit 3, Part 2 Assignment

1.Which of your questions did you try to answer?
How does a Tornado form?

2.What EXACT terms did you enter into the keyword search screen?
The term I entered first was tornadoes however I did not get what I was looking for. Therefore I narrowed my search down to "Tornado" and found the right information.

3.What subject heading did you choose to be sure your item was on target and the best
option for your search?
I chose the heading Tornadoes United States

4.What item did you eventually choose? Why?
I chose an Idem titled, "Tornado climatology of the contiguous United States". I chose this Item because I believed it would give me all the information I need about a tornado and how they not only form but effect the United States.

5.Give the bibliographic information for the item you chose.
Author-Ramsdell, J.V.
Title-Tornado climatology of the contiguous United States
Edition-2
Publish Info.-Washington, D.C. : Division of Risk Assessment and Special Projects, Office of Nuclear Regulatory Research, U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission, [2007]

6.When you looked at the reference work, what quote did you choose? Why?
I chose the quote "Tornadoes" because I believed that this would not only give me the basic background of a tornado but also other useful information as well.

7.What makes this a reference book as opposed to a regular book you might find in the
book stacks?
I think a reference book makes it much more easier to find the information a person is looking for. A regular book tends to have much more information which will take longer to find exactly what a person is looking for.

8.In looking at the material in the book and the publication date in the bibliographic information, what year do you think the information really comes from?
I think The information really comes from the early 90's considering the fact thats when a lot of tornadoes were taking place.

Tuesday, February 3, 2009

Unit 3 Assignment 1

Catalog Research

Author-Mogil H. Michael

Title -Extreme weather : understanding the science of hurricanes, tornadoes, floods, heat waves, snow storms, global warming and other atmospheric disturbances

Publ. Info- New York, Ny: Black Dog & Leventhal Publishers, c2007

LOCATION CALL NO. STATUS
Book Stacks QC981 .M65 2007 ON THE SHELF

Subject Headings
I have more entries with my subject heading search than with my keyword search.
I think they are more on target because the search had much more detail.

The difference between keyword search and subject search is with keyword you can give more detail to what you are looking for as far as the subject and with the subject search you can not.

Monday, January 26, 2009

Unit 2 Assignment 2

1.Topic String-Natural Disasters

consequence of a natural hazard which affects human activities.

Broad Topic-Earthquakes

is the result of a sudden release of energy in the Earth's Crust that creates seismic Waves.

Starting Topic-Hurricanes

Hurricanes are cyclones that develop over the warm tropical oceans and have sustained winds in excess of 64 knots (74 miles/hour).

Narrow Topic-Tornadoes

Tornadoes are rotating columns of air which is in contact with both the surface of the earth and a cumulonimbus cloud.

Narrower Topic-Tsunamis

Tsunamis are a series of waves created when a body of water is rapidly displaced.

2. Questions you can ask about your topic

A. How does Natural Disasters affect people in the world?

B. Why are there so many different Natural Disasters?

Friday, January 16, 2009

  1. What is Delicious?

    Delicious is a web tool that lets people bookmark, tag, save, manage, and share each others web pages.

  2. What is the advantage of this Web 2.0 tool?

    Some advantages of using Delicious may include


    • Saving Web Pages–You can save where you left off with out going back and searching again.

    • Tagged Web Pages– a search tool which will give results of web pages that have tags related to your search.

    • Ability to Manage Saved Web Pages – You can Organize your pages the way you would like.

  3. Do you think you might use it? If so, why? If not, why not?

    I don't think I will use Delicious because currently I use other search engines that I am already comfortable and familiar with.
  1. What question did you try to answer?

    How does music help people to relax?

  2. What terms did you select to begin?

    To begin, I selected three terms:
    1. Music
    2.
    People
    3.
    Relax


  3. What web search engine or engines did you use?

    I used Google, Yahoo! Search, and AOL.

  4. Search Techniques

    a.) What search terms did you use?

    I used different the terms “Music,” “People,” and“Relax” to conduct my search.

    b.) What search techniques did you use?

    I used BOOLEAN

    1. People Relaxing/Music
    2. “People Relaxing” +
    Music


  5. Evaluation

    a.) How did you evaluate your results?

    I used C.A.R.D.I.O. to evaluate my results.
    Currency, Authority, Relevance, Depth, Information Type & Objectivity

    b.)
    What conclusions did you draw about the different search engines?

    • What the same?

      Each search engine offered news, images, and maps

    • What was different?
      Each search engine had different search features

    • Differences in number of results

      I found that Yahoo! Search had the most results, followed by Google, and then AOL. In the first search, Yahoo! Search and Google were very close in their results. (Yahoo! Search - 31,000,000 and Google 21,100,000 ) Then AOL with the lowest search of (499,000). In the second search, Yahoo! again had the highest results (41,700). Google and AOL had low number of results (Google - 14,000 and AOL- 2,380)

    • c.) Why do you think the search engines behaved as they did?
  6. I think the reason Yahoo! turned out giving the most results is because their website is now more updated. Google being the second most updates and AOL being the last.

  7. What other questions came into your mind as you carried out this exercise?

    Another question that came into my mind was why do people turn to music to relax instead of other sources?

Friday, January 9, 2009

I. Research Log Entry – 1 point

1. There were a number of concepts presented this week.

A.) Which did you know already?

I was already aware of search engines, what a URL is and how to use it.

B.) Which were new to you?

I was unaware of what web/print resources, evaluation criteria, and Boolean Operators were.


2. If you were given a research assignment and you chose the web as one strategy for your search, name three important evaluation elements you need to consider.

If I were given a research assignment I would consider the following three evaluation elements:
1.) How current the topic was
2.) How good the article was
3.) Author and Source for the article


II. Research Log Activity and Entry

1 What question did you try to answer?

Who was the Founder of Sociology?

What search engine or engines did you use?
I used google for my search engine because I am the most familiar with this website.

    • What search terms did you use?
I used two different search terms:
1.) Founder or Origin of Sociology
2.) Founder and origin of Sociology

    • How many results did you get when you entered your terms? How many did you get when you used OR? Which set was bigger? Can you figure out why?
When I entered in Founder or Origin of Sociology google gave me 2,340,000 Results. When I entered in Founder and Origin of Sociology google gave me 263,000 Results.
I think Founder or Origin of Sociology came out bigger because I gave an option of either or which gave me more results.


5.)What questions did you use to evaluate your results?

The questions I asked was Is the information up to date? Who the author and source were? And how detailed was the information?

What conclusion did you draw about the value of the site and why?

For the most part I thought the Site was up to date and very accurate. I would use the site again for any other information.

Having conducted this research activity, what questions came into your mind that you could use to continue your exploration?

A question I had was how can everyone in the day to day world benefit from sociology?