Wishing

So what do you think of my final project? The thing about it is that I don't get to see the results of my project until I start to receive the estimates that I requested. That was definitely a flaw in the topic I choose. I almost think that the topic I picked was too broad, or too abstract. I also wish I had started sooner. It is amazing how quickly time flies! I swear that I fully intended to work on this sooner. Oh well. Maybe my next topic should be on the art of procrastination.

I think one of the greatest strengths I found through my inquiry was the connections I made with my neighbors and my co-workers. I didn't know them well before, but through this process of inquiry, I have had the opportunity to speak with them multiple times, and learned from them through their experiences.

My experience is very similar to what a child or young adult might experience when they visit the library and make inquiries on their topic of choice. Much of my research was done by talking with other people, and getting their advice and opinions. I can' t count the number of times people have come into the library asking for a librarians opinion on a topic. I myself, have visited the library and struck up a conversation with the librarians on local restaurants, and the best places to visit in our area. They are a wealth of information, and have a personal view on things that may not necessarily be found in a book.
The other way in which my form of research parallels that of a young adult or child is that I used a very basic search engine, Google, and asked for a variety of information on my topic. This may not always reveal the most reliable of answers, but I found that if I found enough information on the topic, and correlated it with information I received through speaking with people that are knowledgeable on the subject, I was able to find answers to my questions. Sometimes the information you seek is not necessarily found in an encyclopedia. You kind of have to extrapolate it from multiple areas of information.

Does this link work? Waving

Please let me know if you can view this link. It is being very tricky!http://sites.google.com/site/project1powerpoint/Home
Here is the synthesis (ha ha-I knew I could use this word in a sentence!) of all my gathered data into one cohesive project. What was once a jumble of unknowns and random information is now a easy to follow presentation. While I know all the questions are as yet unanswered, that was not my goal. My goal was to know and learn what are the best questions to ask, and how to find the contacts that will eventually provide me with the answers I seek.
At the basic level, this synthesis of information should simply "yield a product" (Callison p 543 BB) At a deeper level, however, the it should also help provide " key quesitons that need to be answered". (callison p 544 BB)
That is what I appreciate about this project is that it helped me brainstorm questions that I can eventually get answers to.

I don't know if this will be helpful to anyone but myself, but it may give others a place to start as they begin the process of their own home repair!

Here is the link

C:\Documents and Settings\Administrator\Desktop\So you need a new ROOF_files\frame.htm

Please check out my project!

Okay, so I said before that I would create something on Word, but it was just too boring looking. So I went back to Powerpoint and Excel and tried it again and Voila! Here is my project.
I found that Excel just was to limiting as far as presenting my information in a visually unique way. TH powerPOint allows me to coalesce my questions, and while I know my questions cannot be answered yet, it provides my with a forum to organize my thoughts. THe excel doc is awesome in that once it is printed out, I have a quick reference for all the bits of information, and don't have to go slogging through the estimate to find a bit of relevant data. I am sure the headers to each of the columns in the excel sheet may change after my first meeting with a contractor, but it is a start! Also, the images give me an idea of how I started, and then where I want to be. I can't wait to see the final product in all this. I know It will change the look of my house immensly!
Please let me know what you think of my project. I know my topic isn't the most intriguing, but it is really important to me, and I hope you will find some of it interesting. I hope this link works! Wait, how do I link this? Hold on, I will be back soon to post it!

How to Organize my information.

Ok. I have information for the beginning of determining the installation of a new roof. Now I need to find a way to present this information in a useful manner. I love the power point program, but I don't think it would be that useful as a means of presenting my information. I think my best bet is to use a combination of Excel and Word. I would like to put together some sort of grid that would hold the info from each of the contractors on it, and also hold the estimates and information that I collect. This would be the most practical, as I can easily access it and add more information to it as I see fit. I also took pictures of my house and the roof, and will add these to the document as a visual aid. I would add more images, but the puppy chew up my connecting cord from my computer to the camera. Grrr! She is definitely in the chewing stage. OK, back to the project at hand. Here it goes!