Day 13: Closure of EIR

Today marks the last day for EIR and we ended if off with blog presentation.

From the beginning of this module, i started of learning all the different search facilities. Nearing the end of the course, i was taught how to evaluate websites, points like currency, coverage, authority etc. All the lecture notes given are very useful in guiding us. Test are setup to let us learn from mistakes and it will stays in our mind. Assignments are given for us to practise and improve ourselve and also our thinking towards EIR.

Afterall, i myself enjoyed EIR :D

Day 12: Wiki forum.

WIKI FORUM

I realized it's a website specially created for people to post their thinking/information and allowing people to tag comments. Before we could actually post something, we got to create an account and log in to let people know who are we.

Different people have different thinking thus the things they post might not be pleasing to other user and they will start to argue in the forum. Nobody knows who's right & who's wrong. There's no comittee there to judge people's comment and giving them much advise. It happens to almost all the forums i saw so far.

i'm not one that would involve in a forum that much because i find that it's rather troublesome. Thus i've only used it like twice when in poly. Talking about forum, i realized forum can help people on advertising things. Like in the past, i've got a pair of concert tickets to give away and i tried posted in SG Forum, and within minutes, there's like hundreds of replies in my mail. So maybe this is a good way if we want to reach out to the people out there!

Day 11: Youtube

YOUTUBE

YouTube is a video sharing website where users can upload, view and share video clips. Unregistered users can watch the videos, while registered users are permitted to upload an unlimited number of videos. Videos that are considered to contain potentially offensive content are available only to registered users over the age of 18. The uploading of videos containing defamation, commercial advertisements, pornography, copyright violations, and material encouraging criminal conduct is prohibited by YouTube's terms of service.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/YouTube

It's a well-known website to over all the world, that youtube is a website for video posting. Some of the videos are for entertainment, education, news & politics, travel and events etc. We could view most of the videos without logging in or signing up but as for some we have to sign up for an account. Having an account over at youtube allow us to have more priviledges. For example, we could watch the videos that only allow members to watch and also, if we watched a particular video and like it alot, we could click and link them under our favourites.

It feel that it's a good website because it allow people to express their feeling on a video and also guiding people on certain things, e.g dance. Besides that, it also allow people to share clips with their loved one and also people for all over the world.

It's a user-friendly website. The main links and the box for searching are above. On the main page itself, there are some featured and promoted videos for all to view. If we want to watch more videos, we could just type in the search box and related videos will come out in a list. And also, there are also help by telling us we could try other helping words to get the video we want. We could also choose how we want the result to be categorized, eg. sort by, uploaded & type.

Last but not least, we can also choose the language we want the website to be.

Day 10: Chosen topic's Website.

I gonna talk about the website i've chosen for my topic today,

which is "Discuss the impact of drugs abuse on youths"

Before starting to search for useful websites, i think through properly which search facilities should i use, weather is Search Engine, Meta Search Engine etc. I'm finally settled down with Search Engine, Google. Reason i've chosen Google is because i'm already familiar with the search tools and everything. Thus it would make my job easier while doing the research.

Of cause, to start searching, i typed "Drug Abuse". Indeed a whole chunk of results came out and i have to sort out myself which is mroe relevant to my topic. Soon, i uses Boolen Operators Etc. It decreases the results given! And soon, i found a suitable website.

I was lead to the main page of the result given and chosen by me. Straight away, i went to check out the page "About Us". Why? It's because i wanted to check if the Reliablity of the website. Afterthat, i went to check if it's up-to-date, properly managed etc, which is linked to what i've learnt, accuracy, currency, authority, coverage, propose, presentation and arrangement. It's important to check out all these before we start to use the information given on a website if not the information might be outdated etc and our time will be wasted.

As for this website, it stated clearly when is this web created, and also giving us a list of names and photos, letting us to know what are their roles. This allows us to give this website more trust.

If a website is properly mantained and user-friendly, it would attract more visitors to this website. This site that i've found is one of the most user-friendly one so far. Once i've typed "drug abuse" in their search box, links came out and after clicking the link, it links me to the page. . Every link that is provided on the "drug abuse" page are working well and useful. In this way, we can tell that the links are still properly working and it's well maintained and updated.

Oh btw, we did not need to sign in or register before we could retrive information from here. In this way, we will know that the information given is free and is also for a user as it saves the time of registering etc. If it's a website that we need to suscribe, i believe many of them wouldn't use this website anymore, including me. Unless the information given is really interesting and useful.

I noticed, for this website, it doesn't have a forum. It might be a good thing because once a reader tag something that is irrelevant, it would harm the other people out there. As i've mentioned earlier on, in the "about Us" page shows us a list of committees, telling us what are their roles, so by this, we can ensure that the informaiton retrieved is trustable enough, thus need not to worry.

Lastly, what attracts me to a website it is their layout and everything, which is presentation and arrangement. This website did a good job in this. What's more, the most important which is the "About Us" page, tleling us the roles ofpeople in this website and their education and job. allowing me to give me asolute trust for the information provided. It's definately a recommenable website for everyone to use!

Day 9: Evaluating Dream holiday Website

Evaluating a Dream holiday Website!

As for today, we were asked to evaluate a website that gives us informaiton about our dream holiday. So, I found this website upon searching through search engine.

http://insurance.essentialtravel.co.uk/tg-europe/france/paris-travel-guide.asp

Since i was in secondary, i'm attracted to this country, Paris. I don't know why. Everytime they have tv shows/commercials regarding paris, i would stay infront of the computer thoughout till the show/commercial ends.

From the website i've found, it provides me with more than a truckfull of information about paris. From a simple description of paris in the main page to lastly about paris travelling insurance! Beside accessing the page above paris, i moved back to it's homepage. It's actually very well organized, simple and clear. The main links to different pages are all above and all informations are below with links to guide the user better.

Moving back to the page about paris. The main navigations are on the extreme left, while the information about othe countries are on the right. Information are place in the middle. Some sponsers' advertisement are placed in the middle, below the descriptions. It's very well organized, Very user-friendly! As what i've mentioned earlier on, the information provided is like a truckfull. All the essential information are provided with proper links. Travelling, restaurants, entertainment, attractions and even weather & health and safely to look out for when we'e in paris! For a travlling website like this, i feel that it's very detailed. it's good enough for me already, i believe for most also.

For what i noticed, most of the popular countries like Japan, Korea, Taiwan etc are not up. For what i think, because this is a UK website, so these countries are not up and they doesn't provide trips to these countries, that's why. But afterall, i feel that this website has provide me with the best information about my dream holiday!

day 8: talkingcock.com

As for this lesson, we are suppose to evaluate this website

called http://www.talkingcock.com/

When i just went to this webpage,

it seriously caught my attention as it's bright and the font use are interesting.

It's a website Founded in August 2000 as a forum for friends to share jokes with each other, TalkingCock.com has since garnered millions of page views and a subscribership in the tens of thousands, been debated in Singapore's parliament (scary, sial!), featured on the BBC and NPR and in Time Magazine, Wired and The Economist, and also fired the first volley in the people's backlash against the Government's anti-Singlish stance. Besides this, they also shot films and produced a comedy CD and published the bestselling Coxford Singlish Dictionary.

Just from the first page, it provides a lot of information and descriptions. On the left, it's description on what is on the web, what they do etc. While on the right, it about introducing themselve and the website. Before moving on to the actual page of this website,

they actually told us what will be inside and stuffs. So we will have an idea of what the website is about and what we are going to view.

Firstly, for what i saw, on the right side, it allows people to create an account over at the website. By creating an account, people could actually enjoy previliges. Besides that, member could also post comments on the things posts etc. So, i believe as a teenager, alot other teenagers will actually create an account over there.

On the index page itself, from the first look, links are all over the website. Though it's all over the website, but it's neatly arranged thus we know what and where to click for the things we want. Basically, the main links are above and if we want a list of what is in the main list, it's actually on the left. But, we can't access from there. We still have to click on the main link on top and go to the page.

Below the Member's log in box, there's a survey box. As for this survey box, we need not be a member to vote. Anyway, it's not evaluating the website itself, it's actually asking people for opinions on the things they are going to do next. At the bottom of the survey, there's a link to other polls that they previously posted up. It's actually a good thing. So when new visitors come upon this website, they will have a clear view on what this website has been doing in the psot and get to know the website better as well.

I moved on the the links and visited the pages for jokes, discussion, news, checking of words etc. i actually got entertained by the things they wrote on the website and also got amzed by certain things. for example the dictionary that they provide, it actually allows us to search for singlish and even hokkien. Normally other dictionaries website doesn't provide this help!

I think this is a website that could entertain us teenagers and also for those working adults who are bored in the office!

Day 7: Invisible Web

this blog gonna be about Invisible Web(Database)

It's a web that contains text pages, files, or other often high-quality authoritative information available via the World Wide Web that general-purpose search engines cannot (due to technical limitations), or will not (due to deliberate choice) add to their indices of Web pages. It's normally also referred to as "Deep Web" or "Dark Matter".

It's also a collection of information stored in the form of data where their search engines do not index information stored in a database. It contains actual data or information. Many of the information are maintained by the government agencies and non-profit organization. It also contains contain articles, abstracts and citations, census data, patents, etc. Normally, the resul given are reliable, up-to-date information. But data in invisible web database often cannot be accessed via a general-purpose search engine. However, it is not the only solution to all of a researcher’s needs. Must be used in conjunction with other information resources. It has similar features compared to search engine. It also supports Boolean operators, phrase and proximity searches and also allow truncation.

A good example of invisible web for us is TP's Digital Library Portal Site.

As usual, i never knew what's invisble web till i attended this lesson. Even though all this while i'm using it, but i still thought it's a search engine but it's a TP's library Search Engine. So, fo now, i knew that it's known as invisble web(database) and not search engine.

Day 6: test!

test was alright.

but i didn't score that well though :x

was left to do worksheet afterthat [:

day 5: Meta Search Engine & Subject dirctories

Meta Search Engine & Subject directories

Meta Search Engine

is also known as metacrawlers or multi search engine.

It transmit search terms simultaneously to several search engine.

So, they do not have their own data of webpages.

Examples of it ixquick, kartoo, mamma, metacrawler & vivisimo!

Subject Directories

It contains information that is compiled by humans.

And thus there's own a small numbers, low millions, of pages in database.

It is also known as subject catalogs.

Normally, it's tropical lists arranged in hierarchical way.

So, users can select and browse a particular catagory.

No doubt, keywords searching are allowed!

This websites contains subject guides, reference work & also specialized datebase.

Some examples are like yahoo, Galaxy & GO Network!

Do you know that subject gateways & virtual libraries are also Subject Directories?

Both of them are directories maintained by information specialists.

Materials are selected based on prefined criteria.

Examples of website for virtual libraries are

-Internet Public Library

-Librarians' Index to the internet

-World Wide Web Virtual Library

-infomine

that includes Sciences, Medicals, Business, Arts & Culture etc!

Day 4: Search Engine

I was introduced to Google Scholar today!

So, i used the worksheet given to compare Google & Google Scholar.

Google

i believe google is a search engine that is quite well known by now.

Results from Google normally comes from companies, official websites etc.

Other than that, kid’s website and games website also appear in the search.

From the website, we use click on other links to link to other website for more information.

Some of the result came out is not exactly what we wanted

because what we searched for gave a very big range of results.

It links to every webpage that contains the word(s) we searched for.

So, if we want our search result to be more efficient,

we should add in boolean operators & signs etc.

Google Scholar

Google Scholar is a search engine that provides journal articles, abstract & reports.

It seems to be more useful than Google.com if we are searching for the above.

I tired to search for drug abuse and stuffs,

and relevant news articles came out.

i didn't know about Google Scholar until my lecturer reveal it to me today!

for what i think.

both Google and Google Scholar are effective in their own ways.

Google can give us facts and information that we want.

Google Scholar can provide us with news articles etc.

Day 3: Search Engine

SEARCH FACILITIES

Actually, i felt that i really learnt alot in lesson 3.

it increase my knowledge on search engines etc.

before this class, I thought that all the search engines out there are all the same.

but now, i know how they are catagorized and used online.

it also gave me information on how i can make my research more effective.

By including boolean operators or signs or both together!

from now on,

i'll use search engine, meta search engine, invisible web(database) for facts, pictures, informations.

i'll use Google Scholar for news articles, journals etc.

Day 3

Hey all, i'm back!

there's alot of things i've learnt during lesson 3.

It consists of:

-how do search engines work.

-finding quality materials on internet.

-different specialities for different search engines.

-how to make research more effective.

-new search engine websites

and many many more.

Until i attended this lesson, i began to realise that database of website and pages uses software to generate automatically.

and, have you wondered why we are able to go to different links on the webpage and have 100 different types of search results for a word we searched for?

it's because of spiders/crawlers whom do all the job for us!

The information found for us actually ranked themselves properly.

thus, i believe that every search, the link that placed 1st are the most useful ones.

Besides just doing plan searching on words or phrases,

we can also use Boolean operaters which includes "And", "Or", "And Not" etc.

it will narrow down, expand or restrict the research respectively!

Another way of getting better results,

we can use signs like "+" or "-", "(")" etc.

3 different types of online searching

1) Search Engine

2) Meta Search engine

3) Database

i didn't know that all these 3 are different!

in the past, i just search for things i want a certain websites,

but now

i know, different website uses different search engine and also gives different results!

1 last thing i would like to say about is "Google" and "Google Scholar".

i never knew that google scholar exist until now.

Google scholar provides info on journal articles, news report, abstracts etc.

Now i know that,

if i want results more on journal articles, news report, abstracts etc,

i will move on to google Scholar instead of staying at yahoo, google alone!

Day 2: Online Shopping

ONLINE SHOPPING TODAY!

Hello! :D

For today's lesson, i was given $500 & asked to do some online shopping.

don't be mistaken, it's just another assignment! :D

So, i browsed through several websites like ebay & blogshops etc.

i gotten 2 things from the same website. both are watches though.

Actually I considered for a long time on what i should buy.

I also visited alot of websites for references and details.

After a long time, i settled down with http://www.odm-design.com/

Why i've have not chosen other websites in the end:

Ebay/blogshops etc.

-it doesnt provide informations about the product selling.

-We cant verify if the product is authenic or not online.

-the price bidding may be higher then the original price.

-it may be a 2nd hand item afterall.

-you wouldn't know if they are trustable anot.

and many more.

Original companies websites for products do provide much information.

with descriptions and everything. It clears all our doubts.

and it's much safer to get from the website though :D

i've learnt a handful of things today.

online shopping do help us increase our knowledge. beat that!

Day 2

Okay, now, i'm given $500 to do online shopping!

First web i went was http://www.ebay.com/

Secondly http://www.odm-design.com/

photo grabbed from: http://www.odm-design.com/odm/index.html#

it will be this ODM watch which cost around $200.

for what i know, it's still not up in singapore yet!

the remaining of the money, i would use to pay for my dance classes, online!

counted? :D

that's all :D

Day 1: Beginning

hello! :D:D

So, i'm in the mid of the class, EIR

learning more about internet access and everything.

Lecturer started the ball rolling by introducing herself.

Afterthat, we got into pairs and discussed about ourselves.

Soon after, we introduced each other to the whole class as well.

Now, i've started on my first assignment by choosing a given topic.

I've chosen "Discuss the impact of drugs abuse on youths" as my topic.

It's just the start of the class and there will be more to go.

I guess I need to start on my research real sooon!

that's all, bye!