Google Zeitgeist and How to take a screenshot

Recently, I came across Google Zeitgeist where you can see the search trends of the world or select any country to see individual fads. Look at New Zealand to see what was all the rage last year e.g. Did you know the most searched recipe is the pancake followed by banana cake, chocolate cake, chicken and playdough?

What it does : (from Google Zeitgeist: How we did this)

We studied an aggregation of over one trillion searches (or queries) that people typed into Google Search this year. We used data from multiple sources, including Google Trends and internal data tools. We filtered out spam and repeat queries to build lists that best reflect the spirit of 2012.

I was interested to see that the most looked up How to in New Zealand was How to screenshot. It led the pack which included how to love; how to study and how to geocache. Coincidentally, I showed several students how to take a screenshot only yesterday in the Library so they could save their search histories found in CINAHL and Proquest databases. So in case you want to know how, read on:

Quick tip for creating a shot of any screen on your computer at CPIT :

1. Select the windows icon in the bottom left

2. type snip in the bottom search box

3. Select snipping tool

4. The screen will go cloudy and you can draw a box around the area to capture.

5. Select File / Save as to save your image to your desktop, etc. Then you can send it as an email attachment or insert it into a word document, etc.

For more tips you can check out our FAQs in this blog or to continue with the spirit of the times go back to Google Zeitgeist .

What’s the point in peer review?

Cartoon by Nick D Kim, strange-matter.net (please see site for terms of reuse)

We are coming to the start of a new term, where many of you will have the good fortune to attend one or more classes with Library and Learning Services, where you will sample the heady delights of APA referencing, avoiding plagiarism and finding reliable information for your assessments.

We are often asked to talk about peer review in these classes, as your tutors may require you to include them among your sources. It can sometimes seem like a bit of a dark art, but it’s a pretty simple process, and I wanted to write a post about why on earth your tutor stubbornly insists on you locating peer reviewed articles, while you might feel your time is better spent with more serious pursuits.

What’s Peer Review

Also known as refereeing. When a journal article has been peer reviewed, it means a bunch of experts in that field have checked the paper in detail, and have agreed that it is suitable for publication.

They can send it back for revisions or even request that experiments be done again. They’re on the review panel for the journal because they (should) know what they’re talking about.

So, if an article has been peer reviewed, it’s a kind of expert endorsement that the quality of the article is up to scratch. That means that, in theory, it’s more trustworthy for the rest of us, so if you’re basing your assessments on peer reviewed material, that means you’re basing it on information that is more trustworthy. That makes your assessment more trustworthy, which hopefully means better marks. Sadly, the internet is not peer reviewed, so although information there might be trustworthy, you’ll have to find an independent way to prove it.

But Peer Review goes wrong…

The process is not without its flaws- to put it mildly. Raw data is frequently not provided, so the reviewers have to trust that the author didn’t make it all up. Journals with blinkered reviewers and editors publish biased articles. There are a lot of problems with the peer review process.

So why do we use it?

During a post-war speech to the UK House of Commons, Winston Churchill made the following famous quote:

“Many forms of Government have been tried and will be tried in this world of sin and woe. No one pretends that democracy is perfect or all-wise. Indeed, it has been said that democracy is the worst form of government except all those other forms that have been tried from time to time.”

Although there are some suggestions to replace or change peer review, inertia and politics and people mean that for now, peer reviewed resources are the worst solution to your problems of providing credible sources for your assignments, except for sources that aren’t peer reviewed.

So, while a class that teaches you to find peer reviewed material might not be easy, it should provide partial inoculation against the fearsome red pen of your tutors- a worthwhile end in itself.

School holiday fun

For all of those students who are studying while parenting here are a few links to activities which may help to keep your children entertained these holidays.

From NZ.com here are some Christchurch events for July including the Christchurch Brick Show: The biggest Lego show in New Zealand

If you are Lego enthusiast here are a couple of our Safari ebooks on lego from our collection. Just use your CPIT username and password to access these.

The unofficial LEGO Technic builder’s guide

by Pawel Kmieć (2012)

The unofficial LEGO builder’s guide

by Allan Bedford (2012)

Once you’re all legoed out here are some more holiday programmes advertised on the Christchurch City Libraries website including links to:

For home oriented activities, you could borrow our book of Great games for great parties by Andrea Campbell. It’s an oldie but a goodie containing hunts, stunts, musical games, table games and more.

Have fun!

Researching your whakapapa or family history

Here’s a final tip for Te wiki o te reo Māori. In keeping with the theme of Ingoa Māori / Māori names here are some links to researching your whakapapa or family history.

Recommended books in our Library:

1. Royal, T. C (1992) Te Haurapa: an introduction to researching tribal histories and traditions.

2. Joyce, B. (2008) Whakapapa: an introduction to researching Māori and Pākeha Māori families, their history, heritage, and culture

Find more resources in CPIT’s Māori subject guide

Other resources :

Christchurch City Libraries – Books & web links on whakapapa

Christchurch City Libraries handouts for whakapapa research

Happy researching and kia pai tō rā (Have a good day)

HAPPY 4TH OF JULY – AMERICAN INDEPENDENCE DAY

The Stars & Stripes - Flag of the United States — The Stars & Stripes – Flag of the United States

This is probably the one of the most important days for most Americans, as it celebrates the country’s freedom from the yoke of the British rule and the signing of the Declaration of Independence in 1776.

Britain had ruled the fledging states for almost 200 years and at the end of the war against the British crown the American Declaration of Independence was drawn up and signed, first by John Hancock and later by other leaders.

The day is now celebrated with a public holiday which features parades, fairs, fireworks, picnics, concerts, baseball games, family reunions and in some areas major speeches from local politicians. It is a very patriotic day with most people flying the Stars and Stripes flag from their homes or dressing in the red, white and blue of the flag.

In the past there have been some special events that have occurred on the 4^th of July

In 1778, General George Washington marked July 4 with a double ration of rum for his soldiers and an artillery salute.
In 1781 the Massachusetts General Court became the first state legislature to recognize July 4 as a state celebration
In 1826 John Adams and Thomas Jefferson, who were two of the Declaration signatories and who both held the office of the President of the United States, died on the 50^th anniversary of the signing.
In 1831 another founding father who became President, James Munroe died. He was the 3^rd President in a row to die on Independence Day.
In 1872 the only President to have been born on the 4^th of July was the 30^th President Calvin Coolidge
In 1989 Tom Cruise starred in the movie Born on the 4^th of July. It was the story of Ron Kovic who was paralyzed in the Vietnam War and later became an anti-war, pro-human rights political activist. Ron Kovic was born on the 4^th of July 1947 and won a Golden Globe for the film’s screenplay.

We would like to wish all Americans a very Happy, Safe and Peaceful 4th of July 2013.

Putiputi and pikopiko making for Te wiki o te reo in the Whare pukapuka

Megan Grace is showing Lynne the art of putiputi making.

Go to our Flickr page to see more photos from our session to celebrate Te wiki o te reo Māori.

Don’t forget our big screen tv event in the library at 3.30pm today with cartoon, puppetry and drama in te reo Māori and English. Don’t miss tomorrow’s storytelling session in the library at 10.30am.