Week Four

Summary Of Lecture:

In today's lecture we looked at the differences between the Web and the Internet, the historial perspective of the Web and the defining what exactly the WWW is. The Web we found out was by Tim Berners-Lee in the year 1989. He developed it orginally to enable people in his network to share research information with one another.





Summary of Tutorial:

In the tutorial today we viewed two different sites http://www.haggishunt.scotsman.com/, http://www.molossia.org/ and were asked to discuss each website's authenticity. We had to find at least four clues as to how we could tell that the websites were a "hoax" or a "spoof". Once completed the next task was to write down what we would expect from the website http://www.martinlutherking.org/ before we opened it and viewed its contents. Then after we opened the page and wrote down our first impressions of the website we were asked what we actually thought of the website and why you would think it was written the way it was. Personally i thought it was a racist website but everyboday is entitled to their own opinion on the subject.



How have the websites attempted to appear authentic?

They have tried to appear authentic with references, date of publishment and how recently it is updated and also that you are able to contact them with any queries you may have.



Four clues that give away each site as being a spoof?

On the haggis hunt website the first clue to give away that it is a spoof is that haggis is actually sheep's stomach and is not an animal. Clue two is that all the facts and history is incorrect. Clue three is that they say the "haggis" live with the "lochness monster" which is not true any how. Clue four is the mispelling of simple words throughout the website.



On the molossia website the first clue which gives away that it is not authentic is that molossia is not even a country or place on earth. Clue two is there is no such thing as a Intermicronational Geophysical Year or ImGY. Clue three, absurd made up stories such as "On the evening of July 3rd, 1999 XXII, covert forces from the United States crossed the Molossian Frontier without permission and buried a dead dog in sovereign Molossian territory". Finally clue four is that the republic of molossia claimed to buy a section of water in the North Pacific Ocean for$25.00.



Before visiting www.martinlutherking.org, what did you expect to find on it based on the URL?

I expected to find an outline of Martin Luther King's life or an autobiography on himself. Based on the URL it is an organization dedicated to him that has created this website.

After visiting the site, what was your first impression of it?

That the site is very one sided and bias. I believe it is not an accurate portrayal of Martin Luther King.

Reading 1 Summary- ‘A brief history of the internet’

This reading briefly sums up the internet and what it has become in today's modern society. The internet was primarily used only as a means to aquire academic sources or reaseasrch but now it has become harder in some ways to locate certain sources on the internet due to "spam" and misleading information being put on websites. This is largely due to the fact that the internet can not exactly be "monitored" all the time. The reading also explains in detail how the sharing of information went from being just shared between two people 10 kilometre's away, to people being millions of kilometre's away and being able to share alot of information via the internet.

Reading 2 Summary- ‘ History of the World-wide Web’

This website is broken up into seperate chapters. These chapters explain the development of computers, history of the world wide web and it how it has become what it is, electronic mail, search engines and basic net data. These seperate web pages explain how these applications changed the way reasearch and contacting each other was done and how it has evolved over the years to become more sophisticated.

Screen Shots:

Week Three

Summary Of Lecture:

In today's lecture we were told all about Online Librarie's and Database's and how we can use them to our advantage for research. Using the Online Database's makes it more convenient and more accessible to everyone (easier to copy, paste and to take notes from). A few types of Online Database's are Journals, Electronic Book and also Electronic Artworks. On the down side of Online Librarie's some sources and pages could be out-dated and some pages or sites you may have to pay and subscribe to. The artwork is orginal which is good but because it is original it could have a low resolution and therfore making it harder to see every bit of detail. Today's lecture also included how things have changed in terms of libraries in 300BC to online libraries now days and the advantages and disadvantages of both of the two. With the use of online libraries access is more readily available although it can be hard at time to navigate your way through the page to find what it is that you are looking for. Always remember the copyright and plagiarism laws when viewing and taking notes from these sources as well.




Summary Of Tutorial:

In the tutorial we learnt how to use ECU's online library service's and were asked to locate an online journal on the economic impact of global warming on business. Once this was completed we were asked to visit the MEDline plus website and spend some time going through the health topics and drug information.

10 useful functions/search tips

Natural Language- One of the easiest methods, just enter a full sentence ( your assignment topic) as your search query and the software should translate it into a search for that database.

Keyword Searching- A common method involved for searching the internet. Enter selected words making sure spelling is correct and plurals because only exact matches will come up.

Boolean Searching- Boolean searching is a system of linking terms with commands known as operators to specifiy the relationship between the terms in the search request. These operators are (AND, OR, NOT, NEAR, WITHIN and ADJ).

Modified Boolean Searching- A series of symbols is used, rather than operators, to specify the relationship between the terms in the search request. An examples is "a phrase being enclosed in commas".

Using Search Screen Tools- Read the search screens of the search tool you wish to use carefully as they often offer extra search features

Be Specific- For example use early childhood education not just education or use global warming not just environment

Medline plus users

The website http://www.medlineplus.gov/ would be used by people who work in the medical field and would use it if they were uncertain of a diagnosis of a disease or something to that effect. Medlineplus is a trusted source which can direct you to information that can help answer any health questions you have.

Reading 1 Summary- ‘Finding what you want on the web’

Bill Thompson explains how he has used only Google as his primary search engine for years but now wants to expand his horizons and use other search engines to find either better sources or more credible sources. Bill explains some of the fundamentals of being able to find exactly what it is you are looking/searching for on the internet.

Reading 2 Summary- 'Bare Bones Lesson 7: Basic Search Tips'

This website and in particular the bare bones lesson 7 web page explains different techniques on how to find what you are looking for when using search engines. The whole website is devoted to helping people evaluate websites and to find exactly what it is they are looking for by a means of using search engines.

Blog For Week Two

Summary Of Lecture:

In today’s lecture we were told about what PC’s are commonly used for and which applications are used for what. PC’s are most commonly used for handling files, word processing, spread sheets, presentations, internet access, e-mails and to view PDF’s. Some of the general skills needed are the knowledge regarding which applications suit the specific task at hand and how to specifically use that application.


Summary Of Tutorial:

For today's tutorial we used Microsoft Word and learnt how to adjust the Typeface, Margins & Alignment, Line Spacing, Create Headings and to put a Footer and Header on a page. Next we opened Microsoft Excel. We were given a template of a table which we had to create ourself and include numbers in this table. After this from the table we were able to create a Pie Chart and Column Graph. This is very useful how to know because these types of applications are commonly used in the workforce by everyone.








Reading 1 Summary- ‘Using MS Word for APA tasks’

This PDF is a self explanitory tutorial in which the user learns many different techniques on how to set out work and the formatting of work in Microsoft Word. It goes step by step on what to do from back spacing or deleting work all the way through to customizing your toolbar to suit your needs and creating dot leaders for contents page's. This is useful for anyone who is to create a profesionaly typed and set out document.


Reading 2 Summary- ‘Graphic File Formats’

Today's reading was on file formats and what they are and mean. The most commonly used file format we will be using is JPEG. JPEG file formats are used mostly to display images on the internet. The other types of file formats pictures are saved in are as follows: Bitmap (.bmp), which is the standard Windows image format for PC's. If an image is to be saved as a desktop it would be saved as a bitmap image. Compuserve or (.gif) is a compressed format which is designed to minimize file transfer over phone lines. The Tagged Image File Format (.tiff) is used as an exchanging of files between computer platforms such as Macintosh and Windows (PC's) computers, this is because the file format is compatible with both types of applications. Photoshop Document or (.psd/.psp/.spp) are image formats that can be layed ontop of one another like pieces of paper. If image one has a picture on it and image two has text on it image two can be layed ontop of image one and both images will still be visible or vice versa.