Electronic Resources of the Internet
Westchester Campus; June - July, 2002
INSTRUCTOR: Terry Ballard
terry.ballard@quinnipiac.edu
203-582-8945
INSTRUCTOR: Terry Ballard
terry.ballard@quinnipiac.edu
203-582-8945
COURSE DESCRIPTION
An introduction to tools and information resources available through the networks linked by the Internet, and how they are used for communication, information storage, access, delivery, and resource sharing as they affect the library and information professionals. Discussions focus on access to and use of library catalogs, indexes, databases, course reserves, journal holding data and full-text data in electronic form. The history and evolution of global networks will be briefly delineated. Various issues relating to networks and networked information will also be explored.
Prerequisite: Basic computer competency
Identify information needs of society through the application of principles of organization, selection, and evaluation of information resources.
Apply appropriate methods of research, evaluation, and measurement for problem-solving and decision-making.
Recognize the importance of the contributions of other fields of knowledge to the profession, ethical behavior, and commitment to the ideals of intellectual freedom.
Address the needs of the 21st century libraries and information organization.
Describe the historical development, structure, and functions of networks in communication, information storage, access, retrieval, delivery, and resource sharing.
Use basic tools such as E-mail, FTP, Telnet, Gopher and WWW to communicate with other people on the net or to get access to network resources (e.g., OPACs, CWIS, Freenets).
Create Web pages using HTML code.
Describe the social, legal, cultural, and organizational impact of the Internet and the resources available through its tools.
Write an essay to compare and evaluate options for accessing and obtaining electronic resources on the network, and assess their importance in relation to traditional and alternative forms of information resources and services.
Introduction to the Internet
History and development
Structure and governance
Tools and resources
Levels of connectivity
Communications Basics
Telecommunications
Data communications
Network Basics
Functions
Components
Topologies
Standards & protocols
Network Tools
E-mail
MIME
Telnet
FTP
Archie
USENET
LISTSERVs & Mailing Lists
Gopher
WWW
Hardware Software Data/Information Netiquette and Issues
Internetiquette
Copyright
Security
Access barriers
Future outlook
NREN, NII
Internet
1. Exercises
Will be distributed via e-mail.
2. Web Page Design & Construction
Create a Web page for yourself, incorporating at least one link for each of the three linkage types.
3. This should take the form of a pathfinder of Internet resources for a topic of your choice. Annotate it to the extent that any Internet user would be able to:
Due Date: The last class.
1. Chapters 1 and 2 in the text. 2. Bailey reading below. 3. OCLC's CORC in the library, by Terry Ballard. 3. Choose topic for webpage. 2. "Why librarians should rule the net." 3. A Cyberspace Independence Declaration by John Perry Barlow. 4. What is credible information? by Donald T. Hawkins Assignment - the search engine game: Choose a topic - hopefully the one that you are thinking about for your final project. Search that topic in Google, Alta Vista, HotBot, Go.com and Northern Light. Count the number of hits for the search in each. Score 5 points for the engine with the most hits, down to 1 point for the engine with the least. Now look at the first 5 hits in each engine, and add to the search engine's score in the following way: For each of the hits that is highly relevant to your topic score 3 points. If it is moderately useful score two points. If it is marginal, score 1 point. If it is entirely useless, add a zero. If it is a dead link, take away a point. By adding up the score for each engine, you should have a sense of which engines are the most useful. 2. "Internet Reference: Just the good stuff," by Terry Ballard, Information Today, December, 1997. Will be handed out in class. 1. Text, Chapter 7. 2. "Taking OPACs to the limit," by Terry Ballard, Information Today, January, 2001 3. Adding Internet resources to our OPACs," by Eric Lease Morgan. ASSIGNMENT: The Popularity game. Choose 5 web sites that you think might be useful to your library. Go to Altavista and give it the following command in the search box - link:www.whatever.com, substituting whatever with the URL you want to check. See how many web sites link to this site. Look at the first 5 hits for each and see if the linking sites are from k12, edu, com or net sites. I'll demonstrate this in class. Practice links on your Geocities page, if you have access to a computer. Reading: 1. Text, Chapter 13. 2. Keyword, Subject - finding the middle path," by Terry Ballard, Information Today, June, 1998. ASSIGNMENT: Find a WOW site that hasn't been covered in class, and be prepared to show it to the group, using 3-5 minutes. Finish work on your final project July 2 - The early Internet and the major browsers for Web Access. Tonight's WOW sites: Mapquest aerial photography - http://www.mapquest.com July 9 - Usage tracking. Presentation at: faculty.quinnipiac.edu/libraries/tballard/usage.pdf This night's WOW sites: Statistical Abstract of the United States Healthfinder - a government resource New York Public Library's Web Resources for cardholders University of Pennsylvania's list of free ebooks online July 11 - Ebooks, proprietary databases, IP recognition and proxy servers. Tonight's WOW sites: The Internet Public Library Other mentioned sites: The Basic HTML Guide July 16 - OPACs. Presentation: 18 things that OPACs can do. List of Web Catalogs in New York. Search any of the catalogs in the Suffolk County system, and then choose County Catalog to search the entire system. July 18 - Imaging. The Internet Library of Early Journals July 23 - Class members' favorite web sites.
July 25 - Java, SGML, XML, Future of the Internet.
Exercises (4 @ 5% each) 20% Weekly paragraphs 20% Web page/pathfinder creation 50% Class participation 10%
Readings: 1. Text, Chapter 3
Readings: 1. Text, Chapter 4.
Look through some of the applications for libraries pertinent to your career plans at: Innovative Internet Applications in Libraries
Reading:
Text, Chapter 8.Major topic outline
J-PASS - finding the space station - liftoff.msfc.nasa.gov/RealTime/JPass/20/
CIA World Factbook - www.odci.gov/cia/publications/factbook/index.html
SCI-Quest - free articles in the sciences www.sciquest.com/cgi-bin/ncommerce3/ExecMacro/sci_search.d2w/report
Internet Movie Database www.imdb.orgWOW Sites 7-16
The Animation Factory
Tonight's WOW sites:
ACRL RUSA Best sites of 2000
Text: The World Wide Web - the web is well on its way to being a storehouse of all good and bad information that humans have gathered. The links I have provided are to be used as a springboard for you to discover both. If you are new to the Web, you might want to start by looking at this FAQ (Frequently Asked Questions) list.
Bonario, Steve, and Thornton, Ann. (1996). Library-oriented lists and electronic serials. URL -- http://info.lib.uh.edu/liblists/liblists.htm Innovative Internet Applications in Libraries Ready Reference Using the Internet
Here a Java program to adapt.
Best of the Web. A guide to the effective searching of the Internet. Bailey, Charles W., Jr. "Network-Based Electronic Publishing of Scholarly Works: A Selective Bibliography." The Public-Access Computer Systems Review 6, no. 1 (1995). (Version 26: 10/25/96)
Terry Ballard is Automation Librarian at Quinnipiac University in Hamden, Connecticut. Prior to that, he was a Systems Librarian at Adelphi University and a Reference Librarian at St. John's University. He earned his MLS from the University of Arizona in 1989. He is a columnist for the journal Information Today, and is the author of the book "INNOPAC: A reference guide to the system," Published by Information Today in 1995.
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