Blog Post Assignment 4.24.13

My Research Question:

What are the health benefits of a vegetarian diet?


my argument is in support of people finding healthier options by switching their diets to either full vegetarian or at least more pro-veggie/fruit motives that will allow people to live better lives with better health and less complications



http://www.slideshare.net/MatthewNickerson1/
the single presentation called "Your Prezi"

Thank You Very Much For Your Time.....!

-Matthew

Blog Assignment 4.11.13

http://prezi.com/bop3pxqx7uml/present/?auth_key=srme1kq&follow=e3idkdztbshd&kw=present-bop3pxqx7uml&rc=ref-37515757

above is the link to my demo version of my research project using "Prezzi"

i enjoyed using prezzi for my presentation and believe that i will use it for my final presentation as well. The pros to prezzi are the ease of use and basic functionality of a great and easy to use presentation site. The cons to it are that after a time period, it is not free anymore and you have to pay to maintain your service.

google sites seemed nice but their were more cons than pros. The cons are that everthing is in a google format requiring you to only use the tools involved within the google system. The pros are that it is a free service and seems fairly easy to start a page without money or web development experience.

Weebly seems like a great tool but again has more cons than pros. the pros to weebly seem to be the simple and easy approach to making general presentations and sites. The cons to weebly seem to be the cookie cut approach to creating these things. Sometimes the sites with easy to make presentations can come off as corny to a professional or business person as many sites look like the rest of the easy access pages.

Wix seemed very two sided as far as the cons and pros. The pros could be viewed as the simple and easy access to many resources that could allow for one to be productive all in one site. The cons could be viewed as the fact that Wix has too many options available and could make getting things done, not as efficient in regards to specific things.

Since my project involves health i could bring in some physical things such as fruit to get people interested in the presentation while engaging in the foods i view important in a Health based lifestyle. For my project i may bring apples or vegetables for the audience to snack on while presenting the final product.

Blog Homework 4.4.13

Matthew Nickerson
LIBR 1101
4.4.13

               The days of fast paced internet and a changing online environment are also challenging intellectual property. Intellectual property is a huge issue at hand due to the increasingly controversial topic of “sharing” and “public works” that are more public now than ever before. Textbooks and public works are readily accessible without the payment or credit to the original authors which can be problematic for new authors or scholarly authors not wanting their works public or overly accessible. Plagiarism has increased throughout universities and public school works as the internet has allowed others to find sources but not always shows the citations for the sources.

                In many cases, universities have dealt with numerous cases of plagiarism involving Wikipedia. Wikipedia compiles information from many sources to show common knowledge in a vast database. When university students quote from sites like Wikipedia or scholarly sites without citing sources is a huge legal issue and can also subject those students to expulsion from the university system. It is interesting to see that the president was checked on his plagiarism but can be understandable when a man of his caliber has to reach to sources for explanations or providing the public with credible details.  Although the university system can see lighter legal penalties, big businesses face huge legal fees involved with intellectual property and claiming ideas or information produced by another individual.  

Blog Homework 4.2.13

My Topic Is "The Health Benefits Of A Vegetarian Diet"

Journal Article

P Enck, et al. "A Vegan Or Vegetarian Diet Substantially Alters The Human Colonic Faecal Microbiota." European Journal Of Clinical Nutrition 66.1 (2012): 53-60. MEDLINE with Full Text. Web. 2 Apr. 2013.

In this article, it explains the fact that diet is attribute to health diseases such as heart disease and colon cancer. Their is microbiological advantages in eating a healthier diet. At a convention there was a cross-comparison of healthy individuals to that of individuals eating a meat/chicken/fish/pork based diet. These studies are important in observing the health differences of people on different diets as we can see percentages and statistics of what can happen over periods of time.

Book Source

Duden, Jane. "Chapter Three: Why Eat Vegetarian?." Vegetarianism for Teens. 23. n.p.: Capstone Press, 2001. Health Source - Consumer Edition. Web. 2 Apr. 2013.

In this book article, teens explain the benefits of their diet as well as the lifestyle it entails to be a vegetarian. One of the great points mentioned in this book relates to the fact that vegetarians have low-fat and high-fiber diets that contribute to better health habits in their future as well as a less likely habit of hospital visits. One young person interviewed who was 12 years old at the time, mentioned his father going through colon cancer, making it hard to watch and wanting to live a better life. This source helps with cross comparison studies of many young people and their quest on better diets and lifestyle choices.

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I believe these sources will help me out in my research as they show different aspects of the health benefits of being on a vegetarian diet. The book source actually goes in depth with teenagers eating a healthier vegetarian diet and how it has helped them. I believe by showing the health aspects of older people as well as younger can show the positive aspects of being on a better diet. These are some good sources to get me started on a great research topic.

Blog Homework 3.14

Matthew Nickerson

LIBR1101

Blog Homework 3/14

                For this blog assignment I went on Google and searched for “Vegetarian Groups”. The first result that popped up was the “Vegetarian Resource Group” (VRG) which specialized in informing people on recipes as well as statistics and data on vegetarian lifestyles. Due to the fact that it was the first result from Google shows the relevance to people and how important and dynamic this group must be to people all over the world. VRG has an incredible site with categorical organization along the sidelines that are very helpful. Categories such as press releases, recipes, nutrition, ingredient information, and business information will be things I could very well include into my presentation.

                The great part about the VRG is not only the organization of the site itself, but the amount of information the site contains. Databases such as Galileo will be helpful in scholarly research, but other websites may be just as useful in the end in regards to my project. The nutritional facts that are provided are going to be essential in my project as convincing people about eating healthier using statistics will be just as important as conveying the topic in general.

Blog Homework 3/5

Matthew Nickerson       

LIBR1101

Blog Homework 3/5

In using these new sites I found two that were appealing in helping me along with my topic. The site “Reddit.com” allowed me to find some very useful articles right off the bat with a comprehensive library of user promoted articles. It was helpful because most of the results were due to votes by people on the site to promote better quality articles as well as well written pieces. Reddit allowed me to find news articles in regards to the title “Health” and listed some very clear and concise articles from nutrition all the way down to a story about a cured child of HIV, although the last one did not relate to my topic, it is still relevant in the sake of healthcare. Not only can you search through categories, but can also search through subreddit catageories that can take you from a major category such as “health” and direct you to subreddits such as “ADHD” and “Vegetarian” allowing users to go from category to subcategories of those categories.

Twitter is a great social media tool due to the brief nature of “tweeting”. Tweeting allows a user to put a few characters in a line and have that information accessible to millions of people across the globe. In regards to my topic, doctors and health professionals such as “Julian Michaels” or authors of vegetarian books may be useful in promoting better information. Twitter makes things public and accessible which is good for celebrities to get things out as well as products from businesses. If I was interested in including something from “Kashi” or “Whole Foods” in my paper, I could find information from their twitter page that may help me out in my resources.

I personally only use Facebook due to communication. I use very little social media as I see it mainly as a distraction and only wastes peoples time if there not using it in the right way. I tried using twitter personally but did not enjoy. I could see the benefits of a celebrity or business using twitter, but personal tweets by random people and seeing a timeline full of hundreds to possibly thousands of tweets every day is not in my interest. Twitter is a great social media tool, but It can be extremely distracting and can also lead people to be misinformed through the fact that you are not able to put over a certain amount of characters in the tweet box. 

Blog Homework 2/26

Matthew Nickerson
LIBR 1101
2.25.13
Blog Homework (2.26.13)

http://www.popsci.com/science/article/2013-02/many-reasons-chair-killing-you?src=SOC&dom=fb

In this article, the argument is that many people are not getting enough excercise in their daily working lifestyle. This is a truth that can be seen in the American society as obesity is becoming a huge problem. It is an argument because although their is evidence, the author is using opinions and facts to explain the seven deadly ways sitting can kill you. One of the biggest indicators emotions and word relationships can be seen to relate to audiences are the ease of relating to the topic. Some of these things are word usage and phrase usage that relates the topics to a persons everyday lifestyle and habits.

The article really does not have any logical fallacies. It is very clear and concise about the topic at hand with some pictures and statistics that relate the topics more to a global numbers. The article was very informative to me and the title also pulled me into viewing it off of a friends page. Health is my interest and statistics interest me so i was prone to click on a link with a catchy title.

Blog Homework 2.14.13

Matthew Nickerson

LIBR1101

Blog Homework 2.14.13

I believe that I have just narrowed my search topic down a little bit more narrow and better for anybody to understand. I believe that my final topic is going to be “The health benefits of a vegetarian lifestyle”. I was going to do it on specific diets in accordance to regional areas such as the southeast United States and Asia and compare each other. Each class period I am finding more helpful resources and databases that can help me with my search routines. Due to the fact that my topic deals with health, it is pretty relevant in today’s society.

  “Foods for health”

Call Number: HE20.3202:F73/3  PubDate:1985

Located: Government Documents Compact Shelving (Main Floor)

This is one of the of the books I found in the west Georgia library that I could potentially use for research and incorporate into my project as well.

Blog Homework (2/12)

Matthew Nickerson

LIBR1101

Blog Homework (2/12)

                I believe the difference between my past research and this research is the heavy use of databases. In the past, book sources and other encyclopedias were used in reference to English papers and the citations I needed for ENG 1101 and ENG 1102. It was easy to find a book in the library and reference what was seen in the book from the topic at hand. Databases make it that much easier to find resources and references in the subjects and categories and receive multiple sources for the same topic. Since my topic is on “health foods”, rather than getting one source from a book; I have many databases under “health/medicine” or “nutrition” that can show me thousands of results. Books are shown as well as professional journals and scholastic resources such as those articles published in universities and institutions.

                I would not say that I am having difficulty, although some of the maneuvering around databases can be hectic and time consuming; if not done right. One thing I would have also liked talking about was “sources and citations”, but I am sure that is to come in the near future of this class. Everything seems to be going well for my research project and I happen to be getting many results with my topic. Pleased with everything thus far.  Interested to see what is to come in the next classes

2/7 Blog Assignment

Matthew Nickerson

LIBR1101

2/7 Blog Assignment

                Currently, I am not engaged in a class that would require extraneous use of the “Special Collections” department of the universities library. These items would be useful in a study in an English class as “social” and “cultural” perspective is important in understanding the historical value. The context of climate and environment can allow a student to analyze the importance of dated material. Items in the collections can be dated and this means that proper care of the material is highly necessary. Preserving these items could be essential to students in distinguished degree fields in the university.

                Philosophy majors interested in a track of pre-law could benefit from this collection. Understanding material such as law and the history behind it could lead you back a few hundred years as law has progressed and developed into what it is. Having resources such as historical footnotes describe serious cases such as “Plessey V. Ferguson” that have impacted human life as we know it and needs to be preserved so that future law students have knowledge of past cases in realistic details. I could see some of business classes having us use resources such as the special collections to bring quality to our research such as the marketing of past products. Knowledge of the past is an essential part of academic study as our past has shaped our future in many ways giving us insight into struggles and triumphs throughout societies.

Blog Homework 1/31

Matthew Nickerson

Blog Homework (1/31)

LIBR 1101

                I believe that my topic will concern “the benefits of a healthy diet”. I enjoy letting people know the importance of their diets. As knowledge is more available due to the internet it still seems that people still do not eat properly and barely read labels. Some of the keywords that popped up where “medical care”,”prevention”, “health and hygiene”, and “Law and legislation” came up in my search topics. A primary source I could use for this topic would include a journal article reporting “New” research or finds as well as diary’s or primary journals from doctors as well as holistic experts.

                Research for this topic should be relatively easy as health and healthcare is currently a very hot topic. The universal healthcare bill that is being brought up in congress relates to diets and health directly. Preventative care is the best care to help you physically and financially in the future. Healthy minds and bodies birth healthy activities. 

Blog Homework (1.29.13)

Matthew Nickerson

LIBR 1101

Blog Assignment (1.29.13)

                I believe “Health/Medicine” will be the most prevalent subject topic in relation to my research. Although “Sociology” could be used as well since health can affect communities and cultures, I have decided to stay with the healthcare/medical aspect of it. I want to show people the benefits to healthier diet through research. Throughout history there have been numerous civilizations who have contributed in their health due to better eating habits. Looking at countries such as Jamaica, India, and Japan can link historical aspects of eating amongst societies and the role of health in regards to the food.

                Some of the more respected groups to claim would be “PETA” (People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals) and the “VRG” (Vegetarian Resource Group). These groups deal with topics such as animal abuse which deals directly with our health choices as well as the “VRG” which allows for users to access health resources as well as  nutrition topics and resources affecting the vegetarian/vegan community. Although these both are great resources there are also health websites such as Web MD, which publish articles about the benefits of diets and resources into understanding the health side-effects related to foods. 

Blog Homework 1.24.13

Matthew Nickerson

LIBR 1101

Blog Homework (1.24.13)

                One of the biggest discoveries I made off searching for keywords was the history of the diet that I practice. In practicing a vegetarian diet, I always thought the roots of the diet came from Asia. I found out that the history of the diet actually comes from Greece and India. One of the questions I may ask might deal with “the health benefits of a vegetarian diet”. Sources allowed me to understand that there is an abundance of information on this topic due to its connectivity with “healthcare”.

                With the topic at hand, using correct resources and databases should help me with this research project. Using engines like “Galileo” will be helpful with citations along with other scholarly databases. Informative information will be essential in this research paper.  The topic of “vegetarianism” is something more people should consider and I believe this will be beneficial to me as well as others. Excited to research something I’m actually interested in rather than a random topic. 

Blog Homework (1.17.13)

Matthew Nickerson
LIBR 1101

                My first topic would be on the benefits of a vegetarian lifestyle. I practice this lifestyle myself, so relating to the topic is fairly easy and my participation in finding the sources and resources will be easier than something I am not interested in. Vegetarian lifestyles not only deal with the food choices, but healthcare as well which can list doctors resources as well as hospital statistics. Preventative medicine is better than medicine in general, what you eat is always affecting what is happening to you in many cases. Health choices should be many peoples concern in the future as things are becoming expensive and it pays to be healthy.

                The second topic I would research is teas and herbal remedies. Although this relates to the first topic, I believe food and drink are separate things. Herbal teas (ex. Chai) are known nutritious drinks that have positive health effects. China is home to some of the most ancient techniques with herbs and medicines and we as Americans can learn a lot from these people in regards to living longer healthier lives. It fascinates me that Americans have all the resources yet are in the worst health amongst world populations. If our healthcare was not the top quality in the world I wonder where we would be as far as life expectancy and quality of life.  

Blog Assignment 1/15/13

Matthew Nickerson

LIBR 1101

Blog Homework 1/15/13

                One of the big things I get advice on is technology, such as phones. If needed, there are many sites on the internet dedicated to technology reviews. A very popular review site is CNET, which allows users to not only get a professional review but user comments as well. This ensures that what you re buying is in compliance by professional standards. This allows a person to not only make smart choices but also find any bugs or errors in a release.

                Most of the information that I consult is due to ease of use and the features. When I purchased my Iphone 4S from wal-mart, the first thing I consulted was if it was worth buying since the iPhone 5 Release was right around the corner. After reading the reviews about the iPhone 4S I concluded that I would purchase it since most professionals suggested very little difference from the 4S and the 5. Things like these are necessary when making purchasing decisions as one does not want to waste money and time in a contract.

Blog Homework (1.10)

Matthew Nickerson

LIBR1101

Blog Assignment

                I would have to say that "referencing" and "instant access" is one of my favorite aspects of the library services. In an age where computers rule everything; to know that you can not only have physical sources but access to internet resources as well is refreshing. GALILEO is a very helpful tool that I thoroughly enjoy due to the fact that it gives you access to sources and cites bibliographies in the process. Signing up with a simple password and username gives you access to a mass of information paid for by the state of Georgia.

                My least favorite part of the library would have to be the distractions that come with the library. West Georgia has multiple floors for different levels of quite, yet many turn the first floor into a social lobby. At times I have been known to talk as well, but maybe if areas of library were ordered differently it would be more organized. More than half of the computers are on the first floor and this makes those on those computers vulnerable

                The only thing confusing me is accessing these exhibits or so called resources that are available in the library. I just learned about the “Anne Weaver” exhibit from class recently and was confused on where this particularly was in the library. Librarians could do a better job with displaying the locations of these exhibits and resources so that students could better know. This would help out in a tremendous way.

Class Introduction (LIBR 1101)

Hello,

My name is Matthew Nickerson. I am a business management major interested in the field of Health Foods/Vegetarian Business. One thing interesting some people did not know is that i had dreads for 4 year and recently cut them.

I would really like to understand how to access databases a little better as i only learned GALILEO in high school which im pretty sure is not the only major source of finding credible information online.