She says...

EIR as a whole..

2011-02-15T04:45:00.000-08:00

This will be my last blog post on EIR. I have learnt alot of things after taking this CDS. For example, how to make my search more effective and how to narrow down a search. I was also introduced to the different search engines which includes Google, Scholar Google, MetaCrawler and Yahoo! Subject directory. I have also learnt how to evaluate a website. All these knowledge and skills will make my research more effective and will definitely helps when I do a research in future. I have also participated in Wiki and discussion forums which gain me great experience. All in all, I have enjoyed every single practical lesson and will definitely miss the fun I had in participating and making new friends in class.

Dream Holiday

2011-01-24T02:46:00.000-08:00

My dream holiday destination is... Paris!

Paris is the capital and largest city in France. It is one of the most populated metropolitan areas in Europe and has been ranked among the three most important and influential cities in the world. It is also the world's most expensive city to live in. Paris and its region are the most popular tourist destination in the world containing numerous iconic landmarks, particularly the Eiffel Tower, as well as world-famous institutions and popular parks.

Here is a multimedia website of Paris: http://en.parisinfo.com/
This is how the website looks like...

I have used 3 criteria to evaluate the website. Namely, coverage, currency and presentation and arrangement.

The coverage of the site is important as it needs to satisfy the needs of the audience. In this case, the website provides user with information on the type and place of accommodation, restuarants and cafes to dine in, famous museums & monuments and even the maps and transport in Paris. These information are important for tourists as it helps them to decide and plan their whole trips and tours.

They also provides photographs of Paris!

The website provides up-to-date information as one can see from the "currently in Paris" section which provides information about current events happening in Paris which tourists should not missed. For example, they have a De Stijl et Mondrian (The Style and Mondrian) exhibitions from December 1 2010 to March 21 2011 in Centre Georges Pompidou.

It also has a neat layout and the presentation and arrangement of information is consistent throughout. It has graphics and moving images which enhances the overall look of the site and most importantly capture attention. Informations are logically arranged and categorized at the top of the page which include hotels & accommodation, restaurants & cafes, museums & monuments, maps & transport and shopping & fashion. It has navigational icons such as "Home" and is easy to read. As such, users are able to navigate easily and more efficiently.

More pictures of Paris found in the web:

Paroramic view over the western side of Paris, at dusk, from the top of the Tour Montparnasse

Panorama of Paris which shows some of its landmarks

After looking at the above photos, you must be in awe by the scenaries in Paris like me! And yes, the romantic scenaries is the reason why Paris has become my dream holiday! And to be able to live in this largest city in France and touring the iconic landmarks would definitely be a dream come true for me!

Citizen Journalism and Stomp

2011-01-13T02:29:00.000-08:00

During EIR lesson, the class has come out with a list of words that describe what citizen journalism meant. I have recorded it down:

a) User-submitted/ citizen/ public
b) Non-professional reporting
c) No privacy (invasion)
d) Sharing/ contribution
e) Freedom of views
f) subjective/bias/unbiased
g) Blogs/educational/reviews/news/wikis

Next, we were asked to evaluate Stomp based on 2 out of 9 criteria assigned to us. They are 'currency' and 'assessibility'. After evaluating the site, we have concluded that Stomp provides up-to-date information as the date of the source produced is within this week. Also, users do not need to register or log in to access the articles. However, registration is required to comment on a post. Large amount of pictures and videos is also available in Stomp and it is best viewed with IE 6.0 or Firefox 1.0 or above. Singapore Press Holdings Ltd has the copyright ownership.

So, what do I think of citizen Journalism and Stomp?

Basically, Stomp provides reporting from professionals such as The Straits Times as well as user-submitted reports and comments about anything under the sun. Most often than not, these contributions are public and the netizens' opinions and views of certain topics or subjects. The reports and articles can ve subjective, biased or unbiased and it ranges widely from socially important news to sharing of displeases about random people on the streets. For example, one can submit an entry to Stomp about a ransom student couple holding hands outside school premises. In addition, photos or videos are taken and uploaded into Stomp which could easily invade into others' privacy. Most of the times, the author of these articles would not use their real name . Thus, it is difficult to track them down. Hence, you would not know if one day an article written about you could end up in Stomp!

CS's blog!

2011-01-06T02:59:00.000-08:00

Today, I would like to comment on Chao Siang's blogpost..

To start with, Chao Siang's blog has a neat layout. The black and white contrast of the font and the background make it aesthetically pleasing. He even has a tagboard, music and and clock placed at the right side of his blog.

Chao Siang has a blog post on "Virtual Shopping Spree on Second Life (E-learning Activity)" which I find interesting. His avatar went on to Man in Action (MIA) for a shopping trip. It seems like he enjoyed the whole activity. The part where he found a jail during the spree was amusing.

Moreover, I agree with Chao Siang that shopping in a real online shopping is much more convenient than in Secondlife as we can easily choose our items with just a few clicks instead of 'walking' our avatar to the different shops and select the items we want which can be time consuming.

His other post is as interesting too. Chao Siang has definitely put in great effort in maintaining his blog. So, keep it up Chao Siang!

Invisible Web

2011-01-06T02:16:00.000-08:00

Most information resides in online databases (also known as the invisible or deep web). Hence, search engines can only find information on the visible web. Compared to other search engines like Google, the invisible web contains actual data or information such as articles, abstracts and citations, census data, patents, etc. Most importantly, it gives reliable, up-to-date information.

Similar to most search engines, the invisible web supports Boolean operators, phrase and proximity searches, Advanced search and truncation.

Hence, I think the invisible web is as effective as other search engines such as Google. Both have their strengths and weaknesses. As such, the effectiveness of each of them depends on the information you are looking for!

If you are researching on a familiar topic, a search engine or meta search engine is recommended. If you are researching on an unfamiliar topic, use a subject directory as it allows you to browse through relevant links. And if you are researching for specialized information, use invisible web (databases like EbscoHost) or intelligent agents.

Another example of invisible web commonly known to Temasek Polytechnic students would be the TP’s Digital Library Portal site (http://spark.tp.edu.sg/). I have been using the invisible web (TP’s Digital Library Portal site) to collect articles as required for one of my module. It is definitely a convenient way to look up for data.

Practical 4&5

2010-11-30T22:41:00.000-08:00

Unlike Google search engine, Meta Search engine do not have its own database. In a returned result, relevant information from various databases are collected together making it convenient for users as they do not need to access multiple search engines.

Subject directories on the other hand makes browsing the easiest and most effective as users can find their way through a hierarchy of topics. However, search results do not go into millions like Google search engine. Hence, the probability of finding what u need or what is relevant to your topic would be lower.

Thus, I did a search on Yahoo directory using the same search query but the number of times the search term appears in the results is the lowest compared to Google and MetaCrawler. The returned searches are places of volcanic eruptions and mostly irrelevant topics like prophecy, alien VS predator.

By using different search facilities, we are open to wider and broader information related to our search topic as the different search facilities may provide us with assorted information. As some search facilities may provide little information relevant to our search topic, by using different search facilities, the chances of finding useful information would increase. This would greatly enhance our resources.

With the use of site feeds, information is organized in a structured format. Hence, reading of blogs and other related sites would be easier. Furthermore, browsing my friend’s blog or any related site would be more effective and convenient!

Wiki Collaboration

2010-11-30T02:14:00.000-08:00

Collaborating on Wiki with other students has given me a meaningful opportunity to gather information of a common subject with users whom I do not know. It can be surprising sometimes when you find that some users provide information which you are not able to supply. Moreover, the content may be aesthetically interesting and some are out of the ordinary.

However, collaborating on Wiki can be unethical as other students are able to edit your work without any notice or even delete the whole of your entries.

Second Life

2010-11-19T04:22:00.000-08:00

Temasek Polytechnic and PolyU Collaboration on Second Life

For this week EIR, we were asked to complete an E-learning activity. Virtual youths meeting and networking on Second Life as well as virtual shopping spree on Second Life. However, we have to first complete a visit to The orientation island on Virtual Life before starting our e-learning activity.

Some screenshots of my visit to The orientation island:

Afterwhich I teleported to PolyU Campus on Second Life by keying-in "HKPolyU Campus" on the Map. And here I am!

At HKPolyU Campus, I get to know a student from Hong Kong. His avatar name is BillyNg Daylight. We chatted and exchanged some information needed to complete our assignment.

This is BillyNg Daylight, flexing his muscle. Look! How interesting can Second Life be! =D

It is an interesting experience on Second Life as I get to know people from Hong Kong through a virtual meeting. The exciting part is to get to chat with somebody I don't know and exchange information about ourself. The best experience on Second Life is to voice chat with a friend through microphone. However, this function can be a bit lagged.

It is important to observe my manners and behaviours when meeting my new friend on Second Life. Because we can't see face to face, our behaviours speak a lot about ourselves. Thus, I need to be careful about my manners and how I communicate with my virtual friend to prevent giving them the wrong impression! Moreover, everyone shares the same chatbox. So, our conversation is not kept private!

It was fun getting to know a new friend from Hong Kong through virtual life. He was really nice to share with me some information. I get to know what he usually shops online, what he usually buy, his favourite sites and some popular E-shopping sites in Hong Kong!
From this E-learning experience, I get to meet new friends and expand my social network online!

The most challenging experience on Second Life is to maintain a conversation with somebody. As there can be many people chatting at the same time, the chatbox tends to be flooded with different conversations. As a result, I would need to keep scrolling the chatbox to read my conversation so as to keep the conversation going!

EIR Practical 3- Facebook Forum

2010-11-13T07:41:00.001-08:00

I have also participated in a Facebook discussion forum. The topic is 'Internet makes users feel more lonely and alienated. Do you agree? Why?'.

I was a bit doubtful at first as it was my first forum discussion I am involved in. However, it was a good experience as I get to voice out my opinions and get to know how different users react and respond to the discussion. It was also great to receive replies and comments about the users point of view towards the topic.

Compared with the traditional face-to-face in-class discussions, online discussion are more engaging as you would not get interrupted when voicing out your opinion or afraid that people may shoot you with negative feedbacks or comments directly in your face or get laughed at. It was definitely a meaningful and a unique way of expressing your thoughts other then classroom activities.

Discussion forum is definitely going to be helpful for my research as the information I am able to receive would range widely. Furthermore, it is an easy way to acquire information too!

Google VS Google Scholar

2010-11-13T00:45:00.000-08:00

During this week's practical, we were introduced to Google (http://www.google.com/) and Google Scholar (http://scholar.google.com/). Ever heard of Google Scholar? Well, it's something new to me as well.

"Google Scholar provides a search of scholarly literature across many disciplines and sources, including theses, books, abstracts and articles." -abstracted from Google. As such, the 'advanced scholar search' feature in Google Scholar would be efficient in finding specific articles that one need.

Here's a search query I have created to be used for researching in search engine: (causes OR reasons) AND (effect* OR impact) AND volcano AND (erupt* OR explosion) AND (society OR people). Here are the screenshots of the search results after entering the search query in Google and Scholar Google.

After exploring Google and Scholar Google, I find that Google is useful in providing me with the relevant results for my research whereas Scholar Google provides results that are irrelevant to my research topic. Moreover, I find that Google is more established and widely used than Google Scholar. I am also more familar with Google. Hence, I have decided to access Google to gather the information I need.

Google has different features and functions. And each of them are equally important in assisting users in their search. Google also ranks it's site by it's popularity. Hence, clicking more than the first few pages of the returned results would be considered as inefficient! I have also learnt that using search query that include keyword and variations help make my search easier. Overall, I am impressed by the information Google is able to provide me with!

Citation and Biblography
Citation acknowledges the source of information as inadequate citations imply plagiarism. As such, it is an essential feature in a research work. Bibliography on the other hand is an extensive list of sources you have consulted as you worked on or thought about your document. To represent the research you've done in preparation for writing, you can identify the sources by citing in your work as it also offers your audience suggestions for further reading on your topic.

Online Discussion Forum

2010-11-10T00:05:00.000-08:00

In this practical, we are also asked to access either a discussion forum or a newsgroup that is related to our topic. I started by searching Google for a topic relating to my topic on Volcanoes. There are many results on different forum sites on the topic Volcano. However, many of the post have become "stagnant". For example, the newest post in the thread can be dated a year or two ago. So, I doubt the person who started the thread will reply my post.

Finally, I come across a forum page http://www.topix.com/. They have different topics in their forum page and were widely used by netizens. Then, I found a few discussions related to my topic and quickly decided on one. Here it is: http://www.topix.com/forum/news/volcanic-eruption/TG4NHS3I6R6H23QGG#lastPost. There is a total of 14 posts and the posts are quite recent.

Here are some screenshots:

I have replied a few posts on the thread.

The forum page also shows related discussions on volcanoes where I could access at ease.

What I've learnt in EIR Practical 3

2010-11-08T23:48:00.000-08:00

In this practical thus far, I have learnt that there are many forms of internet resources. Some of them are Blogs & Wikis, Online Forums, Newsgroups, Mailing/ discussion lists, and Full-text documents. Moreover, they exist for a different purpose. ie. Information, Advocacy, Business/Marketing, News, Personal, Entertainment.

I have also learnt that the term “Wiki” also refers to the collaborative software (wiki engine) that supports the operation of such a website and that "wiki” is a short version of the Hawaiian term "wiki wiki", meaning "quick" or "fast". It is also an interesting fact that "Wiki" is sometimes intrepreted as “What I know is”.

I have also learnt that using keywords, wildcards, Boolean operators and phrase-searching further refines my search. These search functions helps make a search more efficient!

E-Shopping Spree- If I have $500...

2010-11-08T10:19:00.000-08:00

If I have $500, I would like to buy..

1) Fuji Instant Instax Mini 7S Polaroid Camera + Film&Case: S$ 142.09

Wouldn't it be nice if you can get instant photos of yourself with ur family and friends anywhere and anytime?

2) New Lomo Holga 120N 120N Snap Shot Plastic Camera: S$ 34.65

I think its pretty cool to own a Holga. It is inexpensive and no two Holgas are quite alike, each one with different personality and awaits you to explore them. Having a holga inspires one to take creative pictures.

3) Fossil women watch- Analog Champagne Dial S$195.00

First impression counts. Having a watch like this would definately make one looks smarter.

Moreover, the black inlays give this shiny timepiece the ability to dress up any look.

Introduction

2010-10-28T00:33:00.000-07:00

Hello readers,

My name is Tan Li Rong. I am from Accounting & Finance, currently in Year 2. My friends have given me a nickname Elle. It all started since Year 1 of my poly life when a classmate of mine has decided to call me L because she has difficulties remembering my name. And slowly, the whole class started to call me by this nickname.

My favourite pastime would be playing childhood games such as "Catching","Police & Thieves" and "block catching". And yes, this sounds childish but it was a lot of fun! Remember when i was still a kid, I used to run around during recess time with my classmates and would play 'hide & seek' around the house with my cousins during our weekly gathering. Sadly, we are all grownups now hence wouldn't be able to fit inside cupboards or hide behind sofas.

My favourite TV programme? None. Usually, I had watch half of it and get distracted. I have short attention span and would either find myself snacking and stoning in front of the tv or end up using my laptop!

My favourite hangouts and chill out places differ when I am with different groups of people. I used to chill out at Vivo City skypark with my secondary school mates. It is definitely a place to spend the evening away. Starbucks would be the appropriate choice after a day of shopping with JMMs and the esplanade with my colleagues after work.

I am passionate about Netball. I love sports and netball is definitely one of them. It is a sport that will get you addicted to it. If you are interested in finding more about netball, you can visit Singapore Netball site at http://www.netball.org.sg/.