The Hunt for the Perfect Computer

While I was looking over the required reading for this week, I realized I know a whole lot less than I thought I did about computers. Wow! Yes, the reading was semi-boring and it took me a while to really get through it, but in the end I feel like I appreciate my operating system a heck of a lot more. The fact that the author reminded patrons to properly save their material was definitely a plus. I usually try to save my work every few minutes, but sometimes you get so caught up in it that you forget. I never use the computer during a storm in case the power goes out, but you can’t always control when that happens. But I’ve noticed that now my computer has autosave and when the computer is rebooted (at least in word) it will ask me to if I want to open any of the saved material. But again you can’t always trust that either. The autosave goes off, what about every five minutes. So from the time it saves until the next, your work could be in danger of being lost. This has happened to me a few times, but what can I say live and learn.
Another thing I learned from this week’s reading is about the different managing programs and how some computers have “single user/single tasking.” I am not sure how anyone could stand to have that type of computer. I know at the moment I have six word documents up and two web browsers. If I had this type of operating system I would never get anything done! I would be constantly going back and forth trying to do work. Luckily I do not have to deal with that, which is a blessing!
I really used to get annoyed with the little pop ups that occur at the bottom of the screen, letting you know that there are updates for your programs. I usually ignore them because I’m in the middle of something. Luckily my computer always provides the chance to update prior to shutting down, which makes updating that much easier.
My dad put Norton Antivirus on the computer to help protect it from potentially damaging programs. I think this is a good idea because otherwise my computer most likely would have crashed. But sometimes Norton gets a little confused and tells me some sites I use for school are not safe and it red flags them. The only other bad thing about Norton is that when it performs its weekly diagnostics test it makes my computer run slowly. We also use a pop-up blocker on the computer. This again is very nice to use and allows us to decide whether or not to allow pop-ups.
When we got our computer it had Windows media player already installed on it and every once and a while it opens when I place a CD in the computer. I still use it for watching videos, but for music I use iTunes.
I found this chapter to be extremely interesting and useful in learning about the different types and function of operating systems. This book is very easy to follow and understand and I like the review at the end of each chapter. These few pages give a brief overview of what was learned in each chapter and helps students to better understand the material that was provided.
I guess until next week, have a good weekend everyone!

WorldCat vs. Scopus vs. Me…Which one do you think will lose?

Though I have never used WorldCat prior to this assignment; I found it very easy to navigate. Honestly, after the debacle with Google Reader, I was not really excited to begin using another new form of technology. But I found it was really easy to use and I was able to quickly locate 50 resources for this assignment.
However, as much as I enjoyed using WorldCat, I think I liked Scopus better. When using Scopus, it offered the user a chance to read the abstract to the articles they were looking at. This made deciding if the article was relevant to my needs much, much easier. In WorldCat, the abstract/ summary of the material was not always present. In WorldCat, a patron could see which libraries the information could be located at in relevance to their location. This was a nice feature, but at the same time it seemed to make an extra step for the patron. Also, if after all that searching and clicking, you find out the material was not relevant to you, well you just wasted a lot of time. I for one really don’t have a ton of time to waste. I like being able to click on the title of the article and find out if it’s something I should look deeper into. In today’s society everything is about time and if a program takes too long or has too many steps people, even librarians may not use it. Another thing I do not like about WorldCat is that when you go to save items to a list or delete them you have to go to the top of the page. I think it would be easier if that toolbar was located at both the top and the bottom. It’s more convenient for everyone.
When I was saving items to a list, I just kept checkmarking the items I wanted and going to the next page. So I was pretty surprised when on the fourth or fifth page I decided to send them to a list that way I could see exactly how many resources I had, and only two showed up in the list. I did not know you had to send each page separately or it deleted the checkmarks. I guess you live and learn!
Still, even though I seem to favor Scopus, I appreciate and like WorldCat. I think it is a great program that is very useful to educators and librarians. I like how you can export your list of references into numerous formats or send the entire list to RefWorks. I also liked how you can make your list private or public. I really believe WorldCat has a lot to offer.
Of course, I spoke too soon! I was working on both this blog and my WorldCat assignment and let me tell you I’m ready to scream. In the assignment we are asked to export the list using the RIS format. This took me a little time to figure out where to convert the information and export it. However, when you export using the RIS format it is not in the spreadsheet format. So now I have a massive problem. How do I get the list into a Google Docs spreadsheet without having to cut and paste a million times! I am so confused and just really have had enough with Google Docs. So I have to wait until this evening to discuss this with the group in the chat room. Hopefully, someone will be able to help me figure out my issue. I don’t want to lose points on this assignment, just because I am confused!

I was born in the 80s, but I’m not sure I’m ready for the technologies of today

The title to this entry is very true; I was born in 1985, and grew up with many different technologies. I’m the one who shows my parents how to work certain things. So how come when confronted with some of the newer stuff I feel like I need written instructions to help me? Also, when you search for help on the internet, other people just confuse you with their answers. So after last week, I definitely wasn’t sure I was ready for this course. We all know I had a lot of problems with Google Reader and it is still not my favorite form of technology. I highly doubt it ever will be, but I understand that it can be useful to those who have an idea of how to use it. So someone should write a Google Apps for Dummies book, so the rest of us can have half an idea on how to work some of these things! Because obviously I am not one of those people and I would be one of the first to purchase the book. I understood Scopus and Google Docs, but Google Reader still eludes me. Who knows maybe I will eventually be a whiz on it, but until then, I’m pretty sure I will never use it ever, ever again. Now onto WorldCat!

Blogging...what am I doing?

Well, I was finally able to get back on Google Reader and it let me send four links to Dr. Tomer, then it quit allowing me to do that. Maybe it’s just me! Hopefully, Google Reader will eventually allow me to finish e-mailing my links!
I will admit, I never had the desire to have a blog. Actually, if it wasn’t required in this course, I still would not have a blog. And after I am done with this course, I will probably never post again. I really have no desire for others to read my posts and know stuff about me. I have had friends who have written blogs and sometimes they have gotten way too personal and other times they just whined. That’s what I usually associate with blogs, whining. And I will probably, if I haven’t already done so, whine in my blog.
So when I sat down the first time, to figure out what I was going to type, it took me quite a while. I’m used to writing papers for class, researching, answering questions, and working in groups, what I’m not used to is the freedom to choose what to discuss (in context of this course) and how long it should be. Which makes me nervous, I like having guidelines to my papers, for me, it makes the assignment easier. I don’t have to think, will this be enough or did I over do it with this many pages. My first post was an introduction, I figured that was the best place to start. My next post was about my frustration with Google Reader. So how was I going to end my week, I figured I would talk about my issues with blogging! Next week, I plan on posting information about our text book and stuff I find on line. These first three initial posts are to get me acquainted and comfortable with blogging.
One thing my teachers in school and my professors in undergraduate and graduate school have always taught me was to never write how you speak and don’t use contractions in your papers. Blogging is different. You’re supposed to write how you speak, act like you are actually talking to a person. You can use contractions and don’t have to worry about looking unprofessional. After all those years of not writing how I spoke, it was really difficult to change that. When I write these blogs, I always want to go back and change my don’ts to do nots and to make my writing sound more professional. I of course, stop myself and remember this is blogging, not a research paper. I feel like occasionally I will forget and my blogs will sound more like an edited research paper for class, but hopefully by the end of this course, I will actually be able to just blog. Who knows, maybe by the end I will actually enjoy blogging. I highly doubt that, but who knows stranger things have happened.
Have a great Memorial Day weekend everyone!!!

My Love/Hate Relationship with Google Reader

I will admit when I started working on the Scopus assignment, I figured I would be done in an hour, an hour and a half tops. However, three and a half hours later, when I was still working on it, I was not too happy. Since I wanted to make sure the resources coming up were about my topics, I made sure to read over the abstracts. I also wanted to make sure that I did not cite the same source twice, so after I had gathered my 100 citations from Scopus I went back through (on Refworks) and made sure there were no repeats. I found several repeat entries and deleted them. Then it was back to Scopus to find several new sources to replace the duplicates. I repeated this same process with Google Scholar. Finally, I finished collecting all of my resources and was ready to go to onto what I considered the easiest part. Boy, was I wrong, again! Using Google Docs was a breeze, I uploaded my word document and quickly shared it with Dr. Tomer. Then I went to use Google Reader, figuring I would be done in a few minutes. I was able to subscribe to several Scopus RSS feeds, but could not figure out how to share all of them with Dr. Tomer. I read directions on how to share material, however, when I tried their “easy” way, all it allowed me to share was one piece of information, not the entire RSS feed. So, next I put everything into folders and made them public and sent out invites for people to view my profile. I sent an invitation to myself, but never received it on my other e-mail. I then e-mailed my boyfriend an invite, since he has a g-mail account, again it was never received. Frustrated, I took a ten minute break, to calm myself down, before I attempted anything else. When I returned to Google Reader, I was still clueless on what I should do, but I tried to work with it. Next, I decided to e-mail my folder to Dr. Tomer, it worked once and then Google Reader proceeded to tell me that it could not send the e-mails. Now if this had been a cartoon, smoke would have poured out of my ears from how angry I was. So I logged off of Google Reader and attempted to log back on, only this time it told me I was unable to get back onto my account. This was when I gave up for the day. I am about ready to make another attempt to get on Google Reader, we’ll see how this goes.
From this project, I have not only learned how to actually use RefWorks, but I am also able use Google Docs. Google Reader is another story, but hopefully with some practice I will master this new form of technology! Hope everyone else is not having as much trouble as I am.

Introduction Post

Hello, I’m Allyson Hepler. I currently live in Youngwood, Pennsylvania, where I have resided all my life. This is my fourth and final semester in the LIS program at Pitt. I plan on graduating at the end of this semester. I took a Web Design course in my undergraduate program, but it only briefly looked over web design and the other aspects of web communication. Truthfully, I am a little nervous about this course for a few reasons. This is my first fast track/online course at Pitt (and my first attempt at a blog) and it feels weird not to be meeting everyone face to face in class. I have three other courses this semester and two are on campus, so I am still driving to Pitt two nights a week.
My anticipated graduation is this coming August and I cannot wait! I’m excited to begin the job search and hopefully will obtain a position in either an elementary or high school library. I love reading and want to help others discover the joy of books. My favorite authors include Meg Cabot, Kate Brian, Cassandra Clare, Charlaine Harris, Stephenie Meyer and many others. I also love TV, especially One Tree Hill, Supernatural, Criminal Minds, Grey’s Anatomy, and Gossip Girl. When I’m not working on school work I enjoy crafting, reading, watching TV, listening to music, hanging out, and going to concerts.
I’m looking forward to this semester and working with all of you!

Introduction

Hello everyone,

I am hoping this will work. I look forward to working with everyone throughout this semester.