Exercise 8

Reflections
On my first view of the website, I was in a daze not knowing how to comment on the website. The website was an organization website, introducing its museums, and showcasing the oncoming exhibitions or plays in its museums. When I try to write the comments, most of the questions I was not able to answer well as it was the first time I been to such a website. An example was like if I was to answer whether the facts are accurate or not, I felt that the website is of more of a commercial website than an information website as it sells tickets and introduce on its museums, and because of this I couldn’t answer the question well.

My reflections on the UIR port folio

The UIR tutorials I have attended have been useful to my research skills for my current project and even for my major project in the future too. I learn of a new search engine called Meta search engines, which will in-cooperate multiple search engines in one. These in terms improve the searching ability of me. And I also learn how to evaluate websites that provides the information and decide whether to use this website for its information. And during the writing of the evaluation, I also improve my language. Development of the portfolio also allows me to learn how to write a bibliography correctly. And also makes me write out an evaluation, that I can use its question in questioning websites on whether it is trustworthy or not.

Practical 7

Website 1
During my evaluation of this article, I felt that the article hosted on this website was of a higher standard than any website I have seen. This article introduces different policies adopted by US, and is good for referencing for solutions. And during the evaluation, I found out that the article was last updated on October 2000, which I felt it not be up to currency. But even though it may not be up to currency, the policies may not have change so much. During the evaluation, the article has been certified by the NIAAA, which is an organization website, and if the article is not accurate, NIAAA would have taken it down, thus I believe that if the policies are not up to date, the NIAAA will have taken it down or marked it as not a reputable source.

Website 2
When I evaluated this website, this website provides information on statistic for “Alcohol and Youth Facts”. This website although short, but it contains the statistics that can be use to back the claims of alcoholism among youths. Although no published date was seen in the article, from the reference, we can see that the last statistic was obtained on April 2005, thus these statistics are still valid till now. And when I was answering the evaluation template, I felt that this website was good, but I was not able to explain well in the template as this website mainly is on statistics and not data for referencing, thus I was not able to write a lot on describing the website for the 8 values.

Website 3
This website is also on statistics, which is to find out if alcohol advertising affects the youth in prompting them to consume alcohol. I wanted to evaluate this website is because I want to write my report in another direction, different from the usual, thinking in a broad direction. This article shown not much biasness, as it retrieves and displayed the statistics from the references that the organization has retrieved. Thus if there is any biasness, it would have to be the references, but upon accounting that if the statistics are not right, this organization website will not have even wanted to publish them as this could tarnish their reputation since they are from Georgetown University. And since this website is also on statistics, some of the template’s question, I was not able to answer it well, as there are not much information in the webpage.

Practical Worksheet 6a

Title of InTitle of Internet Resource: Developments of alcoholism amongst youth
URL : http://alcoholism.about.com/cs/alerts/l/blnaa37.htm

Purpose
Are the aims of the website clearly stated?
Yes. The aim is to show the Risk Factors and Consequences on Youth Drinking

Coverage
What is the coverage of the site? Is it comprehensive? What subject areas and materials are covered? Are there any pointers to further information that enhance the coverage of the site? Are the links to other sites useful?
Its coverage is on the Risk Factors and Consequences on Youth Drinking. It is quite comprehensive as it covers the main aspect of the risk factors and consequences on youth drinking. The article is good and topics and subtopics are paragraph nicely to read. And there is a commentary by the director of National Institute on Alcohol Abuse and Alcoholism (NIAAA) Enoch Gordis. The webpage also provide article link to other articles like “Underage Drinking - A Major Public Health Challenge”. It citation also leads to other articles where we can read up more on alcoholism among youths. The links given are quite useful as it also provide some extra information which is missing like advertising effect, data statistic report…etc

Authority
Is this an authoritative source? Are there any reviews about this site or has it been included in any gateways or virtual libraries?
The article is a compilation from different sources and data , and the article is furnished from National Institute on Alcohol Abuse and Alcoholism (NIAAA).

Accuracy
Are the facts accurate? Does it use research as a basis? Is there political, ideological, or biasness in the source? Is it a factual site or one that contains an opinion? Are the references stated clearly? Is it free from grammatical, spelling and typographical errors?
The facts are accurate as it refers to different sources online for the data. Some resources it had used was even from websites that I had research on. And best of all, the resources cited by the author was from reputable websites like NIAAA. Since the website is on data for risk factors and consequences, its data are extracted from different sources, therefore it does not have any biasness in the article as it is just a compilation of the data from different articles. In terms of language, I don’t find any errors in it, and when used with MS Word, the errors detected was actually due to the language use as the article may be written in UK format whereas the MS word is using US dictionary.

Currency
Is the information up-to-date? Is it well-maintained?
I believe that the information is quite up to date as the website is About, Inc, which is a website which stores articles and arranges them in different subject. The website is quite well maintained as I can see that they don’t have any broken links or discrepancy in their webpage and their copyright is till 2006.

Accessibility
Is the site easily accessible? Does it require registration and log-ins? Are all the information accessible for FREE?
The site can be accessed easily and best of all, it articles are free and registration free, requires no log-in. Compared to other website where they demand premium to view their articles, this website is a good place to source for articles.

Presentation and Arrangement
Is the information well presented and arranged? Is the information clearly, consistently and logically presented and arranged? Are there any features such as site map, an index or a search facility? How effective are the search features in helping users to find information?
The information is well arranged and presented. It gives the user a fine and pleasant look to the eyes and u will not feel that it is very messy with the links and data arranged. The author separates them in terms of topics and sub-topics respectively. When a keyword is search, it will provides articles found in the sub-topics area, and from there we can even know the topic it is related to.

Usability
Is it easy to use and navigate around? Are there user support facilities?
As it is an article, there isn’t much to navigate, except to access the article. The user will have to look at the topic listing in order to find this article. There is also a search engine to look for articles in About.com, to look for articles of your choice.

Overall
What is your overall impression of the quality of the websites?
I find the website to be of high standard, and since it is an organization webpage, it is designed with a pleasant view for viewing of articles. And the quality of articles in the websites are of a certain standard as they will require the verification of the articles by a reputable organization for the topic written.

Reflections
Upon evaluating this website, I felt that it was difficult as there are a lot of information and I had practically read up the whole article. The article contains a lot of information that I could use for the topic I am currently researching on. Writing the template was tough, and I have to consider the language used for writing. But during the evaluation, I felt that the some of the template questions was quite redundant. And during answering the template’s question, some questions asked by the template was not applicable for the website I am evaluating. Thus I was not able to answer some of the template questions correctly.

UIR Practical 4 & 5

Topic: Development of Alcoholism Among Youths

Search Engine:
http://www.google.com/
Keywords used:
alcoholism+youth
URL and Purpose:
http://camy.org/factsheets/index.php?FactsheetID=1
Purpose: Information and News
Description: Provides information on alcohol advertising and youth. Interlink that advertising has an impact on alcoholism among youths.
Comments on Search Results:
Size of hits = 1,120,000
Relevant ranking = None
Relevant results = http://camy.org/factsheets/index.php?FactsheetID=1
Description:
Provides information on alcohol advertising and youth. Interlink that advertising has an impact on alcoholism among youths.

Meta Search Engine
http://www.metacrawler.com/
Keywords used:
alcoholism+youth
URL and Purpose:
http://library.adoption.com/Alcoholism/Youth-Drinking/article/4859/1.html
Purpose: Information
Description:
Provides information on the risk factors and consequences of alcohol abuse and statistics on youth have been mentioned.
Comments on Search Results:
Size of hits = 108
Relevant ranking = None
Relevant results =
http://library.adoption.com/Alcoholism/Youth-Drinking/article/4859/1.html
Description:
Provides information on the risk factors and consequences of alcohol abuse and statistics on youth have been mentioned.

Subject Directory
http://www.galaxy.com/
Keywords used:
alcoholism+youth
URL and Purpose:
http://www.tarzanatc.org/
Purpose: Business and information
Description:
Website to provide services and aid to youths on kicking out alcohol abuse.
Comments on Search Results:
Size of hits : Directory matches = 759
Site matches = 4
Relevant ranking = None
Relevant results
http://www.tarzanatc.org/
Description:
Website to provide services and aid to youths on kicking out alcohol abuse.

Reflections on Comparison and Evaluation on search effectiveness
You must then evaluate and compare the effectiveness of each search facility. You may use criteria such as the differences and similarities in terms of search capabilities, result ranking, size of hits, etc. You are encouraged to use your own initiative to suggest other areas of discussion and comparison.

Compare the search results. Identify 2 characteristics that make all 3 search facilities similar or different from one another.

Comparing the search results,

Do you find any strength/weakness of each of them, in terms of search capability?

There are different strengths and weakness between each search engine. Metacrawler which search through multiple search engine, thus getting better results. Google however, it display search results that is only available to google as google is using its own technology in search engine. And google does not seem to support boolean codes as I tested it with using the following keyword, “Alcoholism+youth” and “Alcoholism youth” and it yield me both the same results. But it does not meant that it cannot support other Boolean as I did not try all Boolean operators.

Overall, which search facility best meet your searching needs? Why?

Overall, I feel that meta search engine is the best facility that meets my needs as it uses multiple search engine to search for my results. But one down point is that it wasn’t able to provide as much hits than google, but still, it provides high accuracy and precision in the search result compared to google.

Comment whether your research topic has any co-relation to the purposes of the resources retrieved.

The resources retrieve from the search engine is greatly related to my research topic. It provide me with more ideas like an alternative thinking such as that beer advertisement also plays a part in influencing alcoholism. The statistics data is to provide concrete evidence on the uprising of alcoholism among youths. An alternative solution to solve the problem related to alcoholism among youths.

Bibliography
Resource 1
“Alcohol Advertising and Youth” Retrieved November 23, 2006 from World Wide Web: http://camy.org/factsheets/index.php?FactsheetID=1

Resource 2
“Youth Drinking” Retrieved November 23, 2006 from World Wide Web: http://library.adoption.com/Alcoholism/Youth-Drinking/article/4859/1.html

Resource 3“Tarzana Treatment Centers, Inc” (2001) Retrieved November 23, 2006 from World Wide Web: http://www.tarzanatc.org/

About Myself

Websites that excites me are
http://www.hardwarezone.com
http://www.vr-zone.com
Excites me a lot when i see new technology in the making in Singapore. So i can go buy the latest stuff to play!!

UIR Practical 3

Topic : Developments of alcoholism amongst youths

Resource 1:
http://health.nih.gov/result.asp/20
Purpose of resource: Information
Reasons :

The reason of the website is to provide ample information to the public about health related issues. In the website actual information is found and it provides many articles about the topic chosen-Alcoholism amongst youths. Furthermore the source is reliable as it’s from the National Institute Of Health.

Resource 2:
http://www.cbsnews.com/stories/2004/09/08/health/main641832.shtml
Purpose of resource : News
Reasons :

News on the latest search related topic is provided. In my case, regarding alcoholism among youths. The latest news is provided of its major effect, for example, in this particular webby, news has been provided that the scientist has been able to find a particular gene that is related to alcoholism and depression. In this website, links are also provided to provide with the latest up-to-date news on alcoholism.

Resource 3: http://www.youthinformation.com/Templates/Internal.asp?NodeID=90278
Purpose of resource: Information
Reasons :

Shows information on the bad effects of alcohol on the life of youths. Many of the information provided shows the ways on how to overcome this serious problems and the step by step action to take in order to stop the habit. Also provide information on the amount safe to drink.

Resource 4: http://www.alcoholpolicymd.com/alcohol_and_health/alcohol_and_youth.htm
Purpose of resource : Information
Reasons :

A website that provides statistics (US) on alcoholism among youth. The statistics showed an alarming rate of youths abusing alcohol. And also to let internet users and parents know the rate of alcoholism among youth, as to serve a warning to them to have better care to their children.

Reflections

Using google to search for resources was quite a breeze. Alcoholism was a term that was used quite often on the internet. And most of the searched results shown were mainly from US as the problem seems to be quite serious over their side. As I browse through the result, it mainly cover the following theme, “news, databases, electronic magazines/journals.” As for multimedia and RSS feeds, I would require to put this term in "Images, video or RSS" to the search in order to get a better results. RSS feeds was the toughest and I had to search though more than 200 results to get a RSS feed, but it was not base on alcoholism but on health issues in US. The RSS feed was showing article links to health reports over US but not only concentrating on alcoholism. Database, news, electronic magazines and journals were the easiest to search. After a few search, I learnt that, by attaching a term like “news” or “database” to the “alcoholism+youth” I would get the lesser but my results will be more accurate to what I want to research on. Thus what I felt is that by using the correct terms, the search results will prove to be a lot easier than search on a simpler term.

UIR Practical 2

My topic on the research is
Discuss the developments of alcoholism amongst youths

Resource 1
http://www.stopalcoholabuse.gov/Stats/
Organization
Provide statistics and information on underage youth alcoholism in US. There are also solution and types of treatment listed to help the abuse of alcohol among youth. Also provides laws and offences on alcohol abuse.

Resource 2
http://alcoholism.about.com/cs/alerts/l/blnaa37.htm
Subject-based
Provide articles in terms of subject and category. And alcoholism among youths was in of its category.

Resource 3
http://www.marininstitute.org/Youth/alcohol_youth.htm
Subject-based
A website that provides facts and details on alcohol, and alcohol abuse among youth was one of its sub topic on. Provided good overall info on alcohol but not alcoholism among youth.

Resource 4
http://pubs.niaaa.nih.gov/publications/aa34.htm
Organisation
An article of alcoholism among youths from one of a highly credibility as it’s from National Institutes of Health, from US. Providing FAQs and resources around the world.

Resource 5
http://www.unicef.org/voy/discussions/showthread.php?t=5549
Discussion Forums
A forum created by the famous “unicef”, a world wide organization. It has lots of discussion on health matters and alcoholism is frequently discussed in different subcategories.

Reflections
Which search facility/ies did you use?
I was using Google as the main search engine.

Write down all the keywords you had used for searching the resources. Identify those keywords that yield relevant or better search results.
These are the following keywords I used for my search. They are as followed,
- alcoholism
- alcoholism+youth
- alcoholism among youth
- forums alcoholism
These are the keywords used to reach my research data. "Alcoholism+youth" yield the best results.

What are the major differences amongst the three types of websites?
In organization websites, in-depth materials on the subject are available and maintain by the web-organizer. And for personal websites, the materials are normally written based on experiences and personal interest. In comparison, detail and materials may not be as accurate or in-depth as organization. Subject based website, information mainly concentrate on a particular topic and provide in depth information to users. It overlaps between the organization and personal websites for information.

Sick....

I am so sick, very sick, down with a flu, still have to endure the freeze of the lecture hall...
With my homework and schedule to do piling up, i am now getting sick of school...