Week 12, Social and Ethical Issues

Lecture
In week 12 our lecture was about the Social and Ethical Issues on the World Wide Web. There were a couple of problems stated to us during the lecture. They included intellectual property, Copyright and Security. We were also shown what the problems included. You need to make sure when opening any new document that you always do a virus scan. The first thing you must do when starting up a new computer is download an Antivirus scan to protect yourself from any viruses.

Tutorial
* An introduction to copyright in Australia.
* Ownership of copy write
* Websites: creating and publishing on the Internet.
* Quotes & Extracts: Copyright obligation
* Copyright in Australia: Information Sources

The Case mentioned on this web page is called Operation Buccaneer. It's a case about International copyright piracy which took place in December 2001. There were 16 defendants who have been convicted of felony and 13 of them have been sentenced to prison for 46 months.


Readings
There were many readings for this week so I will only write about a few of them. I found our first reading to be the most interesting. It was called EFF's Top 12 Ways to Protect our Online Privacy. This explained in detail how to keep yourself safe when using the World Wide Web.


Electronic Monitoring was about employees and employers defending the case on privacy in the workplace. There were many different views on how it should be more private for workplaces.


Computer Viruses are very common in today's computers. Out reading Computer Viruses and the Internet shows us how computer viruses have become more extreme in today's computers.

Week 11, Data, Information and Knowledge

Lecture
This weeks lecture was based on Data, Information and Knowledge. We found the meaning to each and were shown ways on how each work. Justine discussed the charactaristics, importance, relationship between the three and some examples. We learnt how to use these three examples in a way to study and learn information.


Tutorial
*Data - Individual facts, statistics, or items of information.
*Information - knowledge communicated or received concerning a particular fact or circumstance; news.
*Knowledge - acquaintance with facts, truth, or principles, as from study or investigation.

The relationship between data, information and knowledge may help you through your university year. Firstly you start with data; during university you receive lots of data that helps you to learn. Afterwards you find that it’s helpful when writing an essay because in the essay you use that data as information. Lastly all the data and information you have learnt becomes knowledge because you will use it in your everyday life.


Readings
Our readings this week were all about data, information and knowledge, with a little information on wisdom. Our first reading Data, Information, Knowledge and Wisdom was discussing in more detail what each mean and how we use them in relation to each other. Our next reading Information Literacy was a tutorial with short lessons to take about information literacy. After each lesson you had a mini test. Our last reading was all about the relationship between data, information and knowledge and some questions you ask you self when hearing the three.

Week 10, Using Online Libraries and Databases

Lecture
Week 10's lecture had two parts; online libraries and databases. The first part of our lecture was about online libraries. We were shown why we use them and the different types of online libraries (e.g. online journals, electronic books, musical and artwork). Even though online libraries are helpful for easy information there are limitations. You have to subscribe to many of them before they are available to you and you may also have to pay for them.

Databases are very similar to online libraries, although they have both positives and negatives. Some positives are that they are current, searchable, have 24/7 access and are electronic. Another positive thing about databases is that there are many which are free to anyone and the information is very up to date.

Tutorial
10 useful functions on the ECU website:
* Library Catalogue - Is useful for searching books from home.
* Journal Articles - Useful database online.
* ECU Referencing Guide - Easy access to referencing if you haven't bought the hard copy book. (Always good to have both though)
* Opening Hours - Useful when studying early or late.
* End note - Also an easier way to reference.
* Find Websites - Finding good websites on a specific topic.
* Overdue Penalties - It's useful to know what penalties you could face for overdue library resources.
* Multimedia Resources - Its helpful to know who you can talk to about multimedia resources.
* Library Podcast - Good if you missed a lecture you can download it onto your ipod.
* Loan Services - Information on getting out library equipment for the first time.

The website Medline Plus would be used by doctors and chemists. They might use it for information on a certain drug (e.g. ingredients) or by doctors to find out what medications could be prescribed for certain illnesses.

Week 9, Using Search Engines

Lecture
This week's lecture was on search engines. We were told about some common problems, interfaces, common search engines, types of queries and search tips.

Some of the types of problems you might come across are that your search engine might find too many results and you can't go through them all. This means you will need to refine your search to a key phrase about your topic. Broken links are also a big problem with web pages that are not being updated regularly. Some common search engines are Google, Ask Jeeves, msn search and Yahoo. There are four main queries: keywords, phrase, Boolean and advanced/engine features.

Tutorial
*Keywords and phrase
*Guess a location
*Use several search tools
*Back up to find out where you are

In our tutorial we had to do a quiz and find out the answers using search engines if we didn't already know them. When I was looking for Lady of Shalott's author I went to Yahoo and my keywords were Lady of Shalott and it came up with many results. I didn't need to click on a search because the author appeared under some searches. I have found that sometimes you really need to find a good keyword or you might never find what you are looking for. A good thing about some search engines is if you are searching for something and you spell it wrong it will ask you if you meant something else.




Readings
Our reading Internet Search Tips and Strategies is getting us ready to find a range of information on the World Wide Web (WWW). It explains what different search engines are and which ones we could use for certain research. We get a brief description on each; keyword search, phase search and Boolean Operations. Lastly the reading goes through search tips to help you narrow down the information on your specific subject.

The Spider Apprentice explains useful information on search engines. We are shown how to improve our search engine skills by finding keywords and showing us how to find relevant information. It's useful to know if you are looking at the right site for your topic. Is it more useful to search about your topic in a search engine or a web directory? You will also find information on web directories so you can use them instead of search engines.

Search Engine Tutorials is a web site for you to extend your search engine knowledge. It has articles on search engines dating from 2004 back to the 1990's. It is a good source to help you expand your search engine knowledge.