CSIS6/LIB6 Research Skills - Lesson 1 Moving Around the Browser Window

The Browser Window

We'll start with a quick tour around the browser window. If you are using either Firefox or Microsoft Internet Explorer or some other browser,  all of these programs have most of the navigating tools available through one of the menu bars across the top of the screen. The Firefox/Netscape browser window looks a little different but basically has the same functions: Some buttons will be especially helpful to you: BACK will take you back one screen at a time. HOME will bring you back to the screen set up as the homepage. This will be different for different computers. If you are in the Gavilan Library, this will bring you back to the library website. LOCATION (ADDRESS) is the bar across the top of the screen with the address of the current page. If you know the address of the page you want, you can click once in this bar (to highlight the whole address), and then type in the address of the page you want. STOP will stop the computer from loading the last requested page, and return control to you. This is handy if the page is taking too long to load. STATUS BAR at the bottom of the page shows what the browser is doing. If you move your cursor over a link, even without clicking, the status bar will show you where the link will take you.

Opening and Closing Windows

In these lessons, when you click on a link to another site, the browser will open up another window on your computer. The window with this lesson will be hidden underneath the new window. To get back to this lesson, you'll have to close the top window. If you are working on a PC, click on the X in the upper right corner of the new window. If you're on a Mac, click on the small box in the upper left corner. Macintosh operating systems will let you keep several screens open at once, and you can simply click with your mouse on the screen that you want. You can stagger the screens by clicking and dragging on the barred top. The Windows operating system will put a rectangular button at the bottom of your screen or open a new tab for each open website. The title of the website will appear on the button or tab. You can move between websites by clicking on these. The highlighted button or tab indicates the window that is currently displayed on your screen. Some browsers (Firefox and the latest version of Internet Explorer) also provide tabs. These will appear across the top of the browser, just below the address box. You can toggle between screens by clicking on the tab you want. The current screen is the one with the highlighted background.

Comparing Websites
Each one of the links below will open up a new window, and each time, after you get the answers to the questions, you can close the window and get back to this lesson page. After this lesson, you should all be experts on how to open and close windows on your browser, and how to move between them. We'll be doing a lot of opening and closing websites in this class, because we'll be comparing the different sources of information available out there on any given topic. Take my friend Penelope. She is now fixated on buying and taking blue-green algae, or spirulina. Here are some of the different sources I've shown her about spirulina:
The Quackwatch website is dedicated to warning people about shady medical promises and claims. It was founded by Dr. Steven Barrett in 1969 as the Lehigh Valley Committee Against Health Fraud, and has now developed into a worldwide network of volunteers and expert advisors that investigate questionable claims, advise quackery victims, report illegal marketing, and in general try to improve the quality of health information on the Internet.
Even this site, however, is controversial. The Quackwatch mission takes an offensive stance against ALL forms of "alternative" medicine, from acupuncture to vegetarianism, and the author states this quite clearly. He includes many proven and licensed therapies in the "alternative" category, which he lumps together with the less credible and sometimes bizarre charlatan practices. "Judgments about individual methods should be based on whether or not there is scientific evidence of effectiveness," he says. In other words, if there are no scientific studies, trials, results that are repeatable by other doctors, then it is 'quackery'. This means any new theories, any remedies based on personal experience or observation, any nonstandard theories, will automatically be labelled 'quackery'. Click on the Quackwatch link and glance through the article. See if you can find answers to these questions. Take notes, because these questions just might show up on your quiz or homework. Especially note the percent of protein contained in spirulina. What are some of the ailments that sellers of Blue Algae (or spirulina) claim this algae will cure? What percent of spirulina do they claim is made up of protein? When was this page last updated? (Scroll to the bottom of the page)
Now look at the Wellness Letter website for blue-green algae . What do they say about the protein content of spirulina? What organization or institution is supporting this Wellness Letter? (Hint: Click on the Home link at the top of the screen.)
Now look at the ChlorellaFactor page. Who is publishing this page? And what does he claim? What are some of the diseases and ailments that he claims can be cured by blue-green algae? Why does the author claim that he and he alone can tell you the truth about spirulina and chlorella?
Look at the wikipedia page for Spirulina. What does this page claim is the protein conent of spirulina? According to this article, what world-wide organization lauded Spirulina as the 'best food for the future' in 1974? (Hint: Look under Advocates)
Look at the MedlinePlus website, put up by the National Library of Medicine. In the search box at the top right side of the page, type in the search term: spirulina Your result list will have several articles that mention spirulina. Click on the first one, Blue-Green Algae, and look at the section called What is it? The authors describe some algae that is grown under controlled conditions, and others grown in a natural setting. Which one, according to these authors, is more likely to be contaminated by bacteria, liver poisons (microcystins), and heavy metals?
The University of Maryland Medical Center has some more information about blue-green algae. Click on the image (or the link above) to find answers to these questions:	This website claims that amino acids (the building blocks of protein) make up what percentage of spirulina. Inspite of this high percentage, what do the authors suggest about better sources of protein? At the end of this article there is a long list of research studies done on spirulina. What year was the most recent research listed and quoted by this article?
Besides getting a quick survey of blue-green algae, you should all now be opening and closing browser windows and maneuvering around the pages like pros. Congratulations on making it through your first lesson. And welcome to the class.

Review

You've had a fast tour of the browser window, which might be a review for many of you. Make sure you understand what each of the following buttons or areas will do for you: BACK will take you back one screen at a time. HOME will bring you back to the screen set up as the homepage. This will be different for different computers. If you are in the Gavilan Library, this will bring you back to the library website. LOCATION (ADDRESS) is the bar across the top of the screen with the address of the current page. If you know the address of the page you want, you can click once in this bar (to highlight the whole address), and then type in the address of the page you want. STOP will stop the computer from loading the last requested page, and return control to you. This is handy if the page is taking too long to load. STATUS BAR at the bottom of the page shows what the browser is doing. If you move your cursor over a link, even without clicking, the status bar will show you where the link will take you. You've also had a fast tour of several different websites on the same controversial topic, and you've seen widely different claims -- from no scientific evidence to lots of scientific evidence. The truth probably lies somewhere in the middle, and you'll have to develop your own evaluation skills to come to any conclusions. Keep in mind these 5 questions: Who wrote the information? Who is paying the bill to publish the information? Is there an inherent bias? Do the authors quote research that can be checked or repeated? How recent is the information? We've looked at: personal websites (Mike Adams and his Chlorella Factor website, Stephen Barrett and his Quackwatch website), a website supported by the University of California at Berkeley (Wellness Letter), and the University of Maryland Medical Center. a website supported and maintained by the National Library of Medicine (Medline Plus), and the Wikipedia entry for spirulina, which can be changed and added to by anyone with an Internet connection. This is the kind of widely divergent information and 'experts' you can expect on the Internet. In these modules, you can hopefully learn to question the authority and reliability of the different claims.

Assignment #1
On the front page of the classroom, take Quiz #1 listed under Week 1. If you don't get a perfect 6 points for the quiz, come back to this lesson and reread it. Then go back to the quiz and get a perfect score. Warning: on the second try, you might get different questions.
And finally, go to the Discussion 1 link from the classroom front page. Click on the reply button and answer these questions:	What is your name? What is your background in online classes? Is this your first online class? In your now somewhat educated point of view, would you recommend to my friend Penelope that she spend $50 for 100 blue-green algae tablets?
After you've posted your own answers, go back and read some of your classmates' postings. Answer at least one of them, and welcome them to the class. This forum will close at 5 minutes before midnight on Oct 27. After that, you can still post, but I won't be grading them anymore.

Address of this page: http://hhh.gavilan.edu/jhowell/lib3/1.htm For questions or comments contact Jo Anne Howell at jhowell@gavilan.edu Last updated on October 13, 2010