Library Ethnography

http://youtu.be/Q9US8d-A84I

100%For this project, Laiken and I chose to look up a book on Karma from the Ingram library. We first met in the library, and found a computer to use. Then, we went to the home page i-con which brought us to the library's home pa

For this project, Laiken and I chose to look up a book on Karma from the Ingram library. We first met in the library, and found a computer to use. Then, we went to the home page i-con which brought us to the library's home page. Once we were at the home page we typed our book topic into the search engine. A list of books related to the topic appeared on the screen. After deciding on the book we wanted to find, we wrote down all information about the book(name, call number and floor level), so we could find the book without having to come back to the computer. Our book was located on level 2 of the library in section D, so off we went to the elevators. Once we reached level 2, we found section D by looking at the section letter and numbers that are posted on the outside edges of each bookshelf. We found section D, and began searching for the call number, which is located on the spine of each book. Once we found out book, we were complete!
Laiken and I worked very well together in my opinion. We each did an equal share of work for the project, and did not slack off on it. We both met in the library to take the pictures, and the rest of our work was split into two parts. Laiken used her camera to take pictures and uploaded the pictures to the computer, organized them, and sent them to me. I put the pictures into a video, and added the descriptions to each image. We both came up with the steps and descriptions for each picture. I enjoyed having Laiken as a partner because we each did our equal part, which helped me enjoy doing the project itself more as well.

Research Topic

My group chose a topic from an article of an individual being bilingual. The article was based off of the question on if a person was bilingual, if it made them smarter or not. We chose this topic because it protains to each of our majors the best. Our majors included education, business, and pre-nursing. Possessing a bilingual background would greatly benefit eachof these career fields.
My major is business and marketing. The topic of a bilingual person interests me because I feel that if an individual is bilingual, it would help their job opportunities in the marketing world. Researching more about this topic will help me decide if I need to minor in a second lanuage to help my job search in the future. It might help me  to be able to communicate with a wider variety of people, including other marketers and consumers. Also, it would help me to not be restriceted to staying withing the U.S. I hope to learn alot from this research topic and project to help benefit me in the future!

News Stories

http://abcnews.go.com/blogs/headlines/2013/01/indiana-police-officer-wife-could-face-jail-time-for-saving-a-deer/

This article is about a couple rescuing a baby dear, and possibly receiving federal charges against them for it. I picked this because it's pretty ridiculous and I would be curious to read more into it about how it would be possible for the charges to be made.

http://abcnews.go.com/Health/Diet/diet-myths-pack-pounds/story?id=18337288

I am really big into fitness and always wanting to improve my diet, so I found this article perfect because it kind of protained to me. I would be interested to learn more about the dieting myths that have been discovered.

http://www.examiner.com/article/facebook-might-pay-users-up-to-10-after-lawsuit

This article caught my attention for two reasons: one, there are so many people that use facebook, and two, I got the email that was sent out by facebook. I am interested to read more into the subject to find out more of what the lawsuit is about.

Jumping Into a Convo

Being friendly and confident are always the characteristics you should have if you are approaching a group of people that you have never met before. This will make it easier for them to accept you and be more likely to let you stick around in the conversation, rather than walking away.  First off, I would never put my two cents into a conversation unless I did know about what was being said, or I had some idea of the topic. If I'm going to engage in that conversation, I want to make sure I know what I'm talking about and not stutter or have to think about what to say next. Also, I would make sure to listen and be polite while another person was talking because if you cut them off in the middle of their sentence or completely change the subject after they're done talking, that is so rude. Doing this would show that you either don't care about what they have to say, seem as if you already know everything, or just have no idea of what they are talking about in general.
The same things would apply if the situation was switched around, and a random person came up to a group of friends and me trying to talk about the topic. They need to be confident, not cocky, and polite! I am an easy going person as it is so I would have no problem with anyone approaching a conversation I was having with a group. However, if they talked down to me, stuttered and seemed as if they had no idea what I was talking about, or didn;t make any sense of what they were saying, then I would think they were rude and had no clue of the subject. Their opinions would definitely be welcome as long as they weren't biased and had a valid arguement for why they felt a certain way.
Like I said, I am an easy going person, so as long as the approacher was polite and confident, I would not mind their presence in the conversation. Also people should remember to be the same when trying to engage in a conversation with another group.

Research Interview

I did not get a chance to interview my professor, which would probably be more informative, however I did interview and upper class man by the name of Jordan. One of the first pieces of advice he gave me was to learn to communicate with my professor. He explained that each professor has their own way of grading, and will always give the criteria to you, most likely on a rubric. If you don't understand the requirements, meet with your professor to become more clear. He also said that professor require you to cite all the sources in the paper, and that his professors didn't require a particular source, just and accurate one from a good website or book. This is when I asked if he knew the difference from a good or bad website and he claimed he does. When I asked how, he stated many of the criteria we have learned in class about distinguishing a good and bad cite. He says his papers have gotten a lot longer since his freshman year, and that more research, effort and sources had to be put into it. This interview was very helpful to me, and gives me more of an idea of what to expect as I advance in my years at West Georgia.

Research Project

I have done many research projects throughout highschool. However, the project I enjoyed doing most was during the second semester of my senior year in my British Literature class. Each student in the class had to choose a topic they felt strongly about and ellaborate on why they believe the topic to be true, or why they felt the way they did, and write an essay on it. I chose to write my essay on the drinking age being reduced to 18.
The reason I chose this topic is because I felt very strongly that the age should be reduced to 18. At age 18, people are conisdered an adult. They can join the military, legally buy/smoke cigarrettes, vote, and basically resume the same responsibilities as other adults. The only thing a person can't do when they turn 18 is legally drink. If a person is mature enough to perform all the other tasks or activities listed, then why are they not mature enough to drink. I used google for the research on my entire paper. I mainly got my research from articles written by professors, statistics on drinking, and the government. All the facts and information obtained backed up all statistics found and made a very strong paper.
I enjoyed writing this paper because it portained to me, and was interesting to research. I found out many new facts on the subject, and after finishing my essay, I felt more strongly about my topic than before i started my research.

Morgan Macurak

My name is Morgan Macurak. I am from Douglasville, GA. My reasons for attending The University of West Georgia were becasue it is fairly close to my house, and it is shown to have a very decent business program(which is my major). I am choosing to major in busines and marketing, and go into the promotional aspect of business, because I am outgoing and a perssuasive person. In this class, hope to learn and understand the internet, how it works, and how to use it to help me in my classes and for research throughout my UWG years.