Search and Databases Flashcards

1
Q

How can digital literacy be defined?

A

o Generally refers to an individual’s ability to:

  • communicate
  • search for info
  • use applications on various digital platforms like social media, email services and search engines as well as using different digital mediums like smartphones, tablets and laptops.
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2
Q

Does digital literacy replace traditional forms of literacy?

A

o Digital literacy does not replace traditional forms of literacy but it builds upon the foundation of traditional forms of literacy. (According to Henry Jenkins, ‘Confronting the Challenges of Participatory Culture: Media Education for the 21st Century’)
- So many overlaps with information and academic literacies.

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3
Q

Who is Jisc and how does it define digital literacy?

A

o Jisc is a UK company which aims to digitally empower people in higher education by equipping them with the necessary skills, resources and services.

o The company defines digital literacy as:
- ‘those capabilities which fit an individual for living, learning and working in a digital society; for example, the skills to use digital tools to undertake academic research, writing and critical thinking: as per personal development planning: and as a way of showcasing achievements.’

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4
Q

In general, what does digital literacy cover?

A

o It is important to clarify that digital literacy is much broader than computer literacy and IT skills.

o It covers:

  • Critical use of technology
  • Discernment and skepticism about online information
  • Consider ethics and respect for the work of others
  • Focus on using tools to communicate, creativity & collaboration
  • Online identity, safety and wellbeing
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5
Q

What other terms can be used to refer to digital literacy?

A

o Digital skills (used in UK by House of Lords report from 2015)
o Digital competencies (used by company Jisc in recent work they’re doing for UK higher education)

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6
Q

Why is digital literacy became more important ?

A

o The increasing prevalence of digital media in today’s society creates a demand for digital literacy.
- E.g. digital literacy is becoming more demanded by academic settings.

o Never before has so much content been created and shared digitally.
- E.g. each minute there are approximately 30,000 apps downloaded by iPhones across the world, 600 new videos uploaded to YouTube and 695,000 Facebook status updates (according to GoGlobe.com).

o Digital media has become so prevalent that everyone has developed some level of skills.

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7
Q

What are 2 models that illustrate the skills involved in digital literacy?

A

o FutureLab Model of Digital Literacy

o Digital Information Fluency Model

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8
Q

Detail the FutureLab Model of Digital Literacy.

A

o Model developed for schools
o Aim to imbed these skills in education curriculums
o Many skills are not exclusively ‘digital’ – clear overlap with other literacies.

o Skills include:

  • Functional skills
  • Creativity
  • Critical thinking and evaluation
  • Cultural and social understanding
  • Collaboration
  • Ability to find and select information
  • Effective communication
  • E-safety
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9
Q

Detail the Digital Information Fluency Model.

A

o Questions the process of retrieving relevant information and how it can be ethically used.

o Ethical use of information can generally refer to info that will have a positive influence/impact on the public.

  • Copyright can also determine which info is ethical to use i.e. if copyright is infringed then info is being used unethically.
  • Ethical use of info difficult to fulfil as abused by many people i.e. using info however they like.
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10
Q

What does the term ‘digital natives’ refer to?

A

o People born 1980 onwards that have been exposed to tech from early age.

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11
Q

What idea exists surrounding ‘digital natives’/what can be assumed about them? Why is this true or untrue?

A

o Idea exists (myth) that these people inherently digital literate.

o Untrue as despite having easy access to tech from a young age, it doesn’t necessarily mean that they know how to determine which info is good or how to use it ethically as well as utilise other digital literacy skills.

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12
Q

Who does the ‘Google Generation’ refer to?

A

o People born after 1993.

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13
Q

What did research concerning the ‘Google Generation’ discover?

A

o Research conducted by CIBER in 2008 (UCL Centre for Information Behaviour & Evaluation of Research) indicates:

  • Online searching tends to be shallow, information skimming, not in-depth searching
  • 60% visit a site once only and view each web page only a few seconds
  • Prefer quick information in form of easily-digested short chunks rather than full-text.
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14
Q

What are the different source types and explain what they are?

A

o Primary sources (first-hand info)

  • Original documents, images or eyewitness accounts.
  • Original research from scholarly, peer-reviewed sources.
  • Raw data, government reports such as census data.

o Secondary sources (second-hand info)

  • After-the-fact.
  • Analyses/interprets primary source info.
  • E.g. textbooks, encyclopaedias, non-fiction books.

o Tertiary sources

  • Little info
  • Points to other sources
  • E.g. guides, dictionaries, bibliographies
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15
Q

Explain the significance of identifying key words as a searching strategy.

A

o To identify key words one must ignore:

  • ‘Small’ words (e.g. what, are, the etc.)
  • Words connected to time (e.g. sometimes, always, perhaps, often etc.)
  • Words that show relation (e.g. effects, lead to, increases etc.)
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16
Q

What is a taxonomy structure and why is this used by search engines as a searching strategy?

A

o The word taxonomy refers to the practice and science of classification of things or concepts

o This structure connects terms based on their relevance and relationship to each other.
- It explores the use of a hierarchy of categories nested into subcategories, and sometimes into even smaller groupings of categories, and how those might be linked together.

o Google excludes some words which are ambivalent/convey emotion to produce objective results (e.g. words like effects and impact)

o Used by search engines to improve relevance of searches

17
Q

To effectively evaluate information, what 6 criteria’s must be considered?

A
o Authority 
o Purpose
o Coverage 
o Currency 
o Objectivity 
o Accuracy
18
Q

Explain importance of determining authority when evaluating information.

A

o Concerned with whether the person, institution or agency responsible for a site has the qualifications and knowledge to do so.

  • It should be clear who developed the site.
  • Contact information should be clearly provided: e-mail address, phone and fax number.
  • Credentials: the author should state qualifications, credentials, or personal background that gives them authority to present information.
  • Check to see if the site supported by an organisation or a commercial body
19
Q

Explain importance of determining the purpose of information when evaluating it.

A

o The purpose of the information presented in the site should be clear – some sites are meant to inform, persuade, state an opinion, entertain, or parody something or someone.

  • Does the content support the purpose of the site?
  • Is the information geared to a specific audience (students, scholars, general reader)?
  • Is the site organised and focused?
  • Are the outside links appropriate for the site?
  • Does the site evaluate the links?
  • Well organised example = YouTube
  • Also, Google as tailors’ ads to user esp. if user has account which can be used to influence search results through browsing history/cookies.
20
Q

Explain importance of determining coverage when evaluating information.

A

o It is difficult to assess the extent of coverage since depth in a site, through the use of links, can be infinite – one author may claim comprehensive coverage of a topic while another may cover just one aspect of a topic.

  • Does the site claim to be selective or comprehensive?
  • Are the topics explored in depth?
  • Compare the value of the site’s information compared to other similar sites.
  • Do the links go to outside sites rather than its own?
  • Does the site provide information with no relevant outside links?
21
Q

Discuss importance of currency when evaluating information.

A
  • How current is the information presented?
  • How often is the site is updated or maintained? It is important to know when a site was created, when it was last updated, and if all of the links are current.
  • E.g. important with news websites.
22
Q

Discuss importance of considering objectivity when evaluating information.

A

o Objectivity of the site should be clear.
- However, no one is truly objective – objectivity is a subjective term so difficult to determine, everyone has different ideas of objectivity.

o Beware of sites that contain bias or do not admit its bias freely.
o Objective sites present information with a minimum of bias.

  • Is the information presented with a particular bias?
  • Does the information try to sway the audience?
  • Does site advertising conflict with the content?
  • Is the site trying to explain, inform, persuade, or sell something?
  • E.g. Recommendation systems may limit the objectivity of sites as they refine content that a user is exposed to e.g. YouTube will display suggestions based on similarity to other videos a user has watches so limits user’s exposure to other content.
23
Q

Discuss importance of determining accuracy when evaluating information.

A
  • Reliability – is the author affiliated with a known, respectable institution?
  • References – do statistics and other factual information receive proper references as to their origin?
  • Does the reading you have already done on the subject make the information seem accurate?
  • Is the information comparable to other sites on the same topic?
  • Does the text follow basic rules of grammar, spelling and composition?
  • Is a bibliography or reference list included?
  • E.g. Free app offered by Google Chrome, ‘Whapalizer’ provides accuracy statistics for a web resource.
24
Q

What is a static web page?

A

o The most basic type of website and are the easiest to make.

o Consists of an HTML document that resides on a web server as an individual file and that doesn’t change unless it is edited by someone.

o Each page is coded in HTML and displays the same information to every visitor.

o Does not require any web programming or database design.

25
Q

How is the content of a static web page changed/edited?

A

o To change/update the code it must be edited and re-uploaded – static web pages contain fixed code and so content of each page cannot be changed unless it is manually updated.

26
Q

What are some advantages of static web pages?

A

o Simple technology

  • HTML relatively simple to author
  • Wide variety of authoring tools available

o Requires little or no configuration of the web server software

oUnderstood and displayed by a very common application – the web browser (although there can be differences between browsers)

o Secure

o Useful for small websites

27
Q

What are some disadvantages of static web pages?

A

o Not easily scalable

o Can’t respond to user input

  • Can limit users
  • The internet doesn’t allow the user to create what they want to create/their own pages.

o Can’t query data stores

28
Q

What is a dynamic web page?

A

o A web page that is generated in part or in whole each time it is requested and viewed by the user.

o Its content may vary each time it is requested, user input or in the underlying data store

o Example of fairly simple dynamic site = Wikipedia

  • Yahoo News
  • Facebook (massive datasets behind Facebook as info constantly being added to site)
29
Q

In general, what factors can determine/change the content of a dynamic web page?

A

o Content can change depending on:

  • The viewer
  • Time of day
  • Time zone
  • Viewer’s native language etc.
30
Q

What are some advantages of dynamic web pages?

A

o Scalable
o Easy to change:
- one database can generate many web page or even websites
o Can respond to user input
o Can query data stores
o One data source for multiple outputs
o Understood & displayed by a very common application: the web browser
o Generally more compelling and useful (to users)

31
Q

What are some disadvantages of dynamic web pages?

A

o Programming skills required for developing dynamic web pages
o Server-side processing requires more configuration of server
o Server-side processing may require purchase of additional software
o Server-side processing imposes extra load on server
o May introduce security exploits

32
Q

What is PHP?

A

o Stands for ‘PHP: Hypertext Preprocessor’

o Widely-used open source general-purpose scripting language (server-side scripting language)

o Especially suited for web development and can be embedded into HTML

o Supports many databases (MySQL, Informix, Oracle, Sybase, Solid, PostgreSQL, Generic ODBC, etc.)

o Eliminates need for CSS

o Can be a simple language

33
Q

What are web-based databases?

A
o Databases that can be accessed over the internet 
o So, they involve:
- web-based clients (browsers) 
- web server
- database server
34
Q

How are web-based databases typically operated?

A

o Client sends a request for a page to the web server
o Web server sends SQL to database (SQL - structured query language)
o The web server uses results to create page
o The page is returned to the client

35
Q

What is the Client/Server architecture of web based databases?

A

o A general model for systems where a service is provided by one system (the server) to another (the client)

o A server manages most processes and stores all data.

  • So, server hosts DBMS (database management system) and database.
  • Servers can be the web, a database, application, chat or email.

o A client requests specified data or processes (sometimes handles processing but requires server data resources for completion)

  • Uses programs that use the database
  • Uses the server for database access
  • Clients include: web browsers, chat applications, email software etc.

o The client-server connection is established through a network or the internet.

36
Q

Elaborate on DBMS.

A

o System software for creating and managing databases.

o TheDBMSprovides users and programmers with a systematic way to create, retrieve, update and manage data.

37
Q

What are some web technologies and protocols built around the client-server model?

A

o Hypertext Transfer Protocol (HTTP)
o Domain Name System (DNS)
o Simple Mail Transfer Protocol (SMTP)
o Telnet

38
Q

What are some advantages of web-based databases?

A

o World-wide access
o Internet protocols (HTTP, SSL, etc) give uniform access and security
oDatabase structure is hidden from clients
o Uses a familiar interface

39
Q

What are some disadvantages of web-based databases?

A

o Security can be a problem if you are not careful
o Interface is less flexible using standard browsers
o Limited interactivity over slow connections