Final Research Journal Entry

Wow! HTML is pretty easy! I think I am going to research how to apply html coding to my Farscape blog and really get to work on organizing an effort to at least get some original webisodes produced using a grassroots approach to fund raising. My html assignment is very simplistic, but the tags that are used to tell the browser how to display the page is a very easy system. I was somewhat apprehensive about trying to use a "hypertext markup language". The wording made it sound very technical, and that I would need some 500 page manual to learn how to use it properly. I was pleasantly surprised that I was able to make changes to the html final within minutes. I am absolutely sure with practice that I can make a really engaging and visually pleasing blog that will encourage people to spend time reading about Farscape. And now for my link to the web page assignment.

Top Level Domain Summary

I found the practice with top level domain searching to be very informative. Depending on the topic, the top level domain search can be very useful. For the topic of censorship, the .edu domain was by far the most useful. It cut out tons of terrible newspaper articles and useless blog posts. It brought me directly to the law departments of well known and credible universities that would only allow appropriate posts by knowledgeable people that used very credible resources. I initially did not like Bing as a search tool, but after using it in combination with Google I have decided that it is fairly useful. I think that I would recommend that people engage in top level domain searches with the Google vs. Bing search tool when beginning a search for a paper. I wish that the Digital Librarian would have provided a search tool for her site. I think the Amazon search bar is a disingenuous strategy to divert people to the Amazon marketplace.

Subject Directory

I decided to use the subject directory Digital Librarian, and found it to be a somewhat irritating resource. Why is there a search bar at the top that shoots me directly over to Amazon? There are obviously many good resources that Margaret Anderson has found and cataloged. Why doesn't she provide a search tool that searches the directory that she has created? Doesn't that defeat the purpose of an internet based subject directory? Part of the usefulness of digital media is the ability to search without having to thumb through material letter by letter. I would like to use this directory, but she needs to find someone to code an internal search engine into the site. I know some high school kid could do it. She could probably find some widget on the internet that she could grab the code to and paste it into her site. I think many people would find her site more interesting and useful if she did this.

.com search

I again went with the Google vs. Bing search tool. It gives me an interesting sample side by side that makes searching pleasant and more pain free. The article that I found was from the Huffington Post. I am a little unsure about using articles from the HuffPo. I know that it is a news aggregator, but it does have original articles. I would approach my instructor ahead of time before using it, just to make sure it is suitable for an academic paper. The article is written by Glenn Greenwald who is a lawyer and published writer that has contributed to established and reliable publications such as the The New York Times and the L.A. Times. The article was also written recently and within the last five years.

Greenwald, Glenn. The Huffington Post. Palin: First Amendment Rights Threatened By Criticis. December 1, 2008. March 9, 2010. www.huffingtonpost.com

.gov search

The Google vs. Bing search is proving to be a very efficient search tool. I used it again for my "first amendment" basic rights search. I found an interesting .gov site that has a faq about public access television. This is not an article, but it does provide very interesting insight to how the city of Seattle deals with censorship and cable media. The site is published by the city of Seattle, so the views are the approved view of the City Council. I would use this website to demonstrate how a city allows people to express themselves initially, but will consider censorship if their is a public outcry.

Seattle.gov. Who should I contact if I have a complaint regarding a program on the Seattle Community Access Network (SCAN) on Channel 29/77? March 8, 2010. March 9, 2010. www.seattle.gov.

.edu search

I have decided after further thought that the Google vs. Bing site is a handy way to search. I entered "first amendment" basic rights :.edu into the search field.

Hoover, Brandon James. Binghamton University, State University of New York. The First Amendment Implications of Facebook, Myspace, and Other Online Activity of Students in Public High Schools. March 3, 2010. March 9, 2010. www.binghamton.edu.

This article is an excellent law source because the article is extensively sited with very credible resources. It is from a respectable public learning institution. The author is a lawyer that has published other works at university publishing houses that have been peer reviewed.

.org search

I used Google to search for my .org site. I used the search statement "first amendment"+basic+rights :.org. This site is definitely slanted toward unions and the middle class, so it is important to keep that in mind when using it, but it does give an accurate voice to the liberal side of free speech rights.

National Coalition Against Censorship. Free Expression at Risk, and Elsewhere. 12-15-2009. 2-27-2010.