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Thursday, January 31, 2008

This most important lesson I have learnt in UIR is the lesson on the evaluation of resources. I find that it is really interesting and fun to find out about how to evaluate the websites according to the criteria in lecture 7. I feel that it is really educational and constructive because it can be of use to use to find out whether a website is of a good quality or of a lousy quality. It will be useful to me when I carry out researches. I will be able to gauge and find out which websites are of use and which websites are not.

Last but not least, I find that taking UIR as a CDS has been a great and I have learnt many skills and gained many insights in relation to researches. The lecturer has been also approchable and understanding and has given me many tips during the course of this CDS.

posted
6:47 PM

Thursday, January 24, 2008

This week we were required to compile the resources that the group found for the assignment and to cite the resources according to APA citation style. We were supposed to collate our resources and compile a bibliography for the submission. This was not an easy task as we had to ensure that the citations were arranged in alphabetical order and using the APA style.

I learnt that compiling a bibliography is important as it is a crucial part of any report. Bibliography shows that one has taken information from a legitimate source. In addition, it gives credit to the original author and prevents plagarism as well. Hence, I find that this essential skill that I learnt during this practical which will be useful for me.

posted
5:44 PM

For this practical, we were supposed to access our UIR-Rawkz Wiki and contribute to the group findings. Without prior experiences with any online Wikis, this exercise was found out to be very unique. It was really fun to update and add on the work of others. Furthermore, I also gained insights on the writing style of others and knowledge extracted from the information that they posted. It was an excellent learning experience.

posted
5:32 PM

Thursday, January 17, 2008

Practical 6b is similar to practical 6a as it is a continuation of 6a.

We were required to find another resource based on our topic and evaluate it according to criteria set in lecture 7.

The 2nd resource found was http://www.usaid.gov/our_work/global_health/aids/TechAreas/research/microbfactsheet.html.

This website was rather clear as well as they indicated what fields they are into. The coverage of the source is very board asUSAID is a government agency and they support various areas like economic growth, trade, global health and democracy just to name a few. In addition, there were a large amount of information found on AIDS as well. The source is also authorative, accurate and current as they are from a government agency which publishes researches reports based on recent and precise information.

The navigation around the site is efficient and effective and the layout was soothing to the eyes as well. In conclusion, the site was good.

I found the 2 e-learning exercises extremely useful, as we learnt how to evaluate resources according the information, coverage, audience, layout, presentation, userability and etc. This is beneficial as I can use this skills gained in the future. In addition, I feel that the exercises were also be of aid towards the completing of the assignment.

posted
6:47 PM

For this practical, we were supposed to do independent learning and the following activities are what that is required of us:

based on search phases and using any search facility search for any resources
evaluate one resource using criteria from lecture 7
complete template for evaluation of resources

Therefore, I utlilize google and yahoo search engines for this lab exercise. My topic is the Development of in AIDS research and i used keywords like development, AIDS and research to look for two resources. My first resource was http://www.cadre.org.za/programmes.htm .

This website states their aims and goals clearly and users of the site can understand the information easily. Information such as, their main focus is in southern Africa was located easily. The coverage was wide as they cover many research reports and links related. The source is not authoratative as it is not under the any government, academic or educational source. Yet, they received funding and support from the local government.

The facts found are authentic as they were based on research and actual figures. While the information is current due to recent publications, there were no indications of the frequecy of updates. The layout was well presented and coupled with user-friendly navigation functions, the site is impressive on the whole.

posted
6:26 PM

Friday, December 28, 2007

Hi all,

It's been some time, how have you guys been? Hahas. Oh well time for work.

For practical 3, we have to study the Internet resources that you have retrieved in Practical 2 and identify the purposes of the resources.

I have categorise them under resource, rationale and reason.
Here's my findings:

Resource 1:http://2factor.blogspot.com. Rationale: Personal
Reason: The author of that resource is using the his blog to show his views on the 2 factor authentication devices. He backed his arguments with examples but it is still largely based on his personal viewpoints.

Resource 2: http://www.portwise.com/solutions/industry/finance_banking.php Rationale: Business/Marketing
Reason: The author of this resource uses this website to promote his product – 2 factor authentication devices. He shows the benefits of the product and is trying to convince readers that his product is practical, effective and useful.

Resource 3: http://searchsecurity.techtarget.com/tip/1,289483,sid14_gci968784,00.html Rationale: Advocacy/Personal
Reason: The author of this resource is sharing and providing his technical advice and expertise to other professionals or members of the public. These information might have some influence on the opinion of others but some of the materials may not be totally factual or reliable as some experts might have biased viewpoints.

Resource 4: http://www.dsssasia.com/htmdocs/products/a_server/a_server_overview.htm Rationale: Business/ Marketing
Reason: The website is provides details and information of the product that the company is selling. It also states the advantages of using the products. Thus, the website aims to promote and market a certain product.

For this practical, I gained insights on how to categorise the different resources. This will aid me in identifying the rationale of the resource and allow me to make good use of the information. The skills learnt also taught me whether to trust the source fully based on the purpose of the resource.

Ok. Thats about it. I'll be back soon.

posted
9:39 PM

Thursday, November 29, 2007

Hi people,
I'm back after so some time due to mountains of assignments that needed my attention.

OK for practical 4 and 5, we were supposed to evaluate and compare on the effectiveness of each of the search facilities. Here are my views:

All three search facilities are similar to each other as all of them enable users to research for information on the internet. They all have similar results interface and as the results will be ranked and shown in pages according to the search facilities measurement of their relevance.

One of the strengths of Meta search engines is that they cross reference to other search engines to find information. As for search engines, they have many advance search features and that proved useful for users for users to narrow their search results. Subject directory is useful if users are finding information on a topic but they unsure of the exact information they need.

A weakness of Meta search engines is that search results maybe too refined and the area of focus might be too specific which will lead to only a small number of hits leading to only a few useful results. Search engines however, have manages to find many search results and this might be useful if users are unable to locate useful information within the first few resources. Subject directories cover a small section of pages in the web and they are not useful in finding specific information.

In conclusion, Meta search engines best met my search needs as they are able to find useful information within the least amount of links and the information found was the most relevant among the three search facilities.

Ok. So what did I learnt from this exercise? I found out that the strengths and weakenesses of the different search facilities. I find this knowledge useful as I will be able to use the search facility that suits my searching needs.

Ok, that's all for now.

posted
6:06 PM