The photo album is limited and finding friends is not made easy.

Alternative energy research in universities or with university and corporate partnerships has been very effective. Decades of biomass and tree research conducted together by Florida State University and Shell Energy corporation have resulted in the planting of the vastest "Energy Crop Plantation" in all of the US. Through alternative energy research on the university level, a plantation has been created that spans about 130 acres while being home to more than 250,000 planted trees including eucalyptus (which are non-invasive) and cottonwoods (native to the area) along with various row crops such as soybeans. This bringing together of "super trees" happened as a result of the University's alternative energy research with other parties including Shell, the Common Purpose Institute, US Department of Energy, and groups of sundry individuals who are interested in alternative energy research into energy sources that are not dependent on fossil fuels for our civilization's future. Alternative energy research undertaken by the University is focused on the creation of of biomass energy supplies from rapid-growth crops which is called "closed loop biomass" or just "energy crops". The research looks for ways to develop "power plants" like wood-fiber or wood-pulp providing plants; clean biogas for industries to use; plants like surgarcane that can be used for the development of ethanol; and crops like soybeans for use in biodiesel fuel production.

University involvement in alternative energy research also has a place at Penn State University. The alternative energy research here is focused on the development of hydrogen power, which is envisioned by many as one of the most practical alternative energy sources. Those who are doing this research at Penn State University believe that civilization is moving toward an economy that will be based on hydrogen fuel because of the need to reduce air polluting emissions while finding alternative sources of energy to that of petroleum to drive the engine of the United States. Hydrogen energy is clean burning and it can be endlessly renewed due to the fac that it can be taken up from water and crop plants. Hydrogen power is looked to as a sustainable energy resource and one that can be uncovered within the United States' infrastructure as the world's supply of affordable oil reaches its peak and then declines, driving up its cost. The University through its alternative energy research desire to further the commercial development of hydrogen powered fuel cells. These would be usable in conjunction with or in place of combustion engines to power our vehicles.

Not too long ago, President Bush announced his alternative energy initiative. He determined that the federal government would create five "Sun Grant" centers for concentrated alternative energy research. Oregon State University was honored by being made one of these centers. OSU has been allocated government grants of $2 million for each of the next four years so that it can pursue its alternative energy research. The Univeristy will be the leading center for researching alternative energy while it symbolizes the energy interests of the Pacific Islands, the United States' Pacific Territories, and nine western states. University President Edward Ray says, "The research being conducted through OSU's Sun Grant center will contribute directly to our meeting President Bush's challenge for energy independence." Those projects concerning alternative energy that the University's various teams of scientists are pursuing include figuring out how to efficiently convert organic materials like straw into sources for renewable biomass fuels and the study of how to efficiently get liquid fuel from wood fibers.




Reference research: business research and home research and shopping research and my social page




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You mean you had to GO to the library to do research?

Understanding Research Types:
Basic: Seeks to create new knowledge and is not directly related to technical or practical problems. Example: analyze the types of information systems used by people with disabilities.

Applied: Seeks to solve problems. Example: A study conducted on how information systems can be used to improve communication with people with disabilities.

Research Terminology:
There are many types of research and each type of research can utilize different methods for collecting information. This glossary can be utilized to clarify the research terms you may come across during your search. In addition, this glossary is a good resource for refining questions you may have of your professor regarding the assignment.

Case Studies: Examines in-depth the practices or trends of a single or limited number of groups. According to the Second Edition of the Dictionary of Sociology edited by Gordon Marshal, case studies include "descriptive reports on typical, illustrative, or deviant examples; descriptions of good practices in policy research; evaluations of policies after implementation in an organization; studies that focus on extreme or strategic cases; the rigorous test of a well-defined hypothesis through the carefully selected contrasting cases; and studies of natural experiments."

Empirical Studies: Research based on critical evaluation through observation or experimentation.

Experimental Research: Examines the relationship between two variables. This type of research conducts experiments on test and control groups to test a hypothesis about the relationship between two variables.

Historical or Interpretive Research Studies: By examining past events and procedures, this type of study attempts to predict future events or make suggestions for future actions. Types of historical or interpretive research studies include: biographical; histories of institutions and organizations; investigation of sources and influences; editing and translating historical documents; studying the history of ideas; or compiling bibliographies.

Qualitative Research: Observes the experiences of a particular group and attempts to understand the actions and reactions of the group. Field studies and ethnographic techniques are examples of this type of research.

Survey Research Studies: Examines small groups of the population in order to learn about the larger population. Observation of the smaller group produces data about the larger population. This data is used to predict future actions or results.

User Studies: Research that evaluates the way in which systems or institutions are utilized and how the needs of users can be addressed.

Identifying Research Articles:
Listed below are some clues to help identify research articles. However, it should be noted that numerous exceptions occur for all of the points listed below. Therefore, the following information should be used as a guideline when looking for research articles

Topic: Research articles tend to be highly specific in nature, relate to a particular field, or specialty within a field, and are written by authors who have done research in the field.

Audience: The target audience is other researchers, colleagues, students and specialists in the same field. Research articles are written for the scholarly community, rather than a general audience.

Language: The language of research articles is formal, generally does not use the first person, and includes jargon used in the field. Research articles are written to contribute to the knowledge base of the discipline.

Length: research articles can vary in length, but are typically five to fifty pages long.

Authors: Research articles may have numerous authors. The organization, institute or professional society the authors belong to will be listed.

Content: Generally the article is written at a sophisticated enough level that the reader will need to read the article more than once in order to understand and evaluate the article.

Identifying Refereed Journals:
Listed below are some clues to help identify refereed journals. However, it should be noted that numerous exceptions occur for any and all of the points listed below. Therefore, the following information should be used as a guideline when looking for refereed journals

Issue identification: Each issue has a publishing date, volume number and issue number. Generally a volume number is consistent throughout the calendar year, with each issue assigned a corresponding number e.g. vol. 55, issue 4.

Length: A refereed journal may have one to fifty articles, with most having eight to eighteen.

Advertising and graphics: Very little, if any, advertising is included in refereed journals. Any advertising that is included will directly relate to the field. Generally journals of this nature do not have photographs and use black print on white paper. The size of the journal may vary in size from a small paperback size to a large magazine format.

Table of contents: In addition to research articles, refereed journals may contain book reviews, literature reviews, and essays. Therefore, just because an article is published in a refereed journal, it does not necessarily mean that it is a research article!

Publishing: Refereed journals are usually published regularly - once a week, once a month, every quarter, or annually. The majority of journals are published four to six times per year and are often published by a professional society, organization or research institution.

Editorial board: Refereed journals have a peer review process. The editorial board is listed (generally at the beginning of the journal) along with the organizations they are affiliated with. Information about what types of papers are chosen for publication, the selection process, the length of papers accepted, and how to submit a paper is also provided.

Indexing: A listing of where the refereed journal is indexed is often provided.

Title: The title of a refereed journal usually has an "academic" sounding name.

Availability: The location, call number, and availability of the journal can be determined by using the online catalog.

Refereed Materials:
Refereed materials are publications reviewed by "expert readers" or referees prior to the publication of the material. After reading and evaluating the material, the referee informs the publisher if the document should be published or if any changes should be made prior to publication. Refereed materials are also referred to as Peer Reviewed. Refereed materials are significant to the research and the literature of library and information science because they assure readers that the information conveyed is reliable and timely.

Non-Refereed Materials:
Non-refereed materials such as Trade Journals or Magazines use less rigorous standards of screening prior to publication. In some publications, each article may be only screened by the publication's editor. While knowledgeable, no editor can be an authority on all the subject matter printed in a journal. Other non-refereed materials accept almost anything submitted in order to have something to print. The term "scholarly materials" is often used to describe refereed materials, but this term is not exclusive to refereed material. Non-refereed materials may not by scrutinized as intensely as refereed materials, but they can still be considered scholarly.

Locating Materials:
Databases are repositories of article information from journals, magazines, conferences, and sometimes books and newspapers. Databases cover a wide range of topics. Some databases offer a full text feature that links you directly to an article, so you can download and print it directly off the Internet. Explore databases that you use regularly to determine if they have this feature (usually denoted by an "FT" next to the article citation).

Evaluating On-line sources:
Online sources can be a valuable tool if you know how to accurately assess the value and validity of the online information source. In trying to determine the validity of a webpage, it is useful to see what type of organization publishes the page. Sites ending in .edu or .gov are generally more accurate and trustworthy than most, since they emanate from academic and governmental organizations. It is important to verify that you are not looking at a student page located on an academic server, which may or may not be as trustworthy as a page produced by the school. Another element to be cautious of when evaluating your potential source is bias. For example, if you are looking at a commercial site, are they accurately portraying information, or bending the truth to fit their needs? The next criterion to evaluate is accuracy. Begin by looking for spelling mistakes, poor grammar, and typos. Next, look at the sources quoted within the page. Are they well-known, trusted sources and people with expertise in the field at hand? If the page is valid, accurate, and published by a trusted source, then it is generally considered acceptable for research purposes.

Search Strategies:
Your search strategy will vary depending upon which database you are using. Research articles' abstracts & include terms that most non-research articles' abstracts do not. Some examples of these terms are methodology, hypothesis, research, experiment, etc. You can search the field "Words Anywhere" for these terms while simultaneously searching for the keywords of your topic. If you retrieve too many or too few hits, narrow or expand your search by adding or dropping search terms.




Reference research: research Dr. and home research and travel research and my social page




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Ever get a research assignment and not know how to do the research portion?  Well here are some tips for your problem from someone whose written countless papers.

First and foremost I recommend for any paper is get your hands on a good grammer handbook.  The one I used was the Longman Handbook, it was required for some courses.  Any paper is only as good as the grammer within.  You could write an outstanding paper, but if your grammar is poor, the your paper will reflect that.  Also get your hands on a handbook for both formats MLA and APA it will be useful when citing your information.

Second thing you should do is to find out everything ou need to know about the assignment.  Such as what's needed, allowed, and not allowed.  Some professors will allow charts, graphs, and even pictures.  I had a professor who loved that I added pictures of the novels I wrote about.

Next thing I suggest is DO NOT WAIT until the last moment to do the research.  You will only cause yourself to go insane.  It will cause so many problems, the books you may need may not be available, because everyone else is writing the same paper and need the same resources.  Also magazines in your field that have useful information may be tossed out because of age.

Make use of all the resources in the library, that includes talking to the librarians.  Librarians know alot more than  you think.  They could lead you to useful books and articles for your topic.  Do not rely solely on internet resources.  One you never know if the information is accurate, and 2 if all your information is from the internet you come off as lazy to the point that the internet looked for information, not yourself.  Make  use of journals relating to your field, you may have to do some reading, but they contain useful articles.

Narrow your search topic until you have a more concrete subject.  If the assignment is say trends in tourism, ask yourself  what kid of trends?  Trends in transportation, lodging, restaurants, activities and even locations could be some sub-topics for the paper which narrows your search based on the sub-topics.  Any topic could be divided into two or more subjects.  You also have a sort of organization for the paper.

When doing research use notecards.  Mark each one with a number.  The first note card is the book infor like author, publisher,  copyright date etc.  Anything found in the book would be 1.1, 1.2 and so one until you move to the second book. When writing the book notecards write the information according to citing them on the referance page, that way you can just copy the notecard. Hold on to all book notecards for future papers, it would be easy reference.  I would also write a few notes about what is in the book.

Lastly I would suggest keep talking to your professor about the paper.  They could easily give you advice and help direct you to useful books and articles that would would help yor search.  They could also give you ideas on how to proceed with the paper and if you're on the right track or not.

Following these tips could help make researching a paper all the more easier and less stressful.  You could improve your skills and wow your professors.




Reference research: beauty research and health research and general research and my social page




Writing Journals

Taylor your content to match their needs.

WordPress has become more than a simple blogging platform, it has come to be the epitome, for many people, of what content management systems can and should be able to do. Some of the very best small business websites you find are powered by a WordPress blog and, often, you don't even know it.

There are 3 keys to small business success: Customer Service, Customer Feedback, and Word-of-Mouth (read free) Advertising. Using WordPress as your small business site platform, you can easily integrate tools that maximize your potential to use each of the 3 keys to success.

In this article, I'm going to share the most amazing and completely useful tools small businesses need to have on their WordPress business blog, and each of them address at least 1 of the 3 keys to success.

The Tool: Facebook Share Button Addresses: Customer Feedback (Analysis) and Free Advertising

As far as interactive, social media sites go, Facebook is arguably the reigning champ. Agree or disagree, the fact is this: millions of potential customers use Facebook, and the free advertising your business blog receives when those potential customers "share" with their friends can't be measured.

The Facebook Share Button is a simply genius WordPress plug-in. You can see exactly how the button works from the viewer's end by clicking the little "f" Facebook icon right here on AC. No, the buttons aren't powered the same way but the end result - from the viewer's end - is precisely as clean and seamless. Mashable.com was a beta tester for this nifty little WordPress plug-in, and you may have already seen it in action on their site.

From the back-end, inside your WordPress Business Blog admin, the Facebook Share Button offers up even more features than the viewer could imagine. There's an entire panel (refer to the 2nd illustration attached to this article) dedicated to the Share Button where you can apply a variety of settings - including allowing the viewer of your site to see how many times a specific page has been shared - as well as view analytics available only to you.

Overall, this is a plug-in that every small business WordPress blog can use easily and effectively to fulfill two important aspects of success: customer feedback (in the form of analytics) and free word-of-mouth advertising.

The Tool: WordPress Advanced Ticket SystemAddresses: Customer Service

For years, I'd given up on the hope that a robust help desk or ticket system would ever be available for free. Several subscription versions are out there and contain all of the great little extras that any small business blogger could ask for.

When I first found the WordPress Advanced Ticket System (WATS for short), I was very skeptical. Don't let the page fool you - this is a professional grade plugin.

Once installed, WATS offers a dedicated administration panel and adds ticket system pages on your website. Administrators of your business blog can set ticket numbering, modify priorities, and define categories for tickets to be submitted in. They will also be able to view statistics about tickets on the main WordPress dashboard (the page you see when you login to your WordPress administration).

Only users with permissions to edit posts can edit tickets - a great security measure.

From the customer's side, a ticket can be submitted easily and without the hassle of being required to have a registered account on your website. Tickets can be submitted from any post or page that you have designated, which will hold a form that works with Ajax - your customers can even submit tickets directly through email, making their lives (and satisfaction with your business) better.

There are tons of other goodies involved in this very intuitive WordPress plugin, but perhaps one of the most pressing ones for your own business blog is this: WATS uses custom and templates to display tickets to your customers. What this means for you is that it will integrate into your current WordPress theme without any extra work but you can choose to fully trick out the display as well.

The Tool: SurveysAddresses: Customer Feedback

It's a fact that surveys are the most effective way of really gaining information from your customers. This information can help you modify business practices, incorporate new products or services, scale back on products or services, and get a true comparison of what "type" of customers your business blog is receiving versus the "type" you're targeting.

Whatever the information you're attempting to gather, there's only one way to get it: ask for it.

The aptly and simply named "Surveys" plugin for WordPress is phenomenal in its features. You're not restricted to single-question polls that sit static in your sidebar. Instead, you design full-featured surveys that allow your customers and business blog visitors to leave you a ton of information - even anonymously.

From the administrator side, you can create several polls at a time and add as many questions and multiple-choice answers as you'd like. The data collected is presented to you in a very easy to understand graph format. This graph is wonderful - at a glance, you can see the most popular answers to your survey questions. If you'd like to go deeper, that's possible too! Every survey-taker's responses can be viewed individually.

From the viewer's side, your customer will see a clean little survey with your question, tick-to-select answers, and next buttons to navigate seamlessly along. And I could go on, but you really just need to check the plugin's site out to see for yourself.

Just a small trio of plugins, all of which install into your WordPress business blog without any extra coding or modifications needed. They're all plug-and-play! Get these babies going and pay attention to both the number of customers and - even better - return customers start to rise within just a few months, and you'll be grateful for the time spent setting a few options up.



Source article: Blogger Reviews and Using Blogger and Free Blog Sites and online blogging communities and Blank Journals
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