Week 8 Journal Entry

This week started with the Discussion Topic assignment which was easy enough. Then I did the Alternative Sources which was actually very fun because I got to listen to radio broadcasts and experiment with all sorts of information. Next were the two drafts -- Source Selections and Research Process. Those were very difficult and for some reason I couldn't upload the documents to post them by the deadline. They're posted now though and I think I'll still get credit for them. Last, I had to review someone else's two drafts so I read through Juliana Cameron's and critiqued them.

This was a good week up until yesterday when I had to do my two drafts. Those were very stressful and having problems with Angel didn't help. I think I'm over the worst of it now and I'm hoping the next two weeks go by smoothly.

Week 7 Journal Entry

This was quite a week! I started with the class discussion assignment but, not long after I posted it, it disappeared -- along with everyone else's week seven and week six assignments. After reposting my week six assignments and my week seven assignment I went on to post my "Web Search." After my web search I did both the "Advanced Google Search" and "Web Site Citations" assignments together. Today I did the "Evaluating Web Sites" assigment.

It wasn't a bad week. I got done everything I needed to get done and if it hadn't been for the snafu it would've been a very easy, fun week. At least I know the assigments aren't getting more difficult as I go.

Week 6 Journal Entry

My first assignment this week was "My Search Strategy" in which I brainstormed for keywords and terms that I could use when researching my subject. I then did the "Periodical Databases" assignment. That one turned out to be pretty easy since it was really just exploring and contrasting two different online databases. The next assignment, "My Search Results," was easily the most difficult, headache-inducing assignment I've had this quarter. To make it worse I know I my citations aren't proper -- best case scenario; I left the periods off. My last assignment was to revise the research plan I made. That wasn't so bad but right after I posted it I realized I had done something incorrectly and now I can't remember what it was.

This definitely wasn't my favorite week. I had to work pretty hard and I still made plenty of mistakes. Also I'm starting to feel a nagging urge that the assignments are going to be increasingly difficult up to the end of the quarter. Well, life goes on.

Week 5 Journal Entry

I began this week began with the "MLA Citation Style." I first thought it would be a very easy assignment, but it turned out to be a long drawn out process. Then I did the "Annotation Analysis" assignment which was fairly easy - only a couple short paragraphs. The last assignment was "Citing and Annotating Sources" which was just putting the previous two assignments together. Now I'm just finishing up with my journal entry and commenting on my classmates' assignments.

It was a fairly easy week. I'm guessing the citation and annotation styles I learned this week will be used many times before the end of the quarter.

Journal - Week 4

This week I started with the “How I Know” assignment, which turned out to be pretty fun, especially the second part which was the most creative thinking I’ve had to do in this course. The next assignment was “The Research Plan” which was very difficult, (for me at least), and I still have my fingers crossed while I wait for my results. Lastly I commented on one of my classmate’s research plans with what I hope is a useful idea.

I wasn’t too sure about what to do for an outline for my research plan. Maybe it was just me but I found the guidelines hard to understand and adapt to my own work. Other than that, the week went pretty smoothly and I didn’t have much trouble with anything

Journal - Week 3

Alrighty, I started this week with the assignment that had me create a method of organization for a collection of thinks I have, (or want). I chose art books because I have a very large and diverse collection of them. Then I did the assignment that dealt with two different databases; the SCC library catalogue and ProQuest. That assignment was a a little more of a headache but I got it done. I then got on my own college library's web site and found three books that deal with racism, (my topic to study this quarter). The last thing I did was definitely the most exciting. I went to my college library and spent a full hour bugging the librarian and information clerks with my questions and problems.

To sum up, I think I had a pretty good week of work. I guess I'll know for sure when I see my grade. It was a pretty busy week for me though and now I'm feeling pretty worn down.

Journal – Week 2

I started my work this week by finding three global topics, which I can research over the quarter. Using the world news sites I chose three topics I thought might be worth researching: Children in the Middle Eastern warzones, racism against Gypsies and other minority groups, and financial inequality in wealthy countries. Then, using the IPL and Google Directory I found two sites for my Web Sources assignment that I may end up using for researching my chosen topic. The sites I found were both social news sites hosted by two different human rights groups that are startlingly similar, (with different news articles for me to use). After that I created my blog, which I will use once a week until the end of this quarter. After that I took a look at the resources my college library has for distance learners, (which is probably a pretty good thing to know). Then I chose the topic I wanted to research out of my three topic ideas. I chose “Racism against Gypsies and other minority groups” as a research subject. This is my last assignment – to summarize my week of work.

I did have a couple problems figuring things out – mainly with my responses to my classmates’ posts. I’m hoping to do better on that aspect next week and I’ll make sure to read through ALL the assignment guidelines. Other than that, I did not have any major problems and I’m looking forward to another week