CSCI E-10: Assignment 3, due February 25, 2002

For this assignment, you will be creating your own one-question Internet Scavenger Hunt of sorts (see Virtual Community pages 96-102 for the origin of this concept). That is, you will be creating a question and then trying to find answers by searching the web. The main difference is that you are trying to find a question whose answer you CANNOT find via static web searches, but for which there is a community of individuals who might be able to help you with the answer.

Please proceed as follows

1. Think of a question, on any topic of interest to you, for which you do NOT know the definitive answer, and for which you think there is a reasonable chance that finding the solution through static web-page searches will NOT work. This could be because the answer is likely to be extremely obscure, or because it changes over time, or because it depends on detailed context of your particular situation.

2. Spending up to 30 minutes, try to find a good answer to your question using web search engines such as AltaVista, Yahoo, AskJeeves, Google, etc. If you find a complete, satisfactory answer, then your question won't work for this assignment. Start over with a new question. If you can't find an answer after 30 minutes of diligent searching, record what you did, and what (partial) answers you found, if any.

3. Locate a web-based asynchronous (message-based) community devoted to your topic. You could start at some of the major portal sites (e.g. clubs.yahoo.com), or use a search engine, to attempt to locate such a community. Please ask for help from the teaching staff right away if you need assistance finding a community!!

4. Join this community as a member. Read the rules and make sure your question is an appropriate one to ask (also, if possible, make sure it has not just been asked and answered) and pose your question. Be sure to explain what steps you have already taken to locate an answer, so that people will be more likely to help you.

5. If you get an answer quickly, continue the exchange if possible. Especially if you get a partial answer, ask follow-up questions until you are satisfied. If you do not get any sort of answer at all, try to find another community where you might get an answer (redo steps 3-5).

6. Finally, write up your entire experiences and mail your notes to the class list. Please include the question, what you did to search for it statically, what community you posted to, etc. You may want to quote the actual replies you received if they are short, or just paraphrase or summarize them if they are lengthy or numerous. Please also comment on your reaction to this exercise (did you enjoy it; did you find it easy, difficult, frustrating, fun....).

Extension Activities:

1. How do you know the answers you received are correct? What is there about the identity and qualifications of the people who responded that make you trust them (or not) in regard to the answers they provided? What is there about the nature of the community itself that makes you trust the answers (or not)?

2. Compare the technology of the community you joined to those of other web-based communities you know about, or found out about this week. What are the plusses and minuses of this particular message-based technology compared to others? Are new messages easy to find? Are threads clearly labeled? Is there a useful, searchable, detailed archive? Etc....

3. Continue to monitor the Mailing Lists and Usenet Newsgroups you started looking at last week. Can you get involved in the discussions on those groups? Can you make your presence known? Is there even a sense of community in these groups? What it is about the list or the newsgroup that makes it a successful community, or that keeps it from being a successful community?