Databases

As most of you may know, researching is a major part of college. Knowing how to navigate through a database to find vital peer-reviewed research material is very important to formulate a reliable paper. Being a student at Murray State University, we are all allowed to use hundreds of databases that the university pays for.

When using a database, you first want to know which one to use for your topic. There are a variety of databases. Some may be general, or some may be arranged by topic. Depending on what you are researching, that is one way to narrow your search automatically. Also, once you choose a database, you will need to enter multiple search terms for better results. You can also change different options. For example, you can check a box if you want only peer-reviewed articles, or you can check PDF only. Understanding how to navigate around a database is vital for surviving college. For a look at a database visit this website! http://plants.usda.gov/java/

Copyright Issues Addressed

In a recent article in The Chronicle, there has been a lawsuit against the HathiTrust digital repository and also many other universities. As a student, I understand how beneficial it is to have online documents for research that are provided by the college or university you are attending.

The lawsuit was filed by the Authors Guild, in attempt to revoke all online materials that had a copyright. They do have a good point because many of these authors' works are being put online without permission. But it also says in the article, that these digitalized works have very strict procedures to be able to access the material. Also, the University of Michigan has an Orphan Works Project which recognizes books that have unidentified authors, or were written anonymously, and they make them available for use. If one of the Orphan’s authors is found, they will remove it from the collection and the author will have copyright. The Orphan program seems very fair and useful for researchers, and I disagree with the lawsuit against this program. I do understand the complaints about the other online sites though, and I believe they do break copyright laws. For more information of copyright laws view this website.   



http://www.copyright.gov/

What is planking?

I am a frequent user of Facebook, and a lot of my friends have been making comments and statuses on “planking”. Apparently this is the new trend, but I am completely lost and have no idea what planking means. According to the San Francisco International Business Times, planking is defined as a game where people, known as plankers, lie down on the ground and post a picture of it on an online community such as Facebook.  To plank you must lay down face down in an unusual place with your palms attached to your side.

From the little research I have done on this topic, I find that it is very simple and not as important as I once thought it was. Also, while doing research I found that some people actually view this game as dangerous because people have fallen off a balcony and died because of it. Some have even been caught at work planking, and have been suspended. For further details on planking visit this website.
http://sanfrancisco.ibtimes.com/articles/153492/20110527/planking-what-is-it-and-why-it-is-popular-facebook.htm

Tag Your It!

When I think of Murray State University there are certain words that pop into my head- Navy, gold, racers, college, and many others. Until class discussion yesterday, I never realized how differently people viewed certain objects or topics. When searching for something online or in a database, everyone will type in different words for their search depending on how they think of the subject. If you do not find search results, you automatically type the search a different way to see if you get more results.

While doing the activity in class, I noticed that everyone looked at the racer photo differently. It also made me realize that I shouldn’t be discouraged if I don’t find results on my first search because the person that tagged it might have thought differently. What words would you use to tag this photo?  

Dewey vs. Library of Congress

Elementary school seems like so long ago. But I still remember our librarian explaining to us the Dewey Decimal System which we would be using to find library books. Now that I am in college, it is time to convert to the Library of Congress Classification System, unless I am planning on reading a Junie B. Jones book (which I would greatly enjoy).

There are some major differences between these two systems, and each one has pros and cons. The Library of Congress Classification is definitely much more extensive, and has twenty six different categories with subheadings under each. In contrast, the Dewey Decimal system has ten categories with a much broader range of options. The Library of Congress Classification has much more material to be classified, but it can also be confusing and misleading. For instance, under the language and literature sections you may find various journals written over literature, and then mixed in with it you may find a fictional book. It can also be misleading because of the way subjects are classified. They use the alphabet as a numbering tool, but only a few of the letters actually match the heading they are paired with. This can be confusing because they are user intuitive. The Library of Congress Classification can be a bit confusing when you first start using it. Get a look at it for yourself! http://education-portal.com/articles/Dewey_Decimal_System_vs_Library_of_Congress_Whats_the_Difference.html

Why Are Bugs Attracted to Light?

Last time I was at the dentist, sometime between counting the ceiling tiles and eyeing the instruments that would soon be in my mouth, I looked up at all of the black spots in the fluorescent lights. This instance, and many more, leads me to wonder why are bugs attracted to light?

After researching the topic, I found that all organisms have phototaxis, which is their movement to or away from light. Most bugs you find in light fixtures etc, are positively phototactic. Other creatures such as cockroaches are actually opposite and have a negative phototactic. People also have these similar traits (some like being alone in the dark while others like being in the “limelight”).  There are many different reasons bugs are attracted to light, some like it for the actual brightness and some like it for the heat. Bees orient themselves with the sun, nocturnal insects use the moon to navigate, and bugs such as fireflies are lucky because they have a traveling lightbulb. I am so relieved to finally understand why so many insects are attracted to lights. It still BUGS me though, when they fly inside when I leave the door open on a nice summer night. To learn more in depth details about different species attracted to the light visit http://sciencebits.wordpress.com/2008/09/19/why-are-bugs-attracted-to-light/

Valuing Information

-The Patriots won 1^st game of the season.

-Marshall County schools will be closed today.

-CSI Marathon on Fox at 5 p.m.

All of these sentences are random information that may or may not pertain to you. Whether it be of value to you is for you to decide. Value of information can be described as how important it is to you, or how important it is to everyone else. The value of information will be different for a variety of reasons. The source you received the information from, how you interpret the information or how relevant it is to you, and how credible it is will all contribute to the value of the information. In the article we read for class, we discussed what “valuing information” means, and also discussed how quickly information spreads with new emerging technology. Some people even refer to something as “traveling at the speed of information” because it moves so quickly. Information can have personal value, scientific value, economic value, or community value. Subjective information which involves personal value, usually involves emotions or opinionated information. On the other hand, objective information is completely opposite. Scientific method is definitely objective, and they believe it should have no bias. With the speed of information being so fast, community values will decline and community memory will be lost.

We are so reliant on one type of technology. If the internet ever shuts down or is disabled, most American’s won’t even have hard copies of pictures, videos, or documents that were saved on their computers. Is technology moving too fast for the country to keep up? Too much information can be a bad thing. For other opinions on valuing economic information visit this website! http://mike2.openmethodology.org/wiki/Economic_Value_of_Information