Tuesday, June 19, 2012

Final Exam

I found that using the deep web was just as easy as using an open web format now that I am educated on how to do proper research.   The first article "The Future of Print", I was able to find via the Clark College Library website, articles and databases, then I decided to use EBSCOhost, and did a search against the authors name.  It was the first article that came up.  

The second article I was able to Google The Guardian and look for articles written by Ewan Morrison, and found the article titled "Are Books Dead...". Both were fairly straight forward to search for, but I know that finding the second article prior to taking this class would have been much easier since I am more familiar with the open web, then the deep web.  

A: Authority
S: Sources
P: Purpose
E: Evenness
C: Coverage
T: Timeliness 

While reading the article titled "The Future of Print: The Book", I was evaluating the creditability of the author and the material that they were writing about.   Authority: Merrill Distad is an Associate University Librarian at the University of Alberta.  He is also the co-editor of Peel’s Bibliography of the Canadian Prairies, and a recent author of The University of Alberta Library: The First Hundred Years.  I was able to find this information at the end of his article in Feliciter.  Sources: There were no foot notes at the end of the article so I would consider this article to be more of an opinion of the author than a researched subject.  Purpose:  The author has a great purpose to this article.  The future of print is being replaced by hand held readers, the paper book it on its way out because of cost and convenience that Kindle and I pads have brought to consumers.  Evenness:  While reading from a students standpoint I felt the article was written with an evenness to it. There was a little bias to it but you would have to expect that because the author is a librarian, and I am assuming most librarians have a love of books.  The feel, and smell, and disconnect to the real world that books bring to readers.  As for coverage and timeliness, the article was written in 2011 so fairly recent, and Distad was good about covering the cost, convenience, and changes that Internet has brought to the book industry as a whole. 

I probably would not use an article like this if I was writing a research paper as a primary resource, but I would reference it as a secondary source for comparing information that I had found that displayed sources.  

The second article written by Ewan Morrison called "Are Books Dead, and Can Authors survive?, was really interesting.  I also was thinking of the ASPECT model when I read this article and saw that Morrison has written four books, published many articles, and even worked in television for the Authority part of the article I would say that Morrison knows when he is taking about.  Sources: again this article did not directly contain sources, but I was able to do some research against the article and it checked out.  For instance the quote from Chris Anderson linked me directly to Chris Andersons pod cast regarding Free: The Future of a Radical Price.  Purpose: The purpose of the article is fairly straight forward, readers/consumers are able to get books for free by pirating/stealing the material online.  Consumers have a taste of convenience and not they expect that convenience as the cost of the artist, the writer. Evenness: The article was well written, Morrison was able to touch on many points of the online book industry, and how it is changing the ways of how writers are being paid, and how the world of paper publishing as well as TV has changed so much over the last few years.  Consumers are able to have their cake and eat it too.  The article was written in 2011 so it was Timely.  Also the Coverage of the article was appropriate for the topic that Morrison chose to write about.

I would be more apt to use this article by Morrison as a secondary source, but it was easier to check Morrisons information than Distads info. I also preferred to read Morrisons article over Distads, so that is another reason that I would use it as a source over the first article.  

I really enjoyed reading the article written by Ewan Morrison.   This is a subject that I have been thinking about over the last couple of years as I have watched Boarders and other book stores closing down.  I am an avid reader, I don't own a Kindle or a hand held reader.  I guess that I am old school, I love the feel and smell of books, and I love that reading a book takes me away from reality of TV, phones, and electronics.  I see the convenience and cheapness of the hand held reader especially since I am a student, I would rather have my text books online to save the money and back pain of hauling them around, but pleasure reading I want a paper book in my hands.  

Morrison makes some really obvious points in this article when he discusses industries like newspapers, music, and porn.  They are available online for free, which is what society expects now.  Consumers don't care about the art form of writing literature, music, or preforming.  Consumers can go online to Google, YouTube, and even get music from other computers easily downloaded to your i pod.  The Internet has changed so much about how we live our lives and how we obtain information.  I agree with Morrison that for a huge change to take place we are probably looking at a political interference, which is not always a good thing.  

The long tail marketers like Amazon, and i Tunes has made it so cheap and convenient to purchase books and music from them at a fraction of the cost these amazing book stores have no where to compete, which means writers will have to figure more creative ways to market themselves.  Writers and musicians are creative people so I don't doubt that they will figure ways to make their art form profitable.  Other authors that are not huge named yet can be published and sold for practically free on the long tail, which gets their name out there, but these amateur authors are still not making any revenue. 

Books will not cease to exist any time soon, people that are in certain age brackets still like to have their books in hand, and not by some digital reader, but change is coming and it is coming fast.  I would imagine within the next 10 years newspapers will be a thing of the past.  So much information is available online for the simple payment of having Internet access.  The cost of printing on paper just can't compare with posting digital text.  

Writers and books have changed my life over the years.  I used to read about 15 books a year before I started back in college and I miss reading for pleasure.  Writers and artists deserve to be paid an honest wage for their art-form that we exploit.  Hopefully changes can be made to make everyone happy, but we all know that never happens.  

Megan Fletcher









Monday, June 11, 2012

Part 10 Create a Web Page


This was so fun!!  I have learned so many new and excited things about how to set up and maintain blogs as well as design my own web page!  I never knew that I could be so savvy, with your help of course.  I have viewed code before but it always looked like complete gibberish to me.  Now that I know how to identify at least some of the characters it makes a little more sense to me.  Like in week 8 and 9 I always thought of the web as the Internet, and now to clearly be able to see them as two different entities is a learning experience.  

Since my major is more science based not IT based I don't know that I will look into writing code for fun, but if I have to do a large research project ever again, I will look into designing my own web page instead of using power point, just for fun.  

I definitely liked the wordle application, and will use that again.  I also plan on creating a personal blog about myself and my family, so I can ditch my Facebook.  I am beginning to have a love/hate relationship with Facebook and have been looking for a way out to still be able to keep in contact with my family that lives away.  

I have learned so much over this quarter about blogs, researching information, using the amazing sources that are available to us a students via the library, and now building my own web page.  I have enjoyed it, and will definitely tell peers to take this class.  

Thanks for a great quarter,
Megan Fletcher

Thursday, June 7, 2012

Research Journal, Part 9 Finding Information on the Open Web

Using Google advance search I was able to limit my search to censor* and "America", looking for sited that have been updated within the last year, and sites are considered part of the top-level domains.

For my first search I focused on .org 

Rosenburg, Alyssa. "Ten Books That Could Be Kicked Out Classrooms Under Arizona's Insane Curriculum Law". Think Progress.Web. January 2012.  

http://thinkprogress.org/alyssa/2012/01/18/406198/ten-books-that-could-be-kicked-out-of-classrooms-under-arizonas-insane-curriculum-law/

I felt that this site was creditable because it followed the ASPECT outline very well.  The sources were all over the website and liked to other censorship websites regarding banning of books from schools in America.  I was able to view other websites that supported the information, which gave the cite authority, and the story that I read was written January 2012 which makes the information use able in a paper. 

Second search .gov

Kaufman, Steve. "Does Your School Have The Right To Censor Online Activities?" .US Embassy. Web. March 2012.  

http://iipdigital.usembassy.gov/st/english/article/2012/03/201203282911.html#axzz1x7RVvSvi

Here is a article maintained by the American Embassy.  The article discusses how schools are able to censor their students on a higher level now more than ever.  Student newspapers are being looked at on a much higher level.  This is a site that I would also use on my research paper because there is creditable information attached to the article like the Student Press Law Center, and literature professors from Georgetown that have had first hand experience with their students 1st amendment rights being infringed on.   Article was written March 2012 so definitely within the Timeliness and I also feel that it displays Sources.   

Third search .edu

Margaret A. Blanchard, The American Urge to Censor: Freedom of Expression Versus the Desire to
Sanitize Society - From Anthony Comstock to 2 Live Crew, 33 Wm. & Mary L. Rev. 741 (1992),
http://scholarship.law.wm.edu/wmlr/vol33/iss3/4

 This was the best site by far when seeking a source that displayed all the evaluating keys of ASPECT, the only issue was Time, but when looking for a history of censorship I would use this source.  The source was written in a scholar law journal published once a year by a law school, cited sources on every page, and the document has been reviewed.  A very researched document. 

Fourth search .com

Strickland, Jonathon. "How Internet Censorship Works." How Stuff Works 1 Dec 2008.
http://computer.howstuffworks.com/internet-censorship.htm

I was actually routed to the site from my previous .edu search, which I really like that by reading a published research paper, I was able to search against the students information to confirm its relevance to the topic of censorship and see if I can also use the cited information for my own research.   This site was a little old on the Timeliness side of ASPECT, but the Sources were very available, and I felt that it had great good coverage on the topic. 

This was a very informative activity.  As for research on my topic I felt that based on the articles that I read through that .gov and .edu were the more substantial in terms of finding all the information that a student would typically need to use a source, and find it creditable.

Thanks,
Megan Fletcher




Tuesday, May 29, 2012

Part 8: types of Information: Forus on Search Engines and Web Sites

I had no idea how many search engines existed in the web.  I think that so many of us are programmed to use Google or Yahoo because it is easy and on our homepage, but are we getting the information that we need?  Now that I have learned the tools of using search techniques coupled with search, meta-search, and subject directory search tools I feel more knowledge then ever when it comes to online research.   I wish that I had possessed these tools when taking English 101 and 102, my papers would have contained more in depth information, and I would have learned more on my subjects as well.

After viewing the lists on the Southern Oregon University library website I decided to research Lycos when using Search tools.  The Lycos website is very much like a Google, but easier on the eyes.  I was able to use the Boolean  techniques, " ", as well as anding concepts.  I did find quite a few websites, a few videos, but not much in the form of imagery,  or news.  These areas of may require a more general search term like censorship rather than "censor* in America*.  Using a search tool enables you can take advantage of features specific to a particular search tool to enhance your search.  When digging into what is unique about Lycos is that not only does it has its basic Internet search, but it also has the ability to to parallel searches within its own web page called HotBot, plus it also has a white pages type of search as well for contact information. 

Within the meta-search tools I decided to explore the mamma.com website.  This was an amazing website very easy to use and actually received more hits using the "censor* in America" than in other websites.  Like in Lycos, I was also able to use truncating, censor*, and " " in the search area.  Mamma.com is very much more geared to getting you to other websites that possess your needed information, not so much on the news front, or image arena.  Meta-search tools search multiple tools simultaneously.  Mamma.com will search multiple websites and base their relevancy of the source.  I would definitely use this site again.  Having the relevancy of sourced information already done for you would save a lot of time when researching a topic.  I did not see any specific information on search tips within Mamma.com, but I asked it for search tips and it linked me to a Google web page. 

A subject directory is maintained by librarians to give the researcher good information.  I was able to play around with the ipl2 website, and this by far was where the best information was found regarding censorship in America.  I was able to search using Censor* in America.  All of the articles were directly related to censorship in America, like banned books, comics, coalitions against censorship, and historical references regarding censorship.   The easiest search engine by far has been the ipl2 website.  It actually gives search help like wild card characters, Boolean operators, advance searches, and range searches.  As for the most complete search engine I would get those most out of the subject directory type of search engine. 

I am really impressed with the web and how informational it really is.  I had no idea that search engines were catered to specific needs, like mamma.com website that bases their posts on relevancy of the source, or a subject library that is maintained by professional librarians.  When it comes to research librarians are the at the forefront of Internet research.  Our ways of researching subjects have changes so much over the last 10 years, and the research that we have been doing in this class over the last 8 weeks, have really opened my eyes to all that is obtainable on the web. 

Megan Fletcher


Friday, May 25, 2012

Part 7, Finding Articles in Periodical Indexes

After reading through your comments left of the prior assignment.  I was a little confused on the " " marks and where to place them, but I feel that I have a good understanding of how us use the Boolean search tools.  I did play around with the " " placement and received more results.  I will only use the " " when looking for a specific keyword.  

Here are the 3 articles that I found based on Censorship in America:

The successful search term that I used was "Censor*" and "America"


Magazine article:

Adam Phillips.  "Publisher Who Defied US Censorship Laws Dies at 89. " Voice of America News / FIND  24 Feb. 2012: Research Library, ProQuest. Web.  25 May. 2012.

This would definitely be an article that I would use because it has a great historical back round on censorship in America.  Barney Rosset a free-speech activist worked his whole life defying the odds.  According to Rosset "I feel that if people don't have the right to express themselves, first of all, they are not going to be happy, and secondly, they aren't going to develop the creative abilities they have, as scientists, as bankers, as anything," said in an interview to VOA in 2009. 

Scholarly article:

"is it legal? broadcasting. " Newsletter on Intellectual Freedom  56.1 (2007): 27-30. Research Library, ProQuest. Web.  25 May. 2012. 

Here is another great article that I would use in my research paper.  This article talks about how the FCC determines what should be censored and what shouldn't be.  Billboard awards are being censored for the same things being said on the Today show, yet the Today show is not being censored.  The FCC is determining what is indecent and what is not, yet both shows spoke on the same subject. 
Since I was unable to determine if this was scholarly, so I found another article.  

"What Johnny Shouldn't Read: Textbook Censorship In America. " English Journal  85.1 (1996): 80-81. Research Library, ProQuest. Web.  25 May. 2012.  

This article is older but worth putting into an research paper.  It is based on the censorship of books in schools in America.  What should we censor from our children, and who should determine this censorship? This article is written regarding a book "What Johnny Shouldn't Read", and its influences in the teaching community. 

"What Johnny Shouldn't Read: Textbook Censorship In America. " English Journal  85.1 (1996): 80-81. Research Library, ProQuest. Web.  25 May. 2012. 

Newspaper article:

Amir Efrati.  "Twitter's Censors Provoke Backlash. " Wall Street Journal (Online)  28  Jan. 2012,ProQuest National Newspapers Core, ProQuest. Web.  25 May. 2012. 

A newspaper article based on Twitter, and American based company that is being censored in countries overseas based on its contents.  I liked this article because it talks about the freedoms that American have with their speech, but other countries are demanding a censorship of their citizens.  As American we have to respect what other countries have mandated for their citizens. 

For me this was a more difficult search.  I wrongfully assumed that since I have heard so much about censorship that it would be an easy area to find research, but it took me a while to find these few articles.  I didn't have to revise my search very much, but found that what i wanted to write about a history paper on censorship the articles may be older than I would like them to be.  

Megan Fletcher

Wednesday, May 16, 2012

Part 6: Database Feature and Searching Techniques

Part 1

Here are the 5 questions that I choose to use Boolean operators on:

1. Is a vegetarian diet healthier than a meat-based diet?
-"Vegetarian diet" and "meat diet"
-"Vegetarian health" and "Omnivore health"
2. Is the current lack of sunspot activity affecting global warming?
-"Sunspot activity" and "global warm*"
-"Sunspot activity" and "global warm* effects"
3. Does anti-smoking advertising by the tobacco industry lead to increased smoking among youth?
-"Anti-smoking advertising" and "increased youth smoking"
-Advertising and youth smok*
4.  How much more can a college graduate expect to earn over someone with a high school diploma?
-"College graduate earnings" and "high school graduate earnings"
-"How much college graduate earn*" and "how much high school graduate earn*"
5.  What breeds of dogs make good therapy pets?
-"Therapy dogs"
-"Therapy dogs" or "Therapy pets"

Part 2

So one of my research questions was, Does censorship infringe on Americans 1st amendment?

When I placed this entire statement into EBSCOhost I received 0 results.  
I placed 1st Amendment and censor* and received 56 results.
I placed Censor* and America and received 732 results.
I placed "Censor*" and United States I received 4712 results.

By using the Boolean search statements I was able to broaden my search tremendously.  I will definitely use these searching techniques when writing my next research or persuasive paper. 

Thank you,
Megan Fletcher

Monday, May 7, 2012

Digging into databases and books

2.a. Cannell Library Book Catalog

- music censorship
- Rosenthal, Beth. Should music lyrics be censored?. Detroit, Greenhaven Press. 2001.
- Rap music censorship.
- Circulating Book
- Author is published in scholarly journals, many cited sources, and reference material.  Has written a number of opposing viewpoint books.  

2.b. 

-Censorship in America
-Foerstel, Herbers. Banned in the USA: a reference guide to book censorship in schools and public libraries. Westport, Conn. Greenwood Press. 1994.
- Public Schools Censorship, Textbook Censorship, Literature Censorship.
- WSU Vancouver Z658.U5 F64 1994  
- The author has written numerous books on censorship in America.  A large works cited page referenced at back of book.  
- Material that came up first was subject encyclopedias instead of books.
 
2.c.

I had no idea that this type of database existed.  IT Pro was very easy to navigate through, and gave so many different ways to search for data.  I don't know if I would use it for all my research because I prefer to hold and feel my books, rather than reading online.  I did find information on my research topic of censorship, but it was very focused on Internet filtering.  I would probably not use this search for a research paper on censorship unless my paper strictly focused on Internet censorship.  

The search I used was the advance search with a subject of Censorship, in the additional fields I choose full text that contained the word music.  So far it was the easiest of the databases to search, but looks like the information might be limited. 

2.d.

- I had to refine my search a number of times to find a creditable book.  I searched under Freedom of Speech Censorship.
-Green, Jonathan. Encyclopedia of Censorship. New York, New York. Facts of File. 2005.
- Due to the nature of this book there was a ton of work sited, and reference material.  I would have no problem using this book for a research paper.  


To summarize this unit I would have to say that using the Summit Catalog, and the Cannell Library Catalog were that most useful.  At least I felt my search was done easier than on Google or IT Pro.  Summit Catalog is a college database, so you are going to get the most bang for your buck.  Almost all the books were subject encyclopedias or scholarly journals.  I would feel more that comfortable using the Summit database to obtain research information for a paper.  Also Cannell Library has so many other databases like opposing viewpoints that I also find very helpful when writing a paper.  It helps weed out the bias information, and give you a well rounded perspective on your topic. 

Thank you,
Megan Fletcher

 































Monday, April 30, 2012

Research Journal , Part 4: types of Information

Practice Questions?

1. Is a vegetarian diet healthier than a meat-based diet?
My answer for this would be to use a Academic Journals to find studies done to see what the affects of a vegetarian diet vs. a meat diet do to the body.  Also websites from licensed nutritionists, or books written by nutritionists expert opinions from educated sources.  

2. Target often forces musicians to alter lyrics in order to have their Cd's sold in Target stores.  Is this censorship?
I would conduct my research for this using academic encyclopedias regarding freedom of speech, maybe trying to read or interview someone at Target that makes these decisions on censorship, and looking into academic journals on research done on a similar topic of censorship.  

3.  How much more can a college graduate expect to ear over someone with a high school diploma?
I would definitely use an academic journal for this research.  I am positive that studies have been done on this topic lots of times over the last 50 years.  Also magazines like Time might be a good source for articles as well.  

4.  Should educators use commercial services to combat plagiarism?
Using academic journals for a topic like this would be very useful since this has been a highly researched topic since the introduction of the Internet.  Websites may also be a great too, like Google.  Find postings by educators that have ran into plagiarism and what they have discussed in stopping it.  

5.  Is the current lack of sunspot activity affecting global warming?
Books written by an accredited author in this subject would be a great source as well as academic journals.  

3 Research Questions?

1. Does censorship infringe on Americans First Amendment rights (Freedom of Speech)?
 To answer this question I would use an academic encyclopedia to get some base information, then move onto an academic journal to see the research that has been done on my topic. 

2. How did censorship begin?
Academic encyclopedia would work for this broad topic, as well as the Internet like Google to help narrow the topic to something like When did censorship begin in the music industry?  Then I could use popular magazines like Rolling Stones, and maybe even find info from MTV.com.  

3. Who decides what material is subject to censoring?
 Like the Target question above I would try to look into some government websites to see who mandates censorship within our state and country.  Also use Academic encyclopedia for beginning information, then move onto academic journals to see if I can find a match article to answer my research question. 

Thanks,
Megan Fletcher


Tuesday, April 24, 2012

Part 3: Exploring Topics

I really enjoyed this weeks topic about exploring the deep web.  As students of Clark College we have access to so many free research tools, it is amazing.  I do enjoy using Wikipedia, but prefer to use GVRL as a research tool.  I like the idea that the articles are written by scholars within that specific field, and these scholars also reference other cited information at the end of their article so you can do even more research, or confirm your source.  

I chose to research the topic of censorship, and found and abundance of information.  Being able to use the keywords, I was really able to narrow down the search to a few questions for my research paper to answer.  

The sources that I chose to use were specific to freedom of speech with students.  The article gave a brief history of when this movement started, and a few of the more important court cases that have had historical affects on students.  One interesting fact that I found out was that freedom of speech and students didn't become a issue until the Vietnam War.  It was at this time that students began to have opposing political views from their teachers and administrators. 

The IRIS tutorial is always a helpful tool.  Being able to be guided through all the search engines available to students can be confusing.  I have used the IRIS tutorials a few times in my student career. 

All of the popular databases available to students via the Clark College website can help any student become an minor expert on a specific research topic.

Thanks,
Megan Fletcher


Three research questions

Here are my three research questions I would like to be able to answer in a paper regarding censorship.  

1. Does censorship infringe on American's First Amendment rights (Freedom of Speech)?

2. How did censorship begin?

3. Who decides what material is subject to censoring?

I felt that these three questions could really narrow down a paper on a specific aspect of censorship.  

Thanks,
Megan Fletcher



Wikipedia

Searching through Wikipedia was not a information as searching the Gale Virtual Reference Library.  When I searched the term censorship it brought me directly to a like titled Censorship.  It did give me like 2 or 3 other areas in Wiki to search to obtain additional information on censorship, but nothing as detailed as the Gale site. 

Here are the keywords that Wikipedia came up with in regards to my subject of censorship: political, religion, education, books, film, music, map, and internet. 

There was also a tool in the toolbox section of Wikipedia that helped me cite the page, however it did state that Wikipedia is not responsible for incorrect information being stated on their pages.  In my past when writing a paper or doing any type of classroom research, professors have asked students to avoid using Wikipedia as a source, but use it as a tool when researching a topic to write about.  Sort of a first line of information.

Here was the citation from Wikipedia:

"Censorship." Wikipedia, The Free Encyclopedia. Wikipedia. The Free Encyclopedia, 22 Apr. 2012. Web. 23 Apr. 2012.

Thanks,
Megan Fletcher

Gale Virtual Reference Library

Using the Gale Virtual Reference Library through the Clark College library website was extremely easy.  I have used this search before when writing a research paper for English 102, and it helped tremendously.  Along with asking questions of the librarian, who are so well versed in research.  Another aspect of the GVRL is that towards the end of the article there are additional resources, additional cited sources, and even addresses to places of interest referenced within the article.  Very valuable information can be obtained, by using these other sources as well. 

The topic that I chose to research on was Censorship, using the Gale Virtual Reference Library.  Here is the list of keywords that I gathered: control, era, culture, religion, music, media, art, literature, speeches, art, human rights, war, politics, regulation, science, law, power, decency, obscenity, and freedoms.

The search that looked interesting to me was titles Student Rights/Free Speech

"Student Rights/Free Speech." Gale Encyclopedia of Everyday Law. Ed. Jeffrey Wilson. 2nd ed. Vol. 1. Detroit: Gale, 2006. 653-657. Gale Virtual Reference Library. Web. 24 Apr. 2012.

Thanks,
Megan Fletcher

Tuesday, April 17, 2012

Unit 2: Plagiarism

Here is a response to the Purdue OWL "Safe Practices"

1. Last summer, my family and I traveled to Chicago, which was quite different from the rural area I grew up in. We saw the dinosaur Sue at the Field Museum, and ate pizza at Gino's East.
 - No need to cite any sources, just a person writing what they did and saw.  No information from other writers were used in this, reads like an opinion.

2. Americans want to create a more perfect union; they also want to establish justice, ensure domestic tranquility, provide for the common defense, promote the general welfare, and secure the blessings of liberty for everybody.
- This statement would require citation of the Bill of Rights.  Although most people know this statement this writer writes it not exactly but close.  Not only a citation at the end of the statement (BOR), but also on the works cited page.   

3. I find it ridiculous that 57% of high school students think their teachers assign too much homework.
- I would cite where the 57% stat came from and make sure that it came from a notable source.  Maybe even try to find that percentage from another author just to confirm the accuracy of the statement.

Numbers 4, 5, and 6 all refer to the following passage from Martin Luther King's "Letter from the Birmingham Jail":
You deplore the demonstrations taking place in Birmingham. But your statement, I am sorry to say, fails to express a similar concern for the conditions that brought about the demonstrations. I am sure that none of you would want to rest content with the superficial kind of social analysis that deals merely with effects and does not grapple with underlying causes. It is unfortunate that demonstrations are taking place in Birmingham, but it is even more unfortunate that the city's white power structure left the Negro community with no alternative.
4. Martin Luther King was certain that nobody would want to be contented with a surfacy type of social analysis that concerns itself only with effects and doesn't deal with root causes.
-This is an opinion of the writer based on their reading, I don't think that it needs to be cited.  

5. Martin Luther King wrote that the city of Birmingham's "white power structure" left African-Americans there "no alternative" but to demonstrate ("Letter from the Birmingham Jail" para. 5).
- Due to the quotes this statement must be cited.  I would probably not give so much information in the (Author last name & page # or paragraph #) at the end of the sentence, maybe (King LB speech P5). instead, as long as the reader can find the cited source on the works cited page that is all the matters, and that the works cited page contains all the correct information.  

6. In "Letter from the Birmingham Jail," King writes to fellow clergy saying that although they "deplore the demonstrations taking place in Birmingham, your statement fails to express a similar concern for the conditions that brought about the demonstrations."
-This statement needs direction at the end of the sentence of where the writer obtained this information in (Author last name & page # or paragraph #) to reference the reader to the works cited page to see the full citation.  

7. My friend Kara told me that she loves living so close to the ocean.
-No need to cite.

8. Americans are guaranteed the right to freely gather for peaceful meetings.
-This is information most people are aware of but I would cite it because it falls in the maybe category of citing material. 

I know how important it is to cite sources when writing papers.  Since beginning college and writing  papers every quarter it has become like second nature to have a works cited page as well as reference my works cited information within my text.  I have enjoyed reading papers over the quarter of other students and knowing where their information was obtained to write that paper.  One area that I was unaware of until now was citing graphics.  I use graphics from websites a lot when making power points for my Biology assignments.  Now I will make sure to cite the photographic source on the page where the photo is displayed, as well as on the works cited page.  All aspects of plagiarism are important!  Know one likes to be stolen from, and that is basically what you are doing if your reference material is not cited accurately.  I liked the COP on Iris for knowing how to cite sources, and it is a great tool just to check how each source is cited, because everything is cited a little different. 

Thanks,
Megan Fletcher

Monday, April 9, 2012

Hello to everyone on my first blog ever!  Using the tutorial was really easy, especially if you already have a Google account.  I am a current Facebook user so posting online is not something new for me, but using this format on blogger.com will take some getting used to.  One thing that I learned from this assignment is that it is difficult to pick out a title and a URL address for the blog.  I think it took me like 1/2 and hour to find one that had not already been chosen.  Well good luck to everyone.  Look forward to reading posts.

Thanks,
Megan Fletcher