“If I had known then, what I know now.” This phrase kept running through my head this week as I completed the MAPping information activities and the technology project. The answer – more informed and organized researcher! Although I can be quite skeptical concerning data on the Internet because of the very opinionated and sometimes-misguided information discovered in previous searches, the tools learned this week will be extremely valuable in future research. I learned the meanings of new and not so new terms such as "crawlers," "crawler-based results," "directories,” "human-powered results," “cached results,” and “Web 2.0.” Learning how search engines return results gives me a different perspective on the results.
I researched the bigredhair.com domain. I did not recognize the name and if one just examines the domain name one would probably not connect it to Victorian-era robots. It is registered under Network Solutions, LLC, a company that helps small businesses market their site. In researching the archive history of the site it started out as a very personal web site similar to a blog, with personal histories of the site owners, strong comic book themes with comic books they created and sold , Halloween pictures, etc. The original site names were bigred@teleport.com and guinan@teleport.com but ultimately developed into a site focused on Victorian-era robots.
Web sites linked to this domain ranged from other personal sites, businesses, sites on science, recycling, steam – metal companies, and inventors/inventions. Some of the comments included on external sites rated it as an exceptional site concerning Victorian-era robots to all the information being fictional. Based on the research and links I would question some of the information on the site and would cross-reference information for confirmation if I were researching robots.
When I searched this site on other search engines, I discovered depending on the site, advertisements were the first entries on the page, which included toy retailers. The results will depend on how the search engine processes and returns data and how I enter my search terms. I will utilize other search engines in addition to “Google” in any future extensive research endeavors. Based on the information I learned this week I will be doing a presentation with our Education department at the hospital where I am employed on conducting more informed research.
The technology project on Social Bookmarking will be extremely useful for me in my educational and current professional career. I did not use social bookmarking previously. The ability to organize and save important web sites and links are an educational, personal, and professional benefit. It also saves a tremendous amount of time. I added a bundled tag in Del.icio.us entitled “Informed Researcher” so that I will not lose some of the helpful information learned this week. Bundling the information in one spot puts this information in one location.
Oh, how I wish I would have know about this when I started the doctoral program! I would have organized and stored articles of interest and those used in the completion of research papers in a more efficient and effective format. I would have a leg up on my dissertation articles. I will probably switch to Diigo. I believe this site will lend itself to my dissertation work. I will definitely use this for my literature review organization and archives. The ability to highlight, attach notes, and saving on paper and ink costs are particularly appealing. I also like the ability to link to Del.icio.us from this site. I was not drawn to Blink. I did not find it as user friendly as Del.icio.us. I would probably consider using Stumble Upon and Toobla for more personal interests. I liked the visual aspects for these interests. I will also use the social bookmarking in my current employment. I spend a tremendous amount of time researching and a site like Diigo will be beneficial.
In closing, the information learned this week would allow me to incorporate the techniques into future work as an educator in the classroom or in administration. Social bookmarking is another example of incorporating technology into the learning platform that allows the learner to create and participate in the learning process. The ability to connect with other learners, educators, or administrators creates an environment of social learning. Completion of the research activities from the November Learning site should be a part of all educational institutions’ web sites. What better way to show a commitment to responsible education and research.
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