Unit 10

I didn't do much to the original template. I added my own input, deleted some unnecessary paragraphs, and changed the color of the last sentence. Like it says on the image, i never really knew how to properly use the tags or create my own web page. I did have a basic understanding, but now I have a much deeper knowledge on html formatting. Now when I visit other webpages I will be looking at the setup and thinking about how it was made, the steps involved, and a lot of the smaller things that I would have never glanced at before (color, font, etc...). This assignment was a real eye-opener for me, and I think the knowledge I gained will be very handy for me in my future with computers, technology, and the web. 

Unit 9

I just used Google for my search engine with "internet benefit society" as my search.

.gov - I was not able to find a site that related to my topic on the .gov top-level domain. I kept getting topics about social security benefits.

.edu - The Internet: Boon or Detriment to Society? by Rob Purdy.
I felt this was credible because the author showed a clear purpose. Also, he showed evenness and coverage because he went over not only the benefits but the negative effects, and also went over very specific areas of who can benefit and who can get negative effects.

.com -  10 Life-changing Benefits of the Internet Age. By Bob Bessette.
I felt this was credible because it gave a clear purpose as well as coverage. It basically covered the most popular aspects of the internet, how they're used, what they're used for, and how it helps people.

.org - No title. By Bruce Hahn.
This article felt credible because it had authority and sources. It was created by an organization that has a reputation to uphold. It was more narrow and focused on how the internet helps students and how the internet's expansion is changing things.


I felt this activity was interesting. Reading about the difference between the top-level domains helps you understand, but actually going out and researching a topic using them really shows you the difference. The best TLD for my particular topic I think would be .edu, it gave the most choices as wel as the most relevant articles.

Unit 8

I used Google as my search tool.

There are many search features that Google has. Under their advanced search it has separate boxes to help you with your search. It gives examples of what and how to type your specific search. For example, if researching tricolor rat terrier a basic search would be exactly that, for an exact phrase you would use quotations "rat terrier." To go deeper into your search and search for certain words with your search you can type miniature OR standard, or for words you don't want in your results use a minus sign -rodent. Also, you can use a search tool if you want a specific range of numbers 10..35 lb  $300..$500. These are just a few search tools that you can use in Google, there are also many others. You can search by language, region, file type, site or domain, last update, etc...

Unit 6

Search Terms Used: Internet

Brockman, John. Is the Internet changing the way you think? : the net's impact on our minds and future. New York: Harper Perennial, 2011.

Subject Headings: Internet - Social aspects

Circulating Book

Call Number: TK5105.875.I57 I8 2011

I believe this book is credible due to a couple things. Every year they post a new question to be answered by scientist, historians, philosophers, etc... For this particular book the question was "How is the Internet changing the way you think?" It's not being answered by just an average joe in other words, I'm sure that there is also input by anyone from anywhere, but the goal is to get input from credible sources. Also, it was published in New York, and was published very recently, in 2011. It included input from over 170 essayists. 

SUMMIT RESEARCH

Search Terms Used: Internet Society

Slevin, James. The Internet and Society. Malden, MA: Polity, 2000.

Related Subjects: Internet -- Social aspects, Computers and Civilization, Information society, Internet -- aspect social.

I believe this book is credible because it is fairly recent, and there are multiple reviews on the book. One of the reviews it an editorial review and it explains how sophisticated, well informed, and well based from a previous scholarship.

One of the biggest differences I noticed between the library catalog and the summit catalog was the number of results that showed up with the same search. Of course, summit had a lot more because it searches a number of WA and OR libraries. Other than that, they both came up with a lot of relevant books, and had a lot of information in regards to the summary, publishing, author, etc...

IT PRO

With IT Pro, you can narrow your results down to basically exactly what you're looking for. It gives you three separate areas you can type in keywords for what you're searching for, and from there you can choose if you want it to contain all words, any words, exact phrase, etc...
Google Books

Search Terms Used: Internet Society

Bakardjieva, Maria. Internet Society: The Internet In Everyday Life. Thousand Oaks, CA: SAGE Publication, 2005.

I believe it is trustworthy because Google lets you preview a certain amount of pages of the book. It lets you basically sample it, and you can read about the summary, publication, author, etc...

SUMMARY

I learned that there are numerous credible databases that are available to me. They are all similar, have similar results, and are easy to use, but they all have different ways of letting you view the book.  Also, each had their own ways that you could narrow down your search. Some searched a lot of databases while Clark's Library, for example, let you search their particular library only. So if you wanted local information, or global, you can find it with many different research databases, for free!

Unit Five

 PART 1
1. Is a vegetarian diet healthier than a meat-based diet?
"Vegetarian diet" AND healthier AND "meat diet"

2. Are big box stores like WalMart and Target good for the economy?
WalMart AND Target AND Economy

3. Should educators use commercial services to combat plagiarism?
Educat* AND "commercial services" AND plagiarism

4. What breeds of dogs make good therapy pets?
Breeds AND dogs AND therapy

5. Debate the pros and cons of fish farming
Pros AND Cons AND "fish farming"

PART 2
Does the internet have positive or negative benefits on society?
Internet AND Benefits AND society
Internet AND "positive negative" AND benefits

Research Questions

What social impacts does the Internet have on us?
 My first choice would be to use the World Wide Web to find a reliable source It is such a broad topic so there would be many possible resources and subcategories to find. I would also consider using a book or magazine. Certain books and magazines that focus on technology would probably have some good information on this topic.

What modern uses do we have for the internet?
I would use a subject encyclopedia. An encyclopedia would give in-depth information on all the uses available to us from the internet. Other than that, I would use the World Wide Web as well as web-based news because they are updated regularly. 

Does the internet have positive or negative benefits on society?
I would use newspapers,  web-based news, books, and magazines. This is a social topic, so most social media of some sort would probably have some information on this.

Summary

I learned that there are many different creditable databases that are available to the public. Not just Wikipedia and Gale Virtual Reference Library (GVRL), but hundreds if not thousands of places or sites that anyone can find articles and information about any topic they desire. Wikipedia is more a mesh of information on a particular topic, while I felt GVRL was more information that was article based that was written and published. I'm not trying to devalue the information on Wikipedia, because there is a lot of very good information that is easily found on that site, but sometimes you can't always be sure that Wikipedia is 100% accurate. I thought some of the things on Wikipedia were very interesting, in regards to the internet. Some of those topics I've never really put any thought into. For example, the impact the internet has on society, as well as the important things that we use the internet for. The internet is for much more than just browsing for information when bored, it does a lot more than most people probably think. I believe it is a very important part to everyday living, not just locally, but globally across the entire world.