Interesting thing about IP addresses…

The interesting thing about IP addresses is that if your office or section has already been assigned your allotted number of them, then it is tricky to get the new person in the office access to the Internet. There is an intern in my office for the summer and the office to which she was assigned needed a computer (just the tower) and Internet connection. A rebuilt computer was installed in her office and then came the Jenga game process of determining which IP addresses in the office were in use and which ones were not. Ed (the IT guy) did this and I observed. He gave the intern an address previously assigned to one of the faculty members who rarely comes into the office and who doesn’t have a computer or much of anything else in his office.

In class we talked about static and dynamic IP addresses. As I understand it the set amount of IP addresses allotted to our office are static IP addresses. I assume that the reason our office has a set amount of IP addresses is money. So, that leads to me to question…how much does an individual static IP address cost?

Another thought or two about Refworks:

This program would be great for a researcher who has a lot of source documentation to organize, because it pulls (for the most part) all of the pertinent information a researcher would need to properly cite a source and Refworks can format this information to comply with a variety of style methods. However, as I was combing through my reference list, I noticed that not only was some of the important information missing, but that some of the information was incorrect. For example, I discovered that one journal citation was missing the volume and issue numbers. So, I looked up the article in question to ascertain where it is located in the scheme of this journal’s publication. I learned that the page numbers in the citation were incorrect. Researchers who use this program need to proof read their citations. Refworks has the potential to be a friend to those who want to be lazy.

A few thoughts about Refworks:

I began my Refworks assignment this past Monday and much to my dismay I am still working on it. However, I am determined to finish before Friday so that I can enjoy the long weekend. Figuring out Refworks and Scopus were fairly easy. I just poked around and tried a few things until I got the hang of it. I work and learn much better from a hands-on approach. Although, I had to use the help guide in Refworks to learn that I needed to set my preferences in Google Scholar fist before I would have the option of exporting my source to Refworks. Overall, I think that Refworks is an easy-to-use and helpful program. My only hang-up is that it doesn’t always capture all of the information needed to complete a citation. I have my 100 citations and I’m currently working on filling in the holes that Refworks left behind. Sometimes the information is in the Refworks record but was left out of the citation, and sometimes the information simply isn’t there and I need to look up that work again to find it. I’m also looking though my collection of references and marking the ones that I found using Scopus to separate them from the references from Google Scholar. I looked but Refworks does not appear to have the capability of carrying out this task for me.

My thoughts on operating systems:

Unfortunately, I do not a lot of experience with different types of operating systems. A lot of my computer experience is PC-based and Windows-based, except for that bit in college when I was Editor-in Chief of the Setonian. It’s a bummer now that I can’t remember what version of OS was on the Macs at Seton Hill University when I attended there. I have come to the conclusion that it had to have been something between OS 10.1 and 10.3. With all of the time, money, and research that Apple puts into creating and updating their operating systems, it’s a shame that neither OS 10.1 through OS 10.3 made an impression on me. I must not have a very close relationship with my computers.

Lastly, (and I don’t think this was in the slides on 5/18) but there are programs that allow you to run Windows on a Mac. How about that? I did not know this until recently when I conducted a little casual research. Apple says that their computers are “built for compatibility.” The Apple site the previous link takes you to is very promotion-focused, but informative.

I guess I just take MS Word and friends for granted.

My thoughts on hardware:

The hardware portion of a computer is interesting. It is, of course, what we can see and how we can physically interact with the processes of the computer. Hardware is also what comes to mind first when I think about computers. Additionally, I think that it is interesting that while I can see these letters that I am typing I know that they are not physically there, but are a visual representation of a series of ones and zeros. Also, I would like to say that I think a motherboard looks like a miniature city. Lastly, I am still not sure how RAM works.

Computer experience:

My experience with computers began in elementary school. My first grade classroom had three Apple computers and what I remember the most is that these computers were large, beige, and before any work could start I needed to type “home” to move my curser to the top of the page.

When I entered 4th grade I changed schools and became acquainted with PCs. As a kid I don’t recall noticing any differences between Apple computers and PCs other than my new school had a lab with rows and rows of computers and that these computers had games you could play.

In high school I took a typing class and a class that focused on teaching the different programs that are part of Microsoft Office. I also took a Computer Science class. The most advanced program I wrote was a white dot the bounced across the screen.

I worked with both Apple computers and PCs in college, which gave me experience with a variety of software. All of the computer labs on campus contained PCs except for the Mac lab, which was reserved for Graphic Design majors and students who worked on the school's literary magazine or the Setonian, the school paper. I served as editor-in-chief of the Setonian for a year.

Currently, I sit in front of a computer all day. It’s a PC. As part of my job I am the content manager for two websites: CompassionateCareforAll.org and POWHER (Project on Women's Health, Empowerment, and Rights.)

I understand some HTML, but it is definitely not a language that I dream in.

Introduction:

This is the second blog I have ever created. I created the first one as an undergrad at Seton Hill University for an Internet Journalism class. I was neither impressed with my writing nor keen on preserving the content for all time so I deleted my first blog. The writing, which is to follow in biweekly posts, will be an exploration in learning about computers and the importance of these machines to communication, information sharing, and digital libraries.