Week Three, 14th March 2008: Online Libraries & Databases

Lecture
This week we learnt how to get resources on the library, www.ecu.edu.au/library. There are many research options on the ecu website that can used.

There are database where you can findelectronic journals/articles, which is very helpful.

There are many types of libararies which we also learnt in this weeks lectures, online text repositories, online journals, electronic books, musical libraries, and artwork libraries.

There are also many types of online databases, for examples, people searches, online directories, maps and atlases, government information and statistics, and news and media.

This lecture was very useful and informative, as I found out instead of using sources such as google to find information that can sometimes be very unreliable, I can use the ECU databases and find resources that is authentic and at the same time reliabe.

Tutorial (Work Shop Three)
This tutorial gave me a lot of insight on different ways to search things on the internet, instead of using less reliable search engines such as google.

10 useful functions or search tips from the ECU library are:

1. The "imformation about" ecu library can give someone insight on how the library works, any quesries they might have and also opening and closing hours for those who want to come in after lectures/tutorials or on their days off.


2. "resources for" can help students, other researchers, staff with numerous amount of things, such as end note or even get academic tipsheets.


3. "the services" some services the ecu library provides is, loan services, reference guides and document delivery.


4. The "find" function can help students to fine online journals or articles to cite on or to find online catalogues for books, cd's etc.


5. The "learning assisstance" function can help students with any questions on getting started at the library or when the next library work shops are on.


6. The "quick link" function is an easier way to get around the ECU website, for example instead of going back to the homepage to get in to simo, i can easily just click the link on the page and it takes me staright there.


7. Academic tip sheets can be found on the ECU library page, where students who have queries about referencing, plagiarism, or anything at all to do with university.


8. You can also access IT services from the ECU library


9. The "news updates" functions gives information on what is happening at ECU, either at Joondalup or Mt Lawley.


10. There is also a quick search on the ECU libraries if a student is looking for a particular catalogue online.

After searching the economic impacts of global warming on businesses, I found that without narrowing down the search there will be too many results which will make it hard for a person when researching. So by putting punctuation marks on the words you are search the search becomes more to the point and not so wide. After doing this my search results were not so much and Ionly ended up having a final result of 38.

People who might use the Medline plus tutorials on the website would be those who are interested in a particular drug, or are concerned about anything they might or might not have. Also people who have a prescription drug may want to know about it or whats in it.

I researched Angina on the website and it came up with alot of informative results and the active tutorial was very useful for those who don't like spending time reading off the computer and would rather have it spoken out for them.

Screen Shots

Print screen shot of an online journal of the economic impacts of global warming on businesses

Print screen shot of an active tutorial on Angina

Readings
Reading One: ‘Finding what you want on the web’
This reading just clarifies that a good search does not include google and that there are various other ways to search the internet, rather than using google.

Reading Two: ‘Bare Bones Lesson 7: Basic Search Tips’
The second reading just point out different search tips you can use when searching on the web. Such things as using quotations to make it clear it is the phrase you are looking for, use the words 'AND' or 'OR'. Basic tips like these can always narrow down your search.

Week Two, 7th March 2008: Office Applications

Lecture
This week in the lecture i learnt about some of the different internet browsers, for example mozilla, fire fox, safari and netscape.
I also learnt how use the new microsoft word(2007) to make a cover page, it was very confusing at start as i am so use to the 2003 microsoft word. Luckily you can save a 2003 version in the 2007 version.

Tutorial (Work Shop Two)

During the tutorial, we learnt about powerpoint, and completed some activities on microsoft word and exccel.

The tutorial activity consisted of changing the document(two paragraphs we were given) around to suit the proper style of the document according to APA. Also in the activity we were to do some tasks on excel.

After this activity we were to put some reference in alphabetical order.

We also went on to microsoft office website and viewed/listened to the tutorials on the website on how to use excel. To get into these tutorials on the microsoft office website, just follow these steps.

Screen Shots

a. original document

b. Adjusted typeface

c. Adjust the margins and alignment

d. Adjust line spacing

e. create headings

f. Keep headings with text

g. Include header and footer

h. references in alphabetical order

i. End product of my excel activities(table, pie chart and graph)

Readings

Reading One: 'Using MS Word for APA tasks’

The first reading for this week was also used in the tutorial activity. It is all about the apropriate use of APA tasks on Microsoft Word. For example when referencing, the list of references should always be in alphabetical order, this reading shows you how to do that automatically.

Reading Two: Graphic File Formats

This reading tells you the different formats on a computer. For example, a commonly know file format, Jpeg or also know as Joint Photographic Experts Group.

Week One, 29th Feb 2008: Introduction to University Computing

Lecture
First week of uni and the first lecture for UPC 0004. My name is Sofia and that's all you need to know. The lecture today basically introduced us into what the course is about and what we will be doing, ie. what the assignments will consist of and what is expected of us in this unit, for example attending all lectures and tutorials, handing in assignments on time, the importance of not referencing etc.

This unit teaches us all the basics of computing and the essentials of PC's. We will start from workshop 1 in our tutorial and keep a journal each week with different activities to complete. This week;s workshop is the introduction to university computing.

Tutorial (Work Shop One)
Our first task was to explore the ecu website and sign into SIMO and blackboard, also to sign into our email accounts and check if they are up to date and working. Gary asked us to get 2 people to exchange emails.

Our second task was to explore blackboard and to try out each of the quicklinks to find out how to get to unit resources, which is where all the future workshops will be.

Our third task was to set up a blog on http://www.blogger.com/ where we will be recording our on going journal. Each week the blogg should consist of a summary for the lecture and the tutorial, screenshots(using the print screen function on the keyboard) and a summary of the readings given each week in the links on unit resources.
Our fourth task was to creat an account on image shack(http://www.imageshack.us/).

Screenshots

print screen shot of blackboard

Print screen shot of my student webmail

Print screen shot of my blogger all set up

Readings
Reading One: PC Lube and Tune-(PCLT)
PC Lube and Tune is a Service Station and convenience store. The PCLT objective is to supply usable introductions, tutorials, and education on technical subjects to the large audience of computer users. The method is to supply system independent hypertext files through the Internet and World Wide Web.-(PCLT)

On this website, it hold a various amount of interactive tutorials that may help many with questions they may have towards things such as, PC Hardware, Graphic User Interface, etc.

Reading Two: How Stuff Works
How stuff works is a website that has information on just about anything you can think of, from things such as human biology to technology. This week the reading is on How PC's (Personal Computer's) work. A PC is a general purpose tool built around a microprocessor. It has many different parts, such as a memory, a hard disk, a modem, etc. This article is mostly about PC's in the general sense and all the different parts that goes in to a PC.

This is a print screen shot from the website, explaining the different parts of a PC.