social Networking for Academic Research

Social Networking for Academic Research
Have you ever asked a friend or professor for an interesting book or article recommendation? If you're researching a particular topic for a class project or research paper it's perfectly acceptable to ask your peers and instructors for recommendations. This is a form of social networking.
For this assignment you will go a few steps further and reach out to peers, teachers, and experts online to get recommendations for books, journal articles, and web resources for your research topic.

Part #1 Facebook for Research: Get Book or Article RecommendationsYes! You really can use Facebook for your research projects. On Facebook you will join at least one group related to your topic. For example, if your research topic is on the Battle of Gettysburg you should join a group about the American Civil War. Post a question "I'm an undergrad doing some research on the battle of Gettysburg Can anybody recommend some interesting books or journal articles on this topic?"
When you receive responses take a screenshot, using Jing, with the recommendations and post the link to the screenshot to the LRES 101 Facebook group page. Write briefly on your experience using Facebook for gathering research in the discussion area.
To complete this part you will need to:
• Set up a Facebook account if you don't already have one.
• Become a "fan" of the LRES 101 group.
• Become a "fan" of at least one group related to your paper topic.
• Post links to your screenshots and comments on the LRES 101 Facebook group discussion page.

Part #2: Social Bookmarking: Find Web Resources
Diigo is a social bookmarking tool that lets you share Web sites with others interested in the same topics. You will use Diigo to find recommendations for Web sites related to your research topic. You will find a Diigo feed to follow that relates to your topic and look at what others bookmarked for sites. Your best bet is to search by tags. Let's say you're searching for information on "Civil War Prison Camps" for example; you'll want to search for tags such as "Civil War" and "Civil War Prisons".
To complete this part you will need to:
• Set up a Diigo account if you don't already have one.
• Join the LRES 101 Diigo Group.
• Join at least one group related to your paper topic.
• Post your links (bookmarks) and comments on the LRES 101Diigo group discussion page.

Tough time choosing a topic?
If you can’t think of a topic you can browse the Facebook and Diigo groups to see what is out there. Here are some examples for your consideration:
• Sports Medicine: Try to find informationon preventing injury in track & field
• Josef Stalin: Ask for information on Soviet gulags
• Civil War:
o Ask for recommendations on books or journal articles on Joshua Chamberlain’s role in the Battle of Gettysburg
o Civil War prison camps and prisoner treatment
• Global Warming: Ask for scientific books and articles that prove or disprove the global warming theory.
• Ottoman Empire: Ask for information that accounts the atrocities committed by this empire or the advances it brought to the world.
• Battle of Hastings: How did this pivotal battle change the English language?
• Ancient Egypt: Ask for a book or article on ancient Egyptian gods.

Due Date: April 13, 2010• Begin this assignment in class and post questions to your interest groups by the end of the in-class lab.
• Post your findings (recommendations) on The LRES 101 Facebook page and LRES 101 Diigo page no later than April 13.

Custom Search Screencast

Here is an example of what you will do for your Custom Search screencast. Please e-mail me if you have questions: anichols@uwsp.edu

http://screencast.com/t/ZmYyMWY1OWU