Module Four - Evaluating the Web

Evaluating the Web

Annotation

Brad Myers is a Professor in the Human-Computer Interaction Institute in the School of Computer Science at Carnegie Mellon University. He has been a consultant to over 50 companies on user interface design and is the author or editor of over 275 publications. Myers received a PhD in computer science at the University of Toronto and has also received the MS and BSc degrees from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology.

The paper A Brief History of Human Computer Interaction Technology briefly summarises important research developments in Human-Computer Interaction (HCI) technology covering basic interactions, application types, up and coming areas and Software Tools and Architectures. Myers looks into the importance of university research in the future of development of the future. The paper was presented to outline how important research in the field of HCI is from universities and labs.

Myers, D. (1996). A Brief History of Human Computer Interaction Technology. Retrieved April 29, 2008, from http://www.cs.cmu.edu/~amulet/papers/uihistory.tr.html.

1. in terms of your own future use, which 'body ' of information (IE. the original 'snapshot' of the site, or your own, annotated, analytical version) would be most useful to refer back to?

The annotation would be a lot more useful for giving information about what the article was actually about. It also has all the information that the other snapshot had however explains more about the authors credibility and what the paper is about

1. In term of external users (i.e. if you included this site as a hyperlink or resource on a website) which body of information would best help them judge if the site was useful or of interest to them?

For external users the same as above would probably apply. They would be able to understand more of what the paper was about and its usefulness to them.

Module Four - Organising search information task

Organising search task information.

For the purpose of this exercise I have chosen to save the information in Microsoft word for ease of use and easy extraction. It files easy in my Study folders and you can add links easily which will lead you to the information you need.

Organising search task information.

For the purpose of this exercise I have chosen to save the information in Microsoft word for ease of use and easy extraction. It files easy in my Study folders and you can add links easily which will lead you to the information you need.

Site 1

URL: http://www.cs.cmu.edu/~amulet/papers/uihistory.tr.html

Author: Brad A. Myers

Institution: School of Computer Science
Carnegie Mellon University

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. 1. Introduction

Research in Human-Computer Interaction (HCI) has been spectacularly successful, and has fundamentally changed computing. Just one example is the ubiquitous graphical interface used by Microsoft Windows 95, which is based on the Macintosh, which is based on work at Xerox PARC, which in turn is based on early research at the Stanford Research Laboratory (now SRI) and at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology. Another example is that virtually all software written today employs user interface toolkits and interface builders, concepts which were developed first at universities. Even the spectacular growth of the World-Wide Web is a direct result of HCI research: applying hypertext technology to browsers allows one to traverse a link across the world with a click of the mouse. Interface improvements more than anything else has triggered this explosive growth. Furthermore, the research that will lead to the user interfaces for the computers of tomorrow is happening at universities and a few corporate research labs.

Site 2

URL: http://www.cs.brown.edu/people/ifc/hci/stat.html

Author: John T. Stasko

Institution: Graphics, Visualization and Usability Center
College of Computing
Georgia Institute of Technology

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The area of human-computer interaction currently plays a vital role in computer science research and its importance will only deepen in the future. Understanding how to create computer hardware and software to facilitate their use by people is simply a fundamental area of computer science. The fastest, most powerful systems are useless unless people can adequately understand and use them. These are not new ideas, but they cannot be reiterated enough. The emergence of the Internet and the World Wide Web and their roles in today's society further echoes the importance of HCI. These two "technologies" have brought ever increasing numbers of people to use and work with computers; people who, for the most part, are new to computing and who have had little, if any, interaction with computers before. A person's first interaction with something new is critical toward their future view of it, and this view may become permanent. Therefore, it is vitally important that usable, useful systems be built so that more people are able to benefit from the information that is now available.

Site 3

URL:http://www.temple.edu/ispr/prev_conferences/proceedings/2002/Final%20papers/David,%20Lu,%20Cai.pdf

Author: Prabu David, Tingting Lu, Li Cai

Institution: Ohio State university

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References

David, P., Lu, T., & Cai, L. (2002, Oct. 11). Computer as Social Actors: Testing the fairness of man and machine. Retrieved April 28, 2008, from www.temple.edu/ispr/prev_conferences/proceedings/2002/Final%20papers/David,%20Lu,%20Cai.pdf.

Myers, D. (n.d.). A Brief History of Human Computer Interaction Technology. Retrieved April 29, 2008, from http://www.cs.cmu.edu/~amulet/papers/uihistory.tr.html.

Stasko , J. (1996, November 12). Computing Surveys: Future Research Directions in Human-Computer. Retrieved April 28, 2008, from http://www.cs.brown.edu/people/ifc/hci/stat.html.

Module Four - Boolean searching task

To get the biggest number of hits relating to the key words would require different search strategies in the Corpernic search engine. I thought changing the setting to search for any of the words rather than all of the words would bring a much larger results however was surprised by the outcome.


Looking for Educational sites only in Copernic did not wield as many results as i had hoped

Displaying results 1-10 of 55

Adding papers after internet human communication brought the following

Displaying results 1-10 of 61

Boolean searching would certainly be a far improved way of pinpointing exactly what you are looking for on the web.

Googles search engine was not as receptive to boolean commands as other engines however they do have a google scholar search engine which proved more useful.

Results 1 - 10 of about 5,090,000 for internet OR communication OR human site:.edu. (0.26 seconds)

Adding papers to this got the following:
Results 1 - 10 of about 76,100,000 for human and internet communication papers .edu. (0.42 seconds)

I also found that while trying to search for .edu sites a lot of other sites still appear. This often seems to be because the word edu is located in the sites. It also seems to draw a lot of .org and .gov sites.
Publish Post
This task proved to be more difficult than I would have originally thought. I started with a search for human Internet communications. Google and Corpernic however did not provide many sources for university only sites. I have found to date that the most promising results came from alta vista using .edu as opposed to Google or Corpernic.

In reflection I can see that the more specific you are in a search the better results you will achieve. However a lot will depend on what sort of search engine you are using.

Module Four - search engine task

First Seach using Google

Results 1 - 10 of about 5,050,000 for internet and human communication. (0.42 seconds)

First five hits

Amazon.com: Human Communication on the Internet: Leonard ...

Amazon.com: Human Communication on the Internet: Leonard Shedletsky,Joan E. Aitken: Books. www.amazon.com/Human-Communication-Internet-Leonard-Shedletsky/dp/0205360319 - 155k - Cached - Similar pages

Pearson - Computer-Mediated Communication: Human-to-Human ...

Resources for Speech Communication MySpeechLab; Close. View larger cover. Computer-Mediated Communication: Human-to-Human Communication Across the Internet ... www.pearsonhighered.com/educator/academic/product/0,3110,0205321453,00.html - 55k - Cached - Similar pages

Computer-Mediated Communication: Human-to-Human Communication ...

Computer-Mediated Communication: Human-to-Human Communication across the Internet. Susan B. Barnes. Boston: Pearson Education, 2003. 347 pp. ... www.anthrosource.net/doi/abs/10.1525/jlin.2006.16.2.284 - Similar pages

[PDF]

REVIEW OF COMPUTER-MEDIATED COMMUNICATION: HUMAN-TO- HUMAN ...

File Format: PDF/Adobe Acrobat - View as HTML Chapter 5. considers the role of language as an essential element of human communication, and how the presence of. the Internet has altered this role. ... llt.msu.edu/vol7num3/pdf/review1.pdf - Similar pages

Email is ‘third revolutionary step in human communication’ | The ...

Email is ‘third revolutionary step in human communication’ ... Email, or communication using Internet technology, is the third revolutionary step in ...
www.theregister.co.uk/2001/03/19/email_is_third_revolutionary_step/ - 28k - Cached - Similar pages

First Search using Copernic

Displaying results 1-10 of 49

First Five hits.

Pixel Group A creative digital agency with result driven ideas. [Sponsored Link] www.PixelGroup.com.au/ - 98% Result found by: Copernic

Web Conferencing Services Audio and Web Conferencing with free recording; only 3¢/min [Sponsored Link] www.GlobalConference.com/ - 98% Result found by: Copernic

Amazon.com: Human Communication on the Internet: Leonard ...... Amazon.com: Human Communication on the Internet: Leonard Shedletsky,Joan E. Aitken: Books. www.amazon.com/Human-Communication-Internet-Leonard-Shedletsky/dp/0205360319 - 89% Result found by: CompuServe, Netscape Netcenter, AOL Search

Human Communication on the Internet [Paperback] | Target.com Shop for Human Communication on the Internet at Target. Choose from a wide range of Books. Expect More, Pay Less at Target.com www.target.com/gp/redirect.html/ref=tgt_adv_XSNG1060 - 89% Result found by: FAST Search (alltheweb.com), Yahoo!, AltaVista

Both search engines gave me useful links and site for information pertaining to my subject however the millions of results returned by Google was a big difference to the copernic search. Some results were similar. Copernic game me options on how to sort the results by score, date, site visited etc. Of note to me was that wikipedia scored in both searches. Interesting.

Both search engines gave useful information although googles extra search options at the bottom of the page were useful if I were looking for something specific like images, quotes, characters etc.

Module Four = Downloading tools / plug-ins Task

Looking through the options I already have a lot of the tools mentioned so I decided to download the following:

Copernic Meta for PC

Bookmark Buddy for Windows

Both were relatively simple to download.

Bookmark buddy for Windows seems relatively easy to use. It combines both sets of my bookmarks from both Internet Explorer and Firefox and could be a useful offline tool to refer back to web sites. It also tells me which sites have been used and favourites etc.

This tool is on a 30 day trial so although useful I can't see myself using to the extent where i would want to pay for it. Not when there are so many other free applications out there.

Copernic - Search Engine

Copernic offers a lot of different applications and a wide range of searching options.
In particular the email search interested me and I am looking into it further.
Also it has the ability to save your search results so that you don't need to go back through browsers to find other results.

Module Three - Legal Issues

After reading the material on the copyright website I then looked up the curtain home page and went to the A-Z index.

I followed the links to Curtain Policies and Procedures and found Logo Use Procedures.

http://policies.curtin.edu.au/policies/viewpolicy.cfm?id=959f55ad-fec2-11dc-b6c5-253dc30d60f2


Curtain logo is copyrighted and therefore unauthorised use is not allowed.

On my website I do not believe I have used anything that would break copyright laws. The images I have used were public domain and not copyrighted to the best of my knowledge.

Module One - Further Exploration

Having downloaded the Internet tool bar some time ago and running into some time issues I finally got back to it.

I opened it easily and it shows up on my desktop as follows



Firstly I tried a search which was easy to use and found the relevant information easily. After a little playing around I found I could search for various things such as the web, images etc.













This is a definite bonus as it eliminates having to open separate browsers for different requirements.

I found this toolbar to have vast amounts of information on it however feel it is going to take some time to work through it.

An example of some of them are as follows:


























The toolbar seems to have so much on it that I found it a bit overwhelming. I was jumping from such things such as system information, currency converter, language translator etc etc

I used the trace tool in the toolbar and got the following result.













The paths from my previous traceroute to this one were different however it is hard to compare as I am now using a different server from a different location. I did note however that some of the ip's were the same or very similar suggesting that the path is roughly following the same path.

This Internet toolbar certainly has some advantages to it and I can see why it would be so useful to get into the habit of using, especially for someone that has high levels of work and Internet use.

Module Three - Web 2.0

I feel Web 2 is about the Internet being more user friendly for the non computer literate. It is opening the world of communication and knowledge to anyone who has Internet access.

The Internet Communications Blinklist is a great way of storing information instantly. The comparison between it and a html written list is that you no longer have to store anything on your computer and upload through ftp. You can also briefly describe the link and give and opinion.

Probably given the choice blink list is something that is being constantly updated and would be the preferred choice of use. I only need one url to access the blink list.

Web 2 and and such applications as blink list is removing a time consuming process of storing and recording your sites and data. Especially if you want to send your sites on to other people.

Web 2 is the new user friendly Internet for everyone. There are very few things that a person could not achieve on line with most of the web 2 applications these days.

Module Three - blogs

Blogs can be very useful for any number and variety of reasons.

Some examples of this would be:

Personal recordings and reflection,
Journalism
Academic recordings
Advice manuals
or basically just about anything you could think off.

The lists of blogs appear to be endless. Blogs therefore are a great way of people expressing themselves, or getting information out there. Blogs can also generate business through such things as AdWords. There are lots of blogs on blogging and how to blog.

Blogging is like a worldwide arena for a person to express themselves.

There is no reason not to like blogs. They are easy to use for the non computer literate, often informative and you don't have to pursue topic you don't like.

Blogging is a quick and efficient way to publish and idea or opinion or knowledge.

Module Three - ftp

This task turned out to be more difficult that I original thought due to not having downloaded the VNP client advised by curtain. However once I overcame this small problem with the help from my classmates all was fine.

The ftp client was easy to use and I found where my files needed to go without a problems.

The url for my website is

http://student.curtin.edu.au/~14086764/

Module Three- WWW Standards

Optional ‘standards’ task:

Summary - 5 Most important "rules" for writing online.

* Headings - Make sure your viewers can find what they are looking for

* Layout - Ensure your layout is clear and easy to scan

* Be Concise, brief and use Keywords to ensure you don't loose your viewer

* Usability - Ensure that you are using a format that will capture you aimed at audience. Different groups of people are attracted to different things

* Interactivity - Make sure your web page is usable. Avoid overcrowding.

All of the above relate back to the the fact the people "Scan" a web page rather than read it. In order for you to get your message across clear use of headings, a layout that is concise and clear and is written to aim at its intended market. Keywords are important and html links can be useful if you wish to have more detail that some and not all readers will be interested in. As a whole though the term "scannable" would still be between early observations and now one of the most important. People do not read a web page as easily or comprehensively as they would a paper document so you need to condense your writing to get your message across in a shorter format.

Optional ‘standards’ task 2:

Test your web page according to the W3C standards by going to their ‘validator’ page. If your page does not conform (it probably won’t!) record in your learning log why you think this is: try and identify the particular tags or code that are causing trouble. Are the problems related mostly to display, usability, or accessibility?

I tested my index.html page and the first attempt had approximately 40 errors on it. Interesting. I feel the main problem with my personal entries is keeping things in order so that when you are trying to insert something "fancy" you keep the tags in correct format.

I decided to put the web page I run to the test as a matter of comparison.

This was the result

So my page edited by a editor and used by hundreds of people every week still had errors although no where nearly as many as my attempt at HTML myself. My conclusion is two sided. I need to learn a lot more about html however regardless of whether they should or not things work on the web even if the coding isn't prefect. It probably isn't good practice however is probably a very common problem as more and more people can "write" a web page using software to circumnavigate learning html.

I am now pleased to say that after editing my index.html page has been validated and is HMTL Valid. Please refer to Module Three - HTML for more on this

Module Three - HTML

I undertook this task with some interest as after running a web page for a couple of years and using a html editor called KompoZer (this is a free download) I was finally going to be forced into thinking about what I was doing. I do have some knowledge of html and how it works however probably not enough for someone who runs a web page. Most html editors have some bugs in them so it will be nice to have a clearer idea of what I am looking at.

I found Joe Barta's So you Want to make a web page site fairly simple to follow. I downloaded the Note Tab Lite Program he recommended and got underway.

HTML - The advantages of html editing is the vast range of stuff you can manage to do. It gives a lot more freedom and understanding of how things work and lets you be more creative. You control the site from your computer and only upload and download as you need. To get a true understanding of web pages and how they run it is probably essential to have some knowledge of how html works and how to use it. For the inexperienced however it is time consuming and fiddly.

Blogging - Blogging is done on-line. It is great for straight forward and quick work which you want displayed and seen. You don't need ftp's or need to have any knowledge of html. You basically just have to know the basics of being able to use a browser and follow links, sign up, start typing and off you go.
However as everything is on-line you need to be reliant on the blogging site you use. It also limits variation and creativity.

My view at the moment is that html is going to be very useful to understand, however when editing my web page i will stick with an editor. Reason - I am going to end up wasting far to much time playing around with code

One sticking point I have had on this is the html validation. When checking the main page of the web site I run it had 9 errors and was not HTML 4.01 transitional. It does however function as a web page that is used by hundreds of people. For the purpose of this task I felt and learning basic html my page should be Validated correctly. First attempts had LOTS of errors.

I finally got it down under the 10 mark and slowly worked through these. It took more time than I thought but for my own satisfaction it was rewarding to get the following message: