Assignment 10: Books to Read

1. The Time Traveler's Wife Audrey Niffenegger

2. Eat, Pray, Love Elizabeth Gilbert

3. Shiver Maggie Stiefvater

4. The Kite Runner Khaled Hosseini

5. The Memory Keeper's Daughter Kim Edwards

6. Me Talk Pretty One Day David Sedaris

7. Life As We Knew It Susan Beth Pfeffer

8. The Other Boleyn Girl Phillipa Gregory

9. A Thousand Splendid Suns Khaled Hosseini

10. Memoirs of a Geisha Arthur Golden

Assignment 9: Google Scholar Bibliography

These are the articles I found for Social Networking using Google Scholar:

Cross, R. & Parker, A. (2004). The Hidden Power of Social Networks: Understanding How Work Really Does Get Done in Organizations. Harvard Business School Pres

Times Cited: 194

Adamic, L. & Adar, E. (2005) How to Search a Social Network. Social Networks 27 (3), 187-203.

Times Cited: 205

Lenhart, A. & Madden, M. (2008). Social Networking Websites and Teens: An Overview. Pew Internet & American Life Project.

Times Cited: 185

Gross, R. & Acquisti, A. (2005). Information Revelation and Privacy in Online Social Networks. ACM Workshop on Privacy Issues in Practice, 71-80.

Times Cited: 376

Lewis, K. (2008). Tastes, Ties, and Time: A New Social Network Dataset Using Facebook.com. Social Networks 30 (4) 330-342.

Times Cited: 68

Kumar, R., Novak, J., & Tomkins, A. (2006). Structure and Evolution of Online Social Networks. International Conference on Knowledge Discovery and Data Mining, 611-617.

Times Cited: 288

Mislove, A. (2007). Measurement and Analysis of Online Social Networks. Internet Measurement Conference on Social Networks, 29-42.

Times Cited: 321

Analysis

I thought that both Google Scholar and the KentLINK databases were pretty user-friendly. I am more familiar with Google Scholar, because I have used it to do research in the past, but both were able to help me find the information I needed. Google Scholar's style is a little less rigid and more flexible than the Kent databases. However, I liked being able to choose specifications for my search with the Kent databases. In this case it really helped that I could organize my search by number of times an article was cited or I could be more detailed about exactly what I needed to find. I did notice that the articles on Google Scholar were cited a lot more than the articles in the Kent database. I had trouble finding enough articles in the Kent database that had been cited more than five times. Overall, I received quality information from both sites and will continue to use both in the future.

Assignment 8: Bibliography

These are the articles I found on Social Networking:

Author(s): Boulos, MNK (Boulos, Maged N. Kamel); Wheeler, S (Wheeler, Steve)
Title: The emerging Web 2.0 social software: an enabling suite of sociable technologies in health and health care education
Source: HEALTH INFORMATION AND LIBRARIES JOURNAL, 24 (1): 2-23 MAR 2007
Times Cited: 53


Author(s): Meho, LI; Tibbo, HR
Title: Modeling the information-seeking behavior of social scientists: Ellis's study revisited
Source: JOURNAL OF THE AMERICAN SOCIETY FOR INFORMATION SCIENCE AND TECHNOLOGY, 54 (6): 570-587 APR 2003
Times Cited: 31
DOI: 10.1002/asi.10244


Author(s): Hampton, KN
Title: Grieving for a lost network: Collective action in a wired suburb
Source: INFORMATION SOCIETY, 19 (5): 417-428 NOV-DEC 2003
Times Cited: 21
DOI: 10.1080/01972240390241547


Author(s): Thelwall, M (Thelwall, Mike)
Title: Social networks, gender, and friending: An analysis of MySpace member profiles
Source: JOURNAL OF THE AMERICAN SOCIETY FOR INFORMATION SCIENCE AND TECHNOLOGY, 59 (8): 1321-1330 JUN 2008
Times Cited: 15
DOI: 10.1002/asi.20835


Author(s): Tong, ST (Tong, Stephanie Tom); Van Der Heide, B (Van Der Heide, Brandon); Langwell, L (Langwell, Lindsey); Walther, JB (Walther, Joseph B.)
Title: Too much of a good thing? The relationship between number of friends and interpersonal impressions on facebook
Source: JOURNAL OF COMPUTER-MEDIATED COMMUNICATION, 13 (3): 531-549 APR 2008
Times Cited: 13
DOI: 10.1111/j.1083-6101.2008.00409.x


Author(s): Goulding, A
Title: Libraries and social capital
Source: JOURNAL OF LIBRARIANSHIP AND INFORMATION SCIENCE, 36 (1): 3-6 MAR 2004
Times Cited: 11
DOI: 10.1177/0961000604042965


Author(s): Drori, GS; Jang, YS
Title: The global digital divide - A sociological assessment of trends and causes
Source: SOCIAL SCIENCE COMPUTER REVIEW, 21 (2): 144-161 SUM 2003
Times Cited: 11
DOI: 10.1177/0894439303251556


Author(s): Carroll, JM; Rosson, MB
Title: A trajectory for community networks
Source: INFORMATION SOCIETY, 19 (5): 381-393 NOV-DEC 2003
Times Cited: 10
DOI: 10.1080/01972240390241501

Assignment 7: Monticello

For this assignment I decided to focus on Monticello, the home of Thomas Jefferson. My family visited Monticello years ago and I can still remember being amazed by the beauty and design of the property. We took a tour of the house and grounds and I fell in love with the area. I can remember thinking that I wanted to go to college at UVA because I liked the area so much. Well, that didn't happen, but I would still encourage anyone who has never been to Monticello to go check it out.

I could see that the Prints and Photographs Online Catalog was very different from Flickr. I was looking for pictures that would show the house, gardens, and plantations of Monticello. These are the search terms that I tried:

• Monticello
• Home of Thomas Jefferson
• Thomas Jefferson
• Monticello Rooms
• Charlottesville, Virginia
• Monticello Plantation
• Monticello Gardens
• Monticello and Plantation
• Monticello and Gardens
• Monticello and Exterior
• Monticello and Interior

Using these search terms I found many pictures of Monticello, especially the exterior view of the house. I was able to easily find pictures of bedrooms inside the house, the study, statues in the house, the tomb of Thomas Jefferson at Monticello, and other items found inside Monticello. I was also surprised to find pictures of the servant quarters, stables, and ice house. Although there were many pictures showing the outside view of the house, I couldn't find any pictures showing the gardens or plantations. I was a little disappointed that I couldn't any pictures showing these aspects, because they are a big part of the property. Other than that I was very pleased with what I was able to find on Monticello. I was not expecting to find pictures on things like the stables.

To be honest this site is not one of my favorites. I can see how it would be very useful in certain situations, for example if you were doing some kind of historical report or something to that extent. However, before I decided to do this assignment on Monticello I was just browsing around typing in certain terms and had trouble trying to find photographs on specific things. For example, I wanted to see if the site had any pictures on the All American Girls Professional Baseball League. This was during the time that women played professional baseball, because the men were fighting in the war---think "A League of Their Own." I tried various search terms, but could only find general pictures of women playing baseball, none that showed any sign of the league. I decided to try Google next to see what it would come up with and all I had to do is type "Girls Baseball" and information and pictures on the league came up. I spent so much time looking for pictures of this nature on the Prints and Photographs Online Catalog and was able to easily pull it up on Google. With Google you can also sort through just images and with the online catalog you had to sort between images and documents. I tried finding some way to just bring up photographs, but could not figure out how to do it. I may use this site again if I am searching for photographs on a very specific historical topic, but even then I will probably still check Google as my first step.

Assignment 6: Flickr Album

For this assignment I decided to find and share pictures relating to skydiving. I went skydiving in Denver, Colorado two summers ago and loved it! I created a set of pictures with my own pictures from this trip and I also created a skydiving gallery using other people's pictures. When I was creating a gallery using pictures from other users I was looking for action shots and anything else that would capture the intense experience of skydiving. Before this class I had never used Flickr, but I have found it pretty easy to use and will continue to use it after this class ends.

Uploading my own pictures was easy to do and it was very similar to how you would upload photos on a social networking site, such as facebook. To find pictures from other users I searched using these terms:
Skydiving
Parachute
Tandem jump
Skydive
Skydiving formations
Skydiving lands
Sky
Jumping from airplanes
Free falling
Extreme sports

Most of the pictures came up right away under "skydiving," but the more detailed terms brought up some pictures showing different aspects of skydiving. I was very satisfied with the pictures that came up. I found exactly what I was looking for in these pictures. I was actually surprised that I found so many pictures from other Flickr users on this topic.

Flickr is very user-friendly and it seems like every time I use it I learn about another service or thing that you can do with your pictures on the site. I like that Flickr has a place where you can edit your pictures. Most social networking sites only allow you to upload pictures, but do not have a place to edit pictures. Usually I end up opening two different programs, but Flickr would make this process much easier. The only thing that I was a little confused about was the difference between sets and galleries. It seems that you create sets with your own pictures and galleries with pictures from other users. I would have liked to combine my own pictures with pictures from other users, but I couldn't quite figure out how to do that. Overall, I have been very pleased with Flickr and will continue to use it.

View my skydiving set and gallery on Flickr at http://www.flickr.com/photos/meganseibel/

Assignment 5: Know it Now and Ask a Librarian

Before this assignment I had never used the "Know it Now 24x7" website or the "Ask a Librarian" tool through Kent State University. I was excited to try both services, in hope that this could be something that I start to use more often if I am satisfied with the results.

First I went to the "Know in Now 24x7" website found at http://www.knowitnow.org/. I really like the fact that this service is 24x7, because I often do my research and homework late at night. The fact that there is a staff member ready to chat at any time makes this service very flexible. Here is how my chat went:

Megan: What educational implications does muscular dystrophy have on children?
ad.pat: Hello. You've connected to your 24x7 online reference service staffed by librarians across the state. Please wait one moment while I take a look at your question.
ad.pat: hi
ad.pat: let me see what i can find for you
Megan: Hello! Thank you!
ad.pat: this may help: http://www.slc.sevier.org/miscdisa.htm
ad.pat: still looking
ad.pat: another: http://www.mnlowincidenceprojects.org/documents/PIdisabilityBriefAdmin.pdf
Megan: Ok great I will check out both of those...thank you!

The chat was very brief and I left the chat before checking out the websites to see if they had the information that I needed. This was a mistake and I will know better next time. The first website gave a small amount of information about physical disabilities such as MD, but was very general and didn't really give me the information I needed. Only a few sentences even related to MD. The second website was about common physical impairments and adaptations that can be made for these students. This website gave me more than the first, but both were pretty general. This information was not nearly as helpful as the information I collected through assignment 4. I think part of the problem was in the way that I asked the question through the chat. Next time I will try to be very clear in letting the librarian I am chatting with know exactly what I need. I also should have stayed in the chat and given the librarian feedback so that they could try again to find information I needed.

After being a little disappointed in the results from "Know it Now," I went to Kent State University website to try to chat with a librarian. However when I got to the library's page I saw that the chat is only open when Kent State's library is open. This was a little frustrating to me, because the summer hours for the library are not very flexible. I decided that I would wake up early the next morning to chat with a KSU librarian. The website stated that a KSU librarian is available to chat when the reference desk is open. I checked the calendar for the hours to make sure the library was open, but I still ended up waiting on the KSU librarian to go online. This was very frustrating for me and made me feel like it would be a lot easier to just start looking for the information myself.

After waiting some time I did get to chat with a KSU librarian. I made sure that this time I explained my situation with tutoring the child with MD in detail and asked what I should know about MD before starting. I also asked what kind of modifications I should be making. The KSU librarian gave me resources that were a lot more helpful than the resources given by "Know it Now." I still don't think these resources were as "on target" as the resources I found on my own, but I knew exactly what I was looking for.

How did the two IM services compare to each other? Well, I think I gave the KSU librarian an advantage by explaining my situation and describing in detail exactly what I was looking for. I think I would have received information that was more relevant to my topic if I would have done that with the "Know it Now" librarian. I was very frustrated with the hours of the KSU librarian chat. A librarian was not online at the time that the website had posted. If I had to pick one of these to use in the future I would probably choose the "Know it Now" website, because I wouldn't have to worry about whether they are online or not. I would just make sure that I really explain what I need to the librarian.

Chatting online with a librarian was an interesting experience and one that I had never done before. Do I think the information I received from this experience was better that the information I found in assignment 4? No, at least in this case I was able to find exactly what I needed in a shorter amount of time. I was able to research at any time of the day and I knew the key terms to use to get the information I needed. I don't see myself referring to the online librarians unless I am having trouble finding information on my own. This is just my personal preference. However, I do give the library credit for having this kind of service available. It shows that the library is changing with technology and trying to reach out to all users.

Information Awareness Report: Muscular Dystrophy

A few weeks ago I was asked to tutor a child with muscular dystrophy. I was very excited to start working with the child, but I also knew that I needed to find out more information on muscular dystrophy before we started working together. I had a basic knowledge of MD, but I wanted to know how it affected learning if at all so I knew how to best serve the child. For example, how much writing should I ask the child to do? Are there modifications I need to make? My intentions, as always, were to treat this child just like any other child, but I just wanted to make sure that I wasn't asking the child to do anything that would have a long-term effect on his body.

First, I talked to the child's mother and teacher from the previous year to find out more information. This was a great, because I got information on the individual child instead of MD in general. The first thing I learned was that the child had a specific type of MD called Duchenne Muscular Dystrophy. I learned that the child had a stool for his feet and a pad that went on his chair so he could move around. The mother and teacher told me that writing was fine unless the boy's fingers started to get tired. I learned that MD usually starts in large muscles, such as the legs, and moves to smaller muscles, such as the hands. However, for the child I was working with it was the opposite. The mother told me that he was losing muscle strength in his smaller muscles first and this is why writing should stop if he gets tired. Talking to the boy's mother and teacher helped a lot, but it also made me even more curious.

My second step in getting information was through the internet. I used Google to search for these terms: muscular dystrophy, duchenne muscualar dystrophy, and duchenne muscular dystrophy and school. I was able to find out basic information about the disease, symptoms, and treatments. I also learned that the disease can affect adults, but the more severe forms usually start in early childhood. At this time there is no cure for MD, however treatment aims to control symptoms to maximize quality of life. Here are some of the sites I looked at through these search terms:
http://www.nlm.nih.gov/medlineplus/ency/article/000705.htm

http://www.parentprojectmd.org/site/DocServer/EdMatters-TeachersGuide.pdf?docID=2403

http://specialchildren.about.com/od/musculardystrophy/a/MDschool.htm


I thought this was good information, but I wanted more information more specific to academics. Using Google again, I searched "teacher's guide to muscular dystrophy" and found this information to be exactly what I was looking for. I found reliable sites that told me about how muscle weakness affects behavior in academic settings and at home. I learned more about the adaptive equipment that are used at school or other similar settings and how teachers should respond to questions that classmates may ask. This was exactly what I needed to know! Here are some of the websites I used:

http://www.mdausa.org/publications/tchrdmd/dmd2.html

http://www.parentprojectmd.org/site//PageServer?pagename=understanding_professional_teachers

http://www.muscular-dystrophy.org/

I was lucky to have found the information I needed in such a short time. If I had not found what I was looking for my next step would have been to use a research database to find scholarly articles/studies or to go to the library and check out some books on MD. Why wasn't the library my first choice? For me it was more convenient to check on the internet first. I could do this at home with a few clicks. I was cautious in making sure that the sites I used were reliable and I checked several sites to make sure the information was the accurate. I also decided to use the internet since this was an infomational need related to medical health. I knew the latest research would be online and that there was a chance books at the library could contain information that is outdated. I learned that finding information about a subject or question is something I enjoy. It is a little like a scavenger hunt. I also learned that searching for this information was something I did automatically, without much thought. The search terms seemed obvious to me and if one didn't bring up the results then I just tried another one. Now that I am educated on the subject, I feel more confident in my tutoring sessions. Overall this experience was something that challenged and interested me. I learned a lot about the way that I go about finding information to questions and topics that come up daily!

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Follow me on Flickr at http://www.flickr.com/photos/meganseibel/

Screen name: MEGS*1

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Welcome to my blog! This blog will contain posts and assignments for LIS 60001: Access to Information. Enjoy! :)