Thing #22: Final Project Part B--Annotated Reference List

See the project assignment and sample project for details.

Due with thing #22, printed and stapled. Hand in at the reference desk by 5PM
Friday 3/9.

Questions? Contact me.

Thing #21: Final Project Part A--Narrative

See the project assignment and sample project for details.

Due with thing #22, printed and stapled. Hand in at the reference desk by 5PM
Friday 3/9.

Questions? Contact me.

Thing #20: Explore a Few Award-Winning Web 2.0 sites

As we begin to wrap up our exploration of emerging web tools & how they relate to information-seeking, we'd like you to take a look at some of the most innovative sites on the web (2.0, of course).

For this thing, you'll visit SEOmoz.org's 2006 Web 2.o Awards. Browse through the categories and find 2 sites. One should be related to information seeking or organizing, but the second is up to you (pick something fun like shopping, games, etc.)

Here are a few award-winners that I especially like.

knowmore.org: Learn about corporations' labor practices and ethics (or lack thereof) on this wiki
Stumbleupon.com: Randomly connects you with websites based on your personal interests
Rollyo.com: Create your own search engines of web sites; easily add new sites from your browser
Bloglines.com: Multi-functional RSS manager where you can blog, search for and manage feeds
Arcaplay.com: Free, online game central w/classic, puzzle, sports, action and other games

For each of your choices:

• Describe the purpose of the site
• Describe a few interesting features
• How you would use this site to track or manage information in life

Due by Monday, 2/26 @ 9PM

Thing #19: Find Periodical Articles About Your Project

Use the library databases to search periodical literature on your topic.

Types of articles you might look for include:

• Scholarly articles (from academic journals)
• Current newspaper articles
• Articles from popular magazines or trade publications

Databases to consider (Access all from A-Z list on the library web page):

• Academic Search Premier
  
• CINAHL
• Proquest Newspapers
  

Find 2 articles and provide complete APA citations. If you are having trouble with APA, see the class wiki, where I've created a resource page to assist you with APA style.

Post your citations with a brief statement (one or two sentences is fine) about why the article is a good source for you topical project.

Due Monday, 2/26 @ 9PM

Thing #18: Explore iTunesU or OpenCourseware

In the spirit of encouraging the pursuit of lifelong learning, we are asking you to take a look at some sites that provide university level educational materials free to the public. These online resources can supply extra study materials to assist you in courses at CSU East Bay as well as help you learn about new subjects once you graduate.

There are two options for this assignment. One is to take a look at OpenCourseWare at MIT. The other requires that you have the program iTunes loaded on your computer so that you can explore iTunesU. Hopefully, in the near future, CSUEB will be joining the ranks of those schools providing lectures and other materials on iTunesU.

Directions:

1. Go to one of the following: iTunesU at Berkeley OR MIT OpenCourseWare (in order to pick iTunes U, you must have iTunes installed on your computer)

2. Pick a subject and then a course within that subject.

3. Check out the materials available, listen to part of a podcast or lecture, and/or read some lecture notes/handouts.

4. Post the following to your blog:

• Name of the course and course instructor
• Two new things you learned about the subject matter covered in the course

Blog post due: Monday, February 19th by 9pm.

Thing #16: Find Some Books

Using the strategies for book selection we went over in class, find 2 books that are either about your topic or contain a significant section or chapter about your topic. Remember that ebooks "count" as books.

Although we focused on non-reference sources in class, one of your selections here may be a reference source (encyclopedia entry, handbook, dictionary, etc.). You may want to check out some of the library's online reference sources, such as the Gale Virtual Reference Library (see the A-Z list of databases).

Post APA citations for your choices. For APA examples, check here.

Use these examples to guide you through formatting your citations and, if you wish, use Noodletools to generate the citation and save it to your bibliography. With these resources at your disposal, I expect the citations to be perfect.

Due by Monday, 2/19 at 9PM

Thing #17: Podcasting

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You already learned about how RSS feeds automatically send web updates to your Google reader account. Podcasting takes this same idea of content delivery and applies it to digital media, including radio programs, videos, music, class lectures and more.

Just as web feeds are sent to your RSS reader, podcast feeds are automatically delivered to your podcast aggregator, or "podcatcher." Several of these are available online, and Apple's itunes (free) has a built-in podcatcher that downloads podcasts to your computer and syncs with your ipod. There are also several similar podcatchers you can install on your computer available here.

For this thing, you will explore the world of podcasting by finding and subscribing to a few 'casts of your choice.

1. Subscribe to 2 podcasts and listen to a few episodes. One of your podcasts has to be related to health or human biology (even better if it covers your topic), but the other one is entirely your choice. Give me the names of the podcasts, why you chose them, who makes them, and what the 'cast is about. Use one of the following options to complete this thing:

• If you have installed itunes, you can find podcasts by going to the itunes store and choosing "podcasts" from the store menu. From there, search for, browse and subscribe to podcasts.
• If you don't use itunes and prefer not to install third-party software, never fear--there's a free, web-based podcatcher/digital audio wonderland called Odeo. You'll need to create a user account, then browse or search through podcasts. When you find something you like, select "add to playlist" to subcribe.

2. What is your take on podcasting? Do you feel it is a useful method of information discovery and communication? Why or why not? (100 words minimum)

Resources:

NPR Podcast Directory
Podcast Alley
Podzinger

Thing #15: Explore Some Web-Based Applications

When you think of writing a paper for a class or creating a spreadsheet, normally the first thing that pops to mind is Microsoft Office applications: Word and Excel. In order to use these applications, you must buy and install a copy of them on your computer (or borrow someone else's computer - like in the library or other campus computer labs.). But there is another way. You know how del.icio.us allows you to take your bookmarks with you to any computer? And you can easily share those bookmarks with whomever you choose? Now it is possible for you to use an online word processor (or calendar or spreadsheet software) from any computer with internet access.

You can write a sonnet, prepare a budget, plan your wedding, create an organizational chart or presentation - and oh yeah - do your homework! You can create, edit, share and store documents online for free - no purchase necessary. Below is a list of commonly used online productivity web-based applications.

Word processing: Google docs, Zoho writer
Spreadsheets: Google sheets, Zoho sheet
Planners/calendars: Backpack, HipCal
Presentation/visual: Zoho show, Gliffy

Directions:

• Choose two applications from the list above (different types).
• Create accounts for each application (if you use the Google applications, you can user your Blogger account).
• Create a simple document/spreadsheet/presentation or make a few entries in a calendar - play around and check out the features of each application.
• Answer the following questions about each application:
  

1. Tell me about the application and what you found out while exploring it.
2. What might you use this application for in your school and personal life?
3. What special feature of this application do you like best? How does it work?

Blog post due: Monday, February 12th by 9pm.

Thing #13--Wikis and the Wisdom of Crowds

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A wiki is funny name for a user-edited online website/database. The most obvious example of a wiki is Wikipedia - a user-maintained online encyclopedia. Anyone can edit or create an entry in Wikipedia. Not all wikis work like this - often access to editing features is controlled. A wiki can be private or limited to certain users - sometimes this just means signing up as a user.

The defining feature of a wiki is the ease of creating and editing new entries or pages. A wiki allows people to communicate and collaborate with one another asynchronously. Wikis allow us to share information with each other, pool information and build on one another's knowledge. Check out a couple of these wikis (browse/search a few articles) and answer the questions below in your blog post.

wikiHow
Wikitravel
WikiMapia
MemoryArchive
or find a wiki about something that interests you at:
WikiIndex

1. What features do the the wikis that you looked at share in common?
2. What is the origin of the term "wiki"? Cite your source in correct APA style.
3. If you were to create a wiki, what would it be about and why?

Due: Monday, February 12th by 9pm.

Thing #14: Make an Entry in the Class Wiki

Okay, now that you've learned about how wikis work and how you might use them, go to the Class Wiki Site and answer the following questions. (The password to log into the class wiki is library):
javascript:void(0)
Publish
1. How is your research project going so far? Write a few sentences about your topic and what you've learned about it.

2. What area of information evaluation, research or citation management would you like to learn more about in this class?

Don't forget to sign your name so I know you've made your post. Feel free to respond to your classmates' comments and discuss any issues about the Final Project (or whatever else you feel like discussing).

Do this by 9 PM, Monday 2/12 at 9PM