Blog Post 11

I was recently asked for feedback on this semester's Academic Research and Library class to help with the planning for the class next year. I thought the library ethnography assignment was pretty useful. For people who did not know how to look up a book in the library, they now know. I learned that I forgot how to find a book in the library, so this assignment was actually a great help. I will use my newly acquired skills to help me find books in the library for research papers in other classes. I think that you should include that assignment in your planning for next year. I wish we would've spent a little more time on plagiarism. Students get caught plagiarrising all the time for the smallest mistakes. Some of the times plagiarising was not the intention. I think talking about it a little more could help students at west georgia. I still would've liked to learn a little more about filter bubbles. That topic seemed to interest me the most. The way a computer can filter what you are trying to search seems to amaze me. Overall, it was a great class. If i could take it again, I would! Thanks for all the knowledge yougave us this semester!

10/31 Blogpost

Book- In a book you are most likely to find secondary information. Sometimes you may find primary information. It is great to use for research because most of the time the information is accurate. I could use this in my research by taking a quote or excerpt from a chapter to help explain what I am talking about in my paper.

Blog Post- In a blog post you are most likely to find inaccurate information from someone. Usually these are personal opinions about a topic. I wouldn't use this information in my research unless I was doing research about blogging!

Scholarly Journal Article- These are primary sources. Very useful for research papers because they are peer reviewed. Meaning very smart people have reviewed the article and made revisions to it. I could use these in my research paper if I want the most accurate information on my topic.

Wikipedia- These are tertiary sources. Anyone can make a change to something on wikipedia. Wikipedia articles are not good to use in research for that very reason. I will not use wikipedia in my research paper.

Podcast- These can be secondary sources/ tertiary sources depending on what you are researching. They are a recording of someone's voice. So depending on who the person is, this information could be useful or useless.

In class blog post 10/29

We had to find the full text of an article called "Medical students' use of Facebook to support learning: Insights from four case studies". Here are my steps:
First, I opened up the west ga website. Second, I clicked on the Ingram Library tab. Third, I copied the name into the search bar. Fourth, I clicked full text. And there was the article! Done.

Oct 29 Blog

I was recently asked what is an annotated bibliography and why I'm being required to write an annotated bibliography for class. An annotated bibliography is a bibliography that gives a summary of each of your entries. Entries are excerpts you take from a source and use in your paper. There are many other types of bibliographies. I'm required to do an annotated bibliography for this class because you want us to prove that we have done valid research for our research paper. Also, if you have a problem with anything in our paper the teacher will  can look it up and do some research of their own.

10/25 Blog

In class for the past couple of weeks we have studied Plagiarism, Paraphrasing correctly, copyright vs. plagiarism, open content, open access, and creative common licenses. Sometimes in class I'm wondering why are we going over this stuff??? But it's easy to see that knowing how to do these few things properly can save you from getting in a lot of trouble in school. Also, when researching a book in the library you will need to know how to properly cite the book in order to paraphrase correctly. I can apply this knowledge to my other courses. When I need to do a research paper I will know how to properly cite a book and paraphrase. Along with many other ways! The only question I have is how would you cite a podcast?

On the Media

Trouble for Elsevier- Customers say that Elsevier is placing a "stronghold" on the information it provides. People say libraries can restrict what the public can view at the library. Librarians say that the root of the problem is industry consolidation. Elsevier's profit margin is the highest out of all databases. A boycott was formed against Elsevier. More than 6,000 journalist formed the boycott. Elsevier argues that the per article cost of scholarly published articles have declined over the past years.

New England's Journal of Medicine's 200th year Anniversary- People want the journal to be free! No subscription needed. Owner says they put "important" information on the journal for free. Editors were against admission of women into medical schools. Biggest achievement of journal- reports of AIDS, Leukemia, and breast cancer.

The Changing Nature of knowledge in the internet age- It's said that the "smartest person in the room is the room". Talks about findings of Charles Darwin. One argues that facts are not the facts anymore. Meaning people want more than just facts to explain something.

These segments all relate to each other in some way or another. They all have to do with technology taking the place of human knowledge. We rely on computers to do our research for us rather than finding information ourselves. I thought these segments were very informal. And I think we need to go back to thinking for ourselves. Not just relying on technology to do everyday things for us.

Plagiarism

In my own words, plagiarism is taking information from a source that is not your own and using the information as it is yours. It does not matter how big or small the information is. It can be a sentence or a paragraph. If you do not cite the source, you are plagiarizing! There's a difference between copyright violation and plagiarism. Plagiarism is taking information from a source and using it as your own. A copyright violation is taking someone's copyrighted work and using it as your own without receiving permission from that person. That person has exclusive rights to their work. One example of a plagiarism that is not a copyright violation is when M.C. Hammer copied Rick James super freak song but gave credit to him. M.C. Hammer did the right thing to do, even though he still plagiarized. An example of  a copyright violation that is not plagiarism is when Beyonce used "inspiration" from a European pop artist to come up with her song "Run the World". Beyonce said she was inspired by the European artist, but did not copy her word for word.

How I would jump into a convo?

I was recently asked how I would approach a random group of people that were talking about a subject I know a lot about. Well, let's I was at a party a few guys were talking about West Georgia basketball. I would hear them talking about the team, and then I would interrupt them! I would say 'hey, I play on the team!' Then the conversation would go on from there. I would assume that the group of guys would want to ask some follow up questions about the team that I would be more than willing to answer. I would show that I wasn't a creeper by mentioning some of my teammates names, and probably would talk about my coach. Just to show that I am not some random guy that is making up stuff about the basketball team. By doing this, they can confirm that I am on the team. When I'm in a conversation and someone walks up and tries to jump in I immediately feel a little awkward. I don't know who this person is, and I don't know if they're lying to me or not. Once the person gives appropriate or useful knowledge on the topic, then I begin to become more friendly towards them. I might even extend the conversation with them.  

Peer Reviewed Articles 10/3

Boots, Paquette. "Characteristics of Mentally Ill Offenders From 100 Psychiatric Court Reports." Behavioral Sciences & the Law 22.2 (2004): 223-38. Discover Galileo. Web. 3 Oct. 2012. This article is about the characteristics that mentally ill offender tends to have. This source is credible because it uses stats taken straight from actual reports. I could easily use this book on my research to explain how one is legally called a "mentally ill" offender.

 Pifer, Natalie. "Is Life The Same As Death?: Implications Of Graham V. Florida, Roper V. Simons, And Atkins V. Virginia On Life Without Parole Sentences For Juvenile and Mentally Retarded Offenders." Loyola of Los Angeles Law Review 43.4 (2010): 1495-532. Discover Galileo. Web. 3 Oct. 2012. This article discusses three separate court rulings that all have to deal with mentally retarded offenders. This is a credible source because there are quotes taken directly from the courtroom of all three cases. I will use this article becuase it will help explain why someone is either labeled as a mentally ill offender or not.

Filter Bubbles Pt. 2 10/3

After watching the video on filter bubbles the other week, I decided that filter bubbles were not a big deal after all. If you do not like them, there are multiple ways you can turn them off so that they will no longer bother you. Today I am being asked could the basic idea of a filter bubble apply to the different databases? My answer is yes. I say yes to this after using the PsychInfo database and the Criminal Justice Periodical Index. When i searched for information in the PyschInfo database on criminal minds, the first words that popped up were minds, murderer, etc. These words had stuff to do with the actual, physical serial killer. But when I used the Criminal Justice Periodical Index the first words that popped up were profiling, psychotic, etc. These words have to do more with the Criminal Justice System, not with the actual killer. As you can see, this is a very big deal when it comes down to researching for my topic. I want to get information that is exactly on my topic. Not things that have a relation to my topic. So this is how filter bubbles can apply to different databases.

What have I found on my research question?

I was recently asked "What have I found on my research paper so far?". Despite having done little research at this point, I have still found some useful information. A couple of weeks ago I looked up a couple books int the library that had something to do with my topic. I scammed through both books briefly, but I did not read the whole books.T hose two books will definitely come in hand when I start seriously researching my topic. I have a lot of info to continue researching about. There's so many resources out there on my topic that I have yet to conquer. I did have to refine my research question once. My original research question was too broad and vague. I had to specify the question in order to get the information I wanted.

Filter Bubbles

After reading about filter bubbles, I think they are harmless. I don't really see the disadvantage of filter bubbles. They help narrow searches when trying to research a topic. I think it's actually pretty amazing that websites can kind of guess what you are going to search for. Only disadvantage of filter bubbles are that some websites with filter bubbles will have a lot of ads and might cause your computer to catch a virus. That's in a very rare case. A problem that filter bubbles may cause for academic searching is that the topic you are trying to research may not show up in the filter bubbles. And you may have to refine your search topic or topic question.For some people that is a big deal, for some people that isn't a big deal. The filter bubble tips that were provided were very informal. I will definitely use those tips to pop my filter bubbles. I have popped facebook and google filter bubbles unknowingly. Whenever you delete history on google or any website you are popping a filter bubble. And on facebook I have restricted content available to the public. So I choose what people can and cannot see.

Skill Application

I was recently asked how I could use the skills I have learned in this class and apply them to my other classes. I have learned many skills so far such as how to use the Ingram Library database and Gil finder,blogger, and how to cite a book or chapter. Obviously, I can use these skills in many ways to help me in other classes. I can use the Ingram Library to search for books that I can use for research papers in other classes. And I can use the Gil finder which is an even better research engine tool to refine my searches. I also learned how to cite a book or chapter of a book. This will help me when I have to create my bibliography pages for my research pages in english and other classes. No more losing points for not doing my bibliography! last but not least, I have learned how to use Blogger. At first, I thought Blogger was stupid and useless. Now that I am getting the hang of it, I think it is actually a very useful tool that I can use to communicate with my classmates. We can share documents and I can comment on their documents, and vice versa. I will definitely use Blogger in my other classes, if I get a chance too.

Ingram Library Comparison

Finding a book in the Ingram Library was very different than finding a book at my high-school. The Ingram Library has the online database which is very easy to use and convenient. In high school if i wanted to find a book, I would have to go to the librarian and ask for the call number. Then, she would look the book up the book on her computer. Very tedious task. The Ingram Library has a lot more options than my high school library when it comes to options. It was hard to find books on certain topics at my high school. With the search bar on the Ingram library website, it feels as like I can find every book there is on any topic. One thing that did surprise me about the Ingram Library were all the different search engines it had on the database. These other search engines are very useful. Such as the GIL Universal Catalog!Finding a book on my topic wasn't hard at all. Narrowing down my searches was the most difficult part.

Book Research Homework

I looked up two books in the library. One was called "The Mentally Retarded Offender", the other was called "Mentally Disordered Offended". I chose the book The Mentally Retarded Offender because it gives a more in-depth look into the judicial system. It doesn't just tell me what a Mentally retarded offender is. This book gave a look into how one qualifies as a mentally retarded offender. I will use this book extensively to research how one qualifies as being mentally disabled instead of just an ordinary prisoner.

Kj and Thomas' Ethnography Assignment

Thomas and kj library ethnography from thiggin1

Thomas and kj library ethnography

KJ and I looked up the book Cat in the Hat in the library last week. These are the steps we used to find the book.

Interview 9/05/12

I interviewed one of my teammates who is a senior. He had to do a research paper on the effects of marijuana on your body's overall health. He stated that is was very hard to find factual information. He said his professor only let them use information from work that was peer-reviewed. My teammate also mentioned that he used Google's scholar tab. Many people are unaware of that feature of Google. It is a research database that only contains peer-reviewed and scholarly work. The scholar tool can be very helpful when trying to find authentic information on a certain topic. He also stated that he used Galileo. This a well known database that has legitimate information on pretty much every topic. Everything on there is peer-reviewed! I'm pretty sure every college student has used this database at least once. One thing that surprised me is that he said the professor wanted them to cite every website they looked at. Even if they didn't use information from that website. Sounds crazy to me. If you didn't use information from the website, why should you have to cite it?

How Will I Refine My Research Question?

I will refine my research question by making the question more specific and less broad. My original question was just way too broad. I asked what makes someone become a psychopath? That is very broad. By refining the question, I can get better info on what I am trying to research. Which is how do sports play a role in the overall psyche of someone. I can ask if a person plays a sport does it make them more outgoing and social with other people? Does playing sports hinder someone from becoming a psychopath. I can also look up statistics on how many convicted "psychopaths" used to play sports. The reason I am trying to incorporate sports into this research topic is because I am a sports management major. This will be a tough task but i can do it!

Group Research Project

My Group (Group 4) will be researching on a psychopath named Ed Gein. We will be going in depth into his life background, including physical activities and family relationships. Each member will connect the topic to their major. I am interested in this topic because I like to go inside the minds of criminals. I want to know what triggered them to go crazy and kill people. I will explain how if he played some type of sport all of this could have been prevented.

Hey class I'm Thomas! I'm a sophomore here at West Georgia. I am also a sports management major and am on the men's basketball team here. I am a laid back guy and cool to talk to!

3 topics for research

Use of Electronics on Planes- FAA is going to study the use of electronics on planes. Will they stricken the rules or ease them?
http://www.faa.gov/news/fact_sheets/news_story.cfm?newsid=6275

Obesity linked to Cancer - Studies show that Cancer is linked heavily to Obesity. Is that true or false? This website shows the relationship between the both.
http://www.cancer.gov/cancertopics/factsheet/Risk/obesity

Legalization of Marijuana- Should marijuana be legalized or no? This website tells why weed is not going to be legalized. And gives back up information the drug.
http://www.uri.edu/personal/atro6990/