This is NOT an official Sacramento City College website. No endorsement in any manner or form is intended. It was created, and is maintained, solely for the use of the students, faculty, guests and staff connected with the Library Technology 30 Class. Thanks for using this site. Any comments and/or suggestions on how to make it more useful to users will be appreciated.

Since 1916, Sacramento City College has offered outstanding academic programs and vocational training. SCC is a leader in providing lower division programs that prepare students for successful transfer to four-year colleges and universities, and also offers occupational programs that meet the current needs of business and industry. By focusing on the full range of student needs, Sacramento City College provides a comfortable educational atmosphere that contributes to a successful, life-long learning experience. Nearly 18,000 students are enrolled at the college. Sacramento City College is part of the Los Rios Community College District.

Internet for Librarians, Teachers and other Information Professionals

...as well as for others who wish to move beyond simply "surfing" the net.

Sacramento City College Class lt30. Wesley A. Doak, MLIS; Instructor

Spring 2001 Term. Last updated 1June2001

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REQUIRED Textbook Title: The Internet for Dummies, 7th edition, or latest edition

Textbook Author: John R. Levine, Carol Baroudi and Margaret Levine Young were authors of latest edition

Textbook Publisher: IDG Books ISBN 0-7645-0674-9 List price $19.95 and/or

OPTIONAL Textbook Title: The Internet for Teachers, 3rd or latest edition

IDG Books ISBN 0-7645-0623-4 Textbook Author: Bard Williams, Ed.D. List price $24.95 and/or

OPTIONAL Textbook title: The Internet All in One Desk Reference for Dummies, 1st edition 2000.

IDG Books ISBN 0-7645-0676-5. List price $29.95

OPTIONAL Digital Video Textbook title: The Missing Manual, latest edition

Author, David Pogue. Textbook Publisher: Pogue Press, O'Reilly ISBN 1-56592-859-8. List price $19.95

OPTIONAL Webpage Authoring Textbook title: Building a Web Site for Dummies, 2000 or latest edition

Author, Davud and Rhonda Crowder. Textbook Publisher: IDG Books ISBN 0-7645-0674-9 List price $24.99

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Class Outline (adapted from popular and library literature and college-level Internet works.

Links and supplemental materials added by instructors and students in the class.

College calendar is final authority for this calendar/chart.

To navigate directly to any one class session click on one of the dates listed below:

Session #1 January 18, 2001	Session #7 March 1, 2001	Spring Break April 12, 2001
Session #2 January 25, 2001	Session #8 March 8, (MidTerm)	Session #14 April 19, 2001
Session #3 February 1, 2001	Session #9 March 15, 2001	Session #15 April 26, 2001
Session #4 February 8, 2001	Session #10 March 22, 2001	Session #16 May 3, 2001
Session #5 February 15, 2001	Session #11 March 29, 2001	Session #17 May 10, 2001
Washington's BD February 22, 2001	Session #12 April 5, 2001	Session #18 Final Exam May 17, 2001

 

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A quick note to students and other interested parties. This class will concentrate on the following areas of Internet expertise (SEE ALSO "Expectations" below:

1. Microcomputer Basics
2. Basic Internet Tools and skills (Browsers, Search Engines, FTP, et al.)
3. Resources (your toolkit for learning)
4. Staying Current (lifelong learning)
5. Becoming creators, not just consumers

Sacramento City College

LT30 "(Advanced) Internet and Searching Strategies"

Spring 2001 Term

Instructor . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .Wes Doak

Office . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Library/Learning Resource Center #310

Phone # . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . (916) 558-2001 (SCC) (916) 739-0939 (home office)

Email . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .librarylink@aol.com or wesdoak@aol.com

Telefax . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .(707) 215-2092

Website . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . www.mousemagic.com/scclt30fspr01

Classroom . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .Library LR141

Class times . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Thursdays 6:30-9:20pm (or shorter without break)

Faculty office hours . . . . . . .. . . .Monday and Thursday 6:00-6:30pm or by appointment

Welcome to the class:

As we begin our journey through the Internet I am going to ask each student to discuss their expectations for the class. While there are certain expectations imposed upon us all, in terms of approved curriculum, et al., I will add to this baseline of Internet knowledge, skills and abilities, as many of your unique needs as possible.

Instructor information:

I have a MSLIS and am a professional archivist [NARA], fundraiser [CFRE from AFP] and program manager [UC Davis]. I have taught at UCLA's Graduate Library School and been a guest lecturer at many library schools throughout the nation. I have been a library technology consultant to the National Libary of the People's Republic of China, the King's Library in Thailand, several national libraries in Europe as well as many libraries throughout the US. It has been my privilege to teach library science and technology here at Sacramento City College since 1998.

For ten years I served as the Chief of Library Development for the State of California and for another 9 years served as Oregon's State Librarian. During my library career I have worked in many different sized libraries and with nearly every type of educational, private, special and public library. I was privileged to serve as Citizen Ambassador to Europe in the area of school and public library media, receive the McCarthy Award from the National Council of State Governments for heading up the nation's top state agency in the area of technological innovation and still other awards. If you really need more information you can point to my online resume.

Here's a recent picture of me, second from right, giving flying instructions to my brothers, (our mother refused to fly with me) using my uncle's plane. We later flew in the Army Air Corps during WWII in both Europe and Asia.

OK, fine, it's not REAL recent, and the description is exaggerated a TAD, but it is more recent than photos politicians provide in their campaign literature...and more honest! It's really me, my family and my uncle's Piper Cub (I think it was a Cub).

Expectations:

You will become the most effective user of the Internet, especially the World-Wide web, you know. The Internet will be a seamless resource and an essential asset in your personal and professional life. Your skills will include methods for keeping up to date on Internet resources and related technologies including building and maintaining website and creating basic video programs for websites and other uses. These expectations assume class attendance and participation, completing homework in a timely manner and preparing for all examinations.

1. Class participation including preparation and working together when appropriate
2. Field trip participation including written report(s)
3. Homework done in a timely fashion and at an appropriate level.
4. Midterm grade
5. Final exam grade

Course description and goals:

SEE above and official college catalog

Getting help:

email is best, but speaking up in class is better. You may also set appointments for before class sessions. SEE: Faculty office hours above.

Information about YOU:

• Name?
• Current occupation?
• Occupational goal(s)?
• What specifically do you hope to learn?
• Do you use/access a Mac or a WinTel computer?
• How fast is your computer [Mhz]?
• How to you currently access the Internet? Online service/ISP
• At what speed are you connected to the Internet? 28K/56K/128K/?
• What browser do you most often use when on the WWW?
• What is your favorite Internet Search Engine?
• Anything you wish to add?

 

Some basics necessary to successfully navigate this course:

 

Platforms Macintosh WinTel Amiga Operating Systems Mac Windows Unix OS2 Linux Palm MSCE EPOC RAM as DIMM SIMM, et al as PCMCIA card(s) Storage Hard Drives Removable Media

Monitors Size Resolution Flat or CRT Keyboards Standard Ergonomic Ability (ie.one-hand) Scanners Drum Flatbed Handheld CD ROM DVD RAM DVD ROM DVD RW CD-RW

Navigation tips ("Don't try this at home, I'm a professional" Sure!):

• Point and Click
• Forward and Back
• Type in a URL
• Bookmarks/Favorite Places and Go

 

Textbook references for today's topics and assigned reading for next week:

NOTE: This may look like a lot of reading for the first two weeks of class; however, if you are fairly familiar with personal computers and have a basic understanding of the Internet and WWW you will be able to skim over these readings in no time. If you DO NOT know the basics, these readings will be critical to your success in this class. We WILL spend time in class on these topics. You may disregard most of the technical stuff on dialup accounts as it changes too quickly to be relevant to this class. Our goal is power searching and utilization of the net, not technical issues.

Return to Class Calendar 

 The topic for today is the World Wide Web [WWW] in general. Come to class prepared to offer comments on your favorite web sites and why they appeal to you...or what you hope to find on the web. We will spend some time discussing various web browsers, the elements in a website and website construction in general.

Mining the 'Deep Web' With Specialized Drills

 

By LISA GUERNSEY

 

Two weeks ago, online newspapers and magazines were buzzing with news about Linda Chavez, President Bush's first choice for labor secretary.

 

But from the results coming up in most popular search engines, you would never have known it. Instead of retrieving articles about an illegal immigrant who had lived in Ms. Chavez's home, a Google search on "chavez" led to several encyclopedia entries on Cesar Chavez, the American labor leader and advocate of farmworkers' rights.

 

Lycos turned up several Web sites with information about Eric Chavez, an Oakland A's third baseman. On Alta Vista, some of the first results linked to Ms. Chavez's old columns for an online magazine, but none of the links provided even a hint of the fact that she had become front-page news.

 

"I don't see anything that anyone would feel is relevant to her given the context of this past week," said Danny Sullivan, the editor of SearchEngineWatch.com, as he typed "chavez" into other search engines.

 

His demonstration illustrated a problem that has long been apparent longtime problem that has to anyone casting about for online news reports: search engines can be pitifully inadequate, partly because they rely on Web-page indexes that were compiled weeks before. It is not just timely material that seems to escape their reach. Pages deep within Web sites are also often missed, as are multimedia files, bibliographies, the bits of information in databases and pages that come in P.D.F., Adobe's portable document format.

 

In fact, traditional search engines have access to only a fraction of 1 percent of what exists on the Web. As many as 500 billion pieces of content are hidden from the view of those search engines, according to BrightPlanet.com, a search company that has tried to tally them. To many search experts, this is the "invisible Web." BrightPlanet prefers the term "deep Web," an online frontier that it estimates may be 500 times larger than the surface Web that search engines try to cover. And that uncharted territory does not include Web pages that are behind firewalls or part of intranets.

 

To dig deeper into the Web, a new breed of search engine has cropped up that takes a different approach to Web page retrieval. Instead of broadly scanning the Web by indexing pages from any links they can find, these search engines are devoted to drilling further into specialty areas &emdash; medical sites, legal documents, even Web pages dedicated to jokes and parody. Looking for timely financial data? Try FinancialFind.com. Seeking sketches of molecular structures or even scientific humor? Biolinks.com may help.

 

"Instead of grabbing everything on the Web and then trying to deal with this big mess," Mr. Sullivan said, these boutique search engines have decided to do some filtering. "They may say, we'll pick 40 sites that we know are related to this topic," he said. "And that means you won't get these irrelevant search results."

 

Some search engines go even further, sending out finely tuned software agents, or bots, that learn not only which pages to search, but also what information to grab from those pages. Either way, the theory is the same: The smaller the haystack, the better chance of finding the needle.

 

Finding those smaller haystacks can be a challenge in itself. It is the same problem faced by patrons who walk into a library, said Gary Price, a librarian at George Washington University and co-author of the forthcoming book "The Invisible Web" (CyberAge Books). People may know to come to the library, but they probably do not know which reference books to pull off the shelf. Of course, in such cases, patrons can at least consult a reference librarian. On the Web, people are usually fending for themselves.

 

"The end user should have a better idea of all the different options that exist," Mr. Price said. "But this is easier said than done."

 

Lately, however, a few specialty search engines have been popping up on lists of most-visited Web sites &emdash; evidence that people are learning to find them. MySimon, a service that specializes in culling product prices and information across 2,500 shopping sites, is one of the most popular. In December, the site attracted 5 million unique visitors, a huge increase from its 1.9 million visitors a year before, according to Jupiter Media Metrix, an Internet research firm. FindLaw.com, a search engine and Web- based directory of legal information, has as many as 900,000 visitors a month.

 

Moreover.com, a site that opened in 1999 with a search engine that gathers headlines from 1,800 online news sources, has also appeared on Jupiter Media Metrix's reports of Web use, which track only sites with at least 200,000 visitors a month. Last month, about 340,000 people visited Moreover.com's pages &emdash; and that is without any consumer marketing from the company, which offers the search engine free as a teaser for businesses that might buy its search software.

 

Like most specialty search engines, Moreover manages to find those news stories because its bots have been designed to hunt for only specific pages within a specific realm of the Web. They are like sniffing dogs that have been given a whiff of a scent and are taught to disregard everything else. Font tags in the source code underlying the Web page, for example, are a giveaway. Between 6 and 18 words in large type near the top of a Web page look a lot like headlines. In most cases they are, and the site's bots retrieve them, using the headline as the link in the list of search results.

 

Once in a while, however, those supposed headlines turn out to be something else, like a copyright disclaimer page. So to filter further, Moreover's spiderlike bots learn the structure of the Web address, noting which words and numbers show up between the slashes. If an address ends with the word "copyright," a bot may decide to disregard that page. Similar rules are used to categorize the news articles so that people can narrow their searches before even entering a search term. "Our spiders are very good readers," said Nick Denton, Moreover's chief executive.

 

MySimon also employs bots that are designed to hunt for very specific information. But first the bots must watch the click- through routines of MySimon employees who have learned the ins and outs of particular online shops &emdash; like exactly which pages typically provide prices, sizes or shipping fees. Once trained, the bots follow those paths themselves, prowling shops for information to put into databases and then display online. For example, one bot is assigned to Amazon.com's bookshelves; another is assigned to its electronics merchandise.

 

"What we're doing is teaching our agents to shop on behalf of consumers," said Josh Goldman, president of MySimon.

 

Meanwhile, general search engines have also decided to offer smaller fields for foraging. Northern Light has a news search service that searches a two-week archive of articles on 56 news wires. It also offers a "geosearch" service that allows people to look for businesses based within a few miles of a given address. Google recently opened an "Uncle Sam" area, where people can search for governmental material.

 

Services that limit searches to audio or video files &emdash; typically found under the heading "multimedia search" &emdash; are now offered on sites like Alta Vista, Excite and Lycos. And shopping search engines are linked from almost all of the major search sites.

 

But again, many Web users do not know that the narrow searching tools exist. So reference librarians and library Web sites are now directing their patrons to those areas on the Web. Mr. Sullivan, Mr. Price and Chris Sherman, a search guide on About.com who is working with Mr. Price on the "Invisible Web" book, are among the several information- retrieval experts who have built online directories of specific search sites. Another tool is the LexiBot, a downloadable program designed by BrightPlanet to demonstrate the search technology it sells to businesses. The LexiBot, which costs $89.95 but is free for the first 30 days, gathers information simultaneously from 600 search sites and databases &emdash; including the databases that form the basis of specialty search engines.

 

The harder part may be to change people's behavior. All the boutique search engines in the world will not alter the fact that the majority of Web surfers are still inclined to type a single keyword into a huge, general search engine and hope for the best. The thought of narrowing a search &emdash; by either going to a specialty search page or clicking through a menu of choices on a general search site &emdash; does not seem to occur to most users, Mr. Sullivan said.

 

He poses this challenge to the major search sites: Wouldn't search engines be more helpful if they would automatically narrow a search without requiring their users to make that realization on their own?

 

"Can you automatically detect what database to search," he asked in posing his challenge, "based on what people have typed in?" During the second week of January, for example, perhaps a search engine could have been directed to steer people to news sites whenever they typed in words that made headlines, like "chavez."

 

A few search engines have tried to take that step, with mixed results. For example, when Mr. Sullivan typed "chavez" into the search box at Ask Jeeves earlier this month, the site pointed to a recent news story &emdash; a link provided by Ask Jeeves' editors who were assembling information about potential members of a Bush cabinet. Using the same search a few weeks later, the news reports were nowhere to be found. (Paul Stroube, the company's vice president for Web production, said that the news link disappeared because Ms. Chavez was taken off Ask Jeeves' list of President Bush's nominees.)

 

Unless the big search engines get better at delivering timely information, searchers might be better off with Moreover.com and other news-oriented search services. With those, Mr. Sullivan has found success. Two weeks ago, in a Moreover search using the word "chavez," more than 30 relevant stories appeared, at least half of which had been posted that day.

 

Copyright 2001 The New York Times Co

 

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Exercise #1 Browsers:

 

Search engines and browsers and plug-ins are quite different animals. To be a successfull user of the Internet one must know the difference and be able to select the ones best suited to the needs one is to face in their personal or professional life. Check out these browsers and notice the sometimes sutle difference in how they work.

• Netscape Macintosh Navigator
• Netscape Windows Navigator
• Microsoft Macintosh Explorer
• Microsoft Windows Explorer
• Mosaic Macintosh
• Sheller Check this out for use with Explorer in the classroom or library!
• Lynx
• iCab
• Opera

 

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From today's NY Times! January 25, 2001

 

"Q. I recently added Opera 5.01 to my Windows 98 computer. I already have Microsoft Internet Explorer 5.5 and a large number of bookmarked Web sites within it. I would like to export these to the Opera browser but cannot locate the proper way to do it.

A. You can import the Favorites from your Internet Explorer browser into the new software with Opera's Hotlist feature. (Press F7 or click the Hotlist icon on the Opera toolbar if you do not see it on your screen.)

 

In the Hotlist, click on the Bookmarks tab and go to the third icon, labeled Menu. You will see File down toward the bottom of the list of options, and Insert Internet Explorer Favorites on a submenu from there. A box will pop up showing a directory of your Favorites, and you can select the ones you wish to import into the Opera browser.

 

If you use different Web browsers and want to get your bookmarks organized for use with all of them, a bookmark utility program might help. A good one is PowerMarks, by Kaylon Technologies, which will let you back up, synchronize and organize your bookmarks across the Internet.

 

You can also easily print out your list of bookmarks with the Web addresses visible. PowerMarks, which costs $24.95, will work with Internet Explorer, Opera and Netscape Navigator and you can download a free demo copy at www.kaylon.com/power.html.

 

 

For those wanting to sample an alternative to Navigator or Explorer, Opera is available for download at www.opera.com, and there are versions available for Windows, Macintosh and Linux. The browser is free if you do not mind looking at advertising on your screen. An ad-free version costs $39."

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Exercise #2. Web Search Engines

 

• A look at LITA's list of search engines:

  One at a time, students might suggest a topic of interest to them personally, then each student will select a different search engine from the LITA list and search on the term suggested. Once results are displayed on individual screens, each student will quickly assess the result and report to the class on the results.

• A look at UCB's list of search engines: both were done by library professionals but even the list and the layout of the list differ in many respects. Why are they different and what does that mean to you?

  Do the same with the UCB list found at this URL.

 

Exercise #3 Plug-ins:

 

In order for browsers to take full advantage of all the features web authors add to their sites plug-ins are often required. In a sense they are "applets" or small applications. Determine what each of the following plug-ins do to enhance a browsers features.

• Acrobat
• Shockwave
• QT
• RealPlayer G2
• The Works

 

 Homework for next week (February 1, 2001). Review the UCB site, then thoroughly go through the Glossary, Things to know, Searching the WWW, Meta-Search Engines and How to analyze your topic.... sections at that site. Perform one search on a meaningful topic and bring a one-page report on how well your search went and what you learned from the UCB site.

 

Optional homework. Point your browser to Jelly Belly ® and see if you can get free beans!

 

Textbook references for today's topics:

Return to Class Calendar 

We will cover the LITA and UCB and Plug-in data found on session 2. Come to class prepared to discuss those websites and bring examples of questions you think might be answered by a website.

Return to Class Calendar 

Review of one-page WWW search papers.

1) Understanding URLs

What are the "dot" suffixes, what are the parts of a URL, and how does one correct an incorrect URL?

2) Library Association websites of note:

• California Library Association
• California School Library Association
• Special Library Association

3) Bookmark Management website(s):

• Netscape Navigator
• Microsoft Internet Explorer
• Backflip

 

4) What to do for your "field trip" (some suggestions, not inclusive)

• Any CLA event
• Any CSLA event
• Any library/new media trade show

 

5) What is the effect of using the internet on the public in general, and/or specific user group?

Who uses it and why; who doesn't use it and why...what are the effects on users according to the popular press?

 

Here are some of the more useful specialty search options in a sampling of categories (from NYT article above):

 

COMPARISON SHOPPING:

• www.mysimon.com

Searches for information and compares prices at more than 2,000 online shops.

NEWS STORIES:

• www.moreoever.com

Finds headlines from more than 1,800 news sites.

LEGAL DOCUMENTS:

• www.findlaw.com

Combs through a legal dictionary, legal news and the text of the United States Constitution. A search engine powered by Alta Vista enables users to search for documents on federal and state Web sites.

FINANCIAL INFORMATION:

• www.financialfind.com

Plumbs sites about financial planning and investing, including those that offer tax information.

SCIENTIFIC INFORMATION:

• www.biolinks.com  

Hunts for information from the Web pages of scientific journals, associations and databases.

ACADEMIC MATERIALS:

• www.academicinfo.net  

Finds Web- based material suitable for a professor's lesson plans or a student's research paper. Geared to college students and academic researchers, although many materials may be helpful to high school students.

LOCAL BUSINESSES:

• www.northernlight.com/geosearch.html

Finds Web pages for businesses based near your home or up to 100 miles away.

GOVERNMENTAL INFORMATION:

• www.google.com/unclesam  

Searches for government documents from federal and state Web sites.

ADOBE PDF FILES:

• searchpdf.adobe.com

Searches for documents that are published in Adobe's portable document format.

ONLINE IMAGES:

• www.ditto.com

Searches for photographs and other images that have been posted online.

FUNNY STUFF:

• www.humorsearch.com

Finds Web pages with jokes, humor columns and parodies of famous sites.

 

Here's one from the most recent issue of WhatUseek Week Ezine

Find it fast with CHUBBA. 

 

 

Topic	INet/Dummies 7th ed	Other Reading(s)
The Internet for Dummies. 7th edition	pps 86-88	NewYorkTimes, WallStreetJournal
Internet for Teachers, 3rd edition	pps 305!	Knowledge Publications magazines
Internet for dummies All in One Desk reference	pps 39+, 141+,211+, 131+

Return to Class Calendar 

There will be NO class tonight due to illness!

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At our last session I provided the following handout:

 

SCCLT30Spr01

Supplemental information for February 8, 2001

 

Check out www.halibot.com

"The Power of the Internet for Learning: Moving from Promise to Practice"

www.webcommission.org. This 185 page report contains important facts and discovering that library people have known for years.

 

Looking for news in all the wrong places? (...thanks to the February CSLA Newsletter)

• CNN
• BBC
• Overview
• ...and lots more in the NL

 

If you can spend a Saturday with other School Librarians/media Teachers...

...check out he CSLA Northern section all Region Workshop on March 24th at the Sacramento Hilton Hotel.

A really useful guide to the Internet for Teachers can be found at http://intranet.cps.k12.il.us/Technology/index.html

 

Homework for [tonight/February 22, 2001]: Please bring a one-page review of the following two websites for class discussion. Papers are to be turned in. Thanks.

• "Managing the Internet at School" by Eliot Levinson and Barbara Grohe.
• Check out AOL at School

 

NOTE; I realize the Converge Magazine article did not appear when I expected them to update their website; therefore, feel free to take an extra week for this part of the assignment if you need it.

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Here are a few new items from newspapers and magazines received recently:

 

NYT

• The Web, without Wires, Wherever"
• "A Laptop Design thinks Outside the Clamshell"
• "Google Extends Search Engine's Reach to a Popular File Format"
• "Web's Law Library: A Partial Catalog"
• "New Electronic Book Software Makes lending Out Impossible"
• Blink Offers to Transfer Bookmarks to Cell Phones"

WSj

• TBD

Sacramento BEE

• "Computer Fix-It"
• "Tech Tips"

Information Today

"Internet Today"

Sacramento Business Journal

Numerous articles

IntenetWeek

Numerous articles

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News to know:

• Notice of the Workforce Investment Act of 1998 and its implication for libraries today and in the future. Mary Minow, California Libraries, page 1, September 2000, V10:N8 . Topic: access to electronic documents or those with disabilities.
• eBook and the future of libraries/books/reading. Featured in several recent articles and a topic for a future class session, or at least part of one. Of particular note might be the articles on pages 42-43 of the September issue of Information Today, Internet Publishing Today section.
• SEE ALSO ebook sections of New Library Media class.

 

Websites updated and/or revised, or of particular note to information professionals:

 

• Go [Disney] NYT says revamped to feature searching
• Altavista Information Today V17:N8 September 2000, says "fourth rework in less than a year...cleaner, more intuitiveinterface and a suite of new serices that will appeal to novices and information pros alike."
• Proquest [Bell & Howell] (ad) "You can. with Genealogy and Local History from the ProQuest Vault™. See who came before you. And where you came from...."
• Portalb
• Contentville
• Librarylandindex. Information Today says take note

 

An option text for those thinking about building their own website. Strictly optional!!!

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OPTIONAL Webpage Authoring Textbook title: Building a Web Site for Dummies, 2000 or latest edition

Author, Davud and Rhonda Crowder. Textbook Publisher: IDG Books ISBN 0-7645-0720-6 List price $24.99

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Tonight...

 

(1) We'll look at BlueWebn, a wonderful site for kids of all ages and especialy students

• Filamentality
• Webquests
• Lots more

(2) Genealogy and the web...as a model of the integration of media

• Software
  • FamilyTreeMaker
  • Reunion
• Websites
  • FamilyTreeMaker
  • FamilySearch
• CDs/DVDs, etc
  • Buy them
  • Make your own
• Databases of all sorts
• Paper files

(3) Finally, tonight we'll begin to look at the effect of the Intenet on users and society as a whole 

• Evaluating websites #1
• Evaluating websites #2
• Evaluating websites #3

 

Homework for next week:

Bring to class a written paper of one page or less reviewing a website which purports to help web users evaluate the content quality of other web pages. Please do not use any of the three listed in the lesson plan for session five, Septembe 14th. We will discuss your finding during this first of two class sessions on evaluating websites.

 

Return to Class Calendar 

Tonight's topic will be the first of a two-part session on evaluating and credentialing websites and other information found on the Internet. SEE Session FIVE for some great starter URLs.

 

Homework for tonight:

Bring to class a written paper of one page or less reviewing a website which purports to help web users evaluate the content quality of other web pages. Please do not use any of the three listed in the lesson plan for session six, February 22nd. We will discuss your finding during this first of two class sessions on evaluating websites.

 

Watch this space for additional information which we will use in class. No prep is required for whatever I add below:

 

Compare evaluating and credentialing website with the same qualities in traditional print resources:

 

Among those qualities are:

1. objectivity
2. Timeliness
3. Accuracy
4. authenticity
5. Verification

Check out the QUICK website for a clever look at "eight ways of checking information web sites".

 

Here's a URL which we will use in class tonight. You do NOT need to have reviewed it beforehand.

 

At this time of the year I ask for suggestions on what needs a tad more time, and ideas that need to be included during the remainder of the class. Give this some thought and we'll discuss it next time we meet.

---

Q&A in preparation for the midterm next week.

Return to Class Calendar 

  Midterm Examination

Return to Class Calendar 

Last week we discussed various methods of printing out something less than an entire website or online file, such as an FTP file. Here are two sugestions for your review...the are not recommendations although I do use both SnapzPro and NetPrint on my Macs.

• Screen capture MAC SnapzPro
• Screen capture WinTel Snagit
• WYSIWYP Mac NetPrint 8.2 Ok, so there is no "what you see is what your print"...just thought I'd start a new Internet acronym [WYSIWYP].
• WYSIWYP WinTel iHarvest

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Here's a new one for MAC users. "These specials are for MUG members only. If you are not a member of a Mac Users Group you should consider joining... Membership pays!" Thus said the Macnexus President.

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"During a previous class I asked for suggestions on what needs a tad more time and ideas that need to be included during the remainder of the class.

 

Tonight's topic will be the second of a two-part session on evaluating and credentialing websites and other information found on the Internet.

However, first we'll go over the midterm exam and discuss the answers that were given, and praise the goodly number of excellent answers!

 

Return to Class Calendar 

Tonight's topic will be the first of a two-part session on planning and building websites for schools, libraries and other information-based organizations.

Please come to class with some ideas for a real website having to do with a library or school. Remember we can probably do just one web site so be prepared to help another idea if yours doesn't become the class project. In preparation you might look at some library web sites or simply think of elements YOU would want to see in an excellent library/school web site.

Read as much of the textbook materials as you can...and which have been posted for a few weeks.

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Here's the outline we discussed in class (not meant as a stand alone document!).

Rules of the Road...for the information highway

Rule #1. Are we there yet?

Rule #2. Easy navigation

• Consistent layout
• Type and style consistent
• Creativity vs ease of use

Rule #3. Promote or perish

Refresh or not to refresh

 

Website purpose:

Who is it for?

Who will use it?

• Age
• language
• Culture
• Other

who wil approve it?

Who wil update it?

who will pay for it?

Who will aprove links

 

Website elements:

• Text
• Graphics
• Charts
• Links/Anchors
• Extra features
• Background
• No frames!
• Privacy/fair use/appropriate use policies
• There's not much else

 

Basics:

• Outline
• Gather elements
• Obtain approvals and rights
•  

Software/textbooks

• FileMaker's Homepage program
• Webpage design, and similar, "for dummies"
• WWW graphics (many sources)
• WWW ideas (many sources)

WYSIWYG Software.

• Homepage
• Frontpage
• GoLive
• Dreamweaver4
• PageMill
• HotDog
• Works...any of them
• Word Processing...any of them
• Templates

However, if you must learn HTML, here are some good websites for learning HTML the old fashioned way.

• Writing HTML: A Tutorial for Creating Web Pages
• HTML Goodies
• Webmonkey: The Web Developer's Resource
• HTML: An Interactive Tutorial for Beginners
• Teach me!

This short list is courtesy of Patti Shank of Inside Technology Training magazine. I'll add to it as I have time.

The other end of the pipe

• Browsers
• Connection Speed
• Users gear
• ISPs

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Return to Class Calendar 

Tonight's topic will be the second of a two-part session on planning and building websites for schools, libraries and other information-based organizations.

 

We'll be doing this as an in-classroom project.

 

Homework for this week is to find, and bring to class, two URLs each, having to do with:

 

Remember, we want the ideas from those website first and foremost, not just the URL as such.

 

Yes, the readings are the same as last week. You may wish to review them for tonight's session.  

Return to Class Calendar 

 

Tonight we'll continue working on web page software and/or PowerPoint™

 

If there's time we begin our discussion of the "digital divide" otherwise we'll begin that discussion after Spring Break.

Return to Class Calendar 

SCC Spring Break. No class tonight.

Return to Class Calendar 

Tonight we'll we working on several issues which swirl around the issue of use of the Intenet.

 

The first issue is the so called "Digital Divide". Here are some references in no particular order.

 

1. Boston Globe article. This story ran on page A01 of the Boston Globe on 10/5/2000. © Copyright 2000 Globe Newspaper Company.
2. Austin (TX) [Travis HS/Techcoalition] program
3. Gartner Group report
4. NTIA report
5. PBS report
6. Clinton Administration's Digital Divide Web site (sort of the NTIA's site)
7. Benton Foundation's website

 

The second issue for discussion, if there is time, is "FITness". (more on this later)

 

Also, I recommend you check out the Carnagie Mellon study.

 

Homework for this evening. Determine what is meant by the "Digital Divide" comment on how you see it play out in your own or the life of others, and some thoughts on how you might reduce the worst aspects of the DD. Once again I am looking for about one page with a paragraph or two on each of the three elements mentioned above. I will be asking each of you to comment on at least one aspect of this important issue.

Return to Class Calendar 

NO CLASS TONIGHT!

Return to Class Calendar 

Complete the Digital Divide presentations as necessary.

 

 

A few weeks ago I mentioned a product that I couldn't remember by name. The subject was capturing and organizing bibliographic citations for a variety of uses. The product i wanted to cite was ProCite and you can learn all about it at www.procite.com. Another similar product is EndNote. I recommend you take a look at both before making your decision.

 

Check out Presenters Online from Epson for some excellent ideas on presentations for library, school and business uses. There is also some great, and free, graphics for use in presentations.

 

For tonight we're going to look at a chapter from next semester's textbook, Ackermann and hartman, Searching Researching Internet and the World Wide Web, Franklin Beetle & Associates, (c) 2000. The chapter (9) is entitled "Searching Library Catalogs". I have asked the publisher for permission to use this single lesson as an evaluation for adoption of the textbook.

 

It is perfect for one of the final weeks of this session and I hope you like the schema as well as I do. Let's give it a try!

 

Comments? Suggestions? Ideas?

 

 

Return to Class Calendar 

Maybe a tour of the SCC library?

Review of websites that can help develop or update a technology plan for (school) libraries.

A quick review of Searcher magazine, eContent magazine and the lastest issues of the NYT, WSj and Information Today. I have not linked these since you all know how to find them on the WWW, right?

...anything left over from last week +

Q&A. Please send as many questions as you can ahead of time to wesdoak@aol.com or librarylink@aol.com.