Final portfolio advice

I'll be holding an optional session on sunday 3:30-6pm, 2nd floor of the union. The portfolio is due for class time on monday.

Q: Hitting the 1000 word-cap, what do I do? What if I go over the limit?
A: The word cap is in place as a challenge - on getting to the point and expressing ideas succinctly. Look for ways to say the same thing in fewer words (the advice given below works for this as well). I'm going by a soft-cap on enforcement, if its a little over, 2 possibilities a) everything fits and to the point, let it go, or b) get hit for being unnecessarily wordy as many parts has little to do w/ your question. For a frame of reference, its about fitting 10pages of info into 3pages. It's also acceptable to use abbreviations for long or frequent terms in your paper.

Q: Advice on working through the final rounds of the paper.
A: "I'd advise you to write a 1 line descriptor of what the main point of each paragraph is about, match that back to the main question - see if you can spot anything from that. You may realize the need to revise the paper items or the question itself."

Last day of class

Items for the day:
>Q & A session on the projects
>Discussion on the progression of the class this semester.
>Aside from the paper copy, digital dropbox your final and reflection paper on the 10th. Knowledge not shared is not knowledge at all. To preserve and share them, I will link them all via the main class blog.
>Provide some feedback on the class and info on blog use.
>Official university evaluations.

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Reply to this post and respond to these statements. You can choose the anonymous option in commenting.
Use these response types (strong agree, agree, disagree, strongly disagree), and provide a written response with each.
>Example: Disagree, I did not learn much from the poster experience, the work expended was less than the benefits gained personally.

a) The assignments in this class were instrumental in my learning. How so? Name the ones that helped or did not, and why?

b) The instructor's approach to class instruction were effective in my learning toward the course objectives. Detail specifics on what helped or did not.

c) Having my own blog was productive for my overall learning in this class. Detail why.

d) The instructor's use of the main class blog was productive for my overall learning in this class. Detail why.

e) The shared group blog was important for my group project. How so?

Lastly, if you have one advice to give to the next group of students taking inls200 w/ this instructor, what would it be?

More Q & A

Q: Any advice on polishing the paper?
A: The expectation on the final paper is a piece of work that is as close to perfection as you can possibly construct. Having another person to check your statement logics and writings will definitively help. Either form an agreement with a classmate to mutually check each other's material, or make use of campus resources such as the writing center. Recommended for everyone, esp. so if you were ever cited by me on glaring errors, as I've generally let it slide on small assignments unless its really bad.

Q: What/when/where is everything due?
A: 10th, come drop it off during regular class time. Read the portfolio delivery doc on bboard, you might have very little or a whole lot to turn in.

Q: Citing interviews, how?
A: Cite as, J. Smith, personal communication, August 15, 2001 , in the bibliography. Then refer to it in-text "In an interview w/ person x, he emphasized the use of pesticides as the leading cause etc."

Q: Where to put the research questions?
A: State the primary question on the top of the first page in italics "What happened to the bees?"

Sample rough draft write-up

I'm writing this off the top of my head at 4am, so, take it as a conceptual sample written in blog-tone and not a literal model to emulate for a term paper.

Starting with the topic of the "walmart effect",
Core Questions: "How is walmart impacting small town America?"
Misc questions: why is it the wal-mart effect instead of k-mart/target/big box store effect? How do they offer "low-low prices all the time"? (+however more questions you pull up and investigate)

Two reasons. It's known as wal-mart effect because of their sheer size and presence. They are such a huge retail presence that companies literally rely on them to push products, many of them setup offices right in wal-mart's head-quarters (cite x). They can afford to drop companies, companies can't afford to lose wal-mart, thats why they have the upper hand in negotiating pricing. In turn, they get the products at the lowest cost, and can sell them below their competitors pricing and still turn a hefty profit.

Their logistical prowess, they have the best inventory management in the retail industry, if not in the world. They have x amount of their company focused on IT logistics, continuously runs model simulations on activity y (cite d). After Katrina, wal-mart was the first of any private, public, or non-profit organization to setup a capable presence to respond to the disaster (cite y). They can move products faster and cheaper than their competitors, another reason they can afford to offer low low prices all the time (cite z data #s).

None of their competitors has as much bargaining power with manufacturers as walmart does, and neither can they match wal-mart's logistical operation. The whole issue of how pricing can kill competition is another tract to explore in tying in w/ how it effects local community stores, then how the local stores lose business close down. It would involve some #s and charts to show case points. Whether you choose to express both sides, or just one, or focus on specific changes in the community or employment issues or quality of life issues, on a single community, multiple, national, etc - there really isn't a right or wrong path to go, what I'm assessing is how well you tackle exploration, iteration, and responding to which ever angle/question/perspective you settle on.

As another example, you could focus entirely on the employment angle. How the closing of shops drove many people having to seek alternative employment. Or how walmart is creating new job opportunities in the community, such as increased traffic led to more gas stations, or increase population over time etc (insert comparison chart over time, cite p).

This is what I'm expecting in the student papers (with citations to sources supporting the statements). Actually I expect as much, if not more, since the students are actively investigating primary sources and I'm just going by second hand off the cuff info to write this (might not be 100% accurate). In your reflection paper, you might talk about how you stumbled on the katrina article while researching sub-topic z etc. You might also describe how you come around to settling on your final focus point of employment instead of economics of walmart effect etc.

In terms of assessment, the first 2 paragraphs are along the lines of fundamentals that I expect you to be able to formulate for a term paper, that's average. Strong developments in the 3rd paragraph is where a paper can rise from average to good/great, combined with supporting materials in the rest of the portfolio/reflection paper.

Formatting the final papers + Q & A

See the final portfolio document on blackboard for the full details (updated with this info),
Final research paper:
>3 pages 1.5 spacing max if pure text; or go by less than 1,000 words to allow the use of images and tables without being limited by pages (not a bad idea usually).
>Split the bibliography into two sections, one list for sources directly cited to the paper (call it bibliography cited), one for sources consulted but not cited directly (bibliography consulted).

Reflection paper:
>No page limit, write as much or as little as you want. The paper itself isn't necessarily graded, but it's very instrumental as a guide in assessing your overall portfolio, class participation and progress through the entire semester (combined for 50% of course assessments).
>Format it for readability, use subtitles in bold to partition the paper ("research on previous topic, reflection on course assignments, developments on my primary topic, etc. etc.").
>Times new roman font, size 12. You'll also have to upload a digital version of both papers, I'll address that last day of class.

We'll have time to go through questions and details on weds in class, bring questions. And I'll also schedule an optional session beyond the last day of class, maybe the day before portfolio's due date to address any very last minute concerns.
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Q: Which blogsignments to include the final portfolio, what to do with the reference interview
A: Reference interview isn't necessary and got ax'd when blog commenting became optional, bi-monthly updates were instituted in its place. None of the blogsignments need to be printed out, however, having a listing pointing out which blog post date corresponds to which blogsignment will be helpful to include in the portfolio.

Q: So I'm working on topic x, the critical analysis part is determining which sources are most reliable and unbiased for my information correct?
A: Sources is one part of the picture. By critical analysis I mean taking an iterative approach to breaking down and analyze the topic area through the questioning process. To be critical, one has to be very well informed on that given topic area (hence a whole semester to read and drill the topic). Sources can inform your topic/question development, and be used as support in the response write up. Your final paper is a synthesis of the ideas, perspectives, or issues - all of which defined by you, packaged and expressed with supportive evidence from the sources.

All the assignments and exercises in the course are designed as waypoints to the process I described above. The key to delivering a strong project portfolio is extensive iteration and critical exploration (and document those). The purpose of reviewing multiple sources is to develop this sense of critical analysis, in that you're not simply citing/repeating what one author said, but you can see what he's saying, why he said it, how he's saying it, by having built an informed knowledge base in your iterative exploration process. And will effectively be able to critically support what that author said, or counter it, with evidence from your sources, which is in turn based on what you have read and learned from the broader exploration you've engaged in reaching toward the end of the project. And if its not in your current source list, you are able and capable of retrieving said source, analyze said info, and use it to support said perspective.

Retrieving and evaluating information are the basics of the course, taking them to the next level with critically analyzing and effectively using said information in a meaningful context is the stuff that matters the most. Sources are the lego building blocks, I'm looking for what you can do with a pile of legos. If you're still not sure, ask me in class and I'll walk through some samples with the topic areas.

The presenters have done a great job today, this is a major major milestone toward your project, make best use of the feedback. The audience, really proud of you guys, I've seen some incredibly good engagement in learning and critical discourse in the span of 75minutes.

Remaining Poster Day Presenters
11/19/07- Brandon F., Corrine S., Furat S., James S., Mallory E., Marc W., Miranda R.,
11/26/07 - Alex V., Beth S., Doruk O., Alex C. George P., Crystal D., Jimmy N.
11/28/07 - Neha H., Shannon G., Amanda L., Michael B., Datt P., Trevor L., Nathan A., Andrew B.,
12/03/07 - Jesse P., David J., David M., Brandon B., Shane L., Nina B., Bo H., Alani N., Zach W.

--------Response to Jesse's blog question on topic struggle----------
GIS would be on your comfort side, you know the peaks and boundaries of the area, so it's less uncertainty if you stick with that. The media topic is daunting precisely because you have no idea of peaks that stand out or knowing enough of the area to set proper limits.

Normally, the safe thing to do is usually to put together a polished work that builds comfortably on your existing knowledge. The difference here is in how this class is setup, grading isn't focused on the product - you will not be penalized for trekking unknown territory.

It is true that you will be able to answer your research question more comprehensively if you have a better grasp of it. For the most part, I am looking for evidence that you are able to take a critical approach to your project and be able to effectively gather and use good data to support a fact finding mission or specific perspectives.

In short, the questions need to be competently addressed, but it doesn't need to have an absolute answer. There may very well be no answer, by addressing I mean, you might lay out the factors you believe that contribute to the lack of an answer and support them with info you found.

My answer to you is the usual vagueness, up to you. I think you'd do well with either topic. The poster questions are used to gather information and generate critical feedback, don't frame your entire project around them. My praise for this first batch of posters was not for that they are comprehensive and covers everything they need for their project, it was for that they have established the necessary background knowledge to be able to focus on addressing their specific questions in the next phase of their work.

Much of my feedback were in the direction of alternative ways they might look at what they have now. The collection of the class feedback will get them rolling on options to dig into next. More than likely they need to do another round of exploration, but at this point they will be much more specific in what they are looking for. The background knowledge they built up to the poster + new feedback ideas + new focused search = enough compilation to start the analysis and writing for the project.

This is the big picture of the class, each of the assignments was a puzzle piece, it should make more sense now that you have the benefit of 20/20 hindsight.

Poster Feedback Questions

Your name________, today's date______, Proj abbr. title_____
Instruction:
1) Complete this for 5 posters, budget about 10-15min to collect and write about each. Take this seriously, it reflects the quality of your class participation.
2) Address the questions directly or indirectly, not necessary to hit every point, but responses should be thoughtful and to the point. 2 paragraphs in the very least, use the back if more space's needed.
3) Write legibly, write legibly, write legibly, messy is ok, but must be legible. Give them to the author when you're done.

Questions:
View the poster, ask the authors about their project in general, grasp what its about.
a) Focus: Are their research questions getting at the heart of what they are seeing about the topic area?
b) Depth/Substance: Are the components convincingly addressing the research question to the fullest extent possible (as a term project)? How so?
c) Relationship/Connections: Which parts, if any, seem out of place or disconnected? How?
d) Breadth/Coverage: In the context of the topic/question, any elements you expect should, but isn't addressed here? Why?
e) Sourcing: Are the key points well supported by highly relevant and strong sources? How so?
f) Clarity: Are you able to see the same vision that the author paints for their project?
g) Anything else you'd like to tell the author.

Respond to Author's specific question(s), required.

Items for weds

Today's Discussion notes on the project, graciously made available by nina and michael
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Lecture points:
>Walkthrough on the final portfolio deliverables (see revised doc on bboard).

>Poster details
>Everyone will get a form on poster day to answer 3-4 questions about each poster (fill out at least 5). Quality matters, these will be assessed as part of class participation. The poster owner will get all the question responses to assist them in their project, then turn the pile in with their portfolio.
>The 2 required questions are along the lines of, Address the primary strengths that you see in the project work so far, then the weakness as well (detailed version will be on the form).
>Poster owner can post 1-2 questions for their visitors to answer, think along the lines of "Answers to what aspects of my project from 20 people would help me in what I need to do next."
>By detailed response I mean at least a meaningful paragraph to each question, and you can get more information to do this by viewing the poster and interacting w/ the owner.

Class Discussion points:
>trouble spots and pitfalls thus far in progress toward the project
>perspectives on the indiv adjustments on grp projects

Hi all, just relaying some question responses to the rest of the class.

I'll waive the standard late deduction on the annotated bib. if it comes in before midnight, that also applies if you choose to send in a revised version. The annotated bibliographies can really help you out w/ organizing ideas for the poster and final project - feel free to do more than 4 on your own, and they can go in the final portfolio. This is strongly recommended, and about the only means close to extra credit (on a diminishing scale, counts a lot more for those w/ lower overall grade).

On the expert interviews - reference librarians counts as experts if they specialize in your topic area. Faculty or practitioners in those areas are the best bet (email & lookup office hrs). People are genuinely willing to help if you respect their time by being prepared (bring organized materials and relevant questions). The entire purpose is to interact with someone that's deep in the topic, and gain new insights to advance your work(and make a blog post or 2 on it).

*additional* If you're contemplating topic/direction switch at this point, you can still do so, it's not too late yet. Your work on the previous topic can still be a part of the final portfolio. If you're getting frustrated and conflicted, that's actually a sign of progress - you've gone far enough to feel the muddy and gray areas inherent in independently and critically analyzing the material. This is the point where you want to go back and look at your old prospectus drafts on why it was interesting to you in the first place, and it may warrant a revision to the original questions.

This in response to a question on what if your topic's quirky, or if there are no local experts.
'One alternative is to look up some of your sources, read it over, look up the authors' emails, and ask politely and framing some brief and directly relevant questions.

"Hi dr. x, I read your paper on topic y and it's tremendously insightful to class project on z. If you have a few minutes, I'd really appreciate your perspectives on d g l ..." '
That opening line is also good for contacting local experts, it works most of the time in getting their attention, though do actually read it and ask questions that have a point and can be answered directly.
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”What can I do to improve my grade at this point in the course?”

>Do the work and consistently document it on the blogs.
>Make best use of the reflection paper to highlight the strengths and explain any gaps

>Additional items I will accept in the portfolio, these are optional and can improve your evaluations on a diminishing scale basis. Aside from padding the portfolio, knowledge gained from these tasks will more than likely improve the quality of your final project.
-Additional annotated bibliographies,
-additional question pulling exercise notes (blog it),
-write-up analysis of the poster responses you received.

Just about the only way to do poorly in my course is by explicitly choosing to not care. In one of the previous courses I taught, more than half of the students earned A’s. Probably seeing about 5 A’s, a good number of B’s, and 3-4 on very thin ice at this point in the course – they can all be improved with a strong closing in the next 3 weeks.

I am here to facilitate your learning toward the course objectives, don’t be intimidated to ask for help.

Project Poster Deliverables(starts 11/19)

Purpose:
1. Making sense to yourself – Visually organize your ideas, key concepts or sources. Metaphorically and literally, piecing together the puzzle that is your project. This is a formal analysis and organization of your project, to the best of your abilities.
2. Making sense to others – clearly represent and communicate your work to your peers and me.
3. Soliciting feedback – this is your opportunity to pose questions to your peers and me (2) and receive written feedback on improving your work.

Logistics:
>You’ll get 2-3min to briefly introduce your topic to the class (projector optional, must be prep’d before class time if you choose to use it.)
>You’ll be standing by your poster, providing more detailed descriptions to rotating groups of your peers. They will have a form to fill out to provide detailed feedback to your project, as well as answer the questions you posed.

Your poster should be able to answer these questions at a glance:
>What's your research question?
>What are the core ideas, concepts, or issues associated w/ the question?
>Who are the key authors/works supporting those core concepts?
>What connections or relationships, if any, exist between the main question and the core ideas, or between the core ideas?

this weds

The social networking grp did not get the full hr on monday, so they'll have a few more min at the start of the class to use. Everything else as usual, I need to see the grps going next week either before or after class. A note on Q & A's, you need to manage them, however you choose to. Either take them during the session, or ask audience to hold a particular, or all questions till the end, main thing is that it should be managed in some form (facilitation).

For the audience

Everyone present in class, need to respond to the following (notecards will be available, write legibly):
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Your name, today's grp,

3 sentence constructive criticism: "..."

On a scale of 1 to 7 (1-poor, 2-fair, 3-passable, 4-works, 5-good, 6-excellent, 7-superb), indicate to what degree you agree with each statement.

a) Substance of the material: "The topic was cohesive, substantial, with good breadth and depth in the coverage."
b) Clarity and delivery: "I got the points they were communicating."
c) Interest/coolness/intrigue factor: "They opened my eyes on this topic area. I honestly did want to hear what they have to say vs. the urge to check my email."
d) Discussion: "The discussion was informative, and they handled questions well."
e) "I learned a great deal from this session on the topic."
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*How to give good constructive criticism*
The sandwich rule, be very very specific on the points, and sincere,

>Opening compliment - "The case examples meshed exceedingly well with the points on the real concern for privacy and exploitation."
>Specific critique - "The relationship between personal expectations to privacy vs. the existing legislation on the area was unclear. The transitioning between the major points was a bit confusing, it may have been due to the number of technical terms that I'm not familiar with."
>Closing, positive statement - "I'm impressed with how well the questions were handled, especially in connecting relevant data in addressing the questions on the recent court cases."
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*How not to give constructive criticism*
"Good job on the presentation. You guys should have been more prepared. Slides look pretty."
"Interesting case examples. You lost me half way through the session. I liked the last part."

a few grp project tips

For the group presenting,
>It's perfectly fine to plant or initiate questions yourself to kick off the Q & A discussion
>If you'll be using any sort of technology, be prepared to have it up and running before class time
>You can run some adjustments in the room if need be (move chairs, ask to turn off monitors etc)
>Should get into a habit of citing if you use external materials (text, pics, video etc) from external sources (simply mentioning or noting source is fine in presentation format)
>Practice is usually not a bad idea

For the general class,
>Take some time and thought to compose the feedback forms, all of them will be read and constitutes toward class participation.
>It's easy to give criticism, constructive criticism is much much more difficult. I'll go over some examples before the first presentation.

Logistical details

Part 2 of search log - seems like a few people missed that there was a part 2 to the search log assignment. I'll give you guys a break on this section if the missing part's in by tomorrow.

If you missed the refworks class before fall break, you need to take a session on it. Group sessions are offered here in this class room at 1:30 and 5pm on Thursdays, contact kcason at email.unc.edu to confirm.

1 2 3 step to developing questions and advancing your indiv project

Steps:
1- lead in statement
2- Why this topic is "a problem or issue, that is, a conflict or something unsettled, perplexing, vexing, distressful, and in the need of investigation"
3- justifications for further inquisition (if you have the answers to (#2), answer “so what?”).

Sample:
1- Stem cell work is at the bleeding edge of medical research today.

2- For all the talk about stem cells, what actually transpires in the process of extracting and using the cells are still question marks to me. I've read plenty of papers on it, but the details on stem cell work ranging from medical theory, lab work, and replicable treatment trials are still areas of heavy debate between the various stake holders involved (academic, industry, politics etc).

3- A deeper understanding beyond the jargons of stem cell research would go a long way in focusing my thoughts on the viability of pursuing a career in this direction. If the key phases of stem cell work are better understood and shared by the major stake holders involved, we may be able to get a good deal closer to treating debilitating conditions such as cancer and Alzheimer’s.

Pulling questions:
Are the three sentences interlocking and do they suggest an unsettled or perplexing state? If not, go back and write re-write some more.

> What are the major steps involved in stem cell research? Who are the stake holders and what are their stakes in this area? Which points are being heavily debated, between whom and why? A background section could address such matters.

>Given the potential conflicts of interest, why or what could get the various stake holders to work toward standardizing practices? If this is feasible, is that a good thing? What potential flaws or benefits might derive from this?

The steps are interlocked, 1 to 2 to 3 to write, and 3 to 2 to 1 to filter responses. Step 2 is the most important part, the more you read, the more prepared you are to write step 2, and derive 3. Based on 2 and 3, you can pull out numerous individual questions you can pursue and find out more about, the resulting responses will make good material in organizing your ideas, making the poster and writing up the final paper. It’s worthwhile to do this iteratively, as you understand more of your topic area, each iteration will result in new thoughts and directions of inquiry.

*this method’s modified for applicability to the class project, based on Hernon and Schwartz’s original paper on writing problem statements for original research, published in LISR*

Prep day

Mostly group time today. I'll be available during and after class time, feel free to invite me into your group discussion as need be.

Your classmates will get a chance to rate your project on a scale of 1 to 10 based on factors such as:
Substance of the material/message
clarity and delivery
Interest/coolness/intrigue factor (whether people fall asleep or glued to their emails)
Quality of facilitating questions/discussions

Individual accountability assessments for the team project is available on blackboard. The forms are required and can be submitted anytime before or immediately after your presentation date.

To recap the group project deliverables (details is in document on blackboard):
>a week ahead of your presentation date, I need a learning statement that itemize and describe what you learned during this project
>and a plan on how your group plans on sharing those learned items with the class
>both should be printed out and at least two of your group members should see me with it to discuss details - the week before.

Mid Semester

Search logs are due to blackboard drop box 30min prior to class.

The first assignment was mostly a freebie giveaway in terms of grading. The assignments and projects from mid semester and onward will take a heavy emphasis on quality.

The second half of this course is entirely project based. You need to set the agenda on your projects and move the work forward independently. My role will go from predominantly lecturing to a blend of lecturing and individual advising. I'll be setting aside blocks of time to meet students individually or in groups -- strongly suggest that you make the most use of these opportunities.

Specifically on the group projects, the week before your turn to go up, I need that learning statement and plans for sharing, printed out in paper form. Plan to meet with me on it and discuss details. Or more specifically, I need to see the social networking and PIM group real soon.

Coffee break w/ Leo, tues/weds

I'll be at the 2nd floor study/fishtank area in the student union. Feel free to stop by to chat about the your projects, grp projects, class topics, general questions, specific questions, classes/colleges/grad school etc etc.

Best to email me if you're coming, I'll be there tues (1-5ish) and weds (1-class time).

Today - Beyond Google

I) A look at 3 cases involving retrieving and analyzing information in everyday life.
>Laptop purchase, Booking a hotel - almost perfect information
>Stock portfolio simulator - imperfect information

II) Group exercises
a) go here, pick 2-3 search engines, be prepared to showcase why and how its interesting.
b) The haystack problem asks "just what are you looking for, anyway?" (Dr. Matthew Koll)
In your groups, brainstorm and formulate a working concept to this problem. Use the board for visuals and explain how the concept would work in concrete examples. You can draw inspirations from (a), or do the two tasks separately.

• A known needle in a known haystack
• A known needle in an unknown haystack
• An unknown needle in an unknown haystack
• Any needle in a haystack
• The sharpest needle in a haystack
• Most of the sharpest needles in a haystack
• All the needles in a haystack
• Affirmation of no needles in the haystack
• Things like needles in any haystack
• Let me know whenever a new needle shows up
• Where are the haystacks?
• Needles, haystacks -- whatever.

Intellectual Property

Q & A on "everything you want to know about intellectual copy right"

Ground rules for the day:
>Sit with your groups
>Each person can only answer once till everyone in the group had said something.
>Must stand up to talk;
>You can post-pone answering a question, note it and answer after researching later on.
>You can ask questions at any point, good questions and responses accrue points.

http://www.unc.edu/%7Ereedkm/copyright/

Blogsignment News article changed to bi-monthly update

Your topical blogs are now being re-purposed as a digital work space, similar in how grp blogs are being used. You can use it to post notes to yourself, short write-ups, etc., however it may help you advance the work.

The "news posting" blogsignment segment is getting changed to "bi-monthly update", 1x every 2wks. I'll be expecting about 4+ updates for the rest of the semester.
Update posting format (title as bi-monthly update):
>Discuss current state of the topic, things you've done, progresses made since last update, and things planned. Feel free to discuss major ideas, thoughts, reflections etc.
>A substantive 1-2 paragraph for each update.

Today - Citation Searching

Who the hell reads citations? You will :)
Also be prepared for critical and constructive discussion about your group projects.

Readings are back, for the copyright, copyleft session, go through those to get a grasp of the fundamental ideas.

We'll have a session on refworks citation management tool next weds with a guest speaker.

A sample annotated bibliography is on blackboard under assignments.

Posted a bunch of ideas, commentaries, suggestions and such on the project blogs. I am working with your groups on the topics, as they are class topics as well. Feel free to comment on my comments, whether in support of my perspectives, or may have different takes on them etc.

Looking for a librarian's assistance on specific topics?
http://www.lib.unc.edu/faculty/consult.html

Today - Database Searching

We'll discuss the search approach to article databases, remember the booleans again. To understand what exactly we're searching on, we'll learn a bit about database structures.

Prospectus is due by midnight tonight, post up to the project blog. Expect about 30min of class time to use, plan accordingly.

Reference

We'll be going over reference services today, a discussion on team work, then some time for the groups. The search log assignment is uploaded on blackboard.

Model Reference Interview, ALA
http://www.ala.org/ala/rusa/rusaprotools/referenceguide/guidelinesbehavioral.htm

Virtual Reference, a previous class project from the 102 class I taught in 05.
http://www.unc.edu/%7Ejenmc/inls102/virtualreference/

Team Work, how to get it right
http://web.mit.edu/tll/teaching-materials/teamwork/TLL-Creating-a-High-Functioning-Team.ppt

logistics 2.0

Created the groups in blackboard, so you should have access to grp email, file sharing, chat, etc various functions on it.

Still need the rest of the groups to create and send me the project blog site (see last post for instructions). It's highly recommended that a) manager or lead post a summary of the ideas on the topic so far, and b) everyone post their thoughts on the 2-4 themes/questions to work on. Prospectus needs to be done this weds; more prep work done outside of class = more productive use of in-class time = less likelihood of having to meet outside of class.

Grp logistic info

To project managers:
>Go to dashboard on blogger, create a new blog, then, from dashboard, click on settings, then permissions. From here, you have the option to send out an email to your members to make them an author as well (their email is available on blackboard).
>Comment here with the new blog address to add to the main site.
>Start the first post, summarizes the ideas already on the table, and open it up of other members to write in their ideas. More things you have on the table before monday, faster meetings will go in piecing together the prospectus due next weds.

To the Personal Info Mgmt grp:
Yes, after some thought, yea, email use and image management is cool but probably not cool enough. Personal information in digital age it is (aka privacy). Our information (address, email, phone #, possibly credit card info), are very very hot commodities in the grey market. Once personal information is online, it's cached somewhere, if it has value, it'll get used. There are legal components but the spammers aren't too concerned about it. This sounded like the track you guys want to go on, go for it.

passing thought

I feel really smart at this nano second in time. The whole your project is your new last name thing is opening up new doors in how we could share information we come across while we kill time on the net. Like I just come across an opinion article on college admissions which articulates a perspective on the issue in very persuasive terms. Looking at the class list, I see zachary's working on affirmative action, perfect, I'll go tag his post with the link and 2 lines on why this thing is interesting and may be of use to him.

*on sourcing*
Back to my statement on that you can use any and all sources for this course. However, that also means you are charged with the sole responsibility of using the sources appropriately. Non-authoritative sources can be used as leads to pursue ideas and inspirations, or as practical starts in chasing the lead to new relevant sources. General rule of thumb, use all sources; do not cite non-authoritative sources, unless you have clear purposes in doing so.

This week

Monday we'll be meeting in class, then head over to the Davis Library together. Rita Moss, a Librarian on staff, will be hosting us and give a presentation/tour to start us off the Library section of the course. Bring questions relating to general library use or ones particular to what you might need (think ahead on needs w/ your topic). You'll likely be going back there, for certain indiv. topics, or when the search log assignment starts.

we have to blog about our topic, why not leo

I asked ya'll to blog about your research project, to be fair, I'll chip in my research related thoughts as well. Here's some of my late night thoughts,
============================================
Games and Learning
>The exceptional motivation factor that games can evoke is close to being the holy grail of education. What if we could get students this motivated about learning Shakespear?

Many many dedicated people have been in search of this, but such a scenario have yet to be reached on a sizable scale. Actually, this mirrors a parallel to the use of student blogs for classroom teaching. Blog use in the "wild" is often perceived as highly motivated and exceedingly good for discussion - that's perfect, exactly what most instructors would love to have. The reality, reflected in the current state of my course blog at least, is that the difference in context is quite significant. The students blog because they are asked by their instructor to do so, in contrast to the blogs that are purely voluntary in the "wild." However, there are some very promising nuggets in this comparison, a good number of students are making good use of the blogs to advance their projects and thoughtfully engage in interactions on their peers' work via comments. The format and utility of the blog medium allows such a form of interaction to occur, interactions that would not likely happen in class, or on traditional discussion boards.

In the numerous readings on the topic I've gone through, I have reservations about the optimism that putting games and education together equates to highly motivated learning. Two dissertation studies on using games in traditional classrooms have had mixed successes in teaching. The idea of gaming in class can generate interest in its novelty, but it may be poor fits to the traditional class room model.
Blogging out of interest vs. blogging because it was assigned, gaming out of interest vs. gaming because it was assigned. Maybe there's some aspect to the format of games that could have leads to better means for learning.

The term games is loaded with way too many variations to be all that useful as a descriptor, but thats another chunk of thought for another time.

APA citations
http://www.lib.unc.edu/instruct/citations/apa/index.html

Today's class

This was sent to the class list this morning,

Today is the 75th Anniversary of SILS' founding. I was planning on holding regular class session since most students in the class are not in SILS.

After some thought, no class today, but I still want you to use that time productively. Instead of class, we'll have a blog day, take some time to read your classmates' blogs and comment on the revised topics. Plus make a post by 6pm on either A or B,

a) attend the event at memorial hall, starts at 3pm today - post a reflection/after thought on the event.

OR

b) conduct a focused session on pursuing your research project work, and post a reflection/after thought on progress.


Yes, this is required, as replacement for today's class.

My thoughts on your topics part 2

Questions
Having spent some time searching on the topic seem to have helped a number of people in asking better questions. As everyone's still formulating their focus, you should actively question your questions as you run across new information that matters. In several cases, it seems like the students sub questions could work better as the main research question. Just keep looking for information, that's the only way to get things to "click" and help you formulate the right questions.

Questions 2
I've asked a number of people to re work their research questions, reasons,

a) Too vague, the question is more of a topic/issue in its current state. - My rec. is to look for more information till something clicks. I don't think I saw a case thats too narrow yet. Lack of confidence on the topic is often associated with lack of information on it, the answer is to keep looking.

b) Topic/issue/question that already has fairly clear set answers, mainly the ones surrounding processes, "how to do/make x y z," descriptive ones, "what is issue x", or the what are pro/con ones. Those are good topics for a short topical paper, but would not fit well with the purpose and activity of the course as we move forward. That said, almost any topic can be researchable, the key is in the questions, and you should see me if you're having trouble with it.

My thoughts on your topics

In looking at the posts thus far, I'm glad to see many people are putting the blogs to good use. Particularly in publishing their thoughts on their current state of their topic, and thinking ahead toward potential sources and leads to pursue. Though some may need to play catchup.

Several things came to mind as I read your posts,
>Topic narrow/broad issue
I haven't seen any topics that I'd call too narrow, several I'd call too general. This is not about knowing exactly what you want to do, and you will go do it. This is a thinking and writing process focusing on using questions and more questions to get at the specific aspects of the topic that you're interested in. Keep asking questions, and write them down. Don't get caught up on having to figure out the answers yet, you have the rest of the semester to do that part.

>Sources, charged topics etc
Some topics may be politically charged, they are fine to pursue. This applies to all areas of research and source evaluation, but esp in such cases, is to always look at who or what the particular source is linked to. Knowing the who and the what of the source is the basics (what they do, their mission etc). To dig further, in many cases, it's a matter of following the $, who or what pays their bills. Or along the same lines, looking at the relationships and networks they exist in (their friends and enemies). There are more to this but you get the idea.

>Context

...post to be continued

Blogsignment (complete by 9/3 latest)

Blog a response to the following two questions in context of your work on your prospectus thus far, can be a direct or indirect response, as a new blog post on your page.

>Kulthau’s theory, esp the initial stages, do they fit with the processes that you are experiencing right now? How?
>What is my current information need (be specific)? What am I going to do now to fill this information need? Think in context of the stage you’re at.

Your blog should have,
>An about me section on the side panel, brief intro (name, major, and anything else you’d like to share)
>A link on the side panel to the class blog (http://inls200.blogspot.com)
>Posted your current topic write-up (feel free to edit or post newer version as you go)
>Visit every classmates' blogs; make feedback comment on at least 3 of your peer's topic ideas.

First Reading

Bates, Invisible substrates of Info Sci

Class blog

For all students of inls200,

>Comment on this post, a simple "add me" is fine
>On your own blogs, how you set it up is up to you, page styling and graphics optional, but generally a good idea to make your blog unique and interesting to read.
>Bookmark this page, blogging about course content and assignments will be an integrated part of the class (counts as class participation).

*The purpose of the "add me" comments on this post is so everyone will be able to view and add all their classmates to their blog news feed.