Week 4 - Library Database Exercises

Alrighty, week 4 rolls around and we are actually doing work, albiet basically a 'keep busy' exercise. Here is what we had to do:

1) The first task is for library searches: search the library catalogue and find a resource that will help you formulate your essay topic.

2) Go to the full-text database search via the library website and find three academic articles that relate to the topic of your first essay. Write a report to post in your blog that summarises the key points in the articles, and comment on how this task has helped you formulate your topic.

3) For the Mailing List part, find some academic mailing lists that are related to the kinds of things we study in Communication and Digital Technologies (internet studies, new media studies, etc). Find out the names and websites of two academic lists and write a post about them.
4) Complete the Scavenger Hunt questions by using a search engine that isn't Google, and post your answers in your blog.

Exercise 1:
eBook found by searching the Library database on the subject the history of the internet, which my essay may be on: A brief history of the Internet [electronic resource] : the bright side : the dark side / by Michael Hart and Maxwell Fuller.

Exercise 2:
- A brief history of the Internet [electronic resource] : the bright side : the dark side / by Michael Hart and Maxwell Fuller.

For the first time we actually have an opportunity for a whole world's population to share not only air or water, but also to share the world of ideas, of art or of music and other sounds. Think of the time and effort people save simply by being able to consult a dictionary, an encyclopedia, thesaurus or other reference book, a newspaper or magazine library of vast proportions, or a library of a thousand books of the greatest works of all history without even having to get up and go to the bookcase. There is no longer any reason to "do it the hard way" as you will see below, and on the Internet. (sourced from the above url)

- Inventing the Internet / Janet Abbate.

Between the 1960s and the 1980s, computing technology underwent a dramatic transformation: the computer, originally conceived as an isolated calculating device, was reborn as a means of communication. But in the early 1960s, when computers were scarce, expensive, and cumbersome, using a computer for communication was almost unthinkable. A scientist who needed to use a distant computer might find it easier to get on a plane and fly to the machine's location to use it in person. Founded by the Air Force in 1946 as an outgrowth of operations research efforts initiated during World War II, Rand (originally RAND, derived from "research and development") was a nonprofit corporation dedicated to research on military strategy and technology. Strangelove turns to "the Bland Corporation'' when he needs advice on nuclear strategy. Because its approach to systems analysis emphasized quantitative models and simulation, Rand was also active in computer science research (Edwards 1996, pp.)

- Online timeline

An article by David Carlson, including a description of work on his timeline, begins on page 68. The Online Timeline from which this is adapted can be found at http://iml.jou.ufl.edu/carlson/timeline.shtml. (sourced from this website)

By using the Griffith online database to do this exercise I have learn't how to use the library database, which will come in handy when I have to start writing all my assesments for this and other courses. Also, by finding some eBooks on the topic that I may write my essay on I have been able to gain a little more of an understanding on the history of the internet and its development.

Exercise 3:
Mailing list 1 - http://www.inms.umn.edu/about/contact.htm

The Institute for New Media Studies is a center for creation, innovation, and examination of content and messages and the affects of new media technologies and techniques on their forms and functions. The goal is the imagining and testing of innovative forms, development of new knowledge about functions, and generation of greater understanding of the impacts of these changes in the media landscape. (sourced from http://www.inms.umn.edu/about/mission.htm)

Mailing list 2 - http://listserv.aoir.org/listinfo.cgi/air-l-aoir.org

The Association of Internet Researchers is an academic association dedicated to the advancement of the cross-disciplinary field of Internet studies. It is a member-based support network promoting critical and scholarly Internet research independent from traditional disciplines and existing across academic borders. The association is international in scope. ( sourced from http://www.aoir.org/)