The purpose of this assignment is to further acquaint you with online resources and Internet search tools.  After completion of the following activities, you should recognize and know the differences between a general site which can be published by anyone, ejournals which are online journals, online databases, and online newspapers.  Have fun and if you have any questions, please see the library staff.

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STEP 1:  Find the answers to the following four questions using general web sites which contain references to the following.  These search engines are described and can be accessed on the library home page under "Search Tools."  Give the answer to each question and then describe what terms you used as well as the URL where you located the information.

   1.  Using the following search engine, locate information about the Urbanna Oyster Festival.  What date and time is the Oyster Festival?

www.yahoo.com

   2.   Where on the RCC web site can you find information about registration for classes?

RCC Home Page

   3.  Using the following search engine, what is the address for Bluebird Gap Farm in Virginia?

www.excite.com

   4.  Find information on Walter Reed using the following search engine.  Where is his birthplace and what were the years of his birth and death?

HINT: Try the keyword search: “Walter Reed” and Gloucester

www.altavista.com

STEP 2:  In the next two questions, you are asked to locate two articles from ejournals.  Ejournals are full text electronic journals which are published online.  Ejournals are either free, require registration, or are provided at a cost to subscribers.  We only expect you to search the no cost journals.  Using one or two of the search tools located through the library home page, find one article of interest to you and then find a second that relates to the web.  Identify the article: by providing citation information (author, article title, journal title, data, issue, etc.).  Yahoo! has a section which defines and lists several examples of ejournals although some of the links may be outdated.

Note:  If you chose to do so, you may include the articles in your journal.

1.  Go to Yahoo.com
2.  Click on News & Media
3.  Click Journals
4.  Go to "Categories" and then pick a topic of interest to go directly to that ejournal

The link below is an example of an ejournal:

Arion: A Journal of Humanities and the Classics

   5.  Find a general article of interest to you from a free ejournal.

www.yahoo.com

  6.  Find any article about the Web in the Journal of Computer-Mediated Communication (JCMC)

HINT: follow the instructions above and then go to “Computers and the Internet@” and then “Networking and Communications@” to find the journal in Yahoo!

www.yahoo.com

STEP 3:  In the following two questions, you are asked to locate one article from an online database and one from an online newspaper.  In the first question, you will be directed to search from Expanded Academic ASAP which can be accessed from the library home page. 

The library provides students access to the text of magazine and journal articles through proprietary databases (proprietary means=the information is available for a fee).  You can access the library's databases on the Internet but from home you are required to be authenticated from the RCC proxy server.  Click on the link below to learn how to gain access.

Directions for Directions for off campus access

  7.  Find a journal article which contains information about the National Museum of the Civil War Soldier (Petersburg, Virginia) by following these steps:

HINT: Try a search on “Civil War” and “Museum”

1.  Go to the library home page (use link below)
2. Click on Find Articles

3.  Click on InfoTrac Indexes
4.  Click on Expanded Academic ASAP
5.  Limit your search to full text by checking "to articles with text"
6.  You are now ready to type in your search terms.

RCC Library

   8.  This time you are asked to find a newspaper article from a local newspaper online.  You can use the same search tools shown above or you can go directly to the newspaper's web site.  Some newspapers such as the Gloucester-Mathews Gazette allow you to search for free while others charge a fee for searching their archives.  Find a free article that relates information about the Virginia area.

MAGAZINE/JOURNAL ARTICLES:  Citations are statements telling readers where they can find the information.  Copy and paste citations from the database or write the information down.  Example:

Take a Bite Out of Crime on the Web.  (Opinions)(Industry Trend or Event)(Column) John Gantz.  Computerworld Feb 19, 2001 p29

STEP 4: In these last two questions, you are asked to find articles from online databases.  The databases mentioned below are indexes of journal and magazine articles with the article text available for many of the citations.  Answer question #9 by completing a search in one of our favorite databases- InfoTrac's Expanded Academic ASAP .

Follow the same directions as described in Question #7.

   9.  Find an article about George Washington's birthplace.  What is the name of  this National Historic Site?

RCC Library

 Another good general database is Sirs Knowledge Source located under "Find Articles."  Sirs contains full text access to general reference, social issues and health as well as access to historical and government documents.  Do a keyword or subject search in Sirs to find an article that answers this last question.

1.  Go to the library home page (use link below)
2.  Click on Find Articles
3.  Click on Sirs Researcher on the Web

   10.  Virginia House is a historical site located in Richmond.  It was originally built by Virginia and Alexander Weddell.  In what year was the home turned into a museum?

RCC Library

If you have any questions or comments please email Melanie Wick at mwick@rcc.vccs.edu.

If you would like assistance, please come to the library!!!