Sizing Your Topic

1. Topic String
a. My broadest topic-"Natural Ecosystems"

How the world functions without the impact of human activity.

b. My next broad topic-"Biochemical Cycles"

Cycles that contain the elements of carbon, nitrogen and phosphate, for example photosynthesis.

c. My starting topic-"Geological Cycle"

Cycles such as the Tectonic, Hydrolic and Rock cycles which make up Earth in many ways.

d. My narrower topic-"Hydrolic Cycle"

The transfer of water from the ocean, to the atmosphere to land and back into the ocean as a starting point.

e. My even narrower topic-"Percipatation"

The stage in the Hydrolic Cycle in which water goes to land and oceans in the form of snow, hail, and rain.

2. Think of two questions that you could ask about your topic.

a. In the Hydrolic Cycle, when exactly does percipation take place and what is it caused by?

b. How does the Geological Cycle become part of the Biochemical cycle?

Research Log Entry

1. What is Delicious?
Delicious seems to be a tool for the web that gives web researchers the ability to save, bookmark, manage, and tag their pages. It is a way to keep and save your searches and to view and share with others later.

2. What is the advantage of this web 2.0 tool?
The advantages of this web tool are book-marking web pages which allows on to keep and save sites in order to view and/or share it at a later time. You can also organize these searches by categories.
c. Do you think you might use it? If so, why? If not, why?
I might try it out and explore it a bit more. Being a college student, there is a big amount of research you must do in order to complete certain assignments thoroughly and it is important to keep track of your searches for a later date, so it could come in handy for me.

Research Log Entry-unit 1, part 2

1. What question did you try to answer?
What are global hectares?

2. What terms did you select to begin?
Global Hectares
Global OR Hectares
“Global Hectares”

3. What web search engine or engines did you use?
I used the search engines Yahoo, Google, and Ask.

4. Search Techniques
a. What search terms did you use?
I used the words “Global Hectares” in combinations with Boolean Operators and punctuation.

b. What search techniques did you use?
I used three search techniques and tried them in all three search engines I choose:
1. Global Hectares
2. Global OR Hectares
3. “Global Hectares”

Search Results for Each Engine Listed:
Google
1. global hectares-3,730,000-information on what terms mean
2. global OR hectares-667,000,000-lots of unrelated sites
3. "global hectares"-14,500-information on the terms

Yahoo
1. global hectares-3,730,000-scientific information
2. global OR hectares-3,190,000,000-unrelated sites
3. “global hectares”-60,200-maps and other visuals

Ask
1. global hectares-284,000-visuals, articles
2. global OR hectares-84,780,000 related information only to science
3. “global hectares”-3,030-narrowed results
5. Evaluation
a. How did you evaluate your results?
I evaluated my search results by looking at the currency of the page, the depth of the information and how relevant the information was to my search.

b. What conclusions did you draw about the different search engines?
1. What was the same?
While searching my three terms in each engine, the aspect that was similar was that each engine gave me websites explaining the terms, “Global Hectares.”
2. What was different?
The difference for each engine and search were the variety of results to choose from. I was given visuals, articles, unrelated websites and information, scientific information on my topic and exact information.
3. Differences in numbers of results
Throughout all variations of my search terms, Yahoo was the engine that gave me the most results. I noticed Google gave me more variety when searching but Ask gave me the lowest number of results with yet the most useful information which I found surprising.

c. Why do you think the search engines behaved as they did?
Well, Yahoo is said to be the largest search engine which explains why I received the most results throughout my 3 searches on it. From the wiki search engine tab, I noticed Google and Ask, my results were little in number but seemed credible and more useful than my results on Google.

6. What other questions came into your mind as you carried out this exercise?
A big question that came to mind while carrying out this exercise is “If Ask seemed as if it was giving me the best results, why haven’t I used it before?”

Research Log Activity and Entry

1. What question did you try to answer?

How do CFC's (chlorofluorocarbons) affect the ozone layer?

2. What search engines did you use?

I used Google as my first search engine because I am very familiar and comfortable with using it. I also used Yahoo! as my second search engine because I am less familiar with using it.

3. What search terms did you use?

1. Chlorofluorocarbons affect ozone layer
2. Chlorofluorocarbons or ozone layer

4. How many results did you get when you entered your terms? How many did you get when you used "or"? Which set was bigger? Can you figure out why?

1. Chlorofluorocarbons affect ozone layer
Google results-496,000
Yahoo! results- 1,150,000

2. Chlorofluorocarbons or ozone layer
Google results-197,00
Yahoo results-1,150,000

The Yahoo! results with "or" was the bigger set of results. The word "or" in my search made the results expand because it responds to the two components of "CFC" and "ozone layer" as two individual searches instead of one which resulted in a wider search with more results.


Evaluation-www.epa.gov/ozone/science/sc_fact.html

I used what I think are the three most important evaluation elements to consider when researching on the web.
*Authority and credibility-who published the web page and are they accredited or endorsed by a reputable organization?
*The currency of the website-when the page was last updated
*The relevancy of the information to my search

1. What conclusion did you draw about the value of the site and why?

My conclusion of the value of the site is that it is credible, useful, and factual information. The website produced by the "U.S. Environmental Protection Agency" which makes me believe the site is using factual information.

2. Having conducted this research activity, what questions came into your mind that you would use to continue your exploration?

When conducting this search, I began thinking of how such basic everydy things my household uses like hairspray, can damage the ozone layer by making holes. With that information, I would want to continue by learning "what other basic items causes these ozone holes by releasing CFC's and how can I avoid using them?"

Research Log

1. There were a number of concepts presented this week. A. Which did you know already? B. Which were new to you?

A. The concepts this week related to evaluating web resources I already had knowledge of from previous research projects. My past English instructors have taught me to check credibility and currency. I am also familiar with search engines but not as in depth as I have read since beginning this unit.

B. The concept of "Boolean Operators" was new to me. I am, however, familiar with the words "and" and "not" as being words of fewer or more ideas. I also did not know how to critique websites in such a way that has been presented to me in order to insure effective web researching.

2. If you were given a research assignment and you chose the web as one strategy for your search, name three important evaluation elements you need to consider.

Three important evaluation elements I would consider when researching on the web are:

1. Authority and credibility

2. currency of the information and the website itself

3. the relevance of the information related to my research.

Intro to Library Welcome blog

This is my first blog! I'm just checking to see if I can post this correctly!!! (don't mind me)