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Information Ecologies - Module 5

"Information as a concept has a diversity of meanings, from everyday usage to technical settings. Generally speaking, the concept of information is closely related to notions of constraint, communication,control, data, form, instruction, knowledge, meaning, mental stimulus,pattern, perception, and representation". WiKipedia (2008)

Ecologies:

"We define an information ecology to be a system of people, practises, values, and technologies in a particular local environment. In information ecologies, the spotlight is not on technology, but on human activities that are served by technology."

(Nardi & O'Day, 1999)

Further Reading:

Rafael Capurro, Towards an Information Ecology. In: Irene Wormell (Ed.): Information and Quality. London: Taylor Graham 1990, 122-139.

Information Ecologies by Felix Stalder

How might the metaphor of an ‘ecology’ impact on the way you think about, understand or use the Internet" (Allen n.d)

In My understanding, if the ecology of the internet is the correlation between the user/information and environment, then the interaction of how we used the internet will keep making headway as technology progresses, regardless of any changes or lack of changes within the system.

But a contemplation comes to my mind, even though as an internet user I believe I engage a significant role in the ecology of internet, at the same time I can also feel like my role can be insignificant.

The traffic that I generate whether it be online purchasing, browsing etc along with millions of other users is an aspect that feeds the system. The internet provides us with products, information and resources. My insignificance rears its head when the system fails. When servers go down then the interaction stops. During a power failure the interaction stops. PC crashes and the interaction stops. The system is still physically there but disabled to the affected user. Obviously this may only incur in small environments or circumstances, and only causes interruptions, but what would happen if the interruption affected all users at the same time. It would only be then that the ecology would be affected. Other than that, as within society, we keep moving within the environment. New information is made available to us every day, new online shops and services, and also the same can disappear. New users come online and new relationships are formed in business and socially. How protected we are depends on how we use the system.

"How are the concepts ‘information’ and ‘communication’ understood within the framework of an ‘information ecology" (Allen n.d)

The internet is a system that provides the user with information. I think in the framework of information ecology, the user also plays a role in providing the information.

Where as a library’s source of information is in the form of books/literature published by authors, the internet is open to the views/wealth of everyone. In the journey of this unit, I have published a blog with information of my journey.

Our ability to access a computer today is more readily available whether we own one or not. Computers in schools, libraries, internet cafes, information and communication has never been easier.

Thinking of ecology as a whole my thoughts would still suggest missing links. There are still communities that do not access the internet, ie remote areas within Australia and Worldwide. Also, as I reflected in the previous question, our access is also in the hands of our environment, that being server errors, power failures, breakdowns etc.

How we communicate or what we do with communications can affect us or others. If we don’t imply that we wish to receive a response to an email or subject it clearly then we may need to recommunicate uneccessarily. How many personal emails are checked in the workplace in your bosses time, how effectively are communications stored for later use. Are you communicating with a legitimate person or are you subject to a scammer. What we communicate is information.

Information and communication go hand in hand and how we chose to use it will have an effect on others.

"Why don’t we talk of a ‘communication ecology"(Allen n.d)

As with my thoughts in the previous question, communication and information go hand in hand. Without information, there is nothing to communicate, therefore communication ecology would automatically fall into information ecology.

We have available to us different modes of communication through the internet, email, chat or forums to name a few. How we conduct communications falls upon the responsibility of the user, taking into consideration netiquette. Communication via internet can be fast and precise, but once again open to the downfalls of failure within the system or our environment or sometimes a breakdown within the chain of communication from sender to recipient. As users become more comfortable with the communication options available, ecology will evolve. At the moment I don’t think of the telephone as a tool, it is just how I expect to communicate. I feel the same way about email. Virtual interaction/chat on the other hand, being new to me, is different, but communicaton via the internet is fast becoming adopted as technology evolves.

Curriculum Reference:

Wikipedia (2008) Wikipedia The Free Encylopedia; Information as a concept, Retrieved 22 July 2008 from http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Information

(Nardi & O'Day, 1999) Curtin University of Technology, Net11 The Internet Communications; Module 5 Info. Communication Concepts, Information Ecologies, Retrieved 22 July 2008 from http://webct.curtin.edu.au/SCRIPT/305033_b/scripts/serve_home

(Allen n.d) Dr Matthew Allen, Curtin University of Technology, Net11 The Internet Communications; Module 5 task, Information Ecologies, Retrieved 22 July 2008 from http://webct.curtin.edu.au/SCRIPT/305033_b/scripts/serve_home

Wondering about the title of this post? This one was for Owen:)

Evaluating the Web

If you want to verify whether information from a website is relevant to what you are looking for, you can look for key information in an evaluation process.

Points to consider in the evaluation process.

• What is the nature of the website. For example, is it an educational domain, a news/magazine site or someone’s point of view in a blog.
  

• Who is the author, or person/organization that published the content. Are their credentials fitting to what they are publishing.
  

• Thinking of credentials, where does the source of the information come from.
  

• Does the information fulfil your search query or do you need to investigate further links/searches.
  

• When was the information published/reviewed. Do you require your information in any sort on timeline , or is it information where time doesn’t change the content eg History.
  

• Do other users find the information in this site useful. You can check the popularity of a site through bookmarks like del.ic.ious. How the site has been tagged by others can also indicate where it would be useful ie studies.
  

URL: http://www.sc.edu/beaufort/library/

AUTHOR: E. Chamberlain pages/bones/bones.shtml

INSTITUTION: The University of South Carolina Beaufort Library

The reliability and authority of the site / source / article

My first observation in regard to evaluating the above website was within the URL. edu is recognised as a top level domain, usually a university or college.

Secondly I noted the following information from the bottom on the home page:

"Bare Bones 101" was originally created in 2000 by Ellen Chamberlain, Library Director at the University of South Carolina Beaufort campus. She had previously co-authored BCK2SKOL, a tutorial on Internet basics that ran from 1995-2000. Although BCK2SKOL is no longer being updated, it is still available on the Web. In 2007 Ellen retired and "Bare Bones 101" is now being managed and updated by Melanie Hanes-Ramos, Assistant Director of the USC Beaufort South Campus Library." Chamberlain, E (2007)

When I conducted a further search into the name ‘Ellen Chamberlain’ I still came up with the same website. I did find a link to a new URL for the University of South Carolina Library. Exploring the new homepage I found a list of the Library staff.

I see that Ellen Chamberlain’s position of Library Director, is now held by Harvey Varnet D.A.

Melanie Hanes-Ramos is the Assistant Library Director.

I also searched del.ic.ious whether it had been bookmarked by other users.

As you can see by the above screenshot, the website I am evaluating has been bookmarked by 257 people.

The main ideas or subjects discussed in the article

The main subject of the ‘Bare Bones tutorial is based on how to improve websearch techniques. Extremely relevant to my initial search ‘Searching the web’.

The purpose for which the site was written (this might include any apparent external interest, intellectual motivation or contextual information)

The site was written as an educational tool into Internet Basics. Although the site is not being managed by the original author, Ellen Chamberlain (Library Director, University of South Carolina Beaufort campus), it is still being maintained by Melanie Hanes-Ramos (Assistant Director of the same campus library).

So at completion of the task I am quite happy that the Bare Bones tutorial was valid and fitting to my search result.

References:

Chamberlain, E (2007) Bare bones “Searching the Web “tutorial. Beaufort: University of South Carolina.Viewed 17 July 2008, http://www.sc.edu/beaufort/library/pages/bones/bones.shtml

WOW...... this post was a real challenge for me. Nothing to do with the actual task:)

GUESS WHAT?

Zoe has a brand new iMac !!

Soooo different to use than my little laptop. One disappointment though and I am sure Fiona has probably noticed what it may be. Yes, my screenshots, I tried to download Snagit but I can't get it for a mac:(

I may revert back to taking the screenshots on my laptop and saving them on USB, hopefully then able to get them on the Mac. I didn't have time to play tonight, my goal was to finish module 4 this week, screenshots took a backseat.

So if any Mac users out there have any hot tips for a newbie, I would love to hear:)

Organising Search Information

Beginning module 4, I signed up to start using Connotea. I have never used or had a need for this type of application before but as the concepts assignment lingers near, I needed to find a way of organising information.

I am not sure whether any information from my Boolean search task is needed towards my assignment (I haven’t decided on 4 concepts yet), but I will follow through with the topic, ‘Searching the web’, for the remaining module 4 tasks.

Source 1

URL: http://www.sc.edu/beaufort/library/pages/bones/bones.shtml

AUTHOR: E. Chamberlain

INSTITUTION: The University of South Carolina Beaufort Library

Bare Bones 101: A basic tutorial on searching the web

“The information contained in the following lessons is truly "bare bones," designed to get you started in the right direction with a minimum of time and effort. For more comprehensive and detailed help on searching the Web, consult our recommended list of sites in Lesson 20 at the end of this tutorial.” Chamberlain, E (2007)

I found this website by typing ‘searching the web’ into the Google search engine. Listing 2nd on the page, the words Bare Bones instantly caught my eye, and I pursued to look further into what was noted as a basic tutorial.

In terms of finding a straight forward, well informed tutorial, Bare Bones 101 fulfilled all of this. The tutorial consists of 20 lessons to enhancing your searching abilities, but also gives you the option to link straight to a ‘quick search tips’ area if you decide to just browse the site for information. It is well presented and offers the reader all the information they need to learn the fundamentals of searching for information on the internet.

Source 2

URL: http://owl.english.purdue.edu/internet/search/index.html

AUTHOR: Purdue Owl

INSTITUTION: Purdue University, Owl Writing Lab

Searching the World Wide Web
Untangle the web to find a wealth of information.

“The Internet is a terrific resource. It contains hundreds of web sites dedicated to thousands of topics. With so many sites, it is easy to get lost. Knowing the types of search tools available and mastering some general search tips can make your search more profitable.” Moore, J (n.d)

I chose this website from a search using Copernic. It ranked 1st on the page with a 93% relevancy rating.

The information within this site offers identifying and using the different search engines available to users and general tips when searching a topic on the internet. It doesn’t have as in depth information as the ‘Bare bones tutorial’ but I was interested in the option of learning how to evaluate a website. Once again, being an educational resource, the information is clear and easy to understand.

Source 3

URL: http://www.internettutorials.net/boolean.html

AUTHOR: Laura Cohen

INSTITUTION: University at Albany, SUNY

Boolean Searching on the Internet
A Primer in Boolean Logic

"The Internet is a vast computer database. As such, its contents must be searched according to the rules of computer database searching. Much database searching is based on the principles of Boolean logic. Boolean logic refers to the logical relationship among search terms, and is named for the British-born Irish mathematician George Boole." Cohen, L (2008)

Once again I chose to use a search within Copernic. The Boolean tutorial appeared 2nd with a 91% relevancy to my search.

When I first entered the website I didn’t realise it was the same resource used in the Boolean task. I find this a relevant site to save because it focuses purely on advance searching techniques as apposed to my other chosen sites which cover web searching in general.
The use of lists and diagrams throughout this website are extremely clear to understand and I found the link at the very bottom of the page, How to chose a search engine or directory, http://www.internettutorials.net/choose.html quite informative to my research.

References:

Chamberlain, E (2007) Bare bones “Searching the Web “tutorial. Beaufort: University of South Carolina. Viewed 17 July 2008, http://www.sc.edu/beaufort/library/pages/bones/bones.shtml

Moore, J (n.d) Searching the World Wide Web. Owl online writing lab: Purdue University. Viewed 17 July 2008, http://owl.english.purdue.edu/internet/search/index.html

Cohen, L (2008) Boolean Searching on the internet. Internet Tutorials: University at Albany, SUNY. Viewed 17 July 2008, http://www.internettutorials.net/boolean.html

Boolean Searching on the Internet

Boolean Searching definition:

"A term for the process of narrowing or expanding an electronic search by using terms such as AND (retrieves items in which two or more terms are found) OR (retrieves items in which either term is found), NOT (retrieves items in which the first term is present but the second term is not)". Colorado Department of Education (2008)

I have chosen ‘Searching the Web’ for the Boolean task. My results showing the following

My biggest number of hits relating to my keywords - searching the web, 57 results.

The search result information most relevant to what I was actually looking for was - searching the internet.

Information coming from University sources appeared in - All of my search results. I would gather this outcome because it is a task in this module so education tutorials are evident.

___________________________________

Searching the web
Search engines AND the web
Searching OR the world wide web
Searching on the internet

This task has broadened my search initiative from now on. Understanding to expand a search and utilise advanced searching and the Boolean method makes perfect sense rather than sifting through too many search results. I still like to choose from top results, so now by mixing it up so to speak, will give me more relevant choices.

References:

The Colorado Department of Education (2008) cde Improving Academic Achievement; The Colorado Survival Guide, definitions, Boolean Searches, Retrieved 15 July 2008 from http://www.cde.state.co.us/cdelib/LibDict/Glossary2.htm

WWW Standards

In preparation for this task we were required to read through the following links.

http://www.useit.com/papers/webwriting/

http://www.dartmouth.edu/~webteach/articles/text.html

My first perception of Jakob Nielsen's site was 'Oh here goes, more information overload', but each link offered really interesting information. I was particularly interested in the eye tracking study. Now every time I open a website I make a mental note on what my eyes are doing:)

EYE TRACKING STUDY



"The eye tracking study reveals that a viewer will scan a webpage in the shape of an F pattern". Nielsen, J (2006)

The above screenshot taken from usit.com, shows a heat map of eye tracking studies from 3 websites. http://www.useit.com/alertbox/reading_pattern.html

• Red areas being hot spots (where viewers looked the most)


• Yellow areas holding less viewing


• Blue areas indicating very little interest


• Gray areas not attracting any fixations

I can see from the above study that the first website held a relative amount of interest in the first half of the page but little or nothing in the end. Considering there is quite a bit of written information, important aspects of what the website is offering the viewer is only half affective.

The middle website really highlights the F pattern. Very impressive stats. If you look at the hot spots the viewer has scanned just about all of the website. Not much information lost here.

The last website is a search page. Once again you can see the distinctive F but not many hot spots here. My thought on this would revert back to keywords with search engines. I myself I only look into the top few sites from a search, page 20 of 10,000 will never attract my attention. So thinking about keywords, make them count and aim for the amazing F.

Zoe's 5 Important rules for 'writing' online

• Think about your content. Viewers generally enter and leave a site quickly. If you want to hold their attention you need to make sure that what you are putting across isn't swallowed up in a monotonous page of unbroken text. Make use short paragraphs and highlight any keywords that link to what you are saying. Remember your page will be scanned rather than read.

• Utilise lists. A list of one liners is a great way to feed a viewer a package of information without them feeling they are reading the information. I am using a list here but not effectively. Because the content of this list is in long paragraphs, I doubt whether it is being fully read. I would hope that my highlighted points are hot spots. (I feel that I need to give more explanation of my views purely for my learning log).

• Images. I would regard images in the same context as written information. Keep them relevant and interesting to the viewer. Make sure the images load quickly, the last thing you want is a visitor leaving your page through impatience before it has even loaded.

• Links. Make sure they work and make them count. The viewer is leaving your site, have they absorbed what you wanted them to before they leave. Chances are they may not come back once they click out.

• Animation and sound. I don't mind a good slide show of what is relevant to what I am reading, but annoying little animations zipping around cause instant distraction. Sound affects me in the same way. 90% of the time my volume is muted.

I would feel that the advice in Nielsen's paper is still current/relevant even though it was written in 1997. To me, if a reader only scans over a page then you do need to be aware of your writing skills. I wouldn't think this advice need change, in fact as society/technology picks up pace, more so the awareness of information to maintain effectiveness with change.

'Validator' page

I was a little confused about the validation process and in my attempt to validate my page only incurred errors with the process. I hope this last step hasn't inhibited my upload. I am not sure now that I have already uploaded to the presentation area whether I can pursue this step.

Copyright

http://www.benedict.com/info/info.aspx

http://www.copyright.curtin.edu.au/

I don't think I have used words or images on my webpage that would contravene any copyright laws. I acquired a 'Taurus' image from a free clipart site. I used a screenshot of my blog title as a link to my blog. The Chef image was part of the Tutorial.

I did link to my workplace website, but as my husband and I are the managers then I would assume permission would be granted.

Wording used was from the tutorial (I hope we were to use it) and also my own.

In regards to using the Curtin logo, I would seek written permission from Curtin before doing this.

URL of my Webpage

http://webct.curtin.edu.au/305033_b/student_pres/Group75/index.html

Blogs

Before starting with my studies I didn't take any notice of blogs. I knew they existed but didn't take the time to see how they worked. I now think they are an effective information tool. I like the way blogs progress with updated content.

Following my fellow net11 buddies blogs has been quiet fulfilling. I can honestly say that I check our blogs more than I check my personal email now.

As a newbie blogger I also look for comments, in our situation I find the feedback a way of keeping on track.

I really like blogging !!

Web 2.0

This task required a visit to the following sites:

http://www.blinklist.com/InternetCommunications/

http://wievia.bay.livefilestore.com/y1p8GOFx-eIftrxl3h80up_xuZsctBHCKWcH_uCngHae_M_zdfG5A8mxh0wlgpFfx3g_ji273o8NyVIosEsl_PVp-Mvnffqji3I/net11.html

Now I can see definite differences in presentation between the two but felt that I needed to do a Google search on 'Blinklist' before I went any further. Being yet another thing I had not heard of before, I found the following explanation -

"BlinkList: The vision and goal of BlinkList is to be the leading “Personal Discovery Engine” where people come to discover, share, and organize the most recent and relevant information available online. Before BlinkList, saving and finding saved bookmarks was a frustrating user experience. In addition, sharing links and finding the top links that your friends or peers have been discovering was close to impossible. BlinkList is attempting to solve both problems." Chang, E (2005)

My perception of web2.0 is not so much a whole new www, but a new look of page presentation. A bit like itunes downloads I suppose. Each has a new look and maybe some extra features.

I liked the look of the Blinklist page, and even though I don't fully understand how it works, navigation seemed quite easy.

My first impression of the html written list was confusion, but when I took time to have a closer look, I found it quite user friendly. I actually found some interesting links that I didn't find first in the blinklist page. I probably spent more time with the html page because it seemed more familiar.

In retrospect of which format would be better, I vote for the blinklist page. The simplicity of the layout would enable quicker use as far a time was concerned and probably a better format thinking about vision implications, page spread out and having clear headings.

References:

Nielsen, J (2006) Usit.com, Jacob Nielsens Alert Box; Summary, F Shaped Pattern for reading Web Content, Retrieved 11 July 2008 from http://www.useit.com/alertbox/reading_pattern.html

Chang, E (2005) ./emilychang eHub; eHub Interviews Blinklist, Retrieved 11 July 2008 from http://www.emilychang.com/go/ehub/interview/blinklist/

One last step before the concepts assignment.... next weeks goal is to complete fully mondule 4 :)

HTML tags

HTML is extremely new to me. I really enjoyed the task, the concept of laying out a single web page proved to be more involved that what I would have originally thought.

Page formatting in my eyes before this task was about simply clicking layout buttons. Text alignment, font colour and size, inserting images shed a whole new light with coding/tags. The amount of extra writing just to achieve a simple feature was amazing. The consistent saving and checking of layout labour some, but the way each tag manipulated what you were doing, truly amazing!

In reflection to the difference between html and blogging, from my experience comes down to time. It is easier for me to publish into my blog at this stage because I have those familiar buttons before me. But then on the other hand, in previous posts what I previewed wasn't always what I got. On a few occasions you may notice paragraphs where line breaking isn't there. This has really frustrated me, but now that I have learnt the basic tags, and I can see a 'Edit Html' tab before me, I might venture in and see if I can correct this myself:)

What do I like best? Well because it is still really new, publishing my blog is easier. I think once you could recall correct tags on your own, it would become second nature.

I really appreciated learning how to link, clicking on them and finding they actually worked was a milestone.

Areas that I was unable to achieve:

Loading jpegs (hmm) I tried and tried but couldn't work it out. A shame because I would have liked to tissy my page more. Why? I don't know. I don't have any experience with photoshop, I don't even have photoshop so maybe I need to learn more in that area. Everytime I tried all I got was the little red cross.

Here is a screenshot of my page, you can link to it through the HTML title for a closer look.

http://webct.curtin.edu.au/305033_b/student_pres/Group75/index.html

Chat

Signing up with Skype was an easy process. I followed a link from the Discussion Board and endeavoured to add all of my fellow students Skype addresses into my account.

From then I continued on with module 2 and was quite surprised when I was prompted into my first chat ever with Chris.

Somehow when I created my Skype account I had attached a music clip to my profile. Chris was interested in how I had done this, and to my disappointment, at my first opportunity, I couldn't remember for the life of me how I had created this.

Feeling nervous about the first chat and embarrassed because I couldn’t recall something that I had done, we continued our conversation. Chris in this time had worked out himself how to add a clip and then I in turn asked him how he had done it (Yes, a blonde moment).

On a second occasion, once again while I was working on module 2, Skype flashed at me again, this time a call from Fiona. Second time around I entered the chat with a bit more confidence and thoroughly enjoyed meeting Fiona. We reflected on the net11 unit so far and how we were coping with studies and family.

Our group chat was scheduled for Thursday night, July 3.

At 8pm I turned on my laptop and sat eagerly waiting to see Skype flash yet again. 8:05 it all happened. A third of my contacts were online and all were testing the water, hi’s here and there.

The conversation took of rather quickly and I found myself sitting in awe watching all the flicking pens and comments rolling one after another.

I attempted to jump in occasionally but found the subjects, gaming and flaming, were not areas that I felt could input. I was happy to observe and quickly noticed the difference in conversations compared to one on one.

There were approximately 15 people participating in the group chat.

The conversation tended to jump around. Obviously by the time a reply came in there were others in between. So the conversation was quite broken. Some people managed this with obvious experience and a few, like me, tried to keep up enjoying the moment all the same.

The following day I was fortunate enough to be available when Stefan and Kylie came online. I thoroughly enjoyed this particular chat experience. Our conversation was more controlled and I gained valuable confidence regarding chatting and our net11 studies from my two friends.

Thank you Stefan and Kylie:)

In reflection to module 2, it felt slow to start, considerable signing up to prepare for the tasks. I don’t think I would use newsgroups again but gained a lot of understanding in regards to chat. I understand that the need to be quick is an area to work on, but to be able to freely interact with a person/s with so much ease is definitely worth exploring more. I would be apprehensive though if I didn’t know the person on the other end. This task felt safe, even though we don’t know each other, we are a connected group.