Monday, July 28, 2008

Blog 5

This wasn't my first online course, I've taken a few others. I find that there is more interaction online sometimes depending on what course is taken face-to-face. I like to mix it up a lil and take both online and in a classroom. I love the flexibility online offers and the structure of the courses. I really enjoy working at my own pace and the calendar provides a clear direction of upcoming assignments, quizzes, etc. to prepare for and complete on your own. I think online courses could be somewhat difficult for anyone who is not self-motivated because the only downside to an online course I see is that time allows for people to get too relaxed, and working on your own with no real in class pressure of a instructor can make students a lil laid back. Some classes could be harder than others online depending on how clear the material and instructions are especially because instructors aren't necessary always available immediately for communication. I believe this class was perfect for online, considering the basis of this class mainly involved online research. Examples of other students work is sometimes helpful, and I would have liked a visual of the final project. I would have attended a face-to-face workshop of this class, I am a hands on person and a workshop could always help.

Wednesday, July 23, 2008

Information Competency - The Big 4

Do I feel I am a information competent student? I know one thing is for sure this class definitely helped me see a completely different view on the variety of ways to research information by using different methods. I learned a lot about the lil things I always wondered what their use was for, such as the decimal system, the different microforms, the explanation of subject headings, and that terms have many different subject classifications. Of course there is much much more but you catch my drift. I googled what is information competency there were many results but I looked at the palomer college library at www.palomer.edu/library. There is a description of exactly what information competency is and it states it is the ability to recognize the need for information, know where to obtain information, choose the proper source and retrieve appropriate information, organize, analyze, and synthesize information, and use and communicate information. I know there is always room for improvement and I will continue to improve on my searching skills and continue to get better at organizing and siting information. I know I am now a lot more competent than I was prior to this course!

Saturday, July 19, 2008

Reflection 3

Aside from some frustration I am glad I enrolled in this class. I have been repeating myself but when I begin to type about my feelings towards this research process a big relief immediately jumps to mind. In the past I never really did any intense research, unless it was for a class project and I was part of a group so typically my research part was somewhat slim. I can say it is now easier because I know what to look for to distinguish factual information, I have learned where to get my sources from, and now that I look back the only areas I ever focused my attention on for research were google and yahoo. During these past few weeks there are so many different reference sources that I've used that I never knew could come in so handy. I definitely know that moving forward the sites I have learned including how to do advance searches, or look up call numbers will help me be more successful. The Library of Congress was really helpful as well so I know I will be referring to the online catalog more often. One thing I will keep in mind is the fact that there is so many different search engines to research a topic so if the results are not exactly what I am looking for, I will search differently and maybe even try different sources.

Tuesday, July 1, 2008

Blog #2

Eventhough I am learning a lot of information on how to do researches online I think it is still necessary and helpful to visit a library. I am a hands on person so physically having a book in my hand sometimes is more useful than navigating thru the web especially since I am not computer savy. I still haven't mastered it all. At least now I am learning how to authenticate and spot differences between sites to evaluate whether or not websites contain factual and real information. This library course has been very helpful and I am still glad I took it.