Homework for 11/18/10

Hi everyone,

Here is your homework for Thursday:

– Find one example of process documentation in any format

– Read/view it!

– Write one blog post (100 words minumum) in which you describe, summarize and critique it

– Be prepared to demonstrate and discuss your example in class

What is process documentation? Anything that documents (records) the process of doing something. The documentation you find can be text, video or image-based — any media is fine, as long as it’s an example of documentation of a process. Examples I gave in class include an instruction manual, your research journal blog posts, etc.

Please let me know if you have any questions.

Best,
Prof Smale

Class notes 11/2/10

Here are the websites we looked at in class today:

Google to Redirect China Users to Uncensored Site
https://www.nytimes.com/2010/03/23/technology/23google.html
Article from the New York Times earlier this year on the decision by Google to shutter its Chinese site and redirect users to the Hong Kong version for Chinese-language searching. What are your thoughts on this, especially given what we read in the Grimmelmann article about Google’s history of censorship of its Chinese site?

Barack Obama citizenship conspiracy theories
https://secure.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/en/wiki/Barack_Obama_citizenship_conspiracy_theories
Here’s an example of a news story that has captured the popular consciousness despite being untrue, an example of the power of media hype (which Fister discusses).

Editor quits after journal accepts bogus science article
http://www.guardian.co.uk/education/2009/jun/18/science-editor-resigns-hoax-article
Sometimes the peer review process fails — this article from The Guardian (a British newspaper) describes a computer-generated article that was accepted for publication in a scholarly journal.

When big pharma pays a publisher to publish a fake journal…
http://scienceblogs.com/insolence/2009/05/when_big_pharma_pays_a_publisher_to_publ.php
Blog post about the revelation that scholarly publishing company Elsevier had created a fake publication that appeared to be a peer-reviewed journal but was in reality a collection of articles favorably reviewing drugs from the pharmacy company Merck.

Thoughts on Blogging & Non-Text Media

As most of you know I am an active blogger and writer but after attending this class so far,it’s made me wonder, Where did Blogging come from?  and When did it first start?  I’ve had multiple blogs before and I’ve started blogging since I was 14 but never wondered or thought where did blogging come from? and all these questions about the history of blogging and what is this drive that makes people want to blog more & more and what makes people create blogs in the first place?

I want to find out and ask my fellow friends as well why is blogging so important and when did they start. As for non-text media, I’d like to know what kind of importance do non-text media issue?  The different types of non-text media, the advantages/disadvantage and how it’s distributed. There are questions unanswered and I hope that I will be able to conduct research and find out on the history of blogging and non-text media.

SUBJECT HEADING:

ZA – Information resources (General)

MT – Instruction and study

– Jessica Deng

Creative Work

As a student, an active blogger, and writer  I found “The Code Of Best Practices in Fair Use for Media Literacy Education” to be interesting and informative. One concept that is discussed in this article is the right of fair use. Simply put, fair use is defined as “the right to use copyrighted material without permission or payment under some circumstances – especially when the cultural or social benefits of the use are predominant”

We’ve already learned about media, but there is also media literacy. Media literacy allows us to access, analyze, evaluate, and communicate messages in a vast variety. Media literacy is often applied to watching television, reading a newspaper, posting a comment onto a blog, and etc. There are five principles that apply to “institutional settings” and to “non-school based program”. One of the five principles that I found interesting was, “Student use of copyrighted materials in their own academic and creative work.” Students are encouraged to strengthen their media literacy skills by forming messages and using languages, images, sound,music and digital media to express and share significance.

Fair use applies to my blog and I because it is a form of media literacy. I used quotations, my knowledge, and my experiences in my blog. I use pictures from Google and various website but I always include a “Credit To:”. As an example, I included a link to my blog with pictures I’ve used from Google and so on.By using quotations, cultural, and social aspects in a creative work you are reproducing a new piece of work like none other.

My blog*Click to access my blog*

– Jessica Deng

Class notes 9/7/10

• AlterNet, an alternative news website mentioned in Tom Eland’s article that you read for class today.

• The Alternative Press Center advocates for alternative and independent media. Take a look at the online directory to get a sense of the range of topics and viewpoints represented in the alternative press.

• Ethnic NewsWatch is a subscription database available through the library website with newspaper, magazine, and journal articles from ethnic and minority publications. Many articles are available in Spanish and English.

• Eland’s article argues that we need the alternative press to provide access to information and opinions that are not represented in the mainstream press. He points out that very few very large corporations own most mainstream press outlets; here’s a chart from 2009 depicting the top 6 corporations that own U.S. media. Note that this website, FreePress, promotes media reform — remember to cultivate skepticism, and always try to find out who/what organization is producing the information and what their agenda is.

• We read a few articles about zines (and looked at several kinds of zines) as one example of a non-mainstream print publication. The Barnard College Library Zine Collection collects and preserves zines, and has lots of great zine resources on its website.

Growing Opportunities

By: Jessica Deng

We live in a society where technology is constantly growing and shifting. Everyday new technologies present new and efficient ways  for journalists and other media professionals.  A constant growth of  technology has many benefits in four areas as Pavlik states in the passage.

• First, as we all know new technologies often present new and more productive ways for journalists and other media professionals to do their work. Current hand-held gadgets can provide low-cost digital photography and  efficient access to navigational services.
• Next, new technologies can turn over the nature of storytelling and media content in potentially positive and engaging ways. In Columbia University, an innovation called the “Situated Documentary” permits news consumers to visit sites of distant past or recent news.
• Third,  new technologies have a large significance for the management, structure, and culture of media organizations. A news organization can explore the choice of  the “virtual newsroom” which is a newsroom without walls. Pavik described, “It can be established in nearly any community using high- speed wireless Internet access and mobile media.” The  virtual newsroom can be a representation of a cost-saving innovation in news coverage.
• Finally, the most important opportunity that new technologies can bring forward is the conversion of relationships between news organizations and their audiences, views, regulators, sources, and competitors.

New technology is an ever growing expansion and now that we are in the 21st century, journalism and media  will be undergoing a lot of changes. Of course when there a lot of positive factors; there are also negative factors but Everyone at any age group, class or status  will be or are already in a special position because as technology is growing, our lives are becoming more simple but also sophisticated. Life is made easier with technology.