In class Blog October 31st

Books: Books give you a basic outline of information. They go into detail, but you may need more than one book to get all of the information you need. These are reliable sources for a paper because the author is an expert or has gotten expert opinions in that topic (most likely).

Blog Post: Depending on who’s writing the blog and what the topic is you, you can get different things from a blog post. It can either be strictly facts, strictly opinion or both. This can be good or bad for a research paper. If the post is accurate it can be a positive thing, if not it can harm the paper.

Scholarly Journal: You will find expert opinion or peer reviewed articles on your topic. You can find statistics, analysis of other papers or articles and actual facts on whatever you are studying. This is excellent for a research paper. Scholarly journals are almost always the best source for any academic paper or research.

Wikipedia: Wikipedia is a toss it. It can give you great background information to start, but anyone at any time can come in and change information. Though it does give dates, they may not be accurate. This is a terrible source for an academic paper. It gives you a place to start but the information could be tampered with and that is very dangerous.

Podcast: This is similar to the blog post. Depending who is on the air with the host can determine whether or not this is a good source for a paper. This can be based off opinion and not the facts. I would not recommend this for an academic research paper unless I knew the information was coming from a person with the credentials to speak on a specific topic that I was studying. 

Homework October 29th

What is an Annotated Bibliography?

An annotated bibliography is a summary of the sources (books, articles, journals, websites ect.) that a student used in their paper. There are three different things that an annotated bibliography should do according to the Purdue Online Writing lab; Summarize, Assess, and Reflect. It should summarize what you got from each of the sources. Assess each of the sources, compare and contrast each of them. Finally, reflect on each of these sources. How did they work? Would you use them again? Ect. Just like most academic papers, an annotated bibliography is written in either MLA or APA format.

Why is it required to write one in this class?

At the end of this class we are going to turn in a research paper. Annotated bibliographies are a great thing to use in order to weed out the best and worse sources. This is not only good use for this paper, but we could be asked to use an annotated bibliography in another class for future papers. In the video it states that professors want us to find out information on sources on our own rather than them just telling us the information (showing vs. doing). It will be more beneficial for us to learn how to find our information because during the rest of our time here, when we further our education other places or in the work force, we will have to be able to find information on our own. 

In class blog October 24th

All of these topics have to do with Library Research in a major way. They all can be prevented and are mostly caused by ignorance of what Plagiarism, Copyright, and different licenses and Paraphrasing correctly are really about. There are a few cases that people think they can get away with this activity, but there are many ways to check the authenticity of your paper now. In most if not all academic papers, students will need to go to the library to use books and/or databases about for their project. I can use the knowledge of what I have learned in this class in many of my other classes by citing my resources in the right way, giving credit to the author of the sources and not just rearranging words. I will be able to know how to avoid plagiarism and not using someone else’s work. I am still confused on how to you can still plagiarize even if you site the sources you use. Is there a way to check and see if you have done this to avoid failing the paper, the class or possibly getting kicked out of the school? 

Homework

Trouble for Elsevier:

This passage is about Elsevier not paying his staff enough. They work basically for free and do not get paid what they are owed, so they decide to boycott and tell people to purchase or read any of Elsevier’s work.

New England Journal of Medicine:

This Journal was made free to the public because it has a lot of health information that we should be notified about. They talk about their rises and falls (in the journal) and how they have grown throughout their past years.

The Changing Nature of Knowledge:

There used to be a lot of censoring when it came to knowledge. Only a few things were allowed to be exposed, but now there are many new ways to disclose information. Not only because we have more freedom, but there is more information, besides books and newspapers, that we can gather on anything. Technology has changed our thinking or lack thereof because it is so much easier to get information than to actually read and study a subject.

Each of these stories have to deal with how technology and knowledge have changed throughout the course of time. Sometimes these things are can be positive and negative. In Elsevier’s case it was negative and in The New England Journal’s case it was positive. Technology has a huge impact on me because it has EVERYTHING to do with how I learn. Everything to do with my school is based around technology and without it myself or my school probably would not be as successful without it.

October 17th In class blog

To me plagiarism is copying/re-doing someone else’s work (art, music, choreography ect.) without giving the original author or artist their credit to that original work. Plagiarism is copying the entire piece and passing it off as your own whereas copyright violation is using the entire piece, you cite the information but you can still get in trouble for using someone else’s work. When a student passes off a paper and cites each author but takes the entire paper from the original author that is Plagiarism. When an artist buys the writes to a song but does not give the original writer the credit it is Copyright.

In class blog

When I am at a party and I want to join in on a conversation, usually I listen to what the people are saying then when the people come to a point where I can ask a question I usually jump in. For example, if someone was asking about a new television show that I have watched and they mentioned a part of the show I was familiar with I would jump in and ask “Are you guys talking about….?”  If they said yes I would join in on the conversation about what they were talking about. When someone tries to jump into my conversation, I usually look to see if they ask questions about the topic or if they come in and agree or disagree with what me or the person I am having a conversation with says. I like when people join in on my conversations and know what they are talking about. It shows we have common interest and that is how you can meet new people. 

In class Blog October 3rd

I think that filter bubbles apply when using data bases. Search engines such as google and bing.com on my computer and always save previous things I’ve search. I feel it works the same way on data bases. For example, I used academic search complete on my laptop to look up articles about my topic. As I go into the database each time on my computer and type in my topic into the search box, when I type in the first letter my topic automatically pops up. I may get one set of results but if I use another computer I get a different set of results. I think this applies to the other parts of the website as well. When I narrow my search down by subject or by the type of source I want, my theory still applies. Like I said this can be good or bad. On my computer I can get information that my filter bubble knows I would be interested in. At the same time I could be missing out on valuable information because my filter bubble blocked out something it thought that I may not have wanted to see. Filter bubbles apply to everything not just social search engines. 

In class Blog September 26th

My research question is “What are the psychological effect of anorexia?” I have found that the psychological aspect of anorexia can be just as dangerous as the physical damage. Some people strive to be the best at everything and have a lot of pressure on them from friends, family and society. That desire for perfection not only take over their school work and social life, it takes over their body as well. Some people who struggle with anorexia think that people will think less of them if they do not live up to the standards everyone  else has given them. Others feel that their life is too stressful and they did not have any control over anything in it. The one thing they could control was their weight and they use not eating as a way to have something in their life that is meaningful to them. I still want to find out what else triggers people to not want to eat. Why do people choose that outlet instead of putting that energy into something positive that would have a good impact on other people.  My question may be too broad so I am thinking of narrowing it down to one specific reason anorexia effects the brain. 

Filter Bubbles

Before reading the article and watching this video I had no idea what a filter bubble was. When I listened to the lecture by Eli Pariser, it made me feel a little weird to know that when I enter something into a search engine it specifically made to what I want to know. But then I thought this is not necessarily a bad thing. Filter bubbles, in a way, are helpful in a sense that they are able to tell what you are interested in just because of your previous searches or what you click on Facebook. Though this can be both helpful it’s a little strange as well. Maybe I would like to go outside of my “comfort zone” and look at things that I never thought I would be interested in. I think the suggestions for getting rid of filter bubbles could work. I think deleting your history and watching what type of information you put on websites, such as Facebook, can make a huge change in your research. If there is no “paper trail” there is no way your searches can be limited to just your usual answers or responses. I think I will try deleting the history on my computer. I think it will help a great deal and I will see a change in my upcoming results. 

In class Blog september 19th

Everything I have learned in this class can be applied to my other classes as far as research. Being able to look up books in the library will always be helpful. My major requires me to write many research papers, so that means I will need sources from both books and online databases. It is not only important to know that I need to use these sources but I have to know how to navigate these websites and the library to find what I need in a timely fashion.  Another important resource that I have learned in this class is how to annotate using MLA and APA format for regular books and chapter books. Without knowing how to do this, the papers that write will be completely plagiarized and can cause failure on the assignment and possible expulsion from school. Giving credit to the people that helped your work is one of the most important aspects of writing. The final thing that I have learned from this class is how to refine a research question. Making a question to broad or to small can be a writing hazard. If it is too big, there is too much information to find. If too small, there may not be enough information because researchers have not found any or sufficient results of that topic.

September 12th Homework

I decided to use a different book to annotate called The Thin Women. 

Citation: Malson, Helen. The Thin Woman: Feminism, Post-structuralism, and the Social Psychology of Anorexia Nervosa. New York: Routledge, 1998. Print.

1. This novel is about the history of anorexia and how women have been affected by it by society. 

2. This is a reliable source because it stresses the psychological aspect of anorexia nervosa. 

3. I could use this to answer my research question by looking at the reasons anorexia starts and why it has such a huge effect on women. 

2

September 12th In class Blog

I find that looking up books in Ingram is much easier than looking up books in other libraries. To begin, I actually know how to look up a book and not just ask the librarian for help. Showing what floor the books are on helps a lot so that I am not just wandering around the entire library looking for the book. In Ingram, I’ve noticed that the books are separated into specific categories. For example, my groups’ topic is Anorexia, and each time I looked up a book pertaining to anorexia or body image it was in the same section on the 3^rd floor and all of the call numbers are similar. This can help me to find a specific book and I can also find other books that have to do with Anorexia. The system here is very easy and helpful to understand. Using Gil is also a good way to help find not only books in the library but e-books as well. If a book is checked out you can always find an article or that is peer reviewed or that uses expert opinions which is exactly what we need for our research paper. Ingram has many ways to get different information that is vital for any assignment. 

September 10th Homework Assignment

The two books I chose to look up were Starving Women and Women afraid to eat. I chose these two books because one focuses on all aspects on Anorexia and the other focuses on strictly the Psychological issues. This caught my attention because I am a psychology major and I love to figure out what goes through people’s minds as to why they do what they do and think. If I had to choose a better book to write on my topic it would be Women Afraid to Eat.  This book is more is more up to date than Starving Women. This means is had better information on the most recent discoveries on Anorexia. This book has actual expert opinions not only on anorexia but how it begins, the health effects and the effects social media has on the people who become anorexic. I would use this book to answer my research question by examining each factor of anorexia that our group is looking at. Those factors are the media, the psychological aspect, the health and the emotional reasons behind why men and women have issues with their physical appearance. Women Afraid to Eat covers all of this and more. 

Library Ethnography Project

http://www.slideshare.net/kjmichelle1/library-ethnography-assignment-14227470

In Class Blog September 5th

Using today’s class activity I will make sure our group’s research question is broad enough to have enough information on but not so big that there is not enough time to research everything that is out there on our topic. It is important to make sure the question is not an opinion or biased. Though we can find information that supports our opinion, it would not state the facts and help make others aware of the issues that come with Anorexia and how to prevent or decrease the amount of people that this disease effects. Anorexia is a very broad topic; this is not necessarily a bad thing. We can come up with many questions, narrow them down then pick the best question to concentrate on.

In Class Blog August 29, 2012

The topic that our group picked was Anorexia. I find this topic intersting becuase many young girls struggle with being insecure and trying to keep up with societies prospective of what is beautiful. Being a young women, i can say every girl has struggled with their body image and this is something that i can relate too. Many people know that Anorexia is a problem, but not many know what to do about it. By studying this topic we will be able to go into the minds on young women and young men in order to stop this issue or at least make more people aware of it and what we can do to stop Anorexia.

3 New Topics

Anorexia- Can pro-Anorexia websites help heal eating disorders?
A study was is done that shows that Bloggers who talk about the effect and risk of anorexia on young girls are more likely to get through to them and get help.
http://www.cnn.com/2012/08/28/health/time-anorexia-websites/index.html?iref=allsearch

Child Labor- The abuse of child labor is way more prevalent in other countries among young girls and govt is working on stronger ways to protect the children.
http://www.nytimes.com/2012/04/11/opinion/child-labor-abuses.html?_r=1&ref=childlabor

Depression during pregnancy- Depression during pregnancy is normal but there are ways that this can be prevented to not harm the baby or the mother.
http://www.dailymail.co.uk/health/article-2185952/Yoga-reduce-depression-pregnant-women-boost-maternal-bonding.html

Aspartame Best and Worst

Best: www.aspartame.org

Worst- www.aspartamekills.com

Replacement for Crap

My replacement for CRAP is D.E.C.A. Dependable Aspect Correct Eligibility.