Thing #20: Find current information about your topic

Use the library databases to search the 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 the A-Z List):
- Academic Search Premier
- Proquest Newspapers
- Lexis-Nexis
- Political Science Abstracts

Find 2 articles and provide complete APA citations. Post your citations with a brief statement (one or two sentences is fine) about why the article is a good source for your project.

Blog post due: Wednesday, 2/28 by 9pm.

Thing #19: Explore a few award-winning web 2.0 websites

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 2.0 Awards. Browse through the categories and pick 2 sites. One should be related to information seeking or organizing, but the second is up to you.

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
Zillow: Find out how much your house is worth (and all of your neighbors' houses too) and more.
Stumbleupon.com: Randomly connects you with websites based on your personal interests
HousingMaps: A mash-up of craigslist housing listings and Google maps - I love this site!
Pageflakes: A great customized home page - it's just so pretty.

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?

Blog post due: Wednesday, 2/28 by 9PM

Thing #18 - Explore OpenCourseWare or iTunes U

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: Wednesday, February 21st by 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 psychology, political science or sociology (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.

• 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 #16 - Find two books for your project

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

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. If you wish, use Noodletools to generate the citation and save it to your bibliography. Check this page for additional resources for citing sources.

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. In order to use MS Office applications Word and Excel, 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 a 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: Wednesday, February 14th 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 LIBY 1210-02 Wiki and answer the following questions. (The password to log into the class wiki is library):

1. How is your research project going so far? Write a few sentences about your topic and what you've learned about it.
2. Add to "Our Story" - once it gets going, someone can give it a better title.

Don't forget to sign your name so I know you've made your post. Feel free to respond to your classmates' comments.

Blog post due: Wednesday, February 14th by 9pm

Thing #13 - Wikis and the wisdom of groups

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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: Wednesday, February 14th by 9pm.

Thing #12 - Explore Flickr

Simply put, Flickr is a website where users can store and share their photos, label them with tags and tag other member's photos. Most of you have probably seen photos that were hosted by Flickr and some of you might even have Flickr accounts.

Go to Flickr and cruise around a bit - browse through some pictures, notice the tags, do a few keyword searches. If you're feeling adventurous, create an account and upload some photos.

1. What is a tag cloud? (hint: check out the Popular Tags option on the Explore menu)
2. Check out the advanced search option. What does the term "Creative Commons" refer to?
3. Given what you have read about Web 2.0, how does Flickr exemplify Web 2.0 characteristics?
4. What is you favorite picture so far? (answer this question with it's URL)

I like this one: http://www.flickr.com/photos/46927815@N00/94659988/

Blog post due: Wed, February 7th by 9pm.

Thing #11 - NoodleTools

What does starchy, carb-laden goodness have to do with properly citing your sources? In reality, not much. There is, however, a growing number of online tools you can use to assist you with citations. One such utility is NoodleTools, a utility recently added by the library that allows you to created formatted bibliographies online, then export them to programs like MS Word.

For this activity, you will:

1. Set up a user account in Noodletools

Follow these instructions carefully:

• Go to How to Cite Resources.
• Click on "NoodleTools"
• Once on the NoodleTools homepage, click on "NoodleBib"
• Choose the school library subscription - Username: csueblib Password: libcsueb
  
• Create a user account by selecting "Create a New Folder"
  
• Now, create your personal user account. I highly recommend that you use your blogger/google account login data here so you don't forget it!
• You are ready to go! Select "Noodebib" to begin a bibliography you can store and edit online.

2. Using the 2 resources you found in Thing #10 (#1), generate 2 APA citations using Noodletools. Notice that you can save your list. This will come in handy later when your final project is due.

Noodletools is helpful, but it's only as good as the data you input. Follow the input instructions carefully and use the help links to guide you in identifying the citation components.

For an online guide to APA style, see Purdue University's Online Writing Lab (OWL).

Also, remember that the absolute authority for APA Style is the Publication manual of the American Psychological Association (call # BF76.7 .P82 2001), available at both the reference desk and in the stacks.

Thing #10 - Start your research

Now that you've got your topic, this week I want you find some background information for your final project. The easiest place to do this is online: using a search engine to find and select only the best, most relevant and authoritative websites OR using Haystac, the library catalog, to search for books. So, here we go:

1. Find two sources (websites or books) that will give you some background information on your issue. Keep the sources nearby, as you will be citing them in Thing #11.

2. Identify one Congressperson (House or Senate) who has a particular interest in your issue. Their interest will probably arise from the unique needs of the constituency they represent and from their involvement on one of Congress' many committees. Suggested source: CQ Weekly (available on the A-Z List of Databases).

Post the URLs for all sources to your blog. If you use books, post the title and author.
Blog post due: Wednesday, February 7th by 9pm