Google 101

There are lots of new things I have learned during google 101. I have learned to use ~, + or -, related: that will help to bring more sources. Now, I know that if I use .gov or .edu it will bring me up the government and educational related sources. I have learned that there are tools that help translate languages and we can also search the news from other countries. With the use of "~" we can search the term related to our topics. The image tool where we could upload the photo and search for it was really amazing. I know now how to use scholar sources as well.
This has completely changed my opinion about google and online sources. Now, I know that we can get good sources if we know how to use the various tools during research.We can get many sources or just limit it. Also, it provides variety of sources which can be useful while narrowing down.
Ofcourse, I will mostly use these tools for my school work and researches but I will use it in everyday or real life situations as it has informations for almost everything.

Are Blogs a legitimate forms of Scholarship or News?

I think the blogs depending on the topic, facts and writer credential may or may not be the legitimate forms of scholarship or news. As people from all over the world have access to the blogs the informations and sources are not limited to only one part of the world. Most of the time the writers have very few or basic knowledge or just an opinion about certain topics. But sometimes the academic blogs created by scholars and professionals can be good and factual source of informations.
The blog I found for my research project is http://linguisticsoman.blogspot.com/2011/12/innovative-way-to-save-endangered.html which is I believe a legitimate form of news. In the beginning it starts like any other blog with general informations with little facts but at the end of the blog there is a youtube video that serves as an evident for this blog being legitimate and reliable.

Work cited:
Linguist Omani. (2011, Dec 2). An innovative way to save an endangered language: Possible in Oman?
Retrieved from http://linguisticsoman.blogspot.com/2011/12/innovative-way-to-save-endangered.html

Semester Research Questions

When reviewing the research questions, I could answer the questions 1,2,3,4 and 6 right now with the informations I have gathered so far. But I am still seeking for more informations and sources. For questions 5,7 and 8 I have not yet found the proper resources to address these question so I am currently working on it.

Research Reflection

1. Although, I have very little knowledge about the LGBT population. The one population of this group that interests me in specific is bisexual group.I would like to learn about this group of people over the course of this semester.
2. I assume that bisexual people have romantic or sexual and emotional attraction towards both men and women.
3. I have learned this from movies, internet, books, magazines and from society.
4. I think the most difficult challenge would be to understand what causes them to be bisexual, is it something more emotional, psychological or biological, does hormones play a role in such behaviors, does one can like both male and female at the same time?

Academic Search Premier and a Subject Specific Database

1. While doing a research on my topic I found relevant results on both of the database so I chose to use both the  database for my research.
2. However, PsycINFO gave more relevant results and Academic Search Premier gave more specific results for my topic.
3. I was able to narrow down my results in Academic Search Premier by using ("native  and american"or indian or tribes) and (language or communicate* or oral) and (child* or youth or adolescen*). For PsycINFOR I used the same search string ("native and american" or indian or tribe) and ( language or communicate* or oral) and (child* or youth or adolescen*). I also used advanced search for both database to narrow down my topic but Academic Search Premier gave me more specific results than PsycINFO.
4. My first string worked well and I found good results.
5. The relevant articles I was able to find on Academic Search Premier was 497 and PsycINFO was 6126.
6. On Academic Search Premier there was 247 in full text and there were some with "FindIt" options but I was not sure how to count it and see if it needed required ILL request, on this I needed help for further research. On PsycINFO there was 1100 in full text and almost all of them had "FindIt" option.
7. Since working with database my research has not changed at all because I have found specific topics related to my research.
8. The biggest challenge for me while composing my topic was not being sure of question itself whether it was directed towards the population or other factors and also narrowing down the topic. I think I can overcome those challenges by preparing myself before doing any research questions or strings and asking myself what, why and how? Then, following all the steps that I have learned so far in IM 204 class.

Academic Serach Premier

Academic Search Premier is a very useful site because of the various resources and tools it has for a research. It is very easy to use and functions well. It helps to narrow down the topic by providing multiple key words options. It also gives an opportunity to learn from the researches done by the people with similar interest from around the world.
I have never used Academic Search Premier for any classes before. I am using it for the first time for this IM class and find it really helpful.
I haven't used any other database to do reserach for another class because I don't have to do much of a research work for my other classes.
I do not have any fears about using this database to do research because I find it very easy and convenient to use and has lots of informations for my topic.

Encyclopeida Vs Wikipedia

Encylopedia and Wikipedia are both useful sources of information. Where encylopedia is the literary work which is authoritative and definative, wikipedia is the source of  information contributed to by readers all over the world. However, both these sources have few pros and cons. A pro of using an encylopedia is that it is accurate and reliable because it is created by experts and scholars. A con is that it consumes time and sometimes the information could be out dated. On the other hand, wikipedia is the center of the online encylopedia which makes it quick and easy to access. The informations are more clear and easy to understand. The cons of wikipedia is that there information is accurate on average as anyone can edit it. People with no knowledge or little about the specific topic can write their views which makes the information less reliable. But I think wikipedia is the easier way to find the informations if you know how to use it properly. Most of the time long articles with links are the accurate ones.
I would like to use both encylopedia and wikipedia for my research. By doing so, I can compare the various aspects of both the sources like depth of information, accuracy, related informations, etc.