This class has helped me a lot in my English 1102 class. We have been learning to write papers on specific topics without rambling on about other things. This week in my English class I was assigned a paper that is about a book we just finished reading in class. For this paper assignment, we had to use a literary device we have discussed in class and provide textual proof. In class yesterday we talked about our thesis statements. She told me that my thesis statement was a great example of a narrowing a topic and it was easy to go to the book and find specific information. Thanks to this class, I have learned  how to stray away from the broad topics and stay focused on one subject. This class has also help me to learn how to cite sources properly in MLA style for my English 1102 class. I was able to find more credible websites by using the crap test and the evaluation criteria. Lastly, learning how to use Galileo was very resourceful in looking for research information. I was able to go to Galileo to find scholarly journal articles and much more  for research papers and projects. All of the tools that I have learned will be very helpful for the rest of my college career and in real life situations.

Link: http://www.flickr.com/photos/eddieverhamme/3223107635/
1. This image was uploaded by emverham which is the username, his real name is Eddie Verhamme.
2. It appears that this person is a photographer.
3. The title of the image is 2010 Camaro.
4. The restrictions for this image says some rights reserved. I am allowed to share, copy, and transmit this image under the following conditions: attribution, noncommercial, and no derivative works.
    1. I don't think I have the permission to use it without citing due to some of the rights being reserved.
    2. I do not have permission to use it to make money because it has a noncommercial restriction.
    3. I do not have permission to create derivative works. The conditions for publishing this work is that you        may not alter, transform, or build upon this work.
5. Eddie Verhamme. January 24, 2009. 2010 Camaro, March 13,2013, from: http://www.flickr.com/photos/eddieverhamme/3223107635/ 

Annotated Bibliography

What is an annotated bibliography? Well a bibliography is a list of sources used for researching a topic and an annotation is a summary or evaluation. Therefore, an annotated bibliography is a list compiled of resources such as books, articles, magazines, or anything that contains information with notes. Annotated bibliographies are composed of three major parts which are citations, summary, and annotation. The citation is about 1-2 lines which conforms to whatever style the teacher assigns. The summary also contains 1-2 lines which gives the reader a general idea of what the source is about. Lastly, the annotation explains why the source is great and how it ties into the final project.

I’m pretty sure there are various reasons as to why I’m required to write an annotated bibliography. One reason I came up with was that our instructor mentioned that she did not learn how to write an annotated bibliography until she was required to write one in graduate school. Therefore, she is preparing us for assignments we may encounter in our future classes.

An annotated bibliography can be very resourceful when it comes to research projects. It can be an excellent preparation for a research project as mentioned in the webpage. Instead of skimming resources to find, it actually forces you to analyze the resources to determine whether the resources are actually beneficial to your project or not. Although, annotated bibliographies are detailed oriented and time consuming it really helps when it comes to organizing your paper. It also helps to prevent procrastination since the annotated bibliography is done first. Annotated bibliographies can also help in a research project because you can find scholarly annotated bibliographies on the web that can help you find information.

Special Collections

Today in class we had guest speaker talk about special collections. I learned that special collections are a collection of materials from a general library. In special collections, you can find a variety of artifacts. You can find items such as books, letters, biographies, diaries, old photographs, newspaper articles, and etc. At the University of West Georgia, you can find the special collections section on the ground floor of the Ingram Library.  Special collections can be found in any library and can be very resourceful when it comes down to doing research for a project or even writing papers. When writing a research paper, you can go to the special collections department and find a variety of artifacts to use in your research paper. u can also have someone from the special collections department to help you with piecing things together for a project or a research paper. If you are not able to go to the library, you can log on to westga.edu/library website and go to the Gil-find to search for items that can assist you in finding things to assist you in your research. Anyone such as students and people from the community can use the special collections to use to their advantage.

For my research today in class, I used two databases which were the PsycINFO database and the Social Science Journal (ProQuest) database. To find these databases, I went to Galileo and typed each of them into the search bar and clicked on the link. First I used the PsycINFO database. I used the search terms gun control and media to find information on my research topic. Once the search was complete, mostly periodicals and a few academic journals popped up. It brought up topics that discussed different articles dealing with gun control. It also brought up debates about the gun laws and legislation. While browsing through the different topics I noticed a lot of articles that contained research that had been conducted on guns such as things like ownership and crime rates.  Next I used the Social Science Journal (ProQuest). I used the search terms guns and media influence. This database also showed research that had been conducted on guns. Most of the information from this database was published by criminologist and criminology departments. I noted one major difference between Academic Search Complete and the other databases we used today in class. Academic Search Complete uses more academic journals whereas the other databases contained a great amount of research that had been directed in periodicals with tables and debates. I would use Academic Search Complete when I need more scholarly information on certain reports. Since I am a criminology major, I would see myself using PsycINFO and the Social Science Journal (ProQuest) to use when I am writing papers to find proper research articles.

I did not know what filter bubbles were until after watching the video and I learned that it is basically an invisible editor. I think filter bubbles has it pros and cons. I think they can be very beneficial when searching for certain things on the internet but can also be a hazard. In my opinion, filter bubbles are a bad thing because it shows us what it thinks we want to see, not what we need to see as mentioned in the video.  

Some problems filter bubbles might cause me for my academic research would be not finding relevant information. Sometimes when I search on Google for certain things, I rarely find information that is relevant on the first page.  When I do find information, it sometimes may not be sufficient information.

I think the suggestions for getting out of the filter bubble are great. I took the time to read through the 10 ways to pop your filter bubbles. While reading, I found myself underlining most of the tips that were offered to get rid of filter bubbles. After reading, I decided I would try at least one of the ways. I used number five which was turn off targeted ads, and tell the stalking sneakers to buzz off. Every time I log on to the internet, there are always ads that pop-up and it is so annoying. I use Google Chrome, so after I installed Google’s ‘Keep My Opt-Outs’ extension for chrome I haven’t had random advertisement pop-ups.

Last week we talked about different sources that we could use for research topics. Four sources that I remember talking about in particular last week were books, magazines, periodicals, and newspapers. In newspapers and magazines you mainly find articles. Newspapers and magazines were also a more popular source than a scholarly source. Newspapers and magazines were more of a scholarly source because they are reports. Reports can be biased and told from the reporter’s perspective which can persuade you to think a certain way. On the other hand, periodicals and books are more scholarly than popular. Most time when you look at books and periodicals you see a lot of words and hardly any pictures. To most readers that are a turn off because it seems like it may be boring and uninteresting. One thing that I remember mostly about periodicals is that it had a lot of tables and charts. This shows that it is more scholarly because it actually contains proof that research has been conducted in order to write the periodical. You can use these types of research to answer questions in many different ways. For instance if I was writing a report I would probably use an article from a magazine. If I were writing a research paper I would use a more scholarly source such as a book or periodical.

The topic that I have chosen for this project is how does the media influence society and how does it affect the society. The topic my group chose for this project is how does media affect the public? The topic I chose relates to the topic because it describes the media’s influence. In other words how the media gets inside our head and cause us to respond in a specific way. I developed this question because from not finding sufficient information on my previous topic which was how does the media affect the topic of immigration. As I was on the library catalogue looking for books for my previous topic, I noticed that there were several books on the media’s influence and how society is affected. I decided I would just change my topic. I found some new information on the internet for my research topic. As I was picking information from my book, I have learned new things about the media that I did not already know. After not being able to find enough information on my previous topic or books that had relevant information, I had to completely revise my research topic. In relation to my topic, I will be discussing the media’s influence on society. I will talk about pros and cons of media influence. I will also talk about how the media’s influence causes the society to respond certain  ways about a topic or how it causes us to change our perspective due to the media’s point of view.

Most of the skills that I have learned in this class I can apply to any of the classes I’m taking. Learning how to cite resources correctly in research papers is most definitely a skill that I can and will apply in my English 1102 class. Before I got to this class, I did not know how to find books in the library I always had to ask a librarian. After completing the library ethnography project I learned how to find books on my own. I am now learning how to use the library catalogue which is very helpful because it allows me to find books without going to the library. These two skills are very valuable to me because some of my classes require me to use books from the library. These skills are also a great assistance to me in the project that I am working on for this class. I feel that the skills I have learned in this class will help me with future classes such as the ones that pertain to my major. I know I will probably be writing a lot of research papers in the future and the skills that I am learning in this class are teaching me how to write them correctly and how to find reliable resources. 

MLA Citation: McCombs, Maxwell E. Setting the Agenda: The Mass Media and Public Opinion. Cambridge,UK: Malden, MA:Polity,2004. Print.

The source is exactly what the title says, it talks about how the media affects public opinion. This book goes into detail about how the media uses different tactics in order to grab the attention of the public. One example that was listed in the book, was how in the newspaper the things that are listed on the cover page are attention grabbers. Once you have read the title, this pulls you in and makes you want to purchase it. I believe that this is a credible source because it can be cited, it is an actual book and not something that I found on the internet. There is no hidden advertisement, the information is current and up to date. Lastly, this book is relevant to my research question. This source helps me to answer my research question because it gives me the inside scoop on the media. It shows the various ways the media gets at the public and how the public interprets what the media spreads.

Most of the books in my high school library were pretty easy to find because the library wasn’t as big as the Ingram Library. In my high school library, the books were also easy to find because the genres were listed on the each shelf with the call numbers listed as well. The only time I would usually ask for help was if I was looking for something in particular that I could not find.  I would also ask for help when I couldn’t seem to find a book that was relative to what I was searching for. Before I gained knowledge on how to find books in the Ingram Library, I was not really sure how to find the books that I needed.  If I did need a book, I would always go to the help desk and they would give me the call number so I could see where to find the book. After gaining knowledge on how to find books in the Ingram Library, I do not have to ask for help anymore. I know now that I can go to the computer and log on to the Ingram Library website and search for books on the catalogue. 

Library Ethonography Assignment

http://www.slideshare.net/briannab1093/library-ethnography-project-16297211

The topic that my group chose was the media influence certain issues. Are topic is based on gun control and immigration since those are two of the main issues being publicized by the media. Gun control and immigration have been ongoing controversial issues throughout the years. My group and I noticed that these topics have always been a problem, but we realized that these issues are just now being brought to our attention because the media has publicized it into something big.

I care a lot about this topic. Many people such as me are not even concerned about certain issues until they are brought to our attention by the media. What interests me personally is how guns and immigration has been brought up plenty of times before in the past years. Now that there has been a shooting masquerade and a shooting at Sandy Hooks Elementary school, the government now wants to implement a law for gun control.  Since this law can affect the citizens, the media decides that they want to publicize this issue. Now that President Obama is talking about the immigration reform, once again the media wants expand on this issue since it can affect the citizens.

http://www.foxnews.com/politics/2013/01/29/obama-presses-immigration-agenda-as-senators-draft-new-overhaul/
This article is President Obama's immigration reform. I chose this article because immigration has been such a controversial topic over the past years and I would be interested in hearing more about this topic.

http://nbcpolitics.nbcnews.com/_news/2013/01/29/16758482-senate-votes-to-confirm-kerry-as-secretary-of-state?lite
This  article is about Senator or John Kerry being elected as the new Secretary of State. This article caught my attention because I wasn't aware that there was a new person in office for Secretary of State.

http://eatocracy.cnn.com/2013/01/28/gatorade-removes-controversial-ingredient-after-girls-online-petition/?hpt=hp_c3
This article is about Gatorade changing up its formula due to a ingredient that was found. This article really grabbed my attention because I love to drink Gatorade and to see an article about something I like makes me want to read it even more.

If I were to walk up to a group of people at a party and join into their conversation, I would listen to what they are saying about the topic first. Then I would politely say excuse me I couldn’t help but overhear your conversation and begin to expand the topic. More than likely I’m sure they would ask me how I know so much about the topic and where did me get my information from. So then I would explain to them how I received the information and where I got it from. Since technology is so advanced now, I would probably go to my cell phone to pull up information about the topic we are discussing to show them that the information I have is reliable and that I did receive the information from a trusted source.

If the situation was turned around where I’m in the group conversation and a person walks up to add their opinion I would definitely listen to what they have to say. I’m the type of person who likes to listen to everyone’s opinion. As I am listening to the person explain their self about a topic I would try to see if they are being by biased. I would also listen out to see is what their saying sound factual and ask them where they found their information.

I wanted to interview one of my professors but I did not get a chance so I decided to interview my friend’s roommate Karla. Karla is a junior and her major is criminology. Karla started off by telling how the length of her papers have increased greatly.  As a freshman her papers ranged from 2-3 pages, but now they range from 10- 15 pages.  Karla told me that she used the internet for the bulk of her research papers but now her professors require that she use more books in her research. She also said that her professors are very particular about the resources that she uses, therefore her professors provide her with certain websites and books that they would like for her to use.

            One very helpful tip that Karla offered was to get to know my professors on a personal level. She said that getting to know my professor outside of class will help me a lot. Karla told me about a time when she needed a letter of recommendation and she was not sure who to ask. Karla decided that she would ask one of her professors.Karla said that her professor told her that many students ask for letters of recommendations but she often says no because she does not know the students on a personal level to write about them. So I definitely took this tip into consideration.

            In conclusion, interviewing Karla was a great experience and I got a chance to get to her know better. My interview with Karla went very well and the information she gave was very enlightening.She gave me a lot of helpful tips and gave me an insight on what to look for in the future.

My favorite research project was working on my science fair project in high school. It took me about three months to complete the research for this project. The first thing I had to do was come up with a topic to research. I went to Google to find science fair topics. The topic that I decided to use was does evaporation occur faster in sunlight or artificial light. Once I came up with my topic, I bought the materials and began research on my project. This project took me about two and a half months to complete because I had to take data everybody and had to run the experiment twice until all the water was evaporated.

Once I completed my project I turned it in at school and my teacher felt that it was good enough to go to the county fair. I entered my project into the county fair and came in first place for my division. After I won the county fair I went to the state fair in Athens. I didn’t win the state fair, but I enjoyed having the experience.

For this assignment, I decided to apply the evaluation criteria for the coffee science website, http://www.coffeeresearch.org/science/news.htm. The first thing I looked for was advertisement to see if the website was persuading people to buy something, but as I searched through the website I did not find any advertisement. Next I looked for the purpose which was for the pursuit of scientific understanding of coffee so they can provide their audience which is general consumers and professionals with useful info and tips. While browsing this website, I found quite a few sources such as researchers from Davidson College and University of Texas. I also found the author of the website who is Michael Griffin and that most of the research for this website comes from the Coffee Research Institute. The date for this website was 2001-2006. I felt that the date was somewhat outdated and the website needed to be updated. Finally, I looked at the relevancy of the content to see if the information was directed toward the purpose. In my findings, I found out that the information on the website was relevant and if I were doing research on coffee I would probably use this site. Overall I did feel like the coffee science website was stacked up to most of the evaluation criteria. 

About Me

Hi everyone. I am from Decatur, Georgia and have lived there my whole life. I decided to come to University of West Georgia for a few different reasons: inexpensive tuition, the criminology program, and nice sized campus.Other reasons I decided to come to University of West Georgia is because it’s not too close or too far from my home in Decatur and I wanted to be in a different setting. I figured since I've always lived in the city, that it would  be interesting to experience living in rural areas.  My major is criminology. I chose this field of study because I like studying people and their behaviors to figure out why they do what they do and I also enjoy finding the pieces to the puzzle. What I expect to get out of this class is to enhance my library and research skills.