Unit 9

.gov

1.       I searched in Google

2.       statistics (e-commerce or “electronic commerce”) future:.gov

3.       Author: Orson Swindle, Commissioner from Federal Trade Commission

4.       Title of the Website: Federal Trade Commission

5.       Title of the Article: E-commerce: The Future of Banking and Financial Services

Swindle, Orson. "E-commerce: The Future of Banking and Financial Services." Ftc.gov. N.p., June-July 2007. Web. 31 July 2012. <http://www.ftc.gov/speeches/swindle/fedbsn000621.shtm>.

I consider this is a credible source because it is a government agency. The mission is to prevent business practices that are anticompetitive, deceptive, or unfair to consumers. In the endnotes we can find the sources used for publication: government statistics and data from scholarly journal and periodicals. The purpose of the publication is to discuss the impact of technology on the financial services industry.

The information on the site is updated periodically. The publication was last modified in June 2007. It would be better to do this more often. The author is the experienced and looks like knowledgeable because of his work in the federal trade commission.

.edu

1.       I search in Google

2.       statistics (e-commerce or “electronic commerce”) future:.edu

3.        Author: Center for International Development at Harvard University

4.       Title of the Website: Global Trade Negotiations

5.       Title of the Article: E-Commerce Summary

"E-Commerce Summary." Cid.harvard.edu. N.p., June 2004. Web. 31 July 2012. <http://www.cid.harvard.edu/cidtrade/issues/ecommerce.html>.

The article is a summary of the last researches in the electronic commerce area. The resources of the site are research papers, reports from international educational and trade organizations. I can trust the site because it is a famous educational and research institution in the USA and in the world. The site claims itself as a portal to current trade research, activities, proceedings and debate, so you can find information with different points of view. The report was updated in March, 2004, so the information is current.

.com

1.       I search Ixquick

2.       Statistics AND future AND “electronic commerce”:.com

3.       Author: victor Calanog

4.       Title of the Website: National Real Estate Investor

5.       Title of ghe Article: “Will Electronic commerce Kill Brick-and Mortar Retail?”

Calanog, Victor. "Will Electronic Commerce Kill Brick-and-Mortar Retail?" Nreionline.com. N.p., 8 Mar. 2011. Web. 31 July 2012. http://nreionline.com/distressedinventory/electronic_commerce_kill_retail_0308/. 

I think this site is credible because it is electronic version of the leading magazine which covers commercial real estate news, trends and research. The author is head of research and economics for New York-based research firm Reis. His article is very fresh (2011) and the chart he provides is from the latest research and data from the U.S. Census Bureau. 

.org

1.       I search with Google

2.       Statistics AND future AND “electronic commerce”:.org

3.       Author: Andrew D. Mitchell

4.       Title of the Web site: Journal of International Economic Law

5.       Title of the article: Towards compatibility: the Future of Electronic Commerce within the Global Trading System

Mitchel, Andrew D. "Towards Compatibility: The Future of Electronic Commerce within the Global Trading System." Journal of International Economic Law. N.p., Apr. 2001. Web. 31 July 2012. <http://jiel.oxfordjournals.org/content/4/4/683.abstract>.

This is a popular Oxford journal, where we can find articles with different opinions. The article examines the key issues that electronic commerce poses for global trade, the growth and economic impact of e-commerce. There is a link to full version of the article and sources. It covers the deep research in global trade and e-commerce.

SUMMARY

It was challenging to filter the sites which search engines provide. If it was pretty much comfortable with domains as gov., edu, then it was hard with .com and .org. A lot of not relevant information is located on .com sites. Especially it was hard to find something valuable with .org domain. I tried some of the search engines but ended with Google looking for the site I can trust. Looks like Google search better for different domains. From this activity I understood that it is very important to be careful looking for the credible sources on the web. Sometimes it is time-consuming, but worth it.

Unit 8

Internet Public Library (IPL2)

“The Internet Public Library, (IPL), is a merged collection of sites from the Internet Public Library and the Librarian's Index to the Internet. The combination of the two is better that both.”[1]

There is a subject directory, newspapers and magazine, for kids, and for teens directories and special collections created by ipl2. Unfortunately I was able to open only for kids and for teens, the rest leads to blank pages. May be they are still working on the directories.

Search Options the IPL provide:

Wildcard Characters (?,*): ? used to represent one alphanumeric character within a term.  * is used to represent zero or more alphanumeric characters.

Boolean Operators must be capitalized. Used additionally + (Must be)and  -  (NO)sings

Range Searches [1977 TO 2022] – include data; {} – exclude data

Advances Features: Boosting (add importance to a specific term or group of term)^.

                                                Bear^2Tiger^3

Proximity Searches: (to see if two terms are within a specified distance of each other in an article. ~

                                                “Bear Zoo”~6

Fuzzy Searching: modifies how closely a given search term must be matched within the returned results. The default Fuzzy value is 0.5. It is complicated. I don’t like it.

                                                Bear~0.99 is likely only to return such items as Bear and Bears

I would use this search tool for academic research as the sources supposed to be trusted, as they claim and advanced features give more chances to find something worthful. Especially it would be useful for kids, teens, students, and teachers.

Ixquick Metasearch

“Ixquick is a comprehensive metasearcher that queries 14 search tools. Results are ranked by relevancy with information about which search tool the site came from. Ixquick allows keyword searches, natural language searches, and advanced Boolean searches. Pages found in multiple engines are only listed once and ranked by relevancy. Ixquick also has a language feature to for searching non-English sites. Specialized searching includes images, news, and MP3.”[2]

Search options:

Boolean operators are the same as everywhere but must be capitalized. AND OR NO.

Additionally you can use “+” (must be) and “-“ NO

Phrases in quotes, and parentheses can be used.

Fields: you can specify where certain information must appear with fields: +title; +domain; host; site; url; link.

There are many fields to narrow or expand your search: with all the words; with the exact phrase; with at least one of the words, etc.

Duck Duck Go

“Duck Duck Go is a search tool that compiles searches from other sources but maintains the privacy of a searcher by not logging user information. Results are populated by sites that have less advertising and better content.”[3]

They use AND or OR operators but not NO. Instead of NO “-“ sign works to exclude the term.

“” marks around the phrases are used for exact matches on that phrase.

They use \ to go directly to the first search result

They do safe search by default. If you want to turn off safe search for this search, add   !safeoff

There is a good collection of “Goodies” For example:!bang syntax:

                                 !youtube green day can lead you directly to youtube website

You can do any calculation and conversions directly in Goodies; find the date of any event or what happened on the date; the links to any well-known fact; even to count the calories or learn about nutrition in a product; geography facts and language tips.

I bookmarked this site and will use it in future. It is good for every day needs.

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[1] http://hanlib.sou.edu/searchtools/subjdir.html

[2] http://hanlib.sou.edu/searchtools/metatool.html

[3] http://hanlib.sou.edu/searchtools/srchtool.html

Research Question: What statistics prove that electronic commerce has future?

1.       Search statements:

 statistics and “e* commerce” and future

 forecast* and (e-commerce or “electronic commerce”) and future

2.       Article from popular magazine:

Beer, Jeff. "The Future is Mobile." Canadian Business Mar 14 2011: 40-. ABI/INFORM Trade & Industry; ProQuest Research Library. Web. 24 July 2012 . 

This is the article from the popular magazine in Canada. The author writes in business and economic field. The article is worth to use because it provides up-to-date information about the last researches and the opinions about the future of e-commerce and mobile devices.

3.       Research Article from Scholarly Journal:

Sin, Liem Gai, and Ria Purnamasari. "China E-Commerce Market Analysis: Forecasting and Profiling Internet User." Researchers World 2.3 (2011): 1-8. ProQuest Research Library. Web. 24 July 201

The article is published in a solid journal: Researches World. The Information is up-to-date .The classification of the publication is experimental/theoretical .The authors are credible. They are the professors and doctors of world well-known schools. In footnotes you can find the reference to primary sources such as surveys, analysis and studies, and statistical reports. From the citation it is clear that the article contains factual, documented information to reinforce the position.

4.       Article from Newspaper: 

Totty,Michael "E-Commerce (A Special Report) --- the Researcher: John Jordan Spends His Days Thinking about the Future; we Asked Him what He Sees." Wall Street Journal: R.20. Los Angeles Times; National Newspapers Core; The Wall Street Journal. Jul 16 2001. Web. 24 July 2012 .

I chose this article because it is form popular newspaper; the author has more than 600 hundred publications in different periodicals. It is an interview with Mr. Jordan, who is director of electronic commerce research at the Center for Business Innovation, at Cambridge University. 

Summary:

The research statement gives relevant result. I tried both variants: with “forecast” and only ”future”. I need to tell that the results were pretty much the same. The word “data” did not worked well, because it refers to information data either and it expanded my search, so I deleted it.  I narrowed the results by source type and the date of publication. It was helpful. I was researching using the Proquest, as I am familiar with it already and like it. Also, I tried Ebsco, but it was not as convenient as Proquest.

Unit6-2

1. Does anti-smoking advertising by the tobacco industry lead to increasing among youth?

            “anti-smoking advertising” and “tobacco industry” and (youth or young people)

2. What are the similarities between the Great Depression of the 1930s and the current economic problems?

            “Great Depression” and (current or today’s) and econom*

3. How much more can a college graduate expect to earn over someone with a high school diploma?

            college and school graduate* and (earn or salary)

4. What stand does the American Medical Association take on natural medicine?

“american Medical Association” and (“natural medicine” or “alternative medicine”)

5. Should educators use commercial services to combat plagiarism?

            educat* and “commercial services” and plagiarism

My research question:

What statistics prove that electronic commerce has future?

            (statistics or data) and “e* commerce” and future

Summary of the Unit 5:

All research tools are worth to use. They have much in common; we could easily find all required information about the book and check if we can trust the source. For me, Googlebooks is the easiest to navigate, Summit is the best organized and provide most information. Books 24x7 – IT Pro Collection of E-books is confusing but has the most search features. After some practice I think it could be helpful. I would use Cannell Library Book Catalog if I need printed copy or the help of the qualified personnel.

Books 24x7 – IT Pro Collection of E-books

Looking at the screen for advanced search it wasn’t easy to understand how to use effectively this tool, so I had to use Knowledge Base ( support) for advances search where they explain how to precise search results. There three sections in the form:

Use advance search for precision searching;

Restrict the search to a subset of the library;

Specify additional constrains, which provide additional criteria for further search.

You can use all of them or choose as many as you prefer. Words in proximity field include the criteria like: any words, all words, exact phrase or Boolean can be very helpful. If  you add up to three additional search criteria, each one with different constraints, it also allows you to limit your search to titles in a specific copyright range. 

GoogleBooks

Search Terms used: electronic commerce , internet

Citation Information:

Title: Web Technologies for Commerce and Services Online

 Author: Mehdi Khosrow-Pour

Publication Info: Idea Group Inc (IGI), 2007

Subject Headings: Business & Economics, E-commerce; Computers/Electronic Commerce; Computers/Web/General; Electronic Commerce – Security measures

Genre: Electronic books

Location: Online Resource, no Call No.

Clues that lead to believe the book is trustworthy:

Age: Acceptable

Sources: references are available

Author is currently an Associate Professor of Information Systems at Penn State Harrisburg.

Publisher: is well known

The preview and selected pages are available; the content of the book is detailed

Unit 5: Digging into Databases and Books

Cannell Library Book Catalog

Search Terms used: electronic commerce , internet

Citation Information:

Title: The internet and e-commerce [electronic resource] : a Thorogood report

Author: Carey, Peter, LL. M.

Publication Info: London : Thorogood, c2001 (Norwood, Mass. : Books24x7.com [generator])

Subject Headings: Electronic Commerce – Law and legislation; Internet – Law and Legislation; Web sites – Law and Legislation; Commercial law

Genre: Electronic books

Location: Online Resource, no Call No.

Clues that lead to believe the book is trustworthy:

Age: Acceptable

Sources: references are available

Author is the representative of London school of Economic

Publisher: is well-known in Great Britain

The Review says: Supported by essential legal considerations, useful addresses, and web sites, this book provides businesses with valuable information for safeguarding their e-commerce business.

The Summit Catalog

Search Terms used: electronic commerce , internet

Citation Information:

Title: Trust and risk in Internet commerce

Author: L Jean Camp

Publication Info: London : Cambridge, Mass. : MIT Press, ©2000

Subject Headings: Electronic Commerce –Security Measures; Internet – Security Measures; Business enterprises – computer networks – Security measures

Genre: Electronic books

Location: WSU Internet All-WSU; Call number: HF5548.32 .C355 2000

Clues that lead to believe the book is trustworthy:

Age: Acceptable

Sources: references are available

Author has 11 works in 55 publications in 1 language and 2,910 library holdings

Publisher: Well-known academic institution

The difference with the Cannel Library Catalog is that in Summit you can find more detailed information about the content of the book; there is a direct link to the information about the author and you don’t need to google; there is a choice of libraries which may have the book . There is even global search.

1.       For Research Question 1, I would use subject encyclopedia like Food and Culture for general overview and web sites for links to other information. To study subject in deep, books and journals would be useful.

2.       For Research Question 2, I would use web sites for the overview of the problem and background information. Also I would use Encyclopedia to have clear understanding of the term “censorship”. Then I would look through popular magazines and newspapers to get the idea about popular opinion about the problem.

3.       For Research Question 3, I would use online statistical sources or statistical reference books. We can get current data from government agencies, that is updated frequently on the Web. Also, we can get personal opinions from graduates in blogs, social networks or directly from people.

4.       For Research Question 4, I would use official web sites for educators to view and compare the opinions of professionals.

5.       For Research Question 5, I would look for research articles in scholarly/academic journals and books from academic publishers because they provide a lot of information about the research already have been done and methods the scholars used to study the question.

My Research Questions:

1. What are the benefits of Internet for the economy?

To research this question I might use subject encyclopedias for background information and broad overview of the topic.

2. What areas of the economy are the most influenced by Internet?

It would be beneficial to look for  books or articles in academic journals to find out what research has already been done, and what the opinions of experts are.

3.What statistics prove that electronic commerce has future?

For this question I would look through reference books, statistical web sites, or scholarly journals to get up-to-date information about the subject.

Summary:

Of all activities we had this week, I liked IRIS tutorials most of. It’s a pity that I have this class only now when I almost graduated. How helpful this class with all these tutorials could be for the students at the beginning of their long way to graduation. It would make this way easier, study -  of higher quality and exploration - more exciting. The information in IRIS tutorials is given in a clear language, shortly, with humor. The quizzes are pleasure to do. You can easily use the links to pick and choose the modules you need. I have learned about some new tools in research like databases, in particular – Gale Virtual Reference Library. I am familiar with ProQuest and used it a lot for my writing classes but GVRL is also very helpful. In comparison with Wikipedia it is more scholastic resource and it exactly what we need when we look for credible sources. But I like Wiki either because of easy access to info, jumping-off point in the research. Popular topics are often updated; contributors are multicultural which makes wiki the most democratic source of information. Of course we need to be aware of lack of credibility of the articles proposed in this web site.

Three research questions:

Broad topic: Internet

Focused topic: Internet and Economy

Possible research questions:

1.       What are the benefits of Internet for the economy?

2.       What areas of the economy are the most influenced by Internet?

3.       What statistics prove that electronic commerce has future?

1.       Topic  - Internet

2.       Tool used: Wikipedia

3.       3. Key words and ideas:

Computer networks; Internet protocol suite; infrastructure to support email; Voice  Protocol; web site technologies; blogging; social networking; online shopping;  business-to-business; financial services; commercialization;

4.       Source citation:

Wikipedia contributors. "Internet." Wikipedia, The Free Encyclopedia. Wikipedia, The Free Encyclopedia, 9 Jul. 2012. Web. 11 Jul. 2012.

1. Topic – Internet

2. Tool used: Gale Virtual Reference Library

3. Key words and ideas:

                Electronic form of communication; worldwide source of information; instant communication; new arena for advertisements and e-commerce; online services; profit from Internet; Bill Gates; Amazon.com; careerpath.com;  communication, connecting people; global market place; chart rooms; posting boards; auction.

Main idea: Available 24 hours a day, seven days a week, the Internet provides a non-stop forum for buyers and sellers to interact. The opportunities for profit, loss, problems, and rewards may be staggering and unpredictable, but E-commerce is clearly paving the way to a new economic road. Buy. Sell. Complain. Compliment. Do it all at your convenience on the Internet.

4. Source citation:

"Internet and the Economy (Issue)." Gale Encyclopedia of U.S. Economic History. Ed. Thomas Carson and Mary Bonk. Vol. 1. Detroit: Gale, 1999. 488-489. Gale Virtual Reference Library. Web. 10 July 2012.

Unit 2: Plagiarism

Safe Practices

1. No citation is needed for this paragraph, because it’s a personal life experience.

2. The passage is not cited properly. It looks like a word-for-word quotation. I would put this paragraph into quotation marks, create the brief reference to the source “The Preamble to the US Constitution” (in-text citation) and showed the source as a full bibliographic citation in Bibliography.

3. This passage is statistics and has to be cited with brief reference to the source and with full bibliographic citation in Bibliography.

4. This passage is paraphrased but still need to be cited.

5.  The words taken from the original text are in quotation marks and it is correct. As for the in-text citation it’s supposed to be a brief reference to the source, like: (King, para. 5). The name of the document has to be mentioned in bibliography.

6. In this paragraph the citation is used correctly, because the name of the document and the author are mentioned in the context and the word-for-word citation is in quotation marks. But there is one concern about missing words in the quotation: “I am sorry to say”. May be it would be more accurate to insert “…” in the place of this words.

7. This passage is accurate. It mentioned the author of the information, obtained from the conversation.

8. It’s a common knowledge, but mention the Constitution of the USA as a source would carry more weight.

Summary about Plagiarism

Either in school or at the workplace we need to be careful with information we are going to use to avoid plagiarism because of the ethical and legal issues. We plagiarize if we use somebody’s ideas or words and present them as our own. To avoid plagiarism we need:

·         Put into quotation marks another person’s words (direct quotation)

·         Acknowledge the source if we paraphrase somebody’s thoughts

·         Credit the source for any chart, diagram, picture, or audio- video materials

We don’t need to credit if:

·         We use our own personal experience, observation, thoughts, argument, or conclusion

·         We use our own art materials

·         The information we present is a common knowledge or generally-accepted fact.

Sometimes it is hard to decide if it’s a common knowledge or the fact. If we in doubt, check on the Internet if the “information is undocumented in at least five credible sources.” (Stoley)[1]

Making the research about plagiarism I've learned that, anyway, it’s better to cite if you are not sure about the information. We always have to be accurate using somebody's words or thoughts like with any private property.

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[1] Karl Stolley, Allen Brizee.OWL Purdue Online Writing Lab. Is It Plagiarism Yet?

Since I've been arrived to the United States from Ukraine six years ago I have to learn something new every day. And this process of life exploration is attractive and challenging at the same time. I remember the first days here as I learned to fill in the check and how to use debit card in the store. Now it looks funny but when I realized that if I want to be independent I need to get driving skills I was in panic and even cried. There was no choice and I got my driver's license. One more my challenge was the computer skills. I start using the computer only here, in the USA and now I am a graduating as a Software Application Specialist AAS and Administrative Assistants AAS (this is my last quarter). It's hard to believe how much our brains can get through and the human being can accomplish if you need to survive in a new reality.

As for the blogging, it's also a new experience for me. I saw my daughter blogging and always thought that it's only for the young generation and I will never post my thoughts for the public. Then I start reading the posts of many interesting people through my daughter's blog in Live Journal and realized that it could be intriguing and entertaining. And now, thanks to the class I am taking "Internet Research & Online Living," I am creating my first own blog. I don't know how long it could be alive but I will try to use this new experience for my personal improvement. Blogging online can help me to improve my writing English skills, develop my creativity, and communication skills. I am participating in some forums but in Russian and mostly as a reader. Hopefully blogging here help me to feel more comfortable to publish my thoughts online.

There are some advantages in using digital workplace: everything typed is stored digitally; anything can be deleted and altered, whether it a single word, phrase or letter; digital documents that can be sent anywhere in the world in the blink of an eye via email, or through file transfers and uploads through the Internet. But the issue of the security is still bothering people.

Welcome to my blog.