Group members: Alessandra, Kelly, Jovens
https://openlab.citytech.cuny.edu/research-heroes/
Research Heroes
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Author Archives: Alessandra
Renovating everything, including the internet information…
The assigned reading was very interesting to read, simply because it is relevant to current events. The criteria used to judge a site’s credibility isn’t the same as years ago. When I first entered college, I remember being told that .org, .gov, and .edu sites were pretty credible and accepted to be used in papers. However, although some are still credible, there are more criteria that are looked at. One of these is mentioned in the list of the five mutations. I also enjoyed how they utilized the word mutations. The internet has definitely mutated to fit into today’s world. The fact that constancy and permanency is no longer the goal and, updating, revising, and correcting are the goals, is something good to hear. I have noticed in my journey to write my research papers for this semester, that journals and articles are likely to have a “revised xx” somewhere on it. To me this is better because it shows that someone found mistakes and edited it or took the time to do further research regarding the topic. We can’t really blame anyone for thinking the permanency of an article to be important. Remember, editing printed information is more difficult than editing an electronic source.
google boogle
The Google Dilemma was actually entertaining to read. My favorite part was “Search Jew”. What made me enjoy reading it was the honesty of it. It gave both sides to the story: although Google didn’t necessarily say those things, the algorithms are created by the programmers. It reminds me of most things in life how they cover things by “going around it”. Then, it explains how google in fact is sort if like a gatekeeper. They may not specifically pick what shoes up but their algorithms look for specific criteria which suggests which results pop up. This does not necessarily mean that the best or most accurate information pops up. In fact, that is where my aggravation comes from when googling something. The most common websites appear with the most searched results, leaving me with no scholarly, accurate information.
mapping brooklyn…
The map that was the most interesting to me was the 71 Square Miles. That was the map of Brooklyn covered in paper litter found on the individual streets. When I first looked at it, I didn’t think much of it. “Big deal, she stuck garbage on a map the shape of the borough.” However I read the description and then carefully examined it. I still cant believe the artist walked on every block of the borough and then placed the litter in the appropriate location on the map. Not only is that hard work, but a lot of patience is needed. Furthermore, I tried to make sense of the litter and it made perfect sense! Near Brighton, there was paper with Russian writing. Near Coney Island, there was a paper that said something about Hurricane Sandy.
I will admit, I thought I would be bored at this BRIC House. However, it turned out I enjoyed myself. These maps were definitely not what I thought it would be. In fact, they were much more descriptive, colorful and educational compared to the paper maps we see today, Does the Subway MTA map still exist? Of course it does, but everyone just uses their smartphones to make their way around. If I can choose something in my daily life that I could plot of a map, it would be a map of locations that I have communicated with, whether it’d be through text, email, facebook, instagram, etc. Â My first choice would’ve been pictures, but I believe the newer iphones do have that capability!
o hail the library databases!
I was not present in class, so I am not certain of what was talked about exactly. However, I have read Badke’s Chapter 5 on research strategies and have been in attendance to one of the library’s presentation on research. Some people are scared to use library databases because they seem too complicated. But believe me…when you have multiple research papers to write and your professors want peer reviews, and they want recent studies and they want all these other knick knacks, library databases can be your friend. One that I frequently use is EBSCO. I believe it’s very friendly and has different methods of searching. You can search keywords as you would in Google, or you can use Boolean search, which is what we recently talked about. You can filter out results, as well as add keywords to narrow down your topic. Another thing you can do is select the option to only show peer reviewed articles/journals. In fact, let’s say you are looking for an e-book, you can filter only those results. Once you play around with it, and work your way around it, it’s not difficult at all. Believe me, it’s my third year using it… and it has made these research projects a tad bit easier.
RESEARCH TOPIC REFINEMENT
Working on refining my topic proposal has been a challenge. I was unable to refine my point that I wanted to make. Actually after re-reading my topic proposal, I did realize I had too many questions that I needed to answer. As aggravated as I was getting, I sat down and researched my topic, even if it was broad. As I sat there and read/skimmed, through some journals, and newspaper articles, I finally realized what I really wanted to focus on. It is a good idea to research a little bit of your “idea”, see what you can find, and that will guide you into what you are actually going to write about. I believe the only challenge that I will experience writing this paper is “answering the question” with all the information I find. The reason being is because for 5 years in college, no one has ever told me to write a research paper based on a question I formulated.
Just google it…
Wow. That was my initial response reading halfway through Badke, Chapter 3. As often and frequently we say “google it”, googling something can actual get intense. Secondly, I believe this topic will help me greatly now and in the future and would have hoped they would teach you this BEFORE completing 3 years of college!! I actually did try some of the ways to search, using the OR method or the AND method, however, it didn’t quite work. Then I realized that Badke explains that certain search engines use different symbols, whether it’d be parenthesis or asterisks. He said to look in the HELP tab of the search engine, but I had no luck. Maybe we can try to do it in class. I do want to point out that Badke touched on a topic that I recently found out on my own. He says to try to minimize term words when trying to pinpoint a search goal. I agree greatly. What happens is people tend to think that the more precise you are in your search engines, the more accurately your results would be. Well after becoming frustrated this semester, with over 10 research assignments to do, I realized that when you use less words you come across a greater amount of information, leading you to greater possibilities. Authors should really considering including these search methods into writer’s guide books, such as “Rules of Thumb”.
#followme
This week’s topic, metadata, was a new concept for me. I did not know what metadata was or that this type of information existed. Reading about it really shocked me. I am going to focus on the article and video from ACLU. The video is what really interested me because the tone and voice of the students perceived metadata as a good thing. However, I was in shock to learn what metadata actually is and how your whole life can actually be mapped out. For starters, I disagree with the police, as they state “metadata isn’t all that revealing, it’s just numbers”. Clearly, from the presentation, those two students were about to check timing, connections, links, and patterns of information. This to me seems like it is interfering with our privacy rights, although it also seems as if information is being hidden from the general public about what metadata can actually show. You shouldn’t be able to track someone’s life without a warrant. To me its equivalent to getting a person’s medical record chart without permission. Another thing to think about is that like I have previously stated, it is common knowledge, that whatever we put online, is at your own risk. My personal opinion is metadata should be restricted, meaning, unless there is a warrant or YOU want to track your life for self-reflection, then it should not be accessible by anyone.
Competition taken away…
I didn’t know much about the Net Neutrality debate, but now that I have an idea, I have mixed thoughts about it. Looking at these rules from both aspects of the equation, it kind of takes away our rights. To make something a law, means you must follow it, or suffer the consequences. Broadband internet service was called a utility in the news article. For the most part you have one company for each utility. Con-Edison is for electricity. National Grid is for gas. Although there is not one single internet provider, these new rules take away competition between providers. Once competition is taken away, it generally becomes a monopoly. On the consumer’s point of view, they are thrilled with the new rules because it lets them be “free”. However, like the article mentions, eventually the prices will go up if service is increasing and more efficient. Once the prices go up, consumers will not really have a choice. Realistically, not everyone can afford the same grand service. Some people are tight with money and choose to have a slower service… as long as they have some type of service. Tom Wheeler called the internet the “core of free expression and democratic principles”. Is he right? Does this rule change that? It’s still a little shady to me. The internet is free expression; however the price charged is not free. The rules seem more on the republican side than democratic. Will this change how consumers use the internet?
intentional or unintentional…does it make a difference?
In the John Walsh article that was assigned, they question whether the plagiarizing material was intentional or not arises. Granted, this guy did not do it once, twice or three times, it was the norm for him to have identical or close to identical phrases or sentences in his work, without giving credit. They also mention that he was suffering from post-traumatic stress disorder when he wrote his paper for his master’s degree. I don’t think that is a valid point. From a personal point of view, as college students, we all suffer from some type of stress when we have papers due. That does not give us the OK signal to plagiarize. So I think the question is, is changing the words to synonyms, or omitting small words, make a sentence originally yours. My understanding is if the idea or thought was not originally yours, then you must give credit to who said it first. However, if you agree to the statement, or idea, you should still give credit and agree with the person, rather than just making it your idea.
