Wiki Resources

The idea behind a wiki is that a group creates and edits the content found within the wiki site.  To get more comfortable working with a wiki, we’ve created a CAC Practice wiki.  Feel free to add, edit, and delete content and pages!

Here are some of the other resources covered in the Collaborating with Others workshop.

Wiki Software (Free, Hosted)
Zoho Wiki
WetPaint
PBWiki

RSS Feed Readers for subscribing to sites
Google Reader
Bloglines

For those who might be interested, here’s the powerpoint presentation.

Workshops

Hard to believe, but October is coming to a close.  You could celebrate by trick-or-treating on Friday, but wouldn’t you rather attend one of the library’s workshops?

Here’s what we’ve got for the week:

Wednesday, 10/29, 11am
Research Strategies 101
Instructor: McKay
Location: Signal Peak Campus Library
In this workshop we’ll explore how to break a student’s thesis statement into search concepts that they can use to string together into an advanced research strategy.  Students will learn how to use “AND” and “OR” to narrow and broaden their searches, how to effectively use wildcard functions, and critically evaluate the information they find to determine if it effectively addresses their research question.

Thursday, 10/30, 3pm
How to Use: Online Articles and eBooks
Instructor: McKay
Location: Signal Peak Campus Library
Students will learn how to effectively use the various online information resources that are available through the library.  Students will learn about the types of information that can be found within the library resources, how to perform different types of searches, and how to save and print articles.

Friday, 10/31, 10am
Web 2.0 and Social Networking: Collaborating With Others
Instructor: Nancy
Location:
Signal Peak Campus Room O208A
Superstition Mountain Campus Room C322
A wiki is more than Wikipedia – it’s a way to collaborate with others online.  Attend this workshop to find out what a wiki is, how it got its funny name, and how you can create your own wiki.  You’ll also learn about RSS feeds and how you can use them to subscribe to wikis and other sites that use feeds.

Blogging Resources

Here are some of the resources covered in the Sharing Ideas workshop.

Finding Blogs
Technorati (in addition to their search feature, they also have a directory)
Google’s Blog Search
Yahoo’s Blog Directory

RSS Feed Readers for subscribing to blogs
Google Reader
Bloglines

Blogging Software (Free, Hosted)
Blogger
WordPress

Other ways to share
Twitter (“What are you doing” in 140 characters or less)
Flickr (photo sharing)
YouTube (video sharing)

For those who are interested, here’s the powerpoint presentation.

Two weeks to the “Feed”

We just wanted to remind everyone that the CAC Book Club will be meeting in a couple of weeks to talk about the book “Feed” by M.T. Anderson.  Not only is the book an interesting and fun look at our society, it’s a quick read.  So if you haven’t started it yet, there’s still time!  You can check with the campus bookstore if you’d like to buy a copy of the book or with us in the library if you’d like to check it out.

We hope to see you in the Feed!

“Feed” Discussion
Thursday, November 6th
@ 12 noon
Aravaipa Campus Room E11
Signal Peak Campus Room O208A
Superstition Mountain Campus Room C324

This Week: Research and Technology Workshops

We have three straight days of workshops coming up, including our Web 2.0 and Social Networking workshop debut!

Wednesday, 10/22, 3pm
Thinking Critically
Instructor: Nancy
Location: Signal Peak Campus Library
It’s becoming more and more important to think critically about the world around us.  We’ll explain to students why information providers of all types try to persuade us, the techniques they use and how to identify them, and which sources you can reliably use.  The use of language, statistics, and logic are just a few of the areas we will examine.

Thursday, 10/23, 3pm
Evaluating Online Resources
Instructor: McKay and Nancy
Location: Signal Peak Campus Library
Students will gain an understanding of the differences between the information they find using library subscription databases and websites found through an Internet search engine.  Then, using five standard evaluative criteria, students will learn how to determine if the websites they find are credible and accurate.

Friday, 10/24, 10am
Web 2.0 and Social Networking: Sharing Ideas
Instructor: Nancy
Location:
Signal Peak Campus Room O208A
Superstition Mountain Campus Room C322
Everyone has stories, ideas, and opinions.  Learn how to share them with others through blogging.  Discover what blogs are, how to find blogs with similar interests to yours, and how to start blogging yourself.  We’ll also talk about RSS feeds and how you can use them to subscribe and keep up with blogs and other sites that use feeds.

Propositions – Where you decide the law

Ok, ok, we know you’re all sick of hearing us go on about the upcoming elections.  The good news is that after November 4th, you won’t have to listen to us.  At least until the next election rolls around!  You’re also probably sick of us giving you more websites to visit so you can find out more about the candidates.  We do have a solution to that problem, however.  Today we have a website link where you can learn all about the propositions!

We know that propositions can be confusing to understand, but it’s important to try because these propositions affect our state laws and even our constitution.  The Arizona Secretary of State has all of the propositions listed on her website, along with the pro and con statements.  When you go to the site, click on the “Table of Contents” link.  Next scroll down the page until you find the proposition you want to learn about and click on it’s title.  The actual text of the proposed amendment can be difficult to read, but the analysis below it should explain it a bit better.  Continue scrolling down until you get to the pro and con statements.  Whenever we talk about critical thinking skills, we remind you to think about who is behind the statement and what they have to gain or lose by it.  As you read through the statements, look at the signatures and the organizations they represent.  This can often help you “read between the lines” of the proposition.

Videos for improving your academic success

Dartmouth College has a set of free online videos that they produced to help students will improving skills for academic success.  They include topics of Time Management, Notetaking, Stress Management, Reading Improvement, Strategic Learning, and even Learning Strategies for General Chemistry.

Student loan protection

For those of you relying on student loans to pay for your education, we thought you might be interested to hear the news that there is now legislation designed to protect student loans.  Part of the recent economic bailout activities, the law will allow the government to buy loans, provide federal funds, and encourage lenders to continue providing loans under the federal program.

A new way of looking at Google images

Do you ever have trouble thinking of keywords in your online research?  A lot of people come up with one keyword that they think represents their topic, not realizing that the word can have different meanings (resulting in articles and websites that don’t relate to your research) and that there might be other keywords that could be useful in their search (which means you might not be finding the perfect resource for your research).  The next time you’re stuck on your research, try out these applications for Google images to open up your mind and come up with keywords.

Montage a Google lets you enter in a keyword and see what images are found in Google that represent that keyword.  You’ll visually be able to see what your keyword can mean and why you might not be finding anything that seems to be relevant in your research.  To get started, click on the “Launch Project” button, enter in your keyword (ball is a good one to start with).  After the images have been found, click on “Create Montage.”

Guess the Google gives you a montage of images and you have to guess what keyword was used to come up with the montage.  This game might seem simple enough, but it can be addicting!  Again, click on “Launch Project” to get started and then click on the button to start playing.

Whenever you get stumped, try out these games.  You just might be able to distract yourself into thinking of useful keywords and get your research back on track!

New workshops on Web 2.0 and social networking

We’re excited to announce our new line of workshops on Web 2.0 and social networking!  Many of you are probably asking, “What in the heck is Web 2.0?”  This is simply the buzzword that means many websites have moved beyond static pages.  Web 2.0 sites provide interactivity between the creators of the site’s content and those that are visiting it.  Social networking takes this concept and adds the element of finding others on the web that have similar interests to yours.  What most people don’t realize is that this technology goes beyond having a MySpace or Facebook page.  That’s where these workshops come in…

These workshops are open to the CAC community – students, staff, and faculty are all invited to join in!  They’ll be held at the following locations:

Aravaipa Campus: E10
Signal Peak Campus: O208A
Superstition Mountain Campus: C322

The scheduled date and time are included after the workshop’s description.  If you’re interested in attending, simply contact Nancy Deegan nancy.deegan@centralaz.edu or 520-494-5279 to register.  Be sure to let her know which location you plan to attend from.  (If you are at a Center with iTV capabilities and would like us to include your site, please let us know and we will see if your location can be added.)  These workshops are intended to be hands-on, so we’ll have limited seating availability.  If we get enough interest, additional workshops will be scheduled.

Friday, 10/24, 10am – 11am
Sharing Ideas
Instructor: Nancy
Everyone has stories, ideas, and opinions.  Learn how to share them with others through blogging.  Discover what blogs are, how to find blogs with similar interests to yours, and how to start blogging yourself.  We’ll also talk about RSS feeds and how you can use them to subscribe and keep up with blogs and other sites that use feeds.

Friday, 10/31, 10am – 11am
Collaborating with Others
Instructor: Nancy
A wiki is more than Wikipedia – it’s a way to collaborate with others online.  Attend this workshop to find out what a wiki is, how it got its funny name, and how you can create your own wiki.  You’ll also learn about RSS feeds and how you can use them to subscribe to wikis and other sites that use feeds.

Friday, 11/21, 10am – 11am
Organizing Your “Stuff”
Instructor: Nancy
Explore the world of social networking that goes beyond blogs and wikis.  Discover how you can use the web to organize and share your documents, links to your favorite websites, the books you own, and even your entire life.  Some of the sites we’ll look at are del.icio.us, LibraryThing, GoogleDocs, and Evernote.