Final Exam

Does the expansion of ebook options impact how much people read?

I went to Clark library and Proquest (Deep Web) with my search statement:

(e-book OR "electronic book") AND (impact OR influence) AND (consumers OR public) AND (increase OR decrease) AND read*

I had to modify the statement a couple of times (the above statement is my finished product) as I was not happy with the results (they were not as specific as I wanted) I also put my date parameters for the last 3 years as I wanted as up-to-date as I could get. 1102 results were returned. I chose a resource that was within the book industry and provides information to book publishers to help them gauge the market. I figured they would know the answer to my question.


Works Cited

Book Publishers - Quarterly Update 12/3/2012. Austin, United States, Austin: Hoover's Inc, 2012. ABI/INFORM Trade & Industry. Web. 10 Dec. 2012.

http://0search.proquest.com.oswald.clark.edu/docview/1221930879/fulltextPDF/13AECAC5FFF482D530E/1accountid=1157

This resource did cite all of their research sources and provided statistics. There was an opening statement that explained who the research company was and their customers. There is information at the end of the report to other industry websites.
Timeliness: the report was compiled in 2012, so it is current
It has a great amount of coverage and I would use this source for any research paper I was writing on the e-book issue.
It appears to be even in that it approaches the relevant issues to book publishers and does not seem to candycoat the problems. It does not seem to be biased as it succintly states the issues without delving into how to fix the problems, rather it is just presenting them for individual interpretation.
I like that the article discusses the marketing aspects of paper books and how the trend is leaning toward the ease of multimedia, mobile apps and the digital marketplace. There is a discussion of independent publishing and the overall decline in paper book sales. There is a brief discussion of Business trends and challenges. I think that this would be a great resource for quick "sound bites" and the new ideas, contacts and information that could come out of this one article.


I then put the same search statement into Google (Open Web) and came up with 154 million results! I did not find anything interesting in the first couple of pages, so I changed my search terms

(e-book OR "electronic book") AND (impact OR influence) AND (consumers OR public) AND (increase OR decrease AND statistics) AND read*site:.gov

and came up with 695,000 listings, much better to work with, plus I found a resource on the first page.


Works Cited

Survey of Ebook usage in U.S. Public Libraries.  Library Journal/ School Library Journal.  Web. 10 Dec. 2012.

 http://www.library.arkansas.gov/PublicLibraryServices/Documents/Ebook-Usage-Report-Public.pdf

The authority comes from the entity requesting the survey: Arkansas State Library. This is not a company that would have monetary gain by presenting biased information about the increased or decreased use of e-books. Resources were cited but I noticed quotes running throughout the paper and could not find the citations for those. Maybe this is not as "professional" as I first thought. The requesting agency has merit, but the performing agency may be a bit suspect...what's up Arkansas?
It is a current survey and report, but now I don't know if it would be helpful in a research paper as there is not any documentation to the libraries that were questioned in the survey. If I was actually writing this paper, I would look for another resource that had better A.S.P.E.C.T profiling.

 

 

Create a Web Page

http://twoplayfulotters.com/student/amber.html

My first web page created without using a hosting site!! I really enjoyed this experience compared to the web page I made last year to sell our house. This method let me see the inside of the process instead of just plugging information into a ready-made format. While that one was easy to create (but very time consuming), upkeep and changing is almost impossible as the site makes me go to a code page and I did not understand how to read it or how to make changes (and their support is terrible!) I don't know if I will ever make another web page...but I got to peek behind the scenes and I hope it will help me be prepared for the next time I need to make a change to my For Sale page.

I remember watching my dad when he got his first home computer, I was so excited until I saw code...of course I didn't know any better...but he had made it sound so magical and I had such high expectations; I figured it would look like the TV screen! When all that came up was a bunch of weird symbols and you had to type in everything that you wanted it to do, I lost interest. Then we get this wonderful PC and everyone wants to try it out, forget about that laborious old thing that you had to tell each step (and wait, wait, wait). I never wondered about how the internet worked or how the things got onto my computer, as long as everything worked. I now have a greater appreciation for computer geeks (my dad is the leader of the pack!)

I watched all the videos you gave us, and I even posted a couple of them on my Facebook. I told my daughters to watch them...I want them to be better informed than I was. I think they take all this technology for granted.

Thank you for sharing you knowledge

Finding Information on the Open Web

Since I missed this class and I am not sure if we are supposed to use our old search terms (I am kind of tired of them anyway) I came up with a new one...Women and ("northwest territory" or "Hudson's Bay") and clothing

1) site:.gov = 75 results.
I chose:  http://www.loc.gov/teachers/classroommaterials/connections/pacific/file.html#skip_menu on December 4, 2012.


There is not one single author as this site is actually The Library of Congress page and the specific page that came up for my search was American Indians of the Pacific Northwest. It "integrates over 2,300 photographs and 7,700 pages of text" so it is an extremely valuable source (I could spend days here).

Using A.S.P.E.C.T, the cite has Authority due to the fact that it is a Congressional entity, a National treasure, and a resource used worldwide. It has Source authority in that the collection in The Library is taken from collections from the "University of Washington Libraries, the Northwest Museum of Arts & Culture (formerly the Cheney Cowles Museum/Eastern Washington State Historical Society), and the Museum of History and Industry in Seattle."

2) site:.com = 13,200 results back; a bit more overwhelming.
I was 3 pages in before I found a site that was relevant enough for what I was looking for: http://pinterest.com/susanlgreig/metis-beading-embroidery/  This site was created by Susan L. Greig and  is a collection of other websites that have more information on my subject.

This site has is a little harder to use A.S.P.E.C.T on since it is a jumble of information, but it does have Evenness in that it has a variety of websites and does not have any commentary at all (so I cannot evaluate the authors actual feelings about the subject or the sources, but I would think that since she has made them all her favorites, that is a comment in itself). The site has value for me in that it compiles all these wonderful, possible resources for me without having to do an extensive search. The individual references have .org, .com, and .ca domain names, so it really is going to be a time saver. I went to royalalbertamuseum.ca
I was directed to the museum page that had great pictures of bead designs and utility items. Another one http://www.iti.gov.nt.ca/artscrafts/beadwork.shtml  took me to a government page that had a history of NW beading and design. I clicked on the authors PIN page and she has another page that shows the same kinds of sites, but all about the clothing. Once again, I have access to many other sites that have history and pictures for me to access. The original site may not be able to be evaluated using A.S.P. E.C.T, but many of these other sites are well within the Authority and Source guidelines as they are representative of government offices, museums and historical societies.

3) site:.edu = 243 results
I had a lot more trouble finding suitable sites (ones that had what I wanted) most of the ones brought up were basically historical accounts that might make a mention here or there of the women, I am coming to realize that women were not well documented during the formation of this country. I finally found http://onlinebooks.library.upenn.edu/webbin/book/browse?type=lcsubc&key=Indians%20of%20North%20America%20--%20Northwestern%20States&c=x
an online book resource that led me to http://catalog.hathitrust.org/Record/007414705
where I found a book that I could download. It also had a similar items block where I can find more information. I realize this is not a website that provides direct information, but I am a bit limited by what I am trying to find. I think that to find more information on my subject, I will need to use the Web to find books or online/downloadable books. I am not finding much in the way of pages that have information.
The citation information for the book is:
Sioux Indian Museum and Crafts Center., . (1987). Traditional Iroquois clothing. [Rapid City, S.D.: Sioux Indian Museum and Crafts Center.
The book has Authority in that it is sponsored by the U.S. Department of the Interior, Sioux Indian museum and crafts center.
The information on the website is Hathi trust digital library and it "is a partnership of major research institutions and libraries working to ensure that the cultural record is preserved and accessible long into the future." They have an extensive "about us" page that list their mission and goals, partners, governance, etc. that gives it Purpose.

4) site:.org = 4,330 results
On the first page I found  http://www.whiteoak.org/  (That was easy!)

The White Oak Society ©2012.

Sponsored by: Forged in Time
Web Design By: FIT Web Design

It is a site for living history and reenactment information, pictures, stories. They have Purpose in that they have a mission statement that says they strive to be accurate and update their knowledge of the past. "Our goal is to expand today’s horizons with a hands-on experience of the past." They are a non-profit. They also have high points for Coverage...They have links to books, articles and pictures that will help me in my research. They also provide photos of their own historical reenactments that will give me a lot of good references and ideas.

Since my subject is so limited and I am realizing it is going to take a lot of in-depth research and time, I think that the .com domain, while more overwhelming, is going to give me the most options...not only for direct sites but also for links to other pages that would help. I did like the .gov domain also as it will probably give me a little bit more choices for historical references as the information I am looking for is based on history and government. I think that most of the information is going to end up coming from books.

Thoughts on searching tools

It is amazing to me just how in-depth the activity of searching can be. I have spent most of my adult life learning the very basic basics of computers and thought that I had mastered all I needed to know. I was a little skeptical about this class in the beginning, what else could I possibly need to know? I had gotten this far!
This class has been very useful and informative...I am really excited about all the information that I have picked up and I will use for not only personal projects, but, hopefully (in the near future) graduate school. My children have been out of school for over 6 years now, but I do not remember any class that covered this kind of material, in fact, I am using what I have learned this quarter to help my youngest with her research for WSUV! There should be a requirement for a class like this prior to graduation (but I have many thoughts on the curriculum of High Schools)
I did not know that the Internet and the WWW were 2 different things, and I was not aware of any other search tools other than Google and Yahoo! I did not even really understand how they worked. Coincidentally, I learned in a business class that Google was supposed to be called googol (a mathematical term)...I always wondered...
The Southern Oregon University page that we used for information on the search tools is going to be very helpful to me when I no longer have access to Clark library. It also provides tutorials and other information directed at how to use the internet.
I added all the websites that were provided in this weeks IRIS tutorials to my bookmarks menu. They will become a valuable addition to my arsenal:)
I am especially interested in the directories and finding more specific links about archaeology.

Focus on Search Engines and Web Sites

Search Engine/Tool

I started off trying Exalead but did not get very far...everything that I entered basically sent me to other web sites, mainly Google or Yahoo! I had the same results with Duck Duck Go. (After spending about an hour looking at the other pages, I came back to Exalead and tried again. I found the following only after I quit trying the search bar and clicked on the Advanced Search button off to the right of the search bar. I went back to Duck Duck Go and Quintura, but they did not have this search button)

What are you looking for?

• Exact Phrases e.g. "to be or not to be"
• Exact Words e.g. +the godfather
• Optional Terms e.g. cow OPT mad
• Exclude Terms e.g. star -movie
• Proximity Search e.g. movie NEXT star
• Logic e.g. (movie AND star) OR (famous AND people)
• Phonetic Search e.g. soundslike:shakespear
• Approximate spelling Search e.g. spellslike:exlaead
• Choose a language    e.g. movie star language:en

Where do you want to find it?

• Site Search e.g. movie star site:flickr.com
• Title Search e.g. intitle:"official website"
• URL Search e.g. inurl:music
• Link Search e.g. link:www.exalead.com

In which period of time are you interested?

• Search Before a Date e.g. movie star before:2004/05/21
• Search After a Date e.g. movie star after:2004/05/21 

 Exalead seems like it would be a worthwhile investment of my time. 
1) By using the advanced search button, the site gives you direction within the search bar. This is a lot different from the popular websites in that you have to know the format first for the searches on their pages.
2) I also like that there are a lot of options to help you search, such as phonetic search and search by date.
3) You can choose the language to search results by. You get returns for pages that are only in that language (mostly)
4) Across the top of the search bar are buttons that allow you to search within Wikipedia, Images, Web or Videos. If you choose one of those buttons, it does limit your search options that are shown above, but it only returns those specific sites.
5) The site allows you to add a bookmark.(I am not sure of this function) 
I think that I will use this on my next paper as it gives me a bit more control and I am interested to see how it stacks up against Google and Yahoo! I like that the site gives you prompts to help you to define your search without having to know Boolean. Even though I understand the concept, sometimes it is time consuming to think of all the different ways you need to search and the different ways you need to enter words. This tool would be useful in the design stages of your research. It would allow you to get more generalized information and to collect ideas to direct your research.

Quintura was interesting in that it had what they call a tag cloud...the main subjects to search were "floating" underneath the search bar and if you clicked on one of them it would take you to the list of sites to choose from. The CEO thinks it is a revolutionary way to search as " most people just want Boolean running in the background" and they do not want to learn the intricacies of searching. I think that the kids search was especially brilliant in that they only offer the kids sites that have been content filtered and offer safe browsing. The biggest problem with Quintura is that it is primarily in Russian. Even when they have English, they have a Russian language "enter" button and you have to guess to enter the page.

Google and Yahoo support their own pages that offer help and suggestions. I could not find these corresponding pages in the off-use engines.


Lycos
The site itself did not offer any suggestions for searching, no matter how many ways I phrased it. I don't know if I am doing something wrong...I finally wrote Lycos search tips and was given several choices to direct me to other sites that offered advice and I chose http://www.unm.edu/~brosen/search/lycos.htm. The following is the only writing that was on the page:

• Comprehensive--good for obscure topics.
  
• Does not allow exact phrase searching.
  
• Can use "and," and "or" (the default). Can match 2, 3, 4, 5, 6 or 7 terms.
  
• Use the "-" symbol to create a "not" search.
  
• Automatically truncates a word, for example, bank will retrieve banks, banking, bankers, etc. Use a period after the search term to retrieve an exact match, for example, bank. will retrieve only documents with the word "bank".

I typed in Lycos search operators and was given a list of sites including http://websearch.about.com/od/enginesanddirectories/a/lycos.htm
which gave the advice to be as specific as possible in the search terms. It also had a link to http://websearch.about.com/od/internetresearch/a/boolean.htm
that listed boolean terms in general.  About.com also commented that Lycos "has evolved from providing its own search results to piggybacking on Ask.com." The author at About.com continues on to say that "Lycos is more of a content hub than a search engine destination. This is not to say that you can't find things using Lycos; but that your time at Lycos probably would be better spent utilizing their fun features (Lycos 50, Lycos Entertainment, etc.)"



Metasearch tool 

I chose Yippy from the tools page, but it came up with its old name: Clusty. I entered Chihuahua and got results that look a lot like when I enter a search on Google.
1)The thing that is most different is that Yippy has topics or divisions for the subject of your search so that you can narrow to specific searches such as if you only wanted pictures or info about breeders. In Google, you have to look through all the listings to search out the specifics.
2)There is also an advanced search tool much like on Google that allows ease of searching in that you don't have to enter Boolean.
3) I like that there is a dictionary definition at the top of the page.
4) If you click on details, Yippy gives you the sources where they got all their information...That is really interesting and they have a link to each of the sources so you can go directly to it.
5) One more really cool feature is the choices along the top bar. The news tab will give you results from news stories that have your search subject in them; the same with the other tabs like maps and jobs (shows you job offers that specifically mention your search term.)
I then went to Yippy and was given the same page as Clusty, but with the Yippy tag at the top...very interesting. They are operating two pages with the same information returned just different company names at the top.
I like this tool and will definitely use it the next time I am working on a paper, I will be able to refine my results and it will eliminate looking through so many returns (like what I get on Google) Even though I have been using Boolean terms for searches, Google is not real friendly with this method. I have been trying out different engines like Chrome. Boolean seems to work the best with the school library and the results are more suited for academic research. When you know what you are looking for, this is the best tool to use so that you can get more direct results.

Subject Directories/Virtual Libraries

Eduframe seemed interesting: but, just like the introduction warned, it is hard to use. I like that these tools are more targeted information than I would get from the other two search tools (and, by design, probably a lot more accurate) My search felt more personal and directed me to the information that I needed without having to filter through a bunch of unneeded sites.  
1) This is a useful tool in that it puts a bunch of resources together. If you were looking only in Google, you may not know what to look for. This gives you several choices that you may overlook using other, more popular resources.  I don't necessarily agree with some of the group headings, you need to really play with this site if you are going to use it for a research paper.
2) There is contact information on the first page, you don't have to go searching. I think that is because the editor wants input from his users. I wonder how open he is to suggestions and it he makes any changes based on these inputs, even though it shows there have been no changes since 2007? I did find that the links he uses are kept up-to-date with relevant dates and information. (for example; a job site for actresses and actors in the career section)
3) Under EDU2, for example, there is a search function and a helper link that give you more information. This is not available for all the subjects. Some of the subjects have an "add a link" button.
4) I  breaks down the categories into much smaller bites that get you more direct information. But you need to spend quite a bit of time looking through all the titles and playing around with the links to find what you need.
5) There is a page that gives you links to contacts such as blogs, registries and forums where you can communicate with others that have your interests.
 This is a resource that I will most certainly use as I found many sites and references for archaeology. I have not found this many using Google. I am really excited about finding this and it was purely luck that I chose this tool to look at. I am going to look at the other subject directories to see what else I can find!

 

 

 

Finding Articles in Periodical Indexes

I chose to use Pro Quest for this weeks assignment

(internet OR "world wide web" OR communicat*)   AND (millitary OR "armed forces") AND (strateg* OR tactic* ) AND (secret  OR covert)

and came up with 8787 results, this is a bit much, but a lot more than I was finding before, so I am going to run with this group for the homework :)

The popular magazine:

Derene, Glenn. "The Coming Digital War." Popular Mechanics 2008: 72,n/a. ProQuest Research Library. Web. 9 Nov. 2012 . 

This article was interesting in that it went all the way back to military tactics used in the civil war to interrupt communications and befuddle the enemy. There is much to learn from how we sabotage our own system. This is where "the concept of network information warfare was born." The article also talks briefly about specific possible cyber attacks and how they would manifest along with our countermeasures. It appears to be a well-written and informed article that would give me a lot of other ideas to incorporate or even to change my original direction.

Scholarly journal:

Roger, W. Barnett. "Information Operations, Deterrence, and the use of Force." Naval War College Review 51.2 (1998): 7-19. ProQuest Research Library. Web. 9 Nov. 2012. 

I chose this article because it talks about information warfare (IW) being both defensive and offensive. It allows me to delve into another aspect of my topic in that we are not just trying to protect our information, but the same technology also allows us to look at other countries secrets. It also talks about the different kind of programs that would facilitate our protections.

1. This article also shows the authors credentials and affiliations which all lend credibility to his ability to speak authoritatively on this subject.
2. There is a footnote page which details where he got his information and provides additional details not covered in the text.
3. The journal is published by a Navy college, which lends it instant credibility and authority.

Newspaper:
 

James, W. C. "Pentagon Brass Take Aim at Armed Forces Internet Sites | New Rules Intended to Preserve Security by Reducing Content." The San Diego Union - Tribune: 0. Dec 15 1998. Western Newsstand. Web. 9 Nov. 2012 .

This article is a little bit old, but it was updated in 2010. I was not able to get much information from the abstract so I had to use Find It! There isn't an article available online; I even went to the web page for The San Diego UT, but they did not have it either.  Irregardless, it promises to give me some valid data on some actual IW and the suggestion that internet security could fall under the heading of The War On Terrorism, so I would request the article to be mailed to me.

Summary:

There were several other articles that I would definitely pursue if I was actually writing this paper; so, the new information I have collected from this class, ie. how to write out my question using Boolean, has given me a considerable advantage. This is evident from my first uninformed attempts at writing a search statement and the considerable frustration I felt when it appeared that I would not have an easy time finding the information I needed...I foresaw many long nights of reading over useless search results trying to gleam a little bit of information that I could spin for my use.

Database Feature and Searching Techniques

Before I start the assignment, I just wanted to comment on the video "search smarter search faster" at http://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=player_embedded&v=Oa66AxTbjxA
it was very entertaining and helpful. I posted it on my Facebook to share with my friends (along with medieval help desk)


Part 1:
Will presidential election reform solve the issues with the Electoral College and the popular vote?
     Presidential and election and reform and "electoral college" and "popular vote"
     Presidential and elect* and reform and elect* and college and pop* and vote
     Presidential and elect* and (reform or elect* or college or pop* or vote)


What are the similarities between the Great Depression of the 1930s and the current economic problems?
     "Great Depression" and 1930 and current and economic
     Great and Depression and 1930 and current and 2012 and econ*
     ("Great Depression" or 1930) and 2012 and econ*
     ("Great Depression" or 1930) and (current or 2012) and econ*

How much more can a college graduate expect to earn over someone with a high school diploma?
     "college graduate" and earn and "high school diploma"
     ("college graduate" or undergraduate or graduate) and earn* and "high school diploma"
     ("college degree" or "college graduate" or undergraduate or graduate) and
     (earn*or financ* or salary) and "high school diploma"

What breeds of dogs make good therapy pets?
     dogs and therapy and pet
     dog* and (therap* or treatment or rehab*)  and (pet or companion)

How much of current scientific breakthroughs were influenced by science fiction?
     "scientific breakthroughs" and influenced and "science fiction"
     scien* and (breakthrough* or discover* or innovat* or invent*) and influenc* and scien*
     and (ficti* or litera* or novel)

Part 2:

How will increased internet access and world-wide communication affect the military's ability to keep strategies and movement secret?

 

(internet or "world wide web" or communicat*) and (millitary or "armed forces") and (strateg* or stratag* or plan or tactic* or policy) and (secret or clandestine or covert)