What is "aura"? What is the "culture industry"?

"Aura", as defined in Benjamin's "The Work of Art in the Age of Mechanical Reproduction", is referring to the authenticity of a work of art which is unique because of its inception at a fixed point in time and space: "The presence of the original is the prerequisite to the concept of originality" (Benjamin 220). Benjamin is concerned with the influx of reproduction of art with the advancement of technology, because he believes that with the reproduction of art [even the most faithful one] brings about the "decay of the aura" (Benjamin 222), which makes the idea of the "Cyberaura" problematic. This can be reconciled though if we allow are selves to be of Benjamin's hierarchy of meaning/truth--that only the original can convey meaning, that only the original has value. For although it may be true that the original does hold within it a certain meaning that can not be transferred completely in a reproduction, is it fair to say that a reproduction can convey no meaning at all? or that it hold absolutely no value? Benjamin would say that it is fair, but with the obvious pervasiveness or reproduction on the internet, it would be ignorant to deny its use of reproductions of any value.

Adorno, I feel gets at the crux of what is problematic in cyberspace by taking Benjamin a little further. For Adorno it is no merely the reproduction of art that is "decay[ing] of the aura" (Benjamin 222), but the distillation and homogenization of art or culture. The "culture industry" is "in the business" of culture. The culture industry has progressively made it so that the boundaries between economic interests, entertainment, politics, culture have become blurred: "Culture [which I believe in this sense can be construed as the culture industry] is infecting everything with sameness" (Adorno 94). The culture industry uses entertainment [film, music, etc] as an instrument to restructure the values of its audience, to instead value principles that are economically beneficial private corporations. The culture industry is a fascist entity which seeks to socialize the audience in such a way that the individual no longer has autonomy over itself (though they believe that they do because they have been "re-wired" in such a way that they think that are making choices, however these choices have already been made for them.)


Works Cited

Benjamin, Walter. Illuminations. New York: Schoken Books, 1968.

Horkeimer, Max and Adorno, Theodor. Dialectic of Enlightenment. Stanford, CA: Stanford University Press, 2002.

The "Aura" and "Media Industry" in Cyberspace

In his essay, "Illuminations", Benjamin defines an "aura” as the very thing that a replica or copy of an original source or work of art lacks: "its presence in time and space, its unique existence at the place where it happens to be" (Benjamin 220). Applying this definition to cyberspace appears to be an impractical task because the Internet largely comprises of the reproductions or recasts of millions of original sources. YouTube, for example, plays a huge role in this aspect of the Internet. Viewers can find hundreds of thousands of videos of news episodes, live concerts, hardcore skateboarding bails, and video bloggers, all of which are mere "reproductions" or recasts of a particular, original source. Sharing pictures on Facebook follows the same nature; what friends or other viewers see is not a first-person experience, but rather an image, a visual recreation of the particular event. So then, how could aura possibly exist in cyberspace?

Going back to the previous example, to define aura in cyberspace, one must look at YouTube as website rather than a "source of reproductions." YouTube itself was founded several years ago and has grown exponentially to the point it has become today, a multi-billion dollar, massive company that was started by three average men. In this case YouTube itself is a unique "work of art" (in Benjamin's words). Thousands of websites have been created, modeled after it as well hundreds of different software engines aimed at emulating that of YouTube's. I say this from my own experience in trying to start up my own project of similar nature. So to define the “aura” of cyberspace, one could not use Benjamin’s definition as something like YouTube is not actually a work of art in the real world, but a virtual creation and thus, its “unique existence” could not possibly exist. Therefore I define the “CyberAura” as the unique “idea” behind a virtual creation and/or system in the cyber world. The creation, the website itself, and the system, perhaps an engine the website runs on, are both things that can be recreated (albeit in a different manner to avoid copyright issues) but to do so is to void the unique idea, the “aura” behind the original website. Anyone with adequate scripting knowledge can reproduce a website of similar nature to YouTube (e.g. PetTube), but it is impossible to reproduce the unique “idea” of allowing any user with Internet access simple ways to view and upload videos from all over the world, just like it is impossible for an artist to repaint another “unique” Mona Lisa.

Similarly in the realm of the cyber world, there is the media industry, or the “cyber industry.” This is a term simply defined by Adorno as an industry designed to strive through standardization and mass production in accordance to the “needs of the consumers” (Adorno 95). While this may have been an application to the real world, the same concept exists in cyberspace. Ads on Facebook change depending on the content of the page the viewer. Amazon offers recommendations on products based on what has already been searched on and what other buyers tend to buy after searching the particular product. Google has an entire system known as AdSense that any web owner can place on their website to generate ads based on certain common keywords on their site. All of these systems serve two functions: to adhere to the need of the consumers, and to make a profit.

Benjamin, Walter. Illuminations. “The Work of Art in the Age of Mechanical Reproduction.” New York: Schocken Books, 1968. Print.

Adorno, Theodor W. and Max Horkheimer. Dialectic of Enlightenment: Philosophical Fragments. “The Culture Industry: Enlightenment as Mass Deception.” Stanford, California: Stanford University Press, 2002. Print.

PsycARTICLES Online Database Review

PsycARTICLES is an online database containing full articles and journals published by the American Psychological Association (APA), the APA Educational Publishing Foundation, the Canadian Psychological Association, and Hogrefe & Huber. The database includes all text from over 72 print journals including those no longer published, with over 143,000 articles.

The following link provides a list of psychological journals covered by PsycARTICLES:

http://www.apa.org/pubs/databases/psycarticles/coverage-list.aspx

Frequently asked questions about PyscARTICLES can be found here:

http://www.apa.org/pubs/databases/psycarticles/faq.aspx

PsycARTICLES database is a division of ProQuest who merged with CSA Illumina in 2007. ProQuest provides access to and more than 125 billion digital pages on a variety of subjects.

http://www.csa.com.proxy.binghamton.edu/

Define Aura/Cyber Aura

Walter Benjamin’s essay, titled Illuminations, deals with two important ideas in relation to the way in which society values a work of art. Today, however, it is conceivable to include much more than simply art in this idea. Therefore, I suggest that the term “goods” be substituted due to its vague and all-encompassing nature.

Benjamin begins his essay putting forth the idea that in the age of reproduction, goods lose their uniqueness. Aside from the one true original, no good holds the same uniqueness as the first. This element, one of importance and appreciation, is lost when multiple copies are created—and it is this element that is the “aura”. As Benjamin puts it, “that which withers in the age of mechanical reproduction is the aura of the work of art”. (221)

Therefore, with this knowledge, we are able to coin a new term, “Cyber Aura”. Based on Benjamin’s work, we are able to define Cyber Aura as the way by which cyberspace/the Internet furthers our loss of originality. Mass consumption takes place in cyberspace, and therefore, according to a class lecture, we lose the uniqueness of the “here and now”, individuality, and authenticity.

Works Cited:

Benjamin, Walter. Illuminations. “The Work of Art in the Age of Mechanical Reproduction.” New York: Schocken Books, 1968. Print.

Website Evaluation: Erlanger Liste

Website evaluated: ERLANGER LISTE, http://www.erlangerliste.de/ressourc/liste.html

This resource would be of value to anyone interested in German studies. It offers eight categories, or ways to look at, the study of German culture: institutes and institutions, resources, eras, digital releases, find, literature archive, pixel pegasus and important context. It also separates the arts into four categories: paintings, photography, lexicons and search engines. It is really a treasure trove of information, from history to art, scholarly work to literature, writing resources to research archives, this site has it all.

1. 1. Within the scope of media, a link that is valuable is “important contexts”: http://www.erlangerliste.de/ressourc/kontext.html#Medien

This link offers access to newspaper archives, film and television catalogs, news for journalists, histories of the internet, lists of German media outlets, etc. It is an archive of everything going on media-wise.

2. 2. “Pixel Pegasus”: http://www.erlangerliste.de/ressourc/pixel.html

This link provides addresses and information from the German literature and media businesses, digital articles, essays and literature, and even a site to help young editors with proofreading.

3. "Researching": http://www.erlangerliste.de/ressourc/lit.html

This link offers search engines for different categories for researching, like the Research German Literature Archive, the catalog for the detection of 75 million books and journals in library and book trade catalogs and an electronic catalog of the German Literature Archive.

Overall the site is a comprehensive resource of cultural documents (both secondary and primary) and art, including modern media resources.

the site was last modified: 6/5/2006 © 1996-2006 Ernst Rohmer and Gunther Witting

Institution: Deutsche Nationalbibliothek (German National Library)
Web URL: http://www.d-nb.de/index.htm // http://www.d-nb.de/eng/index.htm (English version)
Last updated: 09.27.2010, accessed on 09.27.2010

The German National Library Website is a great resource for anyone doing research or work on a German writer, or on anything that has been written about Germany. With a very well organized website, researching information on this site is really fast and efficient. The German National Library has three main branches (Leipzig, Berlin, and Frankfurt am main), and this website collects and showcases the works contained throughout the three branches. The site offers electronic copies of many of the works, and there is also a detailed music archive (including both printed sheet music as well as recorded music) available on the website. This institution and its’ website would truly be an invaluable resource to anyone seeking information on German literature and other works.

Link 1: http://www.d-nb.de/abisz/index.htm

This A-Z index is an extremely well organized method of navigating the library website. The index can be accessed in German or in English, so one must not necessarily be a speaker of German to benefit from the information the German National Library can provide.

Link 2: http://www.d-nb.de/sammlungen/index.htm

This link brings the reader to the various catalogs and archives that are contained within the German National Library. There is also a link off of this page to access several electronic publications and special / subject specific collections and publications.

Link 3: https://portal.d-nb.de/opac.htm?method=showSearchForm

With this link, one is able to search for different keywords, names, titles, etc pertaining to the research topic. The results can then be broken down by type of media (i.e. music, manuscript, collection, article, book, etc), as well as by branch of the German National Library that contains the information the researcher is looking for.

globalmedianarratives: Evaluating A Web-Source: Princeton Writing Center

Name: Shahnawaz Syed.
Class: Global Media Narrative.
Date: Sept 24th, 2010.
Professor: Annemarie Fischer
Website Evaluation
Citation: Cornell University: Cornell University Learning Strategies Center. .Sept 24th 2008

Like a wise man once said “Great art is not what it looks like, but what it does to us” (Roy Adzak); this website might have been initially constructed to come off as beautiful, but for some reason when I first logged on to the page, it looked like an online version of a children’s story book, an uglier version at that. Thank god we’re not children and we can actually decide for ourselves. People say that color does not matter and it’s what a website has to offer which should guide our decisions, but I disagree, after spending hours and hours on research engines and student guides, the difference between bright red and light blue or gray; can be worth a few hours of sleep. Unfortunately, humans are yet to evolve eyes completely resistant to a bright red screen for prolonged periods of time. I have no solid information when I make this claim but I am going to go ahead and do this anyways, not like this is a science class, but green or grayish things; websites in particular, not only have an aura of professional academics but they are also much easier for the eyes to handle. As a biology student I can’t emphasize on this issue enough.
As much as I’d like to talk about color all day, it’s time to discuss further about this educational tool. The website is divided into lots of subcategories, after going through them almost all are justified, none seem to be misleading or a waste of space. In the middle we have Mathematics, Biology, Chemistry, Physics and Economics; on the side we have instructions regarding the help center itself, its staff along with the usual operational hours. There’s also a link for students with disabilities and tutoring on the side; which impressed me the most because even though campuses tend to have support facilities for disabled students, they aren’t actually offered in any form or shape online.
Now as a student of Global Media and Narrative, I was eager to see what the website had to offer for this particular course. I put in several different terms and received the following three links.
1- http://polson.cals.cornell.edu
The link is titled “Polson Institute for Global Development”
This subsection has a lot of good information for any student interested in the state of rural and agricultural lands across Europe and North America, however it lacks a broader perspective that I was looking for.
2- http://www.pressoffice.cornell.edu/
This link is titled “Cornell University Press Relations Office”. Basically the page is about connecting Cornell to worldwide media and staying in touch with them. The website itself seems interesting because it has all these artistic and event based pictures from around the world. The bottom right of the page has links to events conducted by Cornell University which are not only towards the betterment of the university itself but the world in general. In the middle one can see articles and information regarding Cornell students who have taken initiatives to maintain this relationship between the university and the rest of the globe. I feel that this link is alittle too narcissistic and only focuses on University’s achievements; it does not offer any sort of solid global information. If you want to see the world through the eyes of Cornell then this is the perfect link, otherwise browse away my friend.
3- http://www.international.cornell.edu/
This link is pretty much my favorite out of all three. It offers global information even if it is not related to the university itself. There is a world map at the bottom with different sets of indications, on top left you have headlines for important global events and on the right side there is search bar which allows the users to browse the subsection. On the extreme left there is a link for charity, which is a very nice thing to do.

Unfortunately I am a student and my time is limited, I cannot spend hours and hours reviewing a website if it does not offer easy information. As quoted by Walter Benjamin “Even the most perfect reproduction of a work of art is lacking in one element; its presence in time and space, its unique existence at the place where it happens to be”, even though the Cornell University website is a third party learning tool and it’s limited to begin with because it is not the real source, the website seems to be mediocre at best due to the way it represents the information.

It is definitely better than the Binghamton University’s website because it has a lot more links and sources present, but it is no match for a search engine such as Jstor or Ebsco. There are only two or three links total regarding global information and they all seem to be biased in a sense; every single event has to involved the university somehow otherwise it will not be allowed to show up on the webpage. The bright red color also threw me off big time because it means I can’t stay on the website for too long before my eyes catch fire. I did however like the search option available on the main page and every single sub link that I went to, the charity option was a nice touch also. At the end, I am giving these webpage three out of five stars.
Sources:
Benjamin, Walter, Illuminations: The work of art in the age of mechanical reproduction. United States: Shocken Books inc. 1955. Book

Evaluating A Web-Source: Princeton Writing Center

The Princeton Writing Program at www.Princeton.edu/writing is a very useful website where students could find information and advices about all the seminars, workshop, programs that Princeton University offers.

The mission statement of the website is dedicated to encouraging excellence in writing and the teaching of writing through core initiatives like the Writing Seminars, the Writing Center, Writing in Science and Engineering, and Writing Across the University.

This website is sponsored by The Trustees of Princeton University and updated regularly. The last update was on September 27, 2010.

1. http://www.princeton.edu/writing/center/faq/
This is the link where all the frequently asked questions are answered. It gives student the comprehensive knowledge on how to prepare for seminars, workshops, and all relating information.

2. http://www.princeton.edu/writing/wse/proposals/
This is the link where all the proposal writers could research for sources to support their own writing and project.

3. http://www.princeton.edu/writing/seminars/enroll/
Anyone who would like to enroll in one of many seminars Princeton University offers could follow the steps listed here.

AURA & CULTURE INDUSTRY.

The aura of just about everything within life itself is what gives anything importance. No matte how many times an object i.e. a piece of heart is duplicated what is most important is how it makes an individual feel, the aura that it gives off. As Benjamin states aura comes from "presence in time and space," where the object is at its original form (Benjamin 220). What I do not understand is that fact that no matter how many art is duplicated if the piece is strong enough the aura will be the same no matter what. As much as it is stated with Benjamin's piece that the essecence is lost somewhere from the original to the duplicate, all that really matters is the fact that someone is actually being inspired and decided to create a duplicate.
Cyber aura does exist because it allows the audience to experience the art. Although it is not at its authentic form it is still a form of expression and even if a little bit of aura is delivered it causes some form of inspiration. I myself am a fan of the cyber world and what it has to offer. An example that I would use is the fact that I am from New York City and 75% of the year I am in Binghamton, I use the internet as a utility to catch up and educate myself about the arts, media, and music from back home. Although it is not at is purest form its still something.

Within “The Culture Industry: Enlightenment as Mass Deception," Adorno illustrates how society is now ruled by a culture industry where humans are here to perform to satisfy the needs of the masses. I agree with some of the points such as certain regulations that are constructed by the government that are followed with no further questioning. But at the same time I believe that society, which includes all races and both gender have built their own social constructs and are just lazy because there is no fighting back.

Benjamin, Walter. Illuminations. “The Work of Art in the Age of Mechanical Reproduction.” New York: Schocken Books, 1968. Print.

Adorno, Theodor W. and Max Horkheimer. Dialectic of Enlightenment: Philosophical Fragments. “The Culture Industry: Enlightenment as Mass Deception.” Stanford, California: Stanford University Press, 2002. Print.

Evaluating a web source

The Lloyd Sealy Library webpage of John Jay College of Criminal Justice is an excellent source for students to obtain a variety of information to complete extensive research. Students can explore the website easily with no hassle, due to the many links displayed on the website. Each tab on the left hand side of the site contains a drop down menu for different areas of interest. In addition to the drop down menus, the website has one click general links for easier access. These links include, find articles, find books, find journals, get help, and contact us. A search tool bar is also provided for students if they do not find what they are looking for on the home page itself. A link is also offered, titled "text a librarian." This is a great resource to use when students are tied down with work and need immediate feedback.

The website lists the service hours of the library on the right hand side of the website for easy viewing ability. Holidays and exceptions are also listed below the hours of the library, so students are fully aware of the inner workings of the library at the college itself.

This website provides students with immense information available through the internet which comes in handy when students are looking for information available right at their fingertips in their own home. Immediate satisfaction is offered through this website, and it is extremely helpful.

3 Links:
1. http://www.lib.jjay.cuny.edu/wiki/index.php?title=Help_With_Research_Wiki
On the homepage, students can click on Research Tools. The drop down menu offers a variety of choices, and one of them is research help. The website gives you information on how to actually evaluate information on the web. A tutorial is offered which allows students to learn how to judge web content and actual information that is presented on the web. The website also gives information on how to use databases and find books. This link is extremely helpful because one needs to learn the skills on how to conduct research on their own.

2. http://guides.lib.jjay.cuny.edu/content.php?pid=136486&sid=1169197
Students navigating on the homepage can click on the student tab, and the first option listed on the drop down menu is APA style guidelines. Once on the site, students have a variety of options to choose from; A Guide to the APA Documentation Style, APA Style Reference Citations for New Media, How to Cite Legal Materials, and Research Paper Format, and how to do an annotated bibliography. Students can learn how to avoid plagiarism, and can also choose to learn how to cite using MLA format as well. This website is helpful for students writing research papers and whom need to conduct extensive research.

3. http://www.lib.jjay.cuny.edu/info/textbooks.html
Clicking on reserves, displays a drop down menu with numerous options. Students can click on Textbooks where students are then directed to a page that provides students with additional websites they can use to purchase text books from other online sources, a link to the school webpage where students can purchase their texts directly from the school book store, information on how to borrow text books from the library, and a CUNY textbook fact sheet to help students save money when purchasing text books.

Actual web page: http://www.lib.jjay.cuny.edu/

Evaluation of a Web Resource: Cato.org

The official website of the Cato Institute provides information and analysis on a wide range of political issues, usually from a libertarian viewpoint. Traditionally, the non-partisan think tank performs public policy research and sells publications to any interested party regardless of size or political affiliation. They have "enemies" in every major United States political party because of their many differing viewpoints, which suggests that they are not biased and can write about any issue objectively. Additionally, the organization takes full use of internet communication technologies by publishing free daily articles and promoting them on social media platforms like Twitter and Facebook.

Link 1: http://www.cato.org/pub_display.php?pub_id=12169 - Title: "The Budgetary Impact of Ending Drug Prohibition"
This page features a brief summary and a link to the full report of a White Paper from an economics professor at Harvard University that shows how ending large parts of the American "War on Drugs" would save $41.3 billion per year.

Link 2: http://www.cato.org/pub_display.php?pub_id=12140 - Title: "With Presidential Drones, Who Needs Judges?"
This page has an article that analyzes how the U.S. government through the CIA have been adding Americans suspected of terrorism to targeted killing lists. Drones are eventually sent out to assassinate the targets even when they are not in an armed conflict or an imminent threat.

Link 3: http://www.cato.org/pub_display.php?pub_id=12176 - Title: "GOP 'Pledge' Lacks Both Cuts and Courage"
This page has an article that criticizes the Republican plan for reducing the Federal deficit as being not deep enough of a cut in areas like military spending and un-innovate in its method of restructuring current social programs.

Works Cited:
The Cato Institute. http://www.cato.org. September 28, 2010. Web

Evaluation of a Web Resource

The website I used is CAAM, Center For Asian American Media. It is a non-profit organization. They do funding, producing, distributing and exhibiting works in film, television and digital media. They have different areas of mission such as Educational Distribution, Film Festival, Media Fund and public boardcast.

http://asianamericanmedia.org/events/
This link is the event link. It shows all the event on the calendar. You can also use the filter to separate CAAM events, Community corner, In treaters and On TV.

http://publicbroadcast.asianamericanmedia.org/
This link is about the public broadcast. It has all the news at public broadcast.

http://festival.asianamericanmedia.org/
This link is about the film festival. It includes all the information about it. You can watch the photos and videos of past events and also news about upcoming evetns.

Evaluation of CQ Researcher Website

CQ Researcher Plus Archive

Works Cited:

CQ Researcher Plus Archive. CQ Press. Web. Sept 28,2010. http://library.cqpress.com.proxy.binghamton.edu/cqresearcher.

The CQ Researcher website, which is hosted by the CQ Press, provides a large amount of resources for any student to use in regards to current events in the world. There are multiple ways to access this information on the home page. It is separated into a few links which each provide a different format of accessing these resources. Examples of these sections are "Browse by Topic", "Advanced Research", Issue Tracker, Updates, and Index. Within each section there are links that are subsections for various issues that are taking place today. These subsections include "Abortion", "Baby Boomers", "Gun Control", and "Privacy". There are many more subsections covering almost every issue in today's news.

I believe that this website can be very helpful for someone who needs to do research on most of the current events occurring in the world. Students always need to be within reach of a vast source of information, especially when writing research papers. Current events are especially useful in this class because we will be able to connect these events on a Global level.

Link # 1: http://library.cqpress.com.proxy.binghamton.edu/cqresearcher/toc.php?mode=cqres-related

This first link is the "Updates" section of this website. It provides a list of current topics that have all been updated recently. To find the latest information, one just has to click on the topic of interest and it will open a list of articles pertaining to that topic.

Link # 2: http://library.cqpress.com.proxy.binghamton.edu/cqresearcher/searchform.php

This second link is the "Advanced Search" link of the website. It is a search engine for this database. To look up specific information on a current event, one can search keywords and edit searches easily.

Link # 3: http://library.cqpress.com.proxy.binghamton.edu/cqresearcher/toc.php?mode=cqres-procon

This last link is the "Pro/Con" link on the left side of the homepage. It allows a person to click on one of the topics listed, and it provides a pro and con view of the issue in a side by side format. It could be very helpful for someone who needs to understand the whole view on a subject, or to understand the opposite side of it.

Overall, this website can be informative and useful for this class and many others, and is a wealth of information waiting to be used.

The Knight Digital Media Center

Evaluation of a Web Resource

http://multimedia.journalism.berkeley.edu/

By: Jessica Ferrucci

Web resources have become a crucial tool in both the academic and professional realms of research. Many of these resources, however, lack the credentials to be considered a credible source of information. The Knight Digital Media Center, created by the University of California at Berkley Graduate School of Journalism and the University of Southern California Anneberg School for Communication, has retained the proper credentials to be used as a credible web resource. Knight Digital Media is a combination of live reporting seminars held at the two university locations and an online resource for research and tutorials of digital jounalists. The foundation’s mission statement reads,

The Knight Digital Media Center is dedicated to helping good journalists and good journalism succeed in the 21st century by providing training for New Media at all levels – from the traditional journalist making the transition to New Media to the New Media journalist seeking to improve critical thinking and beat reporting skills to the newsroom leader managing change in a dynamic era.

The site is maintained by an advisory board composed of editors, publishers, directors, and designers, all of whom boast titles at other credible news organizations. It is set up blog-style with a tool bar across the top and active links throughout. Its most significant resource is a “Training and Resources” tab which brings the looker to a page with active tutorials under the categories: Reporting, Video, Audio, Photography, Web Development, Mashups, Flash, Social Media, Computing, Public Records, Data Visualization, and Web Design. Each link provides step-by-step instructions for the selected skill set including pictures and numbered directions.

1. Data Visualization: Basics goes through a number of steps for making pie, bar, line, and area charts.

2. The Transition to Digital Journalism provides a recap of online mediums, internet competitiveness, widgets, wikis, and multi-media storytelling to aid print media companies transition to the web.

3. Using Wordpress helps those just starting with web blogging and reporting have an easy way to manage content and make a professional looking site from the start.

These among the many other resources on the site are current, sited with specific authors, and provide relevant information making Knight Digital Media Center a credible web resource.

Web Resource Evaluation

Institution- Jstor.org

The web resource that I chose to evaluate is one that I am highly familiar with. This web resource is called Jstor.org. I have been using this web page as a reliable resource all throughout my college career. I find it to be very helpful and easy to find the articles that I need for a research paper or simply for my benefit and curiosity. Jstor.org is very simple to use. You can simply type in a type of article you are looking for or can browse through the selection that the web page has already provided for you. I decided for this blog to look into marketing and advertising

Link 1:

Fischer Marc, Völckner Franziska, Sattler Henrik. How Important Are Brands? A Cross-Category, Cross-Country Study. Journal of Marketing Research. Online publication date: 1-Oct-2009. http://www.marketingpower.com/AboutAMA/Documents/JMR_Forthcoming/How_Important_Are_Brands.pdf. September 28, 2010. Web

Link 2:

Walsh Michael, Winterich Karen Page, Vikas Mittal. Do logo redesigns help or hurt your brand? The role of brand commitment. Journal of Product & Brand Management. Online publication date: 1-Jan-2010.

http://www.emeraldinsight.com/journals.htm?articleid=1853405&show=pdf. September 28, 2010. Web

Link 3:

Pennington Julia, Ball Dwayne. Customer branding of commodity products: The customer-developed brand. Journal of Brand Management. Online publication date: 1-Jun-2009. https://secure.palgravejournals.com/bm/journal/v16/n7/full/2550131a.html. September 28, 2010. Web

All of these links helped me to better understand market researching and how it works. Jstor.org is the main reason that I was able to find all of these useful articles. The next time I must do a research paper I will be sure to use jstor.org

Evaluation of the HyperGrammar (University of Ottawa)

This website Hyper Grammar, which belongs to the writing center of University of Ottawa, offers a large number of useful links and resources that can help students in regarding to their writings especially with grammar. The web page is divided into several sessions, each of which represents a part of the grammar. For example, there is Punctuation, Pronouns, Verbs, and Clauses. Within each session, there are a few sub-links which explain the specific part and its function in the whole grammar. Also there are several examples offered to help students understand that specific part of grammar clearly.

Personally, I think this website is very useful to students with weak grammar skills. A lot of students have always had the concern with the grammar in their essays. Usually they take their drafts to the writing center to seek the help from the tutor, but a lot of times the tutors are not very willing to correct grammars—they rather focus on the big picture. With the assistance from this website, students can do-it-yourself check their grammar mistakes 24/7.

Three links I think are useful from this website:

http://www.arts.uottawa.ca/writcent/hypergrammar/paragrph.html how to write a paragraph

http://www.arts.uottawa.ca/writcent/hypergrammar/confverb.html frequently-confused verbs

http://www.arts.uottawa.ca/writcent/hypergrammar/wordform.html word formations

Website Evaluation: Media Psychology Review

Media Psychology Research Center (2008-2012). Media Psychology Review. Retrieved September 27, 2010 from http://www.mprcenter.org/mpr/.

This is an internet-only, free-access academic journal, presented in an interactive, ezine format. The field of media psychology could perhaps be summarized as concerning the interaction of media technologies with human behavior, cognition, and experience. As such a wide range of factors influence this broadly-defined interaction, it is not surprising that this site is very multi-disciplinary, gleaning contributions from various fields of psychology and communications.

Paradoxically, that wide range of contributing disciplines stands in contrast with the limited number of articles nominally falling under the field of media psychology, as evinced by the selection on the site, and on other media psychology resources, such as Division 46 of the American Psychological Association. Nevertheless, there is more than enough information in the available articles to provide visitors with a substantial knowledge base that will assist them approaching questions concerning the nexus between media and psychology. There are several topic sections on the site, and within each of them are a few articles. Below is a sampling of what is to be found under some of the topics.

Rutledge, P. (2008). What is media psychology? A qualitative inquiry. Media Psychology Review. 1 (1). Retrieved September 27, 2010 from http://www.mprcenter.org/mpr/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=184&Itemid=119

Found in the “Theory” section, this article discusses a categorized analysis of responses from members of the APA’s Division 46 (the division which conducts media psychology research) when posed with the question, “what comes to mind when you think of media psychology?” The inherently self-referential nature of this study makes it a good introduction into the field, having information about the different perspectives held by researchers of media psychology.

French, D. H. (2008). The social media mindset: A narrative view of public relations and marketing in the web 2.0 environment. Media Psychology Review. 1 (1). Retrieved September 27, 2010 from http://www.mprcenter.org/mpr/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=210&Itemid=166

Found in the “Social Media” section, this article is perhaps the most relevant in the journal to the questions posed within this blog. The shift from a one-way to a two-way movement of information in indiscreet telecommunications, due to social media, is presented as forging new collective narratives that stem from the personal narratives. Consequentially, consumers’ newfound abilities to confide with each are considered an enablement in demanding greater authenticity from marketers, who historically had operated with one-way public relations.

Olson, C. K., Kutner, L. A. (2008). Using electronic media to educate the public about science: Coping with the evolving media landscape. Media Psychology Review. 1 (1). Retrieved September 27, 2010 from http://www.mprcenter.org/mpr/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=183&Itemid=114

Found in the “Social Change” section, this article explains initiatives designed to encourage the public to make connections between science and their own goals, and to enable them to increase their scientific literacy. Likewise, initiatives are described that could promote scientific literacy amongst journalists, who in turn could present science news in a manner that is more understandable and relevant to viewers. These goals are expounded on with reference to the types of media used to obtain science news, and the increasing role of the Internet in influencing the dissemination of science news.