Google has a site and a daily challenge titled

a Google a day

Each day Google posts a question to answer. The question for today is “If you have three dimes and a quarter in your pocket, how many grams are you carrying?”  It’s not the type of question whose answer may change your life, but working on finding an answer  might help you find some interesting sites or tools on the Web.

The page that has the question, has a spot where you can enter your answer.  Google tells you immediately whether your guess is correct. There’s also a link to a hint and another link to the answer if you want the answer without finding it yourself.  There’s also a timer on the site if you’er in the mood to play against the clock. One more thing, Google provides “Tips and Tricks”, links to helpful sites for finding information or tools

Give it a try! http://agoogleaday.com/

Enjoy the site!

Feel free to ask Ackermann a question or  send Ackermann a comment or suggestion.

The software appears to be based on Stuxnet, a virus which was used by US and Israeli intelligence to infiltrate the control systems for Iran’s nuclear fuel development program. Some of this was reported in  Israeli Test on Worm Called Crucial in Iran Nuclear Delay written by  William J. Broad, John Markoff, and David E. Sanger,  and published in the NY Times, January, 2011.

DuQu appears not to do direct damage to systems, but it infiltrates a system and gathers information about it and then transfers that information to another source. Its purpose seems to be spying or reconnaissance.

Who is responsible for DuQu? No one is claiming responsibility a the present time. Paul Joseph Watson points to US and Israeli intelligence as the source in his article U.S. & Israel Launch New Phase Of Cyber Warfare. He also criticizes using cyberwarfare as a justification for greater controls of the Internet, “It really scales the heights of hypocrisy to hear the arguments of US cybersecurity officials about the need to hand them the power to control the Internet in the name of protecting against cyber warfare, when the U.S. government itself is behind almost every act of cyber warfare.”

You may want to read some of the current articles about DuQu to be better informed about the continuing face of cyberwarfare:

• Science fiction-style sabotage a fear in new hacks
• Pentagon Field-Testing ‘Son of Stuxnet’?
• ‘Son of Stuxnet’ Virus Targets Specific Organizations, Assets‎
• 3 Lessons Learned From Duqu Malware
  Emergence of a Trojan based on Stuxnet sourcecode highlights security challenges businesses continue to face.

Social bookmarking is saving Web site links to a public site and tagging them with keywords. It differs from making bookmarks because bookmarks are only available on the computer you are using. To do social bookmarking, you register with a social bookmarking site, which lets you store your favorite sites, and add tags, or subjects, of your choice to the sites you’ve bookmarked. Visitors to social bookmarking sites can search for sites that others have linked to by keyword, person who added the site, or popularity. Social bookmarking is a great way to collect a set of resources and share them with others.

Examples of services for social bookmarking  include:

• Delicious http://delicious.com/
• Connotea http://www.connotea.org/
• Diigo http://www.diigo.com/

Dessert Taxonomy, http://www.flickr.com/photos/42039133@N00/529448560

Taxonomy – Everything in its place.
Some examples:

• The 1998 ACM Computing Classification System — Association for Computing Machinery
  
• Taxonomy biology
• Taxonomy medical
• Foraminifera Query Form: Department of Paleobiology, Smithsonian National Museum of Natural History
  

Controlled vocabulary -Weather Glossary for Storm Spotters

Let’s take a look at Yahoo.com, on the Wayback Machine in 1996.  Yahoo’s plan was to present an organized view of the information on the Web. This was a directory with a hierarchical structure, putting each Web site in a category.

We see some problems though, because some sites are really in two categories. For example, Arts Libraries.

Yahoo was not alone in this organization. Many others tried that sort of organization – The World Wide Web Virtual Library , The Open Directory Project, and several other virtual libraries.

What if people made up their own tags, their own taxomony?? – Folksonomy

The following Common Craft video includes a short introduction to the concept of social bookmarking, using Delicious as the example.

We are talking about user generated classification. Take another look at “The Machine is Us/ing Us,” with this in mind.

Users “tag” items (web pages, videos, photos and other media) with descriptive words or phrases. Although the act of tagging something may be for individual purposes — such as categorizing recipes collected from various websites — the end result is an additional layer of metadata, allowing subsequent visitors to discover content via searches of all tags that have been contributed.

Take a look at  ”Social Bookmarking Demon – An intro to tagging & folksonomy”

Organizing electronic content this way is not new, but the collaborative form of this process has been given the name “tagging.” Traditionally, such categorizing was either performed byan authority, such as a librarian, or else derived from the material provided by the authors of the documents (Rowley 1995). In contrast, collaborative tagging is the practice of allowing anyone to attach keywords or tags to content (Golder, S. & Huberman, B., 2005).

How Does it Work?

These services are designed to allow you to store and share bookmarks on the web, instead of inside your browser, which means that you can get to your bookmarks from anywhere. There are several ways to add a bookmark.

You can manually create a bookmark by clicking “Save a new bookmark” on the top right of most pages (delicious). You can do it by saving a link to a web page for the reference and it will, wherever possible, recognize the reference and automatically add in the bibliographic information for you (connotea). You can also install a browser add-on. With some services, instead of just bookmarking, you can highlight portions of web pages that are of particular interest to you (diigo).

An example using “scriptlets” or “bookmarklets”:

The screenshot below shows, to the right of the Gmail link, three bookmarklet links for popular social bookmarking sites:

As you browse the web or conducts targeted searches, you can use the bookmarklet to save sites and pages that you would like to refer to later. Use as much or little additional metadata and tags as you would like. Remember, tags are descriptors that you can assign to your bookmarks to help you organize and remember them. You can usually add as many tags to a bookmark as you like. In the screenshot below, the Diigo service’s bookmarklet has launched a floating toolbar that includes the bookmark capability. A user need only enter some optional additional metadata, including tags, to save the bookmark:

After creating a bookmark list, which can be added to gradually over time, you — or others — can access the bookmark list and navigate it either chronologically or alphabetically. You can also share your bookmarks with others using add-ons, bookmarklets, or from the website. Bookmarks can also be explored by tags, and tag exploration can be used to branch to other users’ bookmarks on the same topics.

Hands On Activities

Activity 0: Browse Delicious. Start at http://delicious.com. Browse through some of the bookmarks and the tags. See what you can find that is related to this institution.  Look at bookmarks with the tag umwfa10 and describe what you find.

Go to Delicious, Connotea or Diigo, and create your own user account.

Activity 1: Delicious

Once you have created an account, save a bookmark from one of the hyperlinks in one of your blog posts. You can do this manually or install a bookmarklet. When saving or editing a bookmark, there is a field for tags. In this field, enter as many tags as you would like, each separated by a space. At the bottom of the form you may notice lists of tags. Popular tags are what other people have tagged this page as, and Recommended tags are a combination of tags you have already used and tags that other people have used. Add several bookmarks from the hyperlinks in your blog posts.

Once you’ve added and tagged bookmarks, add a person to your network. You can select add a user to network from the top right of your network page and then type their username, or you can visit their bookmarks page and select the Add to my Network link at the top right of that page.

Activity 2: Connotea

After signing up for an account, set up your browser for one-click access to Connotea. Now you can start saving references by saving a link to a web page for the reference. Connotea will, wherever possible, recognize the reference and automatically add in the bibliographic information for you. Next, assign tags or keywords to your references. You can choose any tags you like, and each reference can have as many tags as you like.

Next, create a group. The Create a new group link in your tool box will take you to a form for creating a group and adding users to it. Groups can be either public or private.

Activity 3: Diigo

Once you’ve joined Diigo, install the Diigo toolbar or add the diigolet to your toolbar. Now start annotating, archiving and organizing information and sites. Highlight text and attach sticky notes to specific parts of web pages. Organize by tags or lists.

Next, share your annotated pages with your followers on Diigo or elsewhere. Use “Annotated links” to share your “diigoed” pages.

Images used in this post

• Dessert Taxonomy, http://www.flickr.com/photos/42039133@N00/529448560
• Metadata Sticks, http://www.flickr.com/photos/wakingtiger/3157622824/

Foretold by the Rolling Stones?

Click here to view the video on YouTube.

About Information/Document Sharing

Effective collaboration and document sharing is one of the originating reasons behind the development of the network technologies that eventually led to the internet as we know it today. In the 1970′s, ARPANET connected several universities, allowing researchers and scientists to actively share information resources over great distances. The first and most important method birthed by these networks was the protocols allowing electronic mail.

These fundamental tasks that drove the early development and innovation of the larger internet itself have been streamlined and focused by years of technological advance. Large scale information sharing and editing capabilities are available to anyone with internet access, and for no extra cost in many cases.

The latest innovative approaches to fulfilling these information sharing needs include concepts like cloud computing and peer-to-peer file sharing. Cloud computing refers to the use of online applications which allow dynamic storage, use of, and editing of media without any need for the user to host, maintain, or store it themselves locally.

Peer-to-peer file-sharing allows large networks of users to share information autonomously as if they were hosted in a traditional server-client environment. Peer-to-peer file sharing and it’s offspring Bit torrent sharing are controversial due to the widespread use of these methods in information piracy.

Sharing documents and working on them collaboratively is a growing trend.

How does it Work?

Information/Document Sharing works in a variety of ways, depending on the types of information you wish to share and the manner in which you want to share it. Below, we’ve provided several examples of the different types of information/document sharing available on the web.

Online Document Collaboration

Google Documents (originally Writely): Google Docs mirrors many of the functions of traditional desktop applications like Excel, Word, and PowerPoint and combines them with the flexibility, sharing power, and portability of Gmail. To find out more about how Google Docs works, check out this informative video.

Zoho : Zoho is suite of powerful online office applications. In addition to offering traditional office applications like Zoho Writer (documents), Zoho Sheet (spreadsheets), Zoho Show (presentations), Zoho also provides tools for note taking, project management, online databases, and customizable wikis.

Writeboard : Writeboard is a standalone tool which allows you to create, share and collaborate on text-based documents. All you need is a valid e-mail address and an idea, and you’re ready to use Writeboard.

Online Document Sharing

Scribd : Scribd is a social publishing application, which allows you to publish your own documents to the web and search the submissions of others.

DocStoc : DocStoc, like Scribd, is an online social publishing application. DocStoc features include a large supply of document templates, and the ability to transfer large files free of charge.

edocr : Yet another document storage solution, edocr boasts excellent web2.0 compatibility, Google indexing, and contextual archiving.

Slideshare : As its name implies, Slideshare allows you to share your presentations with anyone in the world. With Slideshare you can add audio to your slides, embed your slideshows on your own personal blog or website, and join groups of other Slideshare members with similar interests.

OnStage : OnStage is a online application that provides document collaboration and project management tools. It features integration with other cloud computing tools like Scribd, and a healthy amount of security features.

Directory Sharing & Synchronizing

Box.net (BETA) : While this application is still in development, it mirrors much of the FTP-style sharing that makes Windows LiveSync so interesting without the any required hotmail/Windows Live account.

Windows LiveSync : A free application from Microsoft which allows users to sync and share files and directories between computers and users. Requires a Windows Live/Hotmail account.

Dropbox : Dropbox is a downloadable application which not only provides secure file backup, but also a simple way for synchronizing and sharing files across multiple computers. A free Dropbox account provides 2GB of space; additional storage requires a monthly fee.

Items to Read and View

• From the Horizon Report, 2009: One Year or Less (Cloud Computing)
• 7 Things You Should Know About Cloud Computing (Educause)
• Read Getting to Know Google Docs: Google Docs Basics
• Getting Started Guide (Google Docs)
• Getting Started Guide (Google Spreadsheets)
• Getting Started Guide (Google Presentations)
• Watch the Common Craft video: Cloud Computing in Plain English
• Watch the Common Craft video: Google Docs in Plain English

Hands on Activity

Activity 1: Create & Share Your Work

First, visit Scribd, DocStoc, or Slideshare – whichever you like best – and sign up for a free user account.

Then, upload a document that you have created (please don’t upload someone else’s work!). It can be a presentation you gave, a paper you wrote, a short story you’ve been working on – anything you want to share with the world. If you don’t have anything else handy, upload your most recent essay.

Once your work has been uploaded, you’ll see that your document has its own unique URL which you can give to anyone who you think might be interested in seeing what you’ve created. You can then go back and add your own custom tags to it, or you can explore the site to rate and/or comment on documents created by other people.

Activity 2: Collaborate with Friends or Colleagues

Visit Google Docs or Zoho and create a free account, if you don’t have one already. Note: You can also sign in to Zoho using your Google or Yahoo account.

Create a new document by either typing in some text, or importing/uploading a document you’ve already created (any format will work). Share your document with a friend, family member or colleague and ask them to edit or revise it for you. Don’t worry if you don’t agree with their suggestions – you can always revert your document back to a previous version, and you never have to worry about saving it.

Activity 3:  Create a survey using  Google Docs. Send it to some friends and track the responses.

The National Academies Press (NAP)  publishes reports and books by the   National Academy of Sciences, the National Academy of Engineering, the Institute of Medicine, and the National Research Council. The  NAP operates under a charter from the U.S. Congress.  They charge for physical  books. Its great to see they are making all their titles available online at no charge.

Some of their ‘best sellers’ featured on the current Website are

They offer titles in the areas of

• Agriculture
• Behavioral and Social Sciences
• Biography and Autobiography
• Biology and Life Sciences
• Computers and Information Technology
• Conflict and Security Issues
• Earth Sciences
• Education
• Energy and Energy Conservation
• Engineering and Technology
• Environment and Environmental Studies
• Food & Nutrition
• Health and Medicine
• Industry and Labor
• Math, Chemistry and Physics
• Policy for Science and Technology
• Space and Aeronautics
• Transportation and Infrastructure

Check it out.

What is RSS?

RSS stands for “Really Simple Syndication.” It’s an XML (Extensible Markup Language)-based format for distributing and aggregating Web content. RSS is a way to get content of your choice, such as news headlines, without having to constantly visit a site to see what’s new.  RSS feeds contain headlines and hyperlinks to longer articles or Web pages.

Even if you’ve never heard of RSS, we’re sure you’ve seen those small, orange icons (like the one pictured here) on Web sites.  These icons, when clicked on, will take you to the RSS feed.

RSS Icon, Click for attribution CC

What are some advantages of RSS?

RSS is like Tivo for your computer!

• Your feeds are in one place and there are no ads or pop-ups.
• You can scan the list of headlines to see what you want to read without wasting a lot of time.
• Better than using bookmarks because your personal feeds are available from any computer that has Internet access.
• Content from RSS feeds can be inserted into Web pages.

Learn more about it

• Read 7 Things You Should Know About RSS from Educause.
• Read  It Really is Really Simple: RSS for Educators from Infinite Thinking Machine.
• Take a look at the RSS4Lib blog.
• Watch the RSS in Plain English video.

You Must Have an RSS Reader in Order to Receive Newsfeeds
In order to receive RSS feeds, you’ll need to set up a news reader. RSS news readers are online applications that use RSS to allow you to receive the information you want.
Some popular news readers are:

• Google Reader
• Bloglines
• MyYahoo!

Hands on Activities (part 1)
1. Set up a news reader using Google Reader. Because you already have a Google account, you can start using Google Reader right away. You will see a link to Reader at the top left of the page when you are signed in to your Gmail account. If you are not signed in to Google, go ahead and sign in at http://reader.google.com.

2. Add a Google bundle of RSS feeds to your reader.

• From the Google Reader home page, click on Browse for stuff. You should now be on a page entitled Discover and search for feeds.
• Google Reader allows you to select feeds that are bundled together on specific topics. For example, let’s say you’d like to receive a bundle of resources on the topic of Web 2.0. Simply click on “View all” next to the heading “Bundles from Google.”
• Scroll down until you see the bundle entitled “Web-2.0.” Now click on “Subscribe.”
• Now look at the lower left corner of your reader. You’ll see the feeds automatically listed there.
• In order to read the feeds, you simply click on the title of the feed and you’ll be able to read the latest postings from that resource.

Adding RSS Feeds to Individual Sites

Keep an eye out for the orange icon or a link to RSS when reading Web sites.  You may have found a particularly good Web site and you want to receive updates to it whenever something new is published. Simply click on the RSS icon or link and you’ll be instructed how to add it to your reader. Sometimes sites will make it easy for you by asking you which reader you want your feed to be sent to.
Other times you’ll need to copy and paste the URL that appears into your Google Reader (Add a subscription section) account, which we’ll explain below.  Earlier we discussed searching for blogs.  Most blogs are available via RSS. Most blogs make their RSS icon or link fairly visible on the top or the bottom of the first page.

Some Good Places to Find Useful RSS Feeds
There are a few sites that list RSS feeds so that you don’t have to spend a lot of time looking for them:

• New York Times RSS Feeds http://www.nytimes.com/services/xml/rss/…
  The New York Times has dozens of RSS feeds on different sections of the newspaper. For example, you want to receive all the articles on topics relate to the Internet, you could choose the Technology category and then click on Internet.  Some of the feeds here make it easy for you to choose Google Reader, and others require you to copy and paste the URL into your Google Reader account.
• U.S. Government RSS Library http://www.usa.gov/Topics/Reference_Shel…
  This site has hundreds of RSS feeds categorized by topic, all produced by the U.S. government. Let’s say you’re interested in new resources on HIV/AIDS prevention from the Centers for Disease Control.  Simply go to the Health RSS Feeds category and click on the HIV/AIDS Prevention link.  This will open a page filled with XML code.  What you’ll need to do is copy (Ctrl-C) the hyperlink (in this case, the URL is http://www.cdc.gov/hiv/rss/hiv.xml) in the address bar and paste (Ctrl-V) it into the form entitled “Add a Subscription” in Google Reader.
• Yahoo! Directory RSS Feeds  http://dir.yahoo.com/rss/dir/index.php
  You can receive updates to the Yahoo! Directory by subject.  You simply click on the RSS icon next to the subject you want and then copy and paste the URL that appears in the address bar to your Google Reader account.

Hands on Activities (part 2)
Bloglines

1. Create an account. It’s free, and it takes about 15 seconds. You’ll need to confirm your registration, so watch your email. Once you confirm your email, you’ll be brought to a Subscribe page. This is a selection of Bloglines Quick Picks (arranged by subject), and the top fifty or so most popular Bloglines subscription feeds. Take some time here to see what you might be interested in.

That’s it! Once you’ve clicked the Subscribe button, you’ll be whisked away to your own personal Bloglines reader.

Add RSS feeds to some of the blogs in this class, a news source in the US and another country, and a blog in an area related to your academic studies.

2. Add one or more RSS feeds to your blog

Go to your blog, and click on Admin, and log in.

Click on Appearance on the left in the dashboard, then click on Widgets.

Now look for a widget that will let you add an RSS feed. Add any RSS feed that you have selected or the RSS feed for the blog Ackermann uses for the course.

]]> http://blogs.fredericksburg.com/ackermann/2011/04/22/thing-11-rss-feeds/feed/ 2 http://blogs.fredericksburg.com/ackermann/2011/03/10/thing-10-virtual-worlds/ http://blogs.fredericksburg.com/ackermann/2011/03/10/thing-10-virtual-worlds/#comments Thu, 10 Mar 2011 11:00:52 +0000 Ernest Ackermann http://blogs.fredericksburg.com/ackermann/?p=119

What is a Virtual World?

Virtual worlds are online communities that interact in some simulated space. Text-based games and educational

environments open to people via the Internet mark the beginnings of these virtual worlds. Current technology makes it possible for virtual worlds to now by 3-dimensional spaces with full multi-media capabilities. They still represent gaming and educational communities, but also are inhabited by other social groups.

Much of what follows has been taken from ipl:15 things – Virtual Worlds

About Virtual Worlds

Virtual worlds, sometimes also known as MUVEs (“Multi-User Virtual Environments”) are online virtual spaces through which users navigate remotely by operating an avatar – a virtual representation of themselves – using a mouse, arrow keys, and keyboard text commands or joystick controls to “walk” around and interact with objects and other people’s avatars within the virtual environment.

The visual virtual world environments grew out of text-based virtual worlds such as LambdaMOO which portrayed the virtual world with text descriptions rather than visual images. The original text-based worlds were known as MUDs (multi-user dungeons) and MOOs (MUD, object oriented).

There are hundreds of virtual worlds in existence, although most people have only heard of a handful of them. Active Worlds, established in 1995, is one of the older visually-based virtual worlds, although Second Life, launched in 2003, is probably the best known.

How Do Virtual Worlds Work?

They are communities, so you need to register to access the world or community. Since many of these include visual representations of the world, you will likely  need to download software that acts as a client to access the representation. Virtual worlds are social spaces where users can chat using voice or text and engage in a variety of activities, from playing games to working and training collaboratively, to working in or running a virtual business.  A headset is also useful so that you can hear the sounds of the virtual environment and also to speak to others present.

Some virtual worlds are accessed through web browsers, while others require downloading a ‘client’ software. While typically users log in to servers and proprietary software owned by a company (such as Linden Labs for Second Life), there are some open source variations for virtual worlds software such as OpenSimulator (“OpenSim”) and Oracle/Sun Microsystems’ Red Dwarf.    It is possible for organizations to purchase space on an existing virtual world, or if they have the expertise, to set up their own closed, ‘private’ world restricted to their own affiliated users only.

Some virtual worlds offer choices of different “starting” avatars (e.g. male, female, non-human). Both ‘paid’ and ‘free’ accounts may be available, in which the free accounts have more limited functionality. Virtual world users can usually convert real-world money into virtual world currency to purchase items for their avatars, or may be able to ‘earn’ virtual world money by performing tasks in-world. In addition to paid accounts and selling virtual items, virtual worlds may generate money through selling advertising or virtual land. Second Life features the ability for users to rent, own and sell land as well as to create and sell virtual items of their own design, which famously resulted in the first avatar millionaire. For discussion about economics in virtual worlds, see these two longer YouTube videos: Ge Jin discussing his dissertation about gold farmers and Julian Dibbell on economics and gaming.

Virtual World Examples

The Internet Public Library was an early pioneer in virtual worlds for reference services. Elizabeth Shaw

(1996) described the initial pilot testing in late 1995 of IPL’s text-based virtual world reference service in “Real-time reference in a MOO: promise and problems.” The IPL MOO reference service operated from 1995 to 2001, and during that time provided a virtual learning laboratory for librarians interested in exploring real-time reference services.

Virtual worlds exist for users at every age level; some examples include Disney-owned Club Penguin for six-year-olds and up, Gaia andHabbo Hotel for teenagers, There.com for young adults and Second Life for adult users.

Many toys for children also now have associated online virtual worlds such as Webkinz stuffed animals, LEGO building blocks, Bratz dolls and Barbie dolls.

The 2011 edition of The Blue Book: Consumer Guide to Virtual Worlds lists over 250 virtual worlds. A YouTube video by Gary Hayes shows 50 virtual worlds in a quick tour, including some which no longer exist such as Google’s Lively.

Things to Read & View

• 7 Things You Should Know About Second Life
• Download Second Life Quick Start Guide
• Read Second Life Quick Start Guide a page at a time

• “Philip Rosedale on Second Life | Video on TED.com,” http://www.ted.com/talks/the_inspiration_of_second_life.html. This goes on for almost 30 minutes
• Introduction to Second Life Viewer 2, 2010, http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=H5pKGnkcQHo&feature=youtube_gdata.
• The Viewer’s built-in help – Second Life Viewer 2 Tutorial, 2010,http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ovFRYhJnkU4&feature=youtube_gdata.
• View this one after you’ve had some experience with Second Life, “second life,”http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=flkgNn50k14&feature=youtube_gdata.

Hands-on Activities:

This hands-on activity explores the virtual world of Second Life. To get started with Second Life, register for a free new account at http://www.secondlife.com You will need to download and install the ‘client’ software and run that on your computer to access Second Life.

For useful information in getting started, see Torley Linden’s Second Life Quickstart Guide and Torley’s video tutorials http://secondlife.com/video

Activity 0: View Introduction to Second Life Viewer 2, 2010,http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=H5pKGnkcQHo&feature=youtube_gdata and The Viewer’s built-in help – Second Life Viewer 2 Tutorial, 2010,http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ovFRYhJnkU4&feature=youtube_gdata.

Activity 1: Visit IPL 15 Things in Second Life for information about getting started and places to visit:

IPL 15 Things in Second Lifehttp://slurl.com/secondlife/Imagination%20Island/226/129/24 (While Second Life is running, click this link in your Internet browser and use it to teleport)

Activity 2: Visit a virtual world library reference service. Alliance Virtual Library offers a virtual world reference service staffed collaboratively by librarians worldwide at Info Island in Second Life:

Second Life Library Info Islandhttp://slurl.com/secondlife/Info%20Island%20International/116/237/34 (While Second Life is running, click this link in your Internet browser and use it to teleport)

Activity 3: Visit a virtual world health and medical library. Alliance’s Health Info Island has a medical library and a consumer health library:

Health Info Island http://slurl.com/secondlife/Healthinfo%20Island/132/140/23

Activity 4: View “second life,” http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=flkgNn50k14&feature=youtube_gdata.

The Web has revolutionized the way research is done.  The Web has eliminated the need in many cases to access physical items. Articles, books, images, recordings, videos of interest to researchers are available through the Web.

This cornucopia of resources available at little or no monetary charge does come at some cost. Researchers must often fill the same role we expected from curators and librarians, evaluating and acquiring information.

Much of the following comes from Searching and Researching on the Internet and the World Wide Web 5th Edition, by Hartman & Ackermann.

Evaluate Your Information Needs

Types of Information Most Likely Found on the Internet and the World Wide Web

Current information. Many major newspapers, broadcasting networks, and popular magazines have Web sites that provide news updates throughout the day. Current Financial and weather information also is easily accessible.

Government information. Most federal, state, and local government agencies provide statistics and other information freely and in a timely manner. Most foreign governments provide official information as well.

Popular culture. It’s easy to find information on the latest movie or best-selling book.

Open access literature. Works such as Shakespeare’s plays, the Bible, Canterbury Tales, and thousands of other full-text literary resources are available. More and more academic journals are being published on the Internet in all subjects. Read more about the open access in “Open Access Movement,” by Peter Suber.

Business and company information. Not only do many companies provide their Web pages and annual reports, but several Internet-based databases also provide in-depth financial and other information about companies.

Consumer information. The Internet is a virtual gold mine of information for people interested in buying a particular item and who want opinions from other people about it. With access to everything from automobile reviews on the Web to Usenet newsgroups, consumers can find out about almost any item before they buy it.

Medical information. In addition to the hospitals, pharmaceutical companies, and nonprofit organizations that publish excellent sources of medical information, the National Library of Medicine freely provides the MEDLINE database to the public.

Entertainment. The Web is the first place many people go to find games, audio files, and video clips.

Software. The Web hosts software archives in which you can search for and download software to your computer without cost.

Unique archival sites. To take one example, the Library of Congress archives Americana in its American Memory collection.

Comparing Search Engines, Meta-search Tools, & Directories

A Checklist to Help You Choose the Right Tool
Search engines and meta-search tools should be consulted when looking for the following:

• Obscure information
• Multifaceted topics
• A large amount of information on a particular topic from different perspectives

Search engines and meta-search tools should not be used to find the following:

• News that happened yesterday or even last week. You’d be better off going to a specialized database that is updated daily or weekly.
• Information in a particular form, such as journal or newspaper articles. You’d be better off searching a specialized database that focuses on the format
• Someone’s telephone number or email address. Certain services focus specifically on this type of information. Maps. There are special databases for maps, too.

Directories are most useful for finding the following:

• An overview of a topic.
• Evaluated resources.
• Facts such as population statistics or country information.
• A specialized database for specific or very recent information.

Web 2.0 features of Google

• Wonder Wheel
• Timeline

Scholarly articles and databases

Google Scholar

• one resource  for scholarly, peer-reviewed articles, books.
  

Databases at UMW

• UMW Library, like many libraries, offers online access to a number of databases. These databases often lead to links to peer-reviewed, scholarly publications and periodicals.
• It is also important to note that the Library offers several guides to periodicals and doing research.

Databases A-Z

Databases by Subject

Journal Finder

Guide to Finding Articles

• How do I?

Get help with research?

Find scholarly journals?

Find items my professor has put on reserve?

Find literary criticism?

Find book reviews?

Find biographies?

Find statistics?

Find government documents?

Find Bullet articles?

Request a book or article?

Use databases from off-campus?

Cite sources?

Use Zotero?

Use Special Collections?

more……

Using a site to maintain a collection of works to cite.

Collection and citation tools

• WebCite
• Connotea
• CiteULike
• Zotero
  

Hands-On Activity

• Start Firefox
• View Go to “Zotero – Quick Start Guide,”http://www.zotero.org/documentation/quick_start_guide
• Open another browser tab or window and go to the UMW Library information about using  Zotero. Read   the section on Zotero and UMW Library Catalogs.
• Open another tab or browser window, go to Zotero.org and register for an account
• Click on Tools in the menu bar, select Add-ons, find Zotero, click on preferences, and then log into your Zotero account.
• Work on the Web researching the topic of your paper and save some materials in your Zotero account. Be sure to sync with the Zotero server before you leave.

What’s a Wiki?

A wiki is software that one or more people use to write and edit documents on the Web. The software is designed to be easy to use, and easy for people to cooperate in preparing materials. The collection of information put together with this type of software is also called a wiki.

http://www.flickr.com/photos/kables/1220574200/, CC License

The first wiki was developed by Ward Cunningham. The story goes that he remembered a Honolulu International Airport counter employee telling him to take the “Wiki” shuttle bus that runs between the airport’s terminals. According to Cunningham, “I chose wiki-wiki as an alliterative substitute for ‘quick’ and thereby avoided naming this stuff quick-web. “

The most famous wiki is Wikipedia, a project started by Jimmy Wales and Larry Sanger in 2001. It celebrated its tenth anniversary recently.  Wikipedia is easy to search, and the information in articles with references or citations can be checked for accuracy. The project has over 3.5 million articles contributed by people throughout the world. At the time of this writing it has been translated into over 200 languages. Take a look at “Wikipedia: Statistics” for details.

There are several other special-purpose wikis such as Travelerspoint, a traveler’s wiki,Jurispedia, dedicated to world-wide law, and the collection Entertainment Wikis

A public wiki is likely to be indexed by one of the major search engines so results from wikis often come up in searches using a general-purpose search engine.

Usually, each wiki page has a subject, and the entire collection of pages within a wiki can be searched by keyword. By contributing to a wiki you are adding your knowledge to the Web, which makes it a richer and more informative resource. In some wikis, editors need to register to obtain a login and password in order to edit it. In others, there is no such requirement. In Wikipedia, for example, most pages can be edited by anyone, but having an account makes it more likely that your contributions will not be deleted by someone else. Wikis can be private or public.

How do they work?

A wiki allows anyone to easily update and upload content on the site, typically providing a simplified interface allowing editing, page creation, and collaborative writing.

• Most wikis allow you to see the history of page changes. This is useful when you’d like to go back and see what a page looked like before. The page history shows the name of the person who edited the page if they have a login name attached to the content update. It’s also a way for people to republish information that may have been deleted inappropriately or incorrectly.
• Some wiki software is WYSIWYG (what you see is what you get) enabled. This means that a person can add information easily without knowing any special markup language. Other wiki software has markup language that one has to learn. Usually if there is markup language the wiki will provide a user guide to help you.
• Some wikis software allows you to tag the wiki pages with subject keywords. These keywords can sometimes appear in tag clouds

There are many free, highly customizable platforms, including the most popular:

• Wetpaint
• PBWorks
• Wikispaces

You can find many types of wiki software at WikiMatrix.  Some are hosted, while some require download to your computer. Wikimatrix provides a “Wiki Choice Wizard” that helps you pick and compare software packages that have features that you need.

Things to read:

• Farkas, Meredith. (2005) Using Wikis to Create Online Community.http://www.webjunction.org/technology/web-tools/articles/content/438229
• Educause Learning Intitiative (ELI). 7 things you should know about…Wikishttp://net.educause.edu/ir/library/pdf/ELI7004.pdf .
• Wiki Research Bibliography: From Meta, a Wikimedia project coordination wiki.http://meta.wikimedia.org/wiki/Wiki_Research_Bibliography .

Things to watch:

• Watch Ward Cunningham on Wiki’s Strengths
• Ted Talk Jimmy Wales on the birth of Wikipedia
• Colbert Report – Interview with Jimmy Wales
• Watch the Common Craft Video: Wikis In Plain English
• Colbert Report – The Word – Wikiality

Hands-on Activities

1. Explore Wikipedia. What is on the main page? Determine the copyright status of the material in Wikipedia.

2. In doing some research I came across the article “Unearthing the Truth About Organic Food,” by Dennis T. and Alex A. Avery, and it’s posted on a Web site produced by the Center for Global Food Issues (CGFI). Use Wikipedia to find information about CGFI. Then use Wikipedia to see who the major sponsors of the group that supports the projects of CGFI.

3. Try your hand at editing a Wiki page. Is there a wiki that folks use where you work? Do people in a group you are involved with use a wiki for communication or news? If so then try  to add something to that wiki. Alternatively you can practice  editing a wiki page at Wikipedia itself.

• Create an account for yoruself at Wikipedia by filling in the required information at http://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Special:UserLogin
• Then go to the Wikipedia Editing Tutorial, http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wikipedia:Tutorial, and learn about editing in Wikipedia.

First, a little background

A graphical interpretation of the "Big Nine" hierarchies on Usenet.

Usenet - established in 1979 and 1980 as a way to exchange messages, grouped by categories, between Duke and University of North Carolina, Chapel Hill. Early form of forums that gained world-wide acceptance and usage.

Take a look at the Wikipedia entry  ”Usenet.”

UseNet offered a decentralized alternative to the limited connectivity of BBS. There are nine major newsgroups that are still largely available today through the use of newsreader programs, such as Google Groups (which allows search and posting all the way back to 1981).

A video explanation of Usenet: What is Usenet?

About Forums and Web boards

Forums and Web discussion boards are specialized Internet applications that have grown as offshoots from the earliest forms of multi-user Internet communication. The earliest and simplest forms of these applications were UseNet, and its predecessor Bulletin Board Systems (BBS).

Early electronic Bulletin Board Systems allowed users to exchange messages, share files, and read articles via a direct modem connection to the operating computer. As such, the speed of the systems was very slow, and access depended largely on the administrator of the main system (typically a single person operating it out of personal interest) or geographical distance. Today’sIinternet forums still offer streamlined forms of all of these features.

A notable BBS that is still actively hosted is the ISCABBS by the University of Iowa.

Modern forums use a variety of different technologies, and allow electronic instant messaging, electronic mail, file-sharing, and interactive discussion threads which can incorporate numerous multimedia formats.

The term “thread” refers to how forums split up topics from conversation to conversation. Threads are typically organized into groups by topic.

Modern blogs also employ some of these forum features as well, such as the ability to post articles outside of the main thread, and the ability for readers to comment on posts.

Forums or “discussion boards” are commonly used by instructors in online classes at colleges and universities. Instructors post threads to start class discussion activities, and respond to answer questions posted by students. These discussion boards are typically within course management software such as Blackboard, FirstClass,eCollege, Moodle, and Sakai.

Some academic libraries have started outreach to online students through class discussion boards, such as Northern Kentucky University’s “Blackboard Librarian” program. Forums have also increasingly been integrated into other types of software; for example, Facebook now includes discussion boards as an option (see discussions on IPL’s Facebook), and there are discussion board features integrated into Wet Paintwikis, Drupal content management, Ning social networks, and many other systems. Forums are often used to build “online communities” among users who share a common interest or activity, including “learning communities” for online classes. The Chronicle of Higher Education offers forums for the academic community, including a forum for academic libraries. Among young people, the Gaia Online forums are a popular site with millions of users.

Some Example Forums:

• Sudoku Forums : Forums for the number game Sudoku.

• Futurama Forums : Forums for the television show “Futurama”.

• Math Help Forums : A public forum for help with math problems.

• iVillage Forums : A collection of forums on a number of topics.

How do Forums and Web boards work?

Creating and hosting a forum requires a fairly high degree of technical knowledge. However, there are many forum platforms available on the Web which allow you to host a small forum through the confines of the larger provider’s system. These systems vary by customizable options, included features, and cost. There are many free forum hosting services available online, including these popular choices:

• Boardster: http://boardster.net
• Forumotion: http://www.forumotion.com
• Voy: http://voy.com/

To compare forum software by criteria including programming language compatibility, cosmetic features, or system requirements, use:

• ForumMatrix: http://www.forummatrix.org

To find forums that focus on certain topics or interest areas, use:

• ForumFinder: http://www.theforumfinder.org

Examples of forum software that would require expertise to set up and host includes:

• phpBB http://www.phpbb.com/

• vBulletin http://www.vbulletin.com/

Hands on Activities

1.  Got to groups.google.com and do a search for Google Groups (not all groups) for discussions about  rail travel in Canada. See  what you find. Now do a search in all groups on the same topics. Note any intersting Web boards or forums you find and might want o return to in the future.

2. Go to Chowhound.com and search the discussion boards for information about good places to eat or sources of good food in the Fredericksburg area.

3. Pay a visit to Thorn tree  travel Forum at the LonelyPLanet Web site. Where would you like to travel? See what you can find out about travelling there at Thorntree. Can’t make up your mind?  See about travel in Burundi.

4. Locate and join an online community discussion forum, where you can read discussion threads and post your own responses. Some example forums that you can join include forums at The Chronicle of Higher Education, discussions for colleges and universities at Talk Confidential, a wide variety of discussions by topic such as health, food, and entertainment at iVillage, or search to find a forum of your own interest using BoardReader, Forum Finder or Open Directory forum listings.

5. Create your own free forum on a hosting site such as Boardster Forumotion or Voy. After clicking to Boardster, Forumotion or Voy, look for and click on the button that says “Create a Free Forum” or “Create Forum.” You’ll be asked to fill out information about yourself and your forum, and to choose your forum’s visual appearance and style. Experiment with starting a thread, and posting a message in response to your thread, to see how discussion board communication works.

For fun? Its All About the Pentiums by Weird Al