Self Assesment

1. What progress have you made this quarter in your information literacy growth?
I have learned new techniques for researching this past quarter. I have learned Boolean Operators and other techniques such as nesting in order to help narrow some of my searches. I have learned out how to find useful information and how to find books and articles using the library database. I have learned how to use different databases to find different views on types of information.

2. What areas of weakness have you identified in your information literacy growth?
I still feel like I have a hard time citing information. I understand the need to cite information, but bibliographically I still struggle.

3. What steps will you take in the next three to six months to continue your growth in information literacy?
I will continue to use the techniques I have learned in order to find better research than I did before this class. I will utilize the library and all that it has to offer to me.

Experiential Exercise

The first beginnings of exchange that we ever heard of was in Belgium in 1531. Paris later followed in the 1600's with merchant's doing their business. A big bang began in London in 1725. It finally was granted the name the stock exchange later in 1773. This is when we first had a taste of what brokers could do with the trading of bonds. It was not until 1792 that the United States took action. The New York stock exchange was created to trade stocks and bonds in a universal place. It was born on Wall St. the place where it remains to this day. Massive amounts of money were being made each day, and it seemed to be a fool proof way to become successful in a growing nation. 1915, 1933, and 1954 proved to be the largest years for the New York stock exchange producing returns exceeding over 50%! But as soon as most people were feeling unbeatable and put all of their faith into the market, disaster struck. The world's worst crash came between 1930-1932. It lasted 813 days, and the total loss came out to be 86%. Today, many people are struggling in the stock market. Many people are getting out, while others are sticking through tough times hoping for the best. The thing is, it is a great place to make money, but it is a large gamble in todays society. I began my research in the library with a hard copy book. I found a book titled, It Was a Very Good Year, and it talked about many of the good years in the U.S. stock market. I started with a book, because I figured it would help me grasp the topic seeing it directly in front of me. I also used the world wide web databases to help me learn about the beginnings of how the stock market originated. I used academic search premeir and JSTOR to find articles dealing with the history of the market. I used Boolean Operators to find information on "Stock Market" AND "history." I found around 25 sources, so I did not revise my seacrh. I found two good srticles that helped me with my research. I found information on how different cities in different countries across the world opened their markets and how we took ideas to make ours even better.
Two Research Questions: 1. How did the stock market develop into what it is today with all of the markets within it?
2. Is there a correlation between our market and the foriegn markets? When we are up, are they?
I would check money magazine and maybe even watch the news or CNN to find out more information on latest stock market news.

Book Library Catalog
Title: It Was a Very Good Year, Extraordinary Moments in the Stock Market.
Author: Fridson, Martin S.
Copyright: 1998
Publisher: John Wiley & Sons, Inc.

Academic Search Premier
Title: Lessons from History Back to Basics.
Author: Farrell, Christopher
Published in Business Week 12/29/08

Newspaper database
Title: For 40 Years, Small Caps Still Safest Bet in Stocks
Author: Jeff Cox
Published: 17 March 2009 CNBC Inc.


World Wide Web
Title: Stock Market History (Ads by Google)
No Author
No Publisher
Copyright © 2005 - 2008 Money-Zine.com
Date Accessed 18 March 2009
<http://www.money-zine.com/Investing/Stocks/Stock-Market-History/>

Disciplinary data base
Title: Overnight and Daytime Stock-Return Dynamics on the London Stock Exchange: The Impacts of "Big Bang" and the 1987 Stock-Market Crash
Authors: Ronald W. Masulis, Victor K. Ng
Journal of Business & Economic Statistics, Vol. 13, No. 4 (Oct., 1995), pp. 365-378
Copyright: 1995American Statistical Association

Log 2

How can a balance be achieved between protecting privacy and meeting the needs of national security? (1 point) Fair use is used in order to help create a balance. Privacy is still protected, meaning other people cannot steal their work. However for certain circumstances, such as teaching, parts of copyrighted work can be used. This is for the benefit of the society as a whole and creates thoughts and puts ideas into other's minds. We make new discoveries based on old thoughts, so therefor fair use is justified.

How did you react to the list of challenged books (were you surprised, for example)? Do you think some books should be banned or should all books be freely available? Why?
Yes I was surprised to see some of the challenged books and authors on the list. Many of the books on the list were ones that we read in high school, many of them being very good novels. I feel as if all books should be freely available, do to all of the freedoms we have as Americans. Authors should be able to write what they wish for their books whether we agree or not. It is not our decision what should be baned or not. We have the final say because we get to choose in the end to read or not to read, and that is the question!

How have your overall ideas about information ethics changed or not changed after completing this unit?
When I hear the word copyright, I automatically think you cannot ever use any part of this work. I have now realized that due to fair use, some parts of works may be used in certain circumstances. I have also learned that copyrights do not last forever. I understand now why things are copyrighted and the exact purpose is actually to help everyone. We can use ideas and parts of other's works in order to build newer ideas for the future.

Log 1

1.The author will get paid for the hard copies of the book he sells. The publisher will be paid for the fees from publishing all of the copies of the book. The library and teachers are able to use sections of the works from the book since they are using it to teach. This follows the fair use copyright. Students will be able to use sections of the book the teachers post for them due to the fair use policy.
2.Course readers and copies of the book will be sold to professors and students. This will give profits to the publisher and author. For those who cannot afford the book, the professor will be able to use information from the book due to the fair use policy. This lets everyone learn, at a price that fits their budget.
3.The challenges are faced in the selling of the book and course readers. We know most students will purchase one of the two, but the struggle is we do not know how much profit the author and publisher will make if any. Teachers and the library will also purchase copies, but it is just uncertain.

unit 4 part 2

1. Which database did you choose for your search?
Infotrac California State Univ East Bay Library General BusinessFile ASAP

2. What terms did you enter to conduct your search?
Business major careers

3. How many results did you retrieve?
20

4. If there were more than about 100 results, how did you refine your search terms to narrow your results?
N/A

5. Once you got your results to around 100 (or fewer), how did you determine they were meaningful?
I looked at the titles of the articles to know that they were meaningful.

6. Which article did you choose? Give the bibliographic information for that article (I must be able to access this article).
Take positive actions when life turns negative.
Harvey Mackay
Providence Business News, Jan 26, 2004 v18 i41 p37(1)

7. How did you determine these articles were meaningful?
This article is about how you need to stick with something if you want to get any success out of it. Even with the troubled economy, it is important to stick with a career and try to find something that makes you happy. But I was able to find the article to read some of the success stories that helped me with my seacrh for careers.

Unit 4 Part 2

1. What is the main subject of your question?
Jobs in Business

2. What subject guide or guides did you use to identify the relevant databases for your question?
Business


For each database you chose:
1. Which database did you choose for your search?
EBSCO host

2. What terms did you enter to conduct your search?
business opportunities AND careers

3. How many results did you retrieve?
62

4. If there were more than about 100 results, how did you refine your search terms to narrow your results?
I was getting results with thousands of sources, so I used the Boolean Operator and to refine my search and narrow it down to useful information.

5. Once you got your results to around 100 (or fewer), how did you determine they were meaningful?
I went through and read some of the article titles and their brief descriptions to make sure I was headed in the right direction.

6. Which article did you choose? Give the bibliographic information for that article (I must be able to access this article).
Opportunity Knocks.
Toledo, Roberto
Dec.2008, Vol. 22 Issue 12, p30-30, 1p

7. How did you determine these articles were meaningful?
I found out that this article was meaningful by reading the small summary it gave. I clicked on view complete PDF version, and the whole article was presented to me. I read about how in tough economic times this may be the time to go solo in business. It gave me a different outlook than those I was looking at before, but it is still an option for me that was useful to read. Many people have had success in entrepreneurial business and it is definitely in the back of my mind.

High Wire Press

1. Which database did you choose for your first search?
High Wire Press

2. What terms did you enter to conduct your search?
Anywhere in text: jobs
Title: business opportunities

3. How many results did you retrieve?
39

4. If there were more than about 100 results, how did you refine your search terms to narrow your results?
N/A

5. Once you got your results to around 100 (or fewer), how did you determine they were meaningful?
I looked through the titles of the articles to know which ones were meaningful for my search. Many were exactly opportunities in business, so I knew I was on the right path.

6. Which article did you choose? Give the bibliographic information for that article (I must be able to access this article).
Review: Electronic Business Revolution: Opportunities and Challenges in the 21st Century
Tony Stock
The Computer Bulletin, Jul 2000; 42: 31

7. How did you determine this article was meaningful?
I felt like the article fit for the information I was trying to find. I needed something that narrowed down job opportunities for me once I achieved my Business Major. This article was about how business is taking over and how it is a revolution. I thought it was interesting that this was the second time in two days that I have heard someone state business as a new revolution that is taking over the job future for the 21st century.

Academic Search Premier

1. What terms did you enter to conduct your search?
Jobs in business

2. How many results did you retrieve?
218

3. If there were more than about 100 results, how did you refine your search terms to narrow your results?
I used AND to refine my search to read, Jobs in business AND field.

4. What differences did you note in how you needed to manipulate your search terms in this different database?
I noticed the need for the Boolean Operator. My terms were broad at first, but would not show up all together in the text. The adding of and helped me find an article about hot new jobs in the business field. I also tried to change around the select a field tab, but I did not have as much success.

5. Once you got your results to around 100 (or fewer), how did you determine they were meaningful?
I knew my results were useful because two of them focused on the exact answer was trying to answer. The results gave me hot jobs in business which is what I was interested in finding. One of the articles was about business digest while another focused on a certain company in general. Another useful article that was found was about in and out business jobs.

6. Which article did you choose? Give the bibliographic information for that article (I must be able to access this article).
I chose the article titled Hot Jobs in Business.
Author: Caruso, Andrea
Source: Nov/Dec95, Vol. 24 Issue 3, p29, 2p, 2bw

7. How did you determine this article was meaningful?
I read the summary of what the article was about and knew that it would be a helpful one for me. It talks about the national demand for different types of bussiness careers. It gives the tasks of accountants and marketers along with how many will be employed in the near future. It is basically a guide showing where jobs will become available in the future and the tasks that one will need to perform on recieving the job.

Unit 4 Assignment 2 Research Log 1

1. What three periodicals did you choose?
-Newsweek
-American Bar Association Journal
-Journal of Management Accounting Research

2. Name three articles, one from each of the three journals you chose.
Will stem cells finally deliver? Newsweek
Entitlements for undocumented aliens. ABAJ
The marginal approach to joint cost allocations: a model for practical application. JMAR

3. What are the major differences among these articles?
The Newsweek article tends to focus on the big picture. Stem cell reseacrh deals with people across the world, and news on breakthroughs could affect many. The article about undocumented aliens from the American Bar Association Journal focuses on another worldwide problem. Articles focusing on long range plans to cut federal cases shows me that this periodical is more about justuce and rights. This is different from the Newsweek periodical that had information about cutting edge things that were new to the world. The article from the Journal of Management Accounting Research was even more precise than the article before. It focused more on business aspects and ways to help those in the industry. It was least like a periodical when you think of the word, but was still a helpful source. This article was well laid out with steps unlike how the others were more written as stories.

4. What are the major differences among these periodicals?
The major differences between these periodicals were the setups of them. Newsweek was laid out like the other periodicals that I am familiar with. There were advertisements along with articles and pictures. I understood most of the articles that I read and they all seemed to play a factor in my life. The ABAJ was setup like Newsweek, however there were many different issues in one book. The articles focused on federal issues that were occurring at the time. The JMAR was the least like the rest of them. It looked like an ordinary book, and was laid out like a research book. It had articles that acted as guides to help people in the business world. There were different methods laid out the book instead of stories about current events that Newsweek had to offer.

Unit 3 Part 2

1. Which of your questions did you try to answer?
What are the benefits of becoming a business major? Will I have job opportunities?

2. What EXACT terms did you enter into the keyword search screen?
Job AND Opportunities AND Business

3. What subject heading did you choose to be sure your item was on target and the best option for your search?
Job opportunities

4. What item did you eventually choose? Why?
Peterson's Job Opportunities Business

5. Give the bibliographic information for the item you chose.
Peterson's Job Opportunities Business
Copyright 1999 Peterson's, a division of Thomson Learning
Printed in Canada
Publisher Peterson and Thompson Learning
Publishing location Hoovers inc. Austin, Texas
No Author

6. When you looked at the reference work, what quote did you choose? Why?
"Americans may change jobs five, seven, nine, or fifteen times during their careers, depending on which career counselor and/or human resource specialist you happen to be listening to." "The business environment is changing so fast, so dramatically that it can only be called a revolution. What do we have to look forward to when it all seems so unstable? A lot, actually. Employee's on the whole, already have much greater diversity in their tasks and more decision making authority."
I chose these quotes because the first one describes a lot of people's way of job hunting. I am choosing business, and the second quote really reassures me that I will not have a hard time finding the right job that works for me. From small task workers, to CEO's, employees in the business industry are continuing to become more powerful and diverse in their own specialization.

7. What makes this a reference book as opposed to a regular book you might find in the book stacks?
This book is really like a road map to success rather than an everyday library book. It lays out business in a strategical way to help out its readers. Important steps to finding a job such as resumes, job searching methods, interview techniques, pros and cons of the business world are all laid out in depth to help. The rest of the book lists out specific jobs for each major, listed in terms of location by state. It is a convenient and fast little guide to find a job description that fits your diverse self.

8. In looking at the material in the book and the publication date in the bibliographic information, what year do you think the information really comes from?
The information from the book was probably from 1998. It was published in 1999, so all of the research was probably from the year before hand. They researched businesses and wrote about how they performed the year before and some of the duties the workers were responsible for. The information was current for the time, because people in 1999 needed to use it to find jobs for the millennium as the inside of the book suggests.

Unit 3 Library Catalog

A)
1. 46 results found under “business” and “jobs”

a) Author, if given
Stephen E. Lambert

b)Title
Great Jobs for Business Majors

c) Edition
2nd edition

d)Place of publication
Chicago

e)Publisher
McGraw-Hill Trade

f)Date of publication
c2003

2. Ebrary source
LC Call Number: HF5382.7.L347 2003eb Dewey Decimal Number: 650.14

3. Job hunting.
Business students – Employment.

4. Business students – Employment
2 entries found

5. a) I had more entries found with the subject heading search over the key word search.
b) The first few results were very helpful in my subject heading search, however the helpfulness faded as I journeyed down the list. The Key word search focused on what I needed to research throughout all of the entries found. The topics in the subject heading search became vague and began having nothing to do with my topic whatsoever the first five or ten results.
c) The keyword search worked better for me because both of the words I searched for were important for my results. The keywords were located and brought out in the first search. In the subject heading search I found a lot on business, but not in the sense that I wanted information about. Business became a much too large topic to focus in on and I was led astray.

B) Keyword searches work a lot like the search engines when it comes to finding a book. The use of Boolean Operators is key in finding the sources that apply to your topic the best. I was able to search “business” AND “jobs” in order to find the perfect e-book to help me further my research. The subject heading search took my larger topic, business, and found information that suited it. I found many business sources, but used in so many different ways. It did not focus in on the jobs term and it was not as helpful. I feel that the key word search pinpoints information whereas the subject heading search gives you a vast overview of a topic.

My goldilocks!

1) Your topic string
a. Your broadest topic (1/2 point)
Solving the economy crisis
My major really relates to the topic of the economy crisis we are currently in right now. I want to know if I am in the right major to help fix the problem.
b. Your next broad topic (1/2 point)
restimulating businesses and helping the dollar appreciate in value

The first step in solving the economy crisis is by helping businesses succeed again. Money needs to be flowing in the economy in order for the dollar to appreciate and be what it once was. Businesses will help start this process.

c. Your starting topic (1 point)
Becoming a Business major and its benefits

This is the topic I started with since it relates directly to me. Starting with this question will help me find out the bigger problem I am working towards, and the smaller steps that will lead me to the solution.


d. Your narrower topic (1/2 point)
Job opportunities that a business major leads you to

Job opportunities are scarce in today’s society. I wanted to know where my major is taking me and if I would have a job waiting for me after all of my hard work. Coming from one of the top business schools around and after my research, I feel very confident.



e. Your even narrower topic (1/2 point)
Duties of a financial analyst

I researched jobs and narrowed one of my choices to a financial analyst. My brother-in-law is a financial analyst and his job really seems interesting. I would directly be able to help people manage their money, which would be a giant step in helping the economy.


2) Think of two questions that you could ask about your topic
a. How many job opportunities will be available in the business market in the next years trying to help restimulate the economy? (1/2 point)
b. Is 2009 a good time to be seeking a business degree? (1/2 point)
c. Will the dollar appreciate in value as more businesses begin helping America’s advancement?

Delicious Log Entry

What is Delicious?

Delicious is a web tool that lets you bookmark websites that you have browsed. It is handy because you can save all of your websites in one area with a simple click of a button. You can easily tag a website, manage it, and even share it with other users. The most interesting thing is that you can easily browse other user's bookmarks to see if they are helpful to you.


What is the advantage of this Web 2.0 tool?
The advantage is that it can help you research with ease. For instance, you are able to browse different search engines using different search techniques in a much more controlled way. You can keep track of your favorite websites by tagging them and then return to them later. This helps keeps your information much more organized in the long run. It is also handy to be able to see what other users have tagged. This leads you to useful results that seem to help. If they are good websites for someone else, chances are they could help you too. All in all Delicious acts as a great organizational tool.



Do you think you might use it? If so, why? If not, why not?
I think I will use the delicious tool if I have to write a paper that requires a hefty amount of research. I will be able to stay organized and on track throughout the long process. It will also help with bibliographies and works cited at the end of the paper since all my web pages will be managed and saved the way I want them to be.

What question did you try to answer?
How do you construct a box plot?

What terms did you select to begin?
construct box plot

What web search engine or engines did you use?
Google, Yahoo!, Gigablast

What search terms did you use?
construct OR box plot construct+box+plot "construct box plot"

What search techniques did you try?
Excluding words, Boolean operator, nesting

How did you evaluate your results?
I noticed that I recieved the most relevant information when I used the nesting technique. I used the delicious tool to bookmark one website from each search engine: Yahoo!, Google, and Gigablast. I used information from one of the webpages Google retrived for me because it answered my question perfectly. The title was how to construct a box plot, and it showed the method step by step. I also used C.A.R.D.I.O. to help evaluate my results.

What conclusions did you draw about the different search engines? Consider i. what was the same? ii. what was different? iii. Differences in numbers of results iv. etc.
Gigablast was the search engine that had the most specific answers. It was precise with a smaller set of results. Yahoo! was the largest, finding over 500,000 more results than Google, and an astounding 2.9 million more that gigablast. Google gave me step by step instructions, where Yahoo! gave me information on box plots and other terms that involved the topic. Gigablast did not really help me as it honed in on the specific words. For example it came up with how to construct a rhombus, and things having to do with movie plots. I felt that Google was the most helpful search engine in this case. They all offered graphs and other math tools to help answer my question.

Why do you think the search engines behaved as they did?
I think Google found such a great match because it lists results by popularity. People around the world are taking math classes and research how to construct a box plot. I assume that this website was extremely popular because it was so to the point and easy to follow. Yahoo! also had a similar result called making a box plot. It was also very good, but it was not as easy to follow with the steps that the websit Google found me. Gigablast found a great website that acted as a math tool, however only found a few related results. Gigablast reacted this way because it tried to use the words I entered and there relevancy throughout the web. It gave me some good sites, but some sites that were irrelevant due to the specific search of one certain word.

What other questions came into your mind as you carried out this exercise?
While researching my question I also wondered, what other methods are there to graph information in statistics? What jobs use the construction of box plots in their everyday work?

Research Log Activity and Entry II

What question did you try to answer?

What is the invisble hand in economics?

What search engine or engines did you use?

Google and Yahoo!

What search terms did you use?

invisible hand economics
invisible or hand or economics
"invisible hand economics"

How many results did you get when you entered your terms? How many did you get when you used OR? Which set was bigger? Can you figure out why?

Invisible hand economics 2,210,000
invisible or hand or economics 3,560,000
"invisible hand economics" 610
The set using the word or was much larger than the set with quotes and the set without. This is because it brings up the sites that contain any one of the three words. Without the or, it locates the sites that have all three of the words within the text.

What questions did you use to evaluate your results?

Who published the page?
When was the last date the page was updated?
Is there a bias?
Is the author credible?
How is the information presented? Is it valid?

What conclusion did you draw about the value of the site and why?

The page was great in the fact that it was recent. It was last updated January 12, 2009. It is also good since after every passage, the information is cited. It is a page constructed from many other works, so there is no bias. The authors are credible because they are real authors of books.

Having conducted this research activity, what questions came into your mind that you could use to continue your exploration?

What forms of government came before and after the invisible hand?
Who discouraged the invisible hand theory?
Which parts of the world accepted this theory? Which did not?

Research Log Entry I

There were a number of concepts presented this week.
A) Which did you know already?

From my former English class I already learned a lot about evaluating web resources. I knew a lot of the main questions such as, when was the site updated, who published it, and if the author was credible from doing bibliographies and works cited. It is important to ask yourself these questions in order to know that you are receiving information that is valid and from a notable source. I knew about most of the search engines and URL information.

B) Which were new to you?

I had never heard the word Boolean operators before, but I learned the concept for researching back in eighth grade for an end of the year project. Learning how to research in search engines is really half the battle, and to further understand will help a lot. The tip, "or is more" is handy and will help me remember when researching. This helps to broaden or narrow your search when needed. I did not know it was important to add in all synonyms connected with or's in order to receive better information.

If you were given a research assignment and you chose the web as one strategy for your search, name three important evaluation elements you need to consider.

1. What is the date of the last publication of the site? Is it current?
2. The authority of the author. Is he or she credible?
3. Is there a bias? You need to know if the author is trying to persuade you.