HOMEWORK due 10-27 - Article about On-Line reading and research

After reading the article, I will be more clear and more specific about how my students should search the web for information.

In the future when I have students do research on-line, I will first discuss certain tools for narrowing their search and validating their search results (as we have learned in this class). If appropriate for the assignment, I will strongly suggest certain types of sites to use that are reliable. These would include library sites, on-line news (either through sites like ABCnews.com and sites like Yahoonews), Library of Congress and sites with a reliable extensions like .gov or .edu. Then I will have them fill out a simple questionnaire to help them determine if their website is valid.

This questionnaire will ask students to:

1. Search their topic several different ways to see if they get the same results (using symbols to narrow their search, changing word order and then searching again to see if they get the same results. They will write down how many hits they got for each search and their different searches.

2. Write down exactly what they searched when they finally got the results they were looking for and also have them bookmark their site so they can get back to it easily.

3. Identify the author, look up the author on line and write down some details about the author.

4. Identify the domain and write it down on the questionnaire.

5. Click on links from the site they found, read through them and write down information as to where these links go and write down why they think these links are credible.

6. Students will then write down several pieces of information they found and write down if these pieces of information make sense in relationship to what they thought they would get.

Searching - Homework due 10-13

I finally finished click around and reading/listening to all the links for this assignment.  Some things I already knew (like using certain symbols in your search to narrow your search) and the Advanced Search box but it was great to get a refresher course since I don't always use these features.  I hadn't used the "I'm Feeling Lucky" feature in a very long time and had forgotten about what kind of results I would get.  I'm going to use that more often now.  I can see it saving a lot of time.

I didn't know about Show Options and the Wonder Wheel which I really liked and I can see using it myself.  I experimented with these options and got good results.  I also had no idea about the quick shortcut way to use Google as a calculator, to find the population, definition or to convert currency.  This will be great on many levels and it is so easy (much more direct than I thought a search could be).  I will use this quite a bit.  I will probably use the conversion and the definition features the most.

Library of Congress Homework Due 10/6

As I was watching the Library of Congress videos, I found many things that interested me. One that I found particularly interesting was the children's pop-up book that they had because they found it to be of particular interest due to the vibrant colors used throughout the book for its time period. I had no idea that the Library of Congress had childrens' books and I thought it was interesting that the main reason they had it was for the colors they used.  I wondered what other types of items were in the Library of Congress had that I was unaware of.  I wondered if they had more children's items.  Later I learned that they had a lot of children's items.  I also learned about all sorts of items to be found in the Library that I was not aware of. 

I had always thought that the Library of Congress focused only on the history and making of our country and our founding fathers.  Since I have never had the opportunity to visit the Library, I was totally uninformed.  I also thought they only had books, maps and photos but then I learned they had other items such as the contents of President Lincoln's pockets the night he was shot and the actual yellow ribbon that was tied around the "Old Oak Tree" for the Iran hostages.  I never would have guessed the ribbon would be there.

I later found that the Library of Congress even has comic strips. I never knew that they would think this was an important enough part of history to be in the Library.  Nor did I think that certain movies would be considered to be in the Library but they are.

Lastly I decided to research the history of advertising by Coca Cola. Who would have thought that television ads would be in the Library of Congress?  Their first print ad was in 1886 and is shown here. 

They began their television advertising in 1954.  They used stop motion advertising from 1954-1956.  In 1964 the used experimental color television project to determine the best lighting for their cans, bottles and performers in television advertisements.  Their famous Polar Bear campaign began in 1993 and was launched with the beginning of the Always campaign.

All in all I found this experience very interesting and I can see many, many advantages to using the Library of Congress web site for students as well as adults.