Assessment 1- Resource Project - Completed

I finalised my assessment tonight in the form of a web page.

The URL is http://au.geocities.com/jezza_n_99/resource.html

I found the assessment challenging, however i am utilising the resources i have found in my current position, which is great. I am not sure how i confident i feel with the assessment, so we will see how it goes over the next few weeks.

Assessment 1- Resource Project

The assessment continues. I have made fairly good progress so far. I have written each of my annotations and am now adding them to my final Web Page which is the format i have chosen.
I have made an index page, which will lead to all of the assignments.

I will upload this into my presentation area as well as some free hosting space so i can keep all my work together.

Here is the link to the hosting space with Geocities: http://au.geocities.com/jezza_n_99/

Assessment 1- Resource Project

I have spent most of this week working on my resource project. I have found it a bit of a challenge, as i was not familiar with APA referencing, so i had to focus on this first before moving forward.

I am making steady progress with the resources, and have found the discussion board very handy with confirming some of my questions and thoughts, especially in regards to referencing and structure.

I am hoping to finish the draft by Monday, and then will start to finalise the published version.

Module 3 Task- FTP Upload Task

I finally managed to get the CoreFTP program to upload my web page into the Curtin Server. I also installed the Curtin VPN so i could view the site.

It is great to finally have it all working. I used FTP with my Geocities account this morning as well to complete listing for eBay. It is definitely a time save.

URL: http://www.student.curtin.edu.au/~13769860

Module 4 Tasks Contd

Evaluating the Web

Annotation

Title: Computer Basics, The Internet and Tutorials
URL: http://peds2.med.miami.edu/mailman/basic.htm
Author: Department of Pediatrics
Institution: University Of Miami

The main purpose of the site is to provide information in regards to the Computer Basics, The Internet and Tutorials. The site has been published by the University of Miami and the author is the Department of Pediatrics, which would suggest that it is designed to provide factual information to the medical students within the Department of Pediatrics within the University of Miami.

The site is mainly made of tutorials, ranging from simple computer operations to advanced searching and internet use. It provides links to many credible sites including Microsoft and many of the search engines and academic reference sites. Tutorials are supported with external links to actual sites or programs of interest and images are also provided through some of the steps.

The site covers the advanced internet users topic by providing different levels of support, depending on the individuals computer and internet knowledge. For example it brought to my attention some basic computer operation techniques, that i had forgotten.

The information provided within the site is current, with the last update being the 14th December 2006. The links within the site are functional, providing very up to date information and support. While there are no reviews on the site, it does link to many credible sites including Microsoft, major search engines, academic libraries and other academic and university sites.

Using the A9 Search function, also gives and indication of the traffic coming to the site and the related search results, which included many of the top US universities.

I have no hesitation in using the information on the site, as it is proven to be credible and factual through the evaluation process i have undertaken.

1. in terms of your own future use, which 'body ' of information (ie. the original 'snapshot' of the site, or your own, annotated, analytical version) would be most useful to refer back to?

I would in the future take special note of the author, publisher, about the site and mission statment of the site, as this is a great indicator of how credible or what 'purpose' the site will have and whether it is an 'advocacy', 'commercial' or 'information/reference' site.

2. In term of external users (i.e. if you included this site as a hyperlink or resource on a website) which body of information would best help them judge if the site was useful or of interest to them?

Similar to the answer above. I would think that the about the site and mission of the site would be the body of information that would help them best to judge whether the site was useful or of interest to them.

Module 4 Tasks Contd

Organising Search Information Task

Choose the best three sources found in the previous task.

Site 1:

Title: Computer Basics, The Internet and Tutorials
URL: http://peds2.med.miami.edu/mailman/basic.htm#top
Author: Department of Pediatrics
Insitution: University Of Miami

This site was found using MetaCrawler with the search string advanced AND internet AND users with the .edu variable in place. The site is mainly tutorial based with tutorials extending from basic computer use to advanced internet use and search techniques.


Site 2:

Title: Advanced Internet Users Tutorial - CIESE - Tutorial Information
URL: http://www.k12science.org/tutorials/advanced/
Author: Stevens Institute of Technology
Insitution: Center for Improved Engineering and Science Education

This site was also found on MetaCrawler with the search string 'advanced AND internet AND users', however not just within the .edu variable.


Site 3:


Title: BUBL LINK Catalogue of Internet Resources
URL: http://bubl.ac.uk/index.html
Author: BUBL Information Service, Centre for Digital Library Research
Insitution: Strathclyde University, Glasgow G1 1XH, Scotland

This site was found through Google using the search string 'skills + advanced internet users'. It provided a site from the University of Glasgow Scotland which had a catalogue of approx 20 resources for internet user education. These resources varied from networking, searching the internet to netiquette. It was quite a unique site.

Zotero

For all of the above sites, i used Zotero to collect and save the information needed. Zotero lets you save a snap shot of the site, so it can be viewed and used off line. It also records all of the site information such as Title, URL, Author and other detailed information. There is a note function, which allows you to write notes about the site, and why it has been saved. I have done this so in know which resource belongs to which module i have completed.

This makes it easier for me completing the resource project, as i can view the page and notes about that page. I can also refer back to the page off line if i need to, and make notes as i am going along. This saves a lot of hassle as i read through the site and have a notes pages open typing as i read.

I can also break the pages into collections using the left hand 'Collections' panel. I have done this to differentiate between the sites i have been keeping for my resource project and also this Module 4 task.

A snapshot of Zotero in action on my computer is below:

Module 4 Tasks Contd

Searching the Web

Boolean Search Task

"Taking the same key words of your last search, think about how you would best search for the following:"

• the biggest number of hits relating to these key words

'advanced OR internet OR users' returned 2,850,000,000 results in Google.

• sources relating to skills-based information on these key words.

For this search i used Metacrawler and searchedadvanced AND internet AND users AND skills. It came up with 87 results, which appeared to be relevant to skills-based information.

• information coming only from university sources

For this i used Metacrawler again, however i selected the option to search only .edu documents. It came up with 49 results by searching 'advanced AND internet AND users'

Module 4 Tasks

Searching the Web

Search Engine task

After a bit of research in regards to the search engine task i completed tonight, i changed my view on why Copernic returned only a small number of searches.

I read through my text book titled 'The Internet' (Thomson Course Technology, Gary P. Schneider and Jessica Evans) and came to the conclusion that a Meta-Search Engine such as Copernic combines the strengths of various search engines utilising the most relevant responses from each of those search engines. A meta search engine does not have a data base of information, however takes your search query and searches through other engines to find the information you are looking for.

Module 4 Tasks

Tools for the Web

Downloading tools/plug-ins

• Shockwave/Flash plug-ins

I already had the Flash plug-in installed, however not the shockwave plug-in. I decided to install the shockwave plug-in as well as these tools are increasingly important for effective web site viewing and utilisation. We designers and creators are using these technologies more and more with the increase of faster internet speeds.

Without these plug-ins installed, we can not view flash or shockwave animations and applications and this will effect out web experience.

• Search Manager/Combiner- Copernic

I downloaded Copernic as it seemed to be the most comprehensive and user friendly. The beauty of this application is that you can search your entire computer as well as other things such as emails and also the web, directly from your desktop. This saves time in completing multiple searches. Searching is made even easier with a search bar located within the tool bar of your browser, so you don't have to move to a separate screen.

• Offline Browser/Copier

These tools are great, and i have needed a tool like this in the past when i have not had access to the internet, but wanted to view a web page. It is a great idea if you know you are going somewhere that may not have the internet, and where you need to be able to view we pages.

I think that this type of program would benefit business people as they can still complete work and research site when they are traveling, or when there is not internet available. Students can also utilise this as they can copy the information to their computer, and then recall it at a later stage when studying etc.


Searching the Web

Search Engine Task

Advanced Internet Users

• Google- approx 123 000 000 hits
• Copernic- 47 Hits

There was a massive difference in hits between the two. From what i can see, Google has brought up pages which had either 'Advanced', 'Internet' or 'Users' within their meta data and page data. Copernic seemed to only bring up the results which contained all 3 words within their meta data or page data.

At a first glance, Copernic would appear to be the one with perhaps the most promising results, however you would have to look into the results further to make a better judgement.

Top 5 results for each search

Google

1. Advanced Internet Users Tutorial - CIESE

2. Advanced User's Internet Training Resources

3. Advanced Internet Users, School of Continuing Education ...

4. News @ Cisco: China Supports Advanced Applications for Internet ...

5. StatCounter Free invisible Web tracker, Hit counter and Web stats

Copernic

1. Advanced Internet Users Tutorial- CIESE (alltheweb.com, ask.com, AOL search, Lyco, Yahoo, Alta Vista)
2. Designing for advanced users (alltheweb.com, Yahoo, Alta Vista)
3. Internet users judge web sites in less than a blink/CNET News.com (MSN web search)
4. The Occasional Company (Enhanced Interactive)
5. Advanced Internet Users Tutorial - CIESE- Saving Web Pages (ask.com, Lycos)
   

Module 3 Tasks contd

Blogs

As i am using a blog for my learning log, i decided to take a print screen of the first post in this learning log. I have used Blogger.com for this as it is very easy to use and update. You can use also use HTML to create the blogs.


Top 5 blogging tips for beginners:

I have compiled these tips from my own experience and from articles i have read through this module. I feel that these are the most important tips.

1. Short, scannable blogs. Will help in keeping the reader interested.
   
2. Frequent entries. They must be relevant and interesting. Not just there to make up the numbers on the blog.
   
3. Posts should 'get to the point' within the first 2-3 sentences.
   
4. Catchy, informative titles.
   
5. Catchy, yet simple and easy to read format and theming.