News Report #5

Kathryn Smith
LIB 103
11-20-08

BlackBerry Storm Could See Shortage at Launch
By: Eric Blair
url:
http://www.efluxmedia.com/news_BlackBerry_Storm_Could_See_Shortage_at_Launch_29493.html


The long awaited Blackberry Storm is set to launch for tomorrow. The Storm is the first ever Blackberry model to feature touch screen. Not only is it made by Blackberry, which is very innovative with its phones, but it is said to be the only thing close to the iPhone. Many imitators of the iPhone have come out and failed but the storm is supposed to keep up with the popular iPhone.

A last minute flaw was discovered of the blackberry Storm and The Verizon retailers fear is may fall short in numbers. Also, RIM and Verizon were forced to update the firmware at last minute’s notice as well. I am exciting to how the new Blackberry Storm will be viewed by owners. I am currently an owner of the Blackberry curve myself and love my phone.

I love that I am constantly able to receive emails at hand, as well as access the Internet when on the go. I have only had my phone for about 6 months, but yet to have any big issues with the phone. I am interested to see what other features have been added to the blackberry with Blackberry Storm and curious to see what they will come up with next in the feature. The quick and easy touch screen is just one new feature i am aware of but believe this phone will be a big hit for many blackberry users, as well as cell hpone users. The vast growth in cell phone use and accessibility to Internet is just a small example of how the Internet is growing by the day.

Reading Assignment #5

Kathryn Smith
Thursday, November 13, 2008

“Web Hoaxes, Counterfeit Sites, and Other Spurious Information on the Internet”

After reading this article, “Web Hoaxes, Counterfeit Sites, and other Spurious Information on the Internet,” I was shocked to realize how much misleading information is on the web, yet also shocked to find that many people in the media such as Fox News, ESPN.com, and even Wall Street journal online, fall in the trip of misinformation provided out there.

Although the topic about the live deer and a vest was a harmless distortion of information, it amazing me how quickly and easily people, such as news professionals, can fall under the trap of believing false information. If not even these professional news reporters fail to use critical evaluation of information provided, I cant begin to imagine how easily everyday people are probably fooled when searching for facts, and are unable to differentiate fact from fiction.

However, many web sites are easily pointed out as a hoax, some are not so easy to tell whether the information provided is false or not. This is way it is so important for people to search for an articles creditability and reliability when searching information on the web. To try and hinder these hoaxes, websites have began to detect and track for Internet Hoaxes to help regulate what kinds of information is provided to the public and how one can differentiate false from the truth.

Today, you can surf to web and find countless amounts of information provided about basically any topic, but when looking for creditable information it is important that we are aware of these “Hoax Web Sites” and continue to examine how reliable the bits of information we find is, and remember to search numerous sites with facts to back up the creditability of whatever fact or information on a topic one may be researching. I

t’s great to see the Internet rises to new and better things, and providing more and more information to the public, but also it’s important to remember with more information, there may be more and more chances of many of the facts we retrieve to be false, so always double check where you may be getting information from.

Reading Response #4:

Kathryn Smith

LIB103

11-6-08

“Can Wikipedia Ever Make the Grade?”
By Brock Read

Wikipedia is a free online encyclopedia founded by Jimmy Wales who describes it as, “an effort to create and distribute a multilingual free encyclopedia of the highest quality to every single person on the planet in his or her own language.” Wikipedia has helped many who seek the knowledge it offers, and anyone can contribute and edit sources of information it may provide. From Chronicle of Higher Education, author Brock Read, “Can Wikipedia Ever Make the Grade?” examines the articles accuracy of Wikipedia and the source of information it provides to the Internet. Because Wikipedia is offered to anyone, and anyone can contribute their input, exactly how accurate the contents are has raised questioning. Anyone can add material to the encyclopedia's entries without having to show any proof of expertise.

In the article, a professor by the name Alexander M.C. Halavais, an assistant professor of communications at Quinnipiac College, has turned to the open-source encyclopedia for information and has even contributed his own expertise to the site as well. While teaching at the State University of New York at Buffalo, he devised a plan to challenge the site’s authenticity. He then used a false name and credentials and entered numerous “errors” into Wikipedia’s various articles. He expected “some of his fabrications to languish online for some time,” because like many other academics he was also skeptical about this “mob-edited” publication that called itself an “authoritative encyclopedia.” But to his surprise, after less than 3 hours after posting these errors, all of his false facts were deleted from the site. This was due to the Wikipedia editors who regularly check the Web site that displays recently updated entries. Professor Halavais said he was much impressed with Wikipedia’s ability to root out his false information. Many supporters of this site often depict it “as a brave new world in which scholars can rub elbows with the general public.” On the other hand, there are many doubters who say, “Wikipedia devalues the notion of expertise itself.”

As a student myself, and often looking for quick and useful information on the Internet, I personally find that Wikipedia is a useful and fairly reliable source to gather information from. Honestly, before reading this article I was unaware that anyone was able to post information and facts to this site. But like many, when it comes to researching information I am sure to use numerous sites to be sure any information I may use if reliable and valid. This also helps to show the importance of citations and siting a source when researching information.

News Report #4

LIB 103
Tuesday, October 28, 2008

Kathryn Smith

Schools, libraries see hundreds of requests to ban books
By Ledyard King, Gannett News Service

In this article, it discusses the issue that every year numerous public libraries and public schools receive requests from parents, public officials and activists demanding certain book they see as inappropriate be removed. Such book topics include literary classics, and human sexuality manuals. According to the American Library Association, even dictionaries are occasionally requested to be removed.

To my surprise, this has been going on since 1990, but the number of cases in which a book was removed has declined over time according to one source. American Library Association officials say they know of 420 requests for books to be removed from schools and libraries in the year 2007.

One example of a book mentioned in the article is John Steinbeck’s, Of Mice and Men. This was a book I was required to read in high school and is on the high school reading lists across the country. But this classic novel from time to time also appears on a list of books that some parents want pulled from shelves because they believe it contains strong use of vulgar language, sexual content or there are many other reasons for them wanting it removed. I find this somewhat ridiculous considering at this age majority of the students have had some type of Sex Education course and are already aware of topics discussed in the novel.

From my experience, and knowledge of this novel, do not find this book inappropriate for high-schoolers to be exposed to. Although there may have been some reference to crude language or sexual content, I do not feel as though it took away from the meaning and storyline of the novel and what instructors are trying to get from their students when asked to read this book.

In other articles, relating to this one, they discuss the banning of books and also discuss setting age limits on books for children as well. I believe this is understood of course if a young child attempts to read/view a book which is apparent to be out of his or her level of maturity, but overall should not be a big issue. Children as they learn and mature throughout school, do not all acquire equivalent reading levels. Some are stronger readers while some take longer to acquire reading skills. A seven year old might be an above average reader and want to read a book or novel labeled at a ten year olds level. I do not think this is fair for students or anyone, to be deprived of their exploration for knowledge or reading.

Personally I feel there are larger issues children and teenagers are exposed to in the world that parents or officials need to be more concerned about than whether or not certain novels assigned in the classroom are inappropriate or not.

Reading Response #3

The Infodiet: How Libraries Can Offer an Appetizing Alternative to Google

Kathryn Smith
LIB 103
Tuesday, October 14, 2008

Discussed in the article, is the comparison of Google to Libraries when searching for information. Libraries are trying to figure out ways to compete with Google and appeal more to students through library resources, such as for example, here at UNCW, our Online Library Catalog, when searching the web. Today, many argue they prefer to use a technique that allows quick and multiple amounts of information to gather for whatever purpose; for example, a research paper. Traditionalist librarians or faculty members might argue stating research isn’t supposed to be convenient or easy. It’s a process of discovery in which one mines for new information, searches and thoroughly reads into it, and ultimately discovers the facts needed to produce a well-written paper.
What made this article interesting to me was how they compared Google and use of a library’s resources to good and bad food, “infoobesity” and “infodiet”. James Morris, the dean of the School of Computer Science at Carnegie Mellon University, describes the outcome of Google-ized research as “a junk-information diet, consisting of overwhelming amounts of low-quality material that is hard to digest and leads to research papers of equally low quality.” In contrast, Libraries resources, such as catalogs and databases are a way for students to “infodiet” allowing them to cut out the bad, “unhealthy” information. The only problem is this actually getting students to move from “infoobesity” to “infodieting”. Students need to understand by “infodieting” users can migrate from low-quality websites to the high-quality information libraries provide.
I am one of the many who fall under the “infoobesity” when it comes to finding information. Reading this article, I do agree there is better information out there provided by our libraries that I am still unaware of and still hard at understanding how to use. As my own suggestion in getting students in the habit of using these catalogs and databases provided at UNCW, I think it would be good to make it a requirement for incoming freshman; like in the class Freshman Seminar; to do a focus on Library Information and how to utilize it. It would also help if teachers made requirements in using the library catalogs for students when writing papers. For one of my freshman English classes, my professor made us get information to cite our paper from the library catalog; where we had to have at least 6 sources, and only two of them could be from the internet, such as Google. I believe this helped me gather an understanding and helped me become aware of other ways to collect information. If this was strongly enforced in more classes, Students will become more and more aware of the resources available, allowing them to get a better understanding, as well as familiarize themselves with how to use it. Eventually it may become more and more habitual for students to try using these catalogs and databases versus Google every time, when they need to write a research paper.

News Report #3

Article review: Kathryn Smith

Review: Lifestreaming sites can organize Web lives
By RACHEL METZ, AP Technology Writer Wed Sep 24, 5:17 PM ET

With the expansion of internet use, keeping up with activities, and tracking down friends can be hard to maintain. From posting pictures, to emailing friends, to even posting blog comments the rise of lifestreaming sites are becoming more and more popular to help keep it all together. These online destinations are like an overlook of what you and your friends are doing on social media sites across the internet.
One internet site I am able to relate to which uses a similar, but simpler form of lifestreaming websites, is Facebook. When you sign onto Facebook, it offers a running list of “feeds” specifying your friends’ activities. This feature allows you to see what your friends are up to and view added programs on their profiles. I am able to relate to this because I am able to get on and view information about a particular friend and see what they have been up to, even if I have not directly had a chance to communicate with them. Lifestreaming sites are a “super-charged” version of Facebook. They collect information not only about what you and your friends are up to on Facebook, but all over the Internet as well. On these lifestreaming websites you are able to see what other sites your friends visit, who else they communicate with, posted comments and pictures, as well as many other activities they have posted to help keep contacts up-to-date with what they might be up to.
With lifestreaming websites, it allows you to organize friends into groups, and organize other activities you are involved with on the web. For example, if you want to be able to keep up and communicate with your colleagues from work, you may put them into a group together, whereas you may form another group for your closest friends. Lifestreaming sites help one feel more connected and organized on the Web.
One issue, addressed in the article, as well as an issue I would be concerned about if I decided to use these Lifestreaming sites, is privacy. With the rapid growth of the web, and more information is readily available at just a click, it makes me stop and think who else might be viewing my information, and can this be harmful to my safety? With the lifestreaming site, although you can limit the amount of information people are allowed to view, new members on the sites can access information provided. As the internet continues to grow, this is a concern I myself, and feel many others will be something that will need to be heavily looked into to protect the public.

News Report #2

On the Move with the Mobile Web: Libraries and Mobile Technologies
By: Ellyssa Kroski
http://www.ala.org/ala/pressreleases2008/august2008/LTR.cfm


Kathryn Smith
LIB 103

As technology and rapid growth of the internet, continues to grow, libraries have also found ways to increase the availability of resources to the public by offering remarkable services through the use of the mobile web. One source from the American Library Association comments on the rapid development of the web stating, “Imagine where we’ll be in a year or two as mobile Internet adoption continues to increase and portable devices steadily improve.”

In the Library Technology Reports of this year issue, discusses the components of the mobile web and sheds light on the research tracking on how users are currently engaging with the information provided on the web via their mobile devices. It describes how several libraries have mobile plans on “how to” provide a chapter for libraries interested in developing a mobile experience for their users.

The article then goes on to discuss, with the increasing tools to access internet simply with a click of our cell phones. One example discussed is the use of a camera phone and with just one click you can access the internet on specific items. The example given is the article describes the idea of walking by a poster for an upcoming movie playing in theaters. Scanning the image with a click of you cell phone’s camera phone will allow you access to associated ringtones, show times, or even allow you to purchase tickets.

I found this article shocking, because to me, the idea of being able to have the convenience of purchasing an item just by taking a picture with my cell phone seems un-imaginable. Yet, to my surprise, Countries such as Japan have already had an ongoing stance on this new development of scanning products and bringing mobile access to a new level. What sounds impossible is already happening and it’s interesting for me to see how this new type of technology will continue to transform how the public will access information in years to come. I also find it interesting how libraries are already looking into way to create more resources through the advancement of technology so vital information is continually being used.