Blog reflection 5.....

This semester really has flown by !!
Lib 3 is my first online class, and I’ve enjoyed it tremendously. It has been both interesting, and challenging.
It’s hard to say if I had more, or less, interaction with other students, because I have sat in classes and had limited interaction, all semester, with the other students. However, I’ve also made really good friends from other classes I’ve attended.
I don’t have a preference between online or face to face classes, because there are good points in both areas. Online classes give you the opportunity to do the work, on your own time. You do need to set time aside to complete the assignments. This develops good time management skills. I would set a timer for say one, or two hours, and just knuckle down, and complete as much work as possible. On the other hand, face to face classes give you instant reactions / discussions, and you can have one on one conversations with the instructor.
I would say that my last set of comments would answer the question regarding if online classes are either easier, or harder than traditional classes. Not having to drive to class makes it easier. However, not being able to collaborate, or share information with fellow students makes it harder.
Online learning is definitely appropriate for library research courses, because of the nature of research. You are already on the internet. You can search, read, scan, copy, and link all kinds of documents, articles, stories, all at your computer.
If the course had a face to face workshop, I probably would have come.

To reiterate my earlier comment, this class has taught me a lot.
Thanks Dena.

Go 4th and Blog reflect ;)

Firstly, I thought the video was very cleverly designed, and definitely "hit the nail on the head" regarding the constantly evolving Information Revolution.
I do think that Information Competency is very important. It gives you the ability to decipher what information is relevant, or not, when putting together research papers, and not wasting your time, by going down the wrong path by searching for unrelated topics.
Information Competency to me, means being able to accept the fact that you can find information, in many forms, and from many sources; Books, Periodicals, Video tapes, Compact discs, Libraries, Internet databases, and Multimedia. You are not restricted to one particular source. You are also organized in your research, knowing how to save links, articles, documents, and then assemble them together, when you need to create your school work / research paper / presentation.

I wouldn't say I was totally an Information Competent student, just yet, but I have definitely learned a lot from the Class, and the instructor. There have been so many websites / databases that I've been exposed to, where I can draw information from.
After this course, I'll continue to utilize the databases, because they are constantly changing to give us the most up to date information.
Also what I've found, by searching various sites, is that I can see information that is not always presented on mainstream media. Important stories that, for some reason, or another, are not covered. Or if they are covered, then there's a certain bias towards the story.

Blog reflection the third

My opinion on the research process has definitely changed since starting this online class. I used to only use Yahoo, or Google, but now that I've seen the multiple ways to search for information, I know I can look at several sites to find it. It really has become easier for me to do research. In the past I would just type in a word, in the subject header, and use the first couple of result sites that appeared. Now I use advanced search, with specific details entered in the search boxes.
A few tips I've found are to use different search engines, for information, such as Dogpile, or Alta Vista. They often come up with alternate information not covered by Yahoo or Google.
Another tip is to investigate all the drop down menus, or links within links. These give you even more options for searching by opening up more links.

Blog reflection 2

The past few weeks have been interesting. I didn't realize how important, and versatile libraries are. They aren't just buildings with books in them !! There's so many sources of information in there. When I had questions, it didn't matter which library I was in, Main, local branches, or LBCC, the librarians were always helpful.
I don't think libraries are not needed, in fact it's the contrary. They are a great place to interact. You just can't beat the human contact element. Plus there are some things that can't be accessed on the Internet.
The Internet plays a big role in my life. I use it because it's convenient - mapquest;
fast - instant news / sports; informative - website links that can lead to other previously unknown links.