Welcome to Study Hall! The Internet can be a great resource as long as you know how to use it. Here you will find tips for effective web research to help you get the most out of the Internet.
Maya
Cyber Defender & Databank Supervisor
Because of her unquenchable thirst for knowledge, Maya started out as a librarian. While she loved her job, she wanted to do more to help protect people.
Since Cyber Villains such as Ms. Information and Elvirus can corrupt websites and the information on them, Maya teaches people to protect themselves by using caution when visiting websites and avoiding sites that are not trustworthy.
Give me a fish and I eat for a day. Teach me to fish and I eat for a lifetime
- Chinese Proverb
Anything chocolate
Interests:Browsing bookstores, baking
January 29 2008
Tracking Down Master Hacker
Commander Omni asked me to help her in the search for the Master Hacker. Finding someone is pretty similar to using the Internet to find information about a given topic. If you ask the right questions and know how to interpret the information that you find, you can often find valuable clues on where a person might be hiding. I've been looking for Ex-Commander Nils, but the man is good. I can only find breadcrumbs, and he seems to be moving around a lot. But he can't hide forever. Eventually I'll find him.
posted by Maya
topic: Miscellaneous
January 22 2008
Hugs Congratulations Party
I helped Dana host the Hugs Congratulations party today. All the cadets are starting to become worried after everything that's happened, so I wanted to help do something that would take their minds off things. I got the cook at the cafeteria to make a cake for us. I got some cards and board games and turned the Library into a game room for the evening.
Everyone seemed to be having a great time, but the guest of honor never bothered to show! I'm going to have to talk with Alan about his recent behavior.
posted by Maya
topic: Miscellaneous
January 22 2008
Finding Reliable Sites: Does it look professional?
Reliable sites often have teams of people working on them, so they are usually up-to-date and look very professional. If a site is full of errors such as typos and broken links and inconsistencies such as images and advertisements that don't relate to the content, it is much less likely to be a reliable site.
The more Web research you do, the easier it will become to tell the difference between a site that a team of designers and content experts built (which is much more likely to have reliable content) and a site that someone who knows very little about the Internet put together in their spare time. Also, to be on the safe side, no matter what the site looks like, you should always double-check the information on it against a trusted source.
posted by Maya
topic: Finding Reliable Sites
January 16 2008
Everyone to Blame
I've been talking with Keen and tying it to the disturbing trends I've seen. It appears that the most recent attack on our firewalls is the result of Ms. Information misleading students and faculty alike into revealing our system's vulnerabilities. We are all to blame for what happened. Even I carry part of it. A new program I was using to organize our library was embedded with a virus that fed information to the worm eating through our firewall.
posted by Maya
topic: Miscellaneous
January 8 2008
Research Tip: Double-check your information
Just as it is very easy to find information on the Web, it's also very easy for anyone to put information on the Web. Some people really don't do their homework and will put fake or false information on the Web claiming that it is correct. The Cyber Villain Ms. Information is notorious for this!
You should look for sites that include lists of references and source materials, which will explain where the author found the information. And, always double-check the information that you find on the Web against an offline trusted resource to make sure it is reliable. It's also not a bad idea to check up on the references and source materials to make sure they are reliable also. Who knows, you may discover a lot of useful information in those resources, too!