Week 4 - Finding and Using Web-based Resources

Lecture:

Today's lecture covered different aspects about the Web's history. It was interesting to know about the Internet's history because I didn't know about it before. The notes in today's lecture was very clear and straightforward. I think it's important to know a bit about the Internets history. Today's lecture also covered defining the Web.


Tutorial:

Today's tutorial was very easy and it was actually quite fun. Experimenting with different websites and seeing how credible they are was very interesting. I found the workshop very interesting; as well as Educational.

Workshop:


1. The website www.haggishunt.scotsman.com has attempted to be authentic in many forms but there is so much that has given it away. For example; the topic is a haggis hunt and there is pictures of platypuses. Haggis is a Scottish dish which is a steamed pudding made of finely minced sheep heart, lungs and liver. The point of the website is to reward winners when they find a 'haggis'; which is impossible. The website is supposedly from Scotland but there are images of Platypuses; which are Australian; so the 'mysterious' creature refereed to as a Haggis is really a platypus.In the top left corner there is a Haggis Fact which says:'You can prepare haggis in many ways, including the healthy deep fried option.' This is an false fact because you cant prepare a 'Haggis' because Haggis is the name of a particular meal from Scotland. The website is also not designed to be taken too seriously. It seems like a practical joke; rather than an actual website.

The website www.molossia.org is an 'official' website for the micro nation Molossia. The website has not been designed to be taken too seriously and this is demonstrated through a lot of things. The website is represented as a nation but it really is just a micro nation. Micro nations are are unrecognized by world governments or major international organisations. These nations usually exist only on paper, on the Internet, or in the minds of their creators. This means that the website is created by a single person, so it shouldn't be taken too seriously. There is a lot about the history of Molossia; but the majority of the history isn't true. I used the Internet to Google the micro nation and there isn't much history about it.

2. On the website www.martinlutherking.org I expect to find a lot of detailed information on who Martin Luther King is, and I assume he is a major part of history, so there should be a lot of information about the history regarding Martin Luther King.

After visiting the website; he was not who I thought he was. I hadn't heard of Martin Luther King before visiting this website. Martin Luther King was a one of the pivotal leaders of the American civil rights movement. I don't think the website is a very good one because it's not detailed enough. I found out a lot more about Martin Luther King on other website, compared to this one. The website isn't very clearly set out and the information is difficult to find.

Reading 1: A Brief History of the Internet

This website is very efficient because it gives a very good explanation of the Web's history. There are sub - headings such as the Origins of the Internet, a history of the future, the Initial Internetting and many more.The website was last revised December 2003 so the information is still current. There are many references, which contribute to the quality of this website.

Reading 2: History of the Internet, Internet for Historians

This website does contain quite credible information but it seems like its a personal website created by any ordinary person. The Website contains Five chapters; each chapter which each contain quite basic information about the topic. The Website also has Sources of Figures which demonstrates where the information is collected from. The Author of the Website is Richard T. Griffiths; who is from the Leiden University. The Website was last updated in October 2002; which demonstrates that it's still quite current.