Website Evaluation - psycINFO

psycINFO is a helpful site when it comes to psychology research papers. It is made by ProQuest and it has a extensive database which ranges information from books, journals, dissertations, and etc. Also, they have records dated as far as the 1700’s. The best thing about psycINFO is their advanced search engine. It breaks the search engine down into different parts so it can narrow down to the things you’re looking for. When you’re writing your research paper, you are most likely focusing on a specific group such as a certain race, gender, or even age. psycINFO has these options included as it is helpful when you are looking for a certain experimental group. Another good feature is that the site is compatible with other languages so it is not needed to know English to maneuver this database. One of the best parts of using this website is that it has a thesaurus which pulls research papers that have terms that are similar to the search word. When looking through the records, you can just press the checkbox for the records you’re interested in because the website instantly saves it for you so it is easier to look back. To retrieve these marked records, there’s a tab in the upper right hand corner that is labeled as “marked records” where it has the records that you have marked. This is easier for the user as it can save the time of having multiple tabs out or copy and pasting the URLs to Notepad. Overall, the online database is easy to navigate and their search engine is efficient in narrowing things down to show relevant results.

Helpful Links:
psycINFO’s useful thesaurus that brings in results that also relate to your search word:
http://csaweb110v.csa.com.proxy.binghamton.edu/ids70/thesaurus.php?SID=70emdm2g6217sslvmf69vq2b67

psycINFO advanced search engine which helps narrowing it down when you are looking for a specific studies such as females or people who are in their 20’s:
http://csaweb110v.csa.com.proxy.binghamton.edu/ids70/advanced_search.php?SID=70emdm2g6217sslvmf69vq2b67&tab_collection_id=0

psycINFO’s funding section - a complied database of available opportunities for any kind of funding (ex: scholarships, grants) so it is definitely helpful when you are looking for funding for your research:
http://csaweb110v.csa.com.proxy.binghamton.edu/ids70/advanced_search.php?adv_search_tab=funding&SID=70emdm2g6217sslvmf69vq2b67

Work Cited:
psycINFO Online Database. ProQuest. . 27 September 2010.

University of North Carolina Writing Center--Hand-Out's

The Writing Center Hand-Outs web page of UNC is an excellent writing tool.  It is divided into four sections; "Writing the Paper", "Citation, Style, and Sentence Level concerns", "Specific Writing Assignments/ Contexts", and "Writing for a Specific Field." (University of North Carolina)  These main sections are divided into several sub-sections which address specific issues and concerns a student writer may have.

The information in the sub-sections is organized in note-style-format, utilizing bolded or colored font, indenting to make different points, etc.  The information is straight forward and easy to read, as is the website's design.  On each sub-section page the other categories of information are still available in a small columned list on the right hand side of the page.  There aren't any advertisements, graphics or pictures on the page, making for a distractionless navigation.

The content addresses everything from "writing anxiety" to "citation resources," and offers it's own answers, as well as consultation from other resources within the UNC library's database. (University of North Carolina)

A possibly negative aspect of the site, however, is that it's only copyrighted up to 2007 and claims to have been last updated in October of that year, though it hosts a link to the 2010 calendars.

Link #1
http://www.lib.unc.edu/house/citationbuilder/
  This page offers a citation style similiar to the easybib.com website.  It uses a plug-in method, saving time by cutting out formatting. It creates MLA, APA, Chicago Style CSE and, CBE style citations, for a variety of sources.

Link #2
Fall 2010 
  This link downloads a copy of the UNC academic year calendar in Microsoft Word, a useful tool when  considering paper deadlines, as well as writing down appointments that may be scheduled on another section of the UNC website. The calendar is in a printer-friendly format, and condenses the fall semester on one grid/page, which may be more or less helpful depending on it's use.


Link #3
email us
This link opens whatever is the default e-mail program on a users computer, and (depending on computer settings) will bring up an option box for g-mail, hotmail, etc.  It gives the user an option to provide "feedback" and "suggestions." (University of North Carolina) 


Overall the site lacks a bias and has a wealth of well organized, in depth information. It is clearly divided into specific groups of information, all on the home page.  There are help/assistance links at the top that are easily visible, and the content anticipates questions and issues.


                                                                      Works Cited:
Writing Center Handouts." Home | The University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill. Web. 28 Sept.
2010. <http://www.unc.edu/depts/wcweb/handouts/>.

Website Evaluation: Yale College Writing Center

http://www.yale.edu/bass/

The Yale College Writing Center is a great way for students or writers to improve their writing and refresh their memories of different styles of citations. The website provides methods on how to cite books, journals, magazines, newspapers, blogs, Email & Instant Messages, films, music or sound recordings, and many more. Yale College Writing Center also provide tutoring resources for students that need help in improving their writing. In the near future they will provide information on where to cite in an essay, best practices for citing sources, and ways of identifying different types of essays. The website also have model papers from many discipline for those that prefer to look at actual papers as a references. For those that have an interest in Journalism they can acquire information and opportunities from the website. Student publications of many different interest can also be found.


Link #1:
The link below explain different citation style and how to use them.The styles of citations are from book, journal, magazine, and newspaper to music or sound recordings and film.
http://www.yale.edu/bass/writing/sources/kinds/index.html

Link #2:
The following link provides model papers from different subjects. Some of the subjects that are found consist of Natural Science, Philosophy, Bioethics, Social Science, Literature, and History.
http://www.yale.edu/bass/writing/models/index.html

Link #3:
For everyone that is interested in Journalism the following link will provide information, opportunities, and student publications in the field.
http://www.yale.edu/bass/journalism/index.html


Works Cited:
Yale College Writing Center. Yale University,. <http://www.yale.edu/bass/>. September 27, 2010.

Evaluation of a Web Resource- The Harvard Writing Center

Institution- Harvard University

The Writing Center. Harvard University,2006.< http://www.fas.harvard.edu/~wricntr/resources.html >. September, 9th, 2010. Internet

Harvard Writing Center is a great tool for anyone who is looking to improve or tweak their writing skills. The website offers many handouts that deal with all different aspects of writing. From thesis statements to formatting to grammar, the site touches upon a great deal of information. It even goes a step further and provides information on how to read assignments to assure a better work. Although it is very plain, it is very easy to use. All of the handouts are located on the first page of the website in order for trouble free access. The site even provides other links and the creators email address for even more insight. It was created in 2006 by the President and Fellows of Harvard College, making it a credible site.

The Harvard Writing Center website would definitely be a good assistance for our class. The first handout that would be a great help would be the handout entitled "Developing a Thesis". With a strong thesis and topic the abstract will be much easier to write and be a much stronger work.

http://www.fas.harvard.edu/~wricntr/documents/Thesis.html

Another handout that would aid our abstract's would be the one titled "Outlining". With good outlining skills, it will be much easier to organize our information from the readings and on our topics so we can make a stronger argument for our cause.

http://www.fas.harvard.edu/~wricntr/documents/Outlining.html

A third handout that would aid us in the writing of our abstracts would be the "Summary" handout. With the ability to summarize information it will be much easier to take the important information from the readings and portray it in a clear and concise manner in our abstracts.

http://www.fas.harvard.edu/~wricntr/documents/Summary.html

Evaluation of a Web Resource: Bibliography of Asian Studies

Institution: Association for Asian Studies

 

The Bibliography of Asian Studies (BAS) is a great Web site source for teaching and research in Asian Studies. It is an online library, and it contains close to 747,000 books and journal articles. They are all about different countries in Asia. Bibliography of Asian Studies started their Asian journals and articles database since 1971. It offers two types subscription: organizational subscription and individual subscription. Researchers can just fill out the online form to subscript. The subscript can search their journal articles by either title or country -subject. The articles are displayed alphabetically, so it is very easy for research.  

The searchers can search by simple search, advance search and browse journals. Searchers can also use bookbag to save articles that they saved.  The Bibliography of Asian Studies also has their history to let people understand BAS’s past.

This Web side can help people to understand more about Asia culture. Readers can search any Asian countries that interested them.  The reason why I choose this Web site, I like Asia culture a lot. I think the BAS can help people who are interested in Asian culture in this class. 

Link #1    About the Bibliography of Asian Studies online

http://www.aasianst.org/aboutbas.htm

This link is about all kinds of basic information about the organization. It has many links also, connected to web history, scope notes, fast-track journal list, subject classification, and organization of entries, help and acknowledgment. The subscription form link is located here too. People can go through that link to subscript.

Link#2     BAS: Browse by Journal Title

http://quod.lib.umich.edu/cgi/b/bib/bib-idx?c=bas&browse=journal

This link is for someone who wants to search their journal article by the title.  The title is listed alphabetically, and it contains how many totals record and years.

  

Link#3     Advance Search the Bibliography of Asian Studies online

http://quod.lib.umich.edu/cgi/b/bib/bib-idx?c=bas&page=boolean

This link is for advance search for more specific information to find articles. People can type in author, title, and journal or subject to find the database.  People can also type in time period and types of books or journals to be more specific.

Evaluation:

This web is very easy to search the articles that researchers want. It has many ways to find the articles like search by title, country and advance search like published time, types of items and number of the pages. Those are very convenient to search. And the whole web’s layout is clear not confusing, people can easily find what they want at the first time they surf.

Work cite:
Bibliography of Asian Studies. Association for Asian Studies (1971).http://quod.lib.umich.edu/b/bas/. 9/23/10

Evaluation of a Web Resource- The Harvard Writing Center

What is Aura and Cyber Industry?

When I first saw the word aura, actually I had no idea what it means. I looked up it in the dictionary and it said "aura is a distinctive and pervasive quality or character; air; atmosphere or a subtly pervasive quality seen as emanating for a person, place, or thing." (Dictionary.com) So I guess that aura is special but much more influential. In Walter Benjamin's book Illuminations, he defined the meaning of aura and talked it a lot especially in the page 220 to page 230. In his view, aura is the feeling created on audiences by art works. (Benjamin 220) However, by the original art is reducing, aura is disappearing gradually.

According to Theodor Adorno, cyber industry is mass creating of art and entertainment based on new technology. It contains several elements like Internet, video or photograph that lack of original aura. Cyber industry is fast and convenient. We can just admire Picasso's art works online rather than spending time on the way to MOMA. But on the contrary, we cannot feel the aura of Picasso by just facing to the laptop.

Cyber industry is developing in an amazing speed and it does really affects daily life. It could not replace the aura which is the real and original because sometimes we expect more than connivence and speed.

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

Adorno, Theodor and Horkheimer, Max. Dialectic of Enlightenment: Philosophical Fragments. Stanford: Stanford University Press, 2002.

Evaluation of a Web Resource: Nowness.com

NOWNESS is one of my favorite website to obtain media resources. NOWNESS presents a highly creative and technologically advanced approach to showcasing the best of fashion, art, culture and travel. Each day, NOWNESS introduces a new world of ideas, delivering multi-faceted stories and exclusive content.(About Nowness) Besides, readers can subscribe online magazine and follow it on Twitter or Facebook.

Links:

http://www.nowness.com/about

This page introduces what is NOWNESS? Where do NOWNESS stories originate? Who is behind NOWNESS? How to subscribe from email updates and contact information.

http://www.nowness.com/day/2010/9/27/1020/david-sedaris-reads

Today's story:

Besides the article, this page includes an audio. David Sedaris, the Grammy-nominated author, playwright, essayist and comedians, says that he reads his new material aloud to audience and then editing his work according to audience’s reactions --- laughs or coughs or groans. This is a new way in communication for a writer to get the reviews of his readers.

http://www.nowness.com/day/2010/9/5/feria-de-las-flores-medillin--colombia

This article is concerned about the global culture. The temperature of Colombia is around 72°F all the year. The good temperature is fit for growing flowers. So that selling and exporting of flowers has for centuries been one of colombia most important industries.

The links above is relative to the global culture and media class. This website applies some new media formations like pictures, audio, video, etc. in all editing. I think it is a good example to show how the mass media and cyber-communication develop in today's society.

Work Cited:

About Nowness

http://www.nowness.com/about

Evaluate a Web Resource

JSTOR is one of my favorite web resources. Compared to any other web resource it is reliable and can be used for just about any type of research. By using JSTOR it has helped me further my research and be confident with the sources that I choose from the web resource. I have personally used JSTOR plenty of times throughout my academic career so far and it has never failed me. One of my favorite tools about JSTOR is the fact that it has actual journals that I can browse through. I enjoy using journals as resources because it allows me to use a personal and professional resource for my work. The information on JSTOR is published by over five hundred publishers which also adds on to the success of the web resource because it provides an array of perspectives.

1. Interrogating Caribbean Music: Power, Dialogue, and Transcendence

Paul Austerlitz

Caribbean Studies
Vol. 36, No. 2 (Jul. - Dec., 2008), pp. vii-ix

Published by: Institute of Caribbean Studies, UPR, Rio Piedras Campus

http://www.jstor.org/stable/25613170

I picked this resource because I am a Latin American Caribbean Studies major and this would be of interest to me and further research.

2. The Challenges of Incorporating Muslim Women's Views into Development Policy: Analysis of a Dutch Action Research Project in Yemen

Brenda Bartelink, Marjo Buitelaar

Gender and Development
Vol. 14, No. 3, Working with Faith-Based Communities (Nov., 2006), pp. 351-362: http://www.jstor.org/stable/20461158

I also picked the resource because I am also a Women Studies minor and this can come in handy when I am doing research for my classes.

3.

Faith, Work, and Women in a Changing World: The Influence of Religion in the Lives of Beedi Rollers in West Bengal

Anchita Ghatak

Gender and Development
Vol. 14, No. 3, Working with Faith-Based Communities (Nov., 2006), pp. 375-383

Published by: Taylor & Francis, Ltd. on behalf of Oxfam GB

http://www.jstor.org/stable/20461160

I chose these links because they are personal interests of mine. The material is also personal research that I would like to do so that I can learn more about the topic researched.


http://www.jstor.org.proxy.binghamton.edu/

Evaluation of a Web Resource: Jstor.org

JSTOR.org is a free website that supplies academic resources to students and scholars. It's a great tool and easier to use than let's say a library, because you just need to plug into a search bar what you are looking for, and it will provide many essays and articles. They claim to currently have 1866 titles to choose from. It's incredibly easy to use, I've used it for many research papers and it has always served me well. One can also log in and save citations that one wants to use under his/her username.

• Teams: Virtualness and Media Choice
• Jonathan W. Palmer and Cheri Speier
• International Journal of Electronic Commerce
  Vol. 3, No. 1 (Fall, 1998), pp. 27-48
  (article consists of 22 pages)
• Published by: M.E. Sharpe, Inc.
• Stable URL: http://www.jstor.org/stable/27750874

• Distinguishing between the Forest and the Trees: Media, Features, and Methodology in Electronic Communication Research
• Terri L. Griffith and Gregory B. Northcraft
• Organization Science
  Vol. 5, No. 2 (May, 1994), pp. 272-285
  (article consists of 14 pages)
• Published by: INFORMS
• Stable URL: http://www.jstor.org/stable/2635021

• Making Connections: Complementary Influences on Communication Media Choices Attitudes, and Use
• Linda Klebe Treviño, Jane Webster and Eric W. Stein
• Organization Science
  Vol. 11, No. 2 (Mar. - Apr., 2000), pp. 163-182
  (article consists of 20 pages)
• Published by: INFORMS
• Stable URL: http://www.jstor.org/stable/2640282

Those were three links from jstor that give me three interesting articles on media and communication. Also what's great about jstor is it has all the citation information needed to properly cite the works you use.

jstor.org

Communication/CyberAura/Culture Industry

What is communication?

Communication in its most finite state is the sharing of information between two parties through avenues such as discourse. When speaking of mass communication, this “discourse” is broadened to include a wider scope of people. Communication has expanded due to the advancement of technology, or more specifically, the Internet. Through this expansion, the term “cyber communication”, has appeared, within outlets such as email, blogs, media websites, and online newspapers. Though one might argue the advancement of this technology has positively influenced communication, it has also severely isolated the “mass”. When communication was at its most basic form, people spread information through one on one discourse, and this information, though passing slowly, would reach others through word of mouth. Then, the audience was expanded, as technology grew in locations that allowed for it; developing countries. Though this allowed for a mass communication to be born, it increasingly isolated those who had virtually no access to these same resources creating an ever expanding gap between the “haves” and “have- nots”, as it were.

What is the Aura/CyberAura?

What is the Culture Industry/CyberIndustry?

When describing “aura”, one can infer its relationship is dependent upon its audience. This is just to say that an aura is created through a group of people who are witness to it. Naturally, an aura can be experienced through sensory perception, and is attributed to a “feeling” one gets when its presence, which is usually brought upon through art. This can be any art form, such as a painting or a musical performance. In the past, this experience with aura was achievable because of a physical presence, or being literally in front of a painting, or an audience member at a musical performance. But as time passed and technology advanced, the need to have a physical presence with an art form, was no longer necessary. People were able to see a painting through the Internet, and able to purchase it at stores. The importance of time, or the here and now, as well as, the gathering of people, became seemingly obsolete. In other words, the framework of the “early aura” was reorganized, in the form of the cyber aura. The argument for the cyber aura is that our generation has adapted to this technological change, and therefore is able to still marvel at a painting from a picture of it, as well as appreciate a musical performance while watching on sites like YouTube. In the end, cyber aura can be defined as the feeling a person gets while witnessing such art forms, though through different mediums, such as the Internet or mass-produced art.

In any industry, the motivation is singularly monetary gain, which in society, equaled power within the framework of the industry itself. As technology increased however, the cyber world was created, and monetary gain didn’t necessarily mean power anymore. In this new cyber world, value began being placed upon the ability to spread information, and this quickly became the driving force, thus creating a cyber industry. The new framework of this cyber industry was through authority, reputation, and attention in the cyber world. The ability to entertain one’s audience also plays part in this power struggle. In Adorno’s “The Culture Industry, Enlightenment as Mass Deception,” he states, “Nevertheless, the culture industry remains the entertainment business. Its control of consumers is mediated by entertainment.” Therefore, cyber industry can be defined as an endeavor to spread information efficiently, and creatively, to ultimately entertain a mass audience in order to gain power in the framework of the cyber world.

Adorno, Theodore. "The Culture Industry, Enlightenment as Mass Deception." Dialectic of Enlgihtenment. (1987): 108. Print.

Evaluation of a Web Resource: Newseum

Newseum.org is the website for the news museum in Washington D.C. called Newseum. The museum is a 7-floor museum devoted to the news and houses 5 centuries of news history, hands-on exhibits, and news related technology.

The museum’s website includes very useful information for absolutely anyone. It gives viewers extensive information about the museum, such as the history, background, dates of visiting speakers, exhibits, and more. It has games that involve the news, and gives the public the opportunity to host an event at the museum or plan their own visit. It also has a news section of the website with important national news and news about the museum.

Links:

News- This page includes a lot of major news relevant to the media and the world. It gives you the option to view events by date, category, etc. Some of the categories include journalism news, Newseum news, Campaign 2008, and more.

http://www.newseum.org/news/index.html

Today’s Front Pages- This page is one of the most interesting on the site. It includes the front page of almost 600 newspapers both local and nationally, including the Press and Sun Bulletin. You can browse by region or on a map, or just look at all of them. It’s very cool to be able to see top headlines from all across the nation on any given day.

http://www.newseum.org/todaysfrontpages/default.asp

Today’s Front Pages: Top Ten- This is a feature in the Today’s Front Pages section. It shows the ten front pages of the day that are effective to the reader by means of both visual and informational purposes.

http://www.newseum.org/todaysfrontpages/topten.asp

In Global Media Narratives, we’re constantly discussing the media. The Newseum is a great place for anyone to go and learn about news media. The website is a great outlet to learn more about the news and learn about speakers and events. It provides viewers with very helpful news outlets and resources.

Newseum. Newseum, 2010. 27 September 2010. http://newseum.org/

Evaluation of a Web Resource: Purdue Online Writing Lab

The Purdue OWL. Purdue University Writing Lab, 2010.

. 24 September 2010.

This is Purdue University's Online Writing Lab. It has a whole wealth of resources, articles, and guides to help people in all sorts of writing tasks. After reviewing the website, I have come to the conclusion that it is not only a fair and acceptable web resource, but that it is an excellent source to use if you have any kind of serious writing to do.

The website meets all the criteria for a reputable source. It was updated a couple of minutes before i visited the site. All of the content is current; every guide that I looked at was updated within a couple of weeks of my visit.

The website does not contain any links to relevant outside sources; it lists most of the information on its site. Its only link that I could find is to the Purdue University website, which is updated extremely often. The last time when I checked was several minutes beforehand.

As one would expect, there are no potential biases or hidden agendas when looking up the site's creator, Purdue University. There is no inflammatory language; the website is very professional.

The website does not have one single author, but every guide or article has the author’s names clearly visible, along with the last time the guide was updated.There is also an easy and convenient contact tab at the top of the page, as well as on the bottom of the page.

The guides don’t have an actual bibliography, but each one of them has a summary at the top. If any outside information is used in the guide, it is explicitly stated and cited in the summary.

Basically, Purdue University's Online Writing Lab is a very reputable, authoritative, and trustworthy source. It goes beyond that, though. The OWL is a one stop shop for all your writing needs. It has an excellent guide for citing in MLA format:

http://owl.english.purdue.edu/owl/resource/747/01/

It has basically everything you can ask for with regards to MLA citing; there is a list of links on the left, each bringing up a long, in-depth webpage about a specific citation topic. It also has a similar guide for APA citations, but there is another excellent resource on the OWL site:

http://owl.english.purdue.edu/owl/section/6/

This website has everything you need in order to apply for pretty much any job. It is not just a basic guide; it has a whole range of topics related to job hunting: resumes, cover letters, interviewing, etc, all of which are very in-depth. It even has tips for international students for finding jobs, as well as tips on how to tailor your job application for a specific audience.

This is a very helpful resource, one that I know I will use whenever I am writing anything important.

One last resource from the online writing lab that I would recommend is Purdue's collection of writing exercises:

http://owl.english.purdue.edu/exercises/.

It is a good way to practice and brush up on grammar skills, which are very important in professional writing. The exercises challenge you to spot grammar mistakes and correct them on your own, then gives you a link to the answers once you are done. They are more fun than reading a textbook of grammar rules, and doing them even a few times should solve anyone's grammar problems.

Evaluation of a Web Resource: UNC at Chapel Hill, Writing Center

http://www.unc.edu/depts/wcweb/

The Writing Center’s website is dedicated to helping students at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill with their writing assignments. Graduate students specially trained to teach writing offer tutoring sessions in person and online. The website is very user friendly and efficiently designed, using colorful tabs and interactive binders as a way of navigating around the website. The website encourages students to use the writing center. They have a section where Mr. Potato Head gives a virtual tour of the writing center and a video on what a typical tutoring session would be like. Although you must be a UNC at Chapel Hill student to attend the workshops, events and tutoring sessions, handouts are available to the public. The handouts offer help on every aspect of the writing process, including help with specific assignments and context, writing for specific fields, evaluating sources and citations.

One of the handouts called Reading to Write would be helpful for the class in understanding and reacting to the assigned readings. The handout gives advice on how to work with the text and effectively write about it. What should be considered when reading the text and advice on how to take notes.

http://www.unc.edu/depts/wcweb/handouts/readingwriting.html

Another handout available on the website is about the thesis statements. This will be helpful for our class when we begin to write our abstracts, which will include a thesis statement. There is advice available on discovering and defining a thesis statement, writing a thesis statement and supporting it.

http://www.unc.edu/depts/wcweb/handouts/thesis.html

Another handout is on abstracts. What an abstract is and the purpose of it is clearly explained in the handout. Steps are given on how exactly to write an abstract. This is an important handout that I think the class should use because it takes you clearly through the steps of writing your own abstract.

http://www.unc.edu/depts/wcweb/handouts/abstracts.html

What is communication?

Communication is any physical or intangible medium through which information circulates. What I meant by that is communication could be a song, a conversation, a web article, a glance between two strangers, the colors on the traffic light, or simply a hand gesture from a disabled person.

Living in a digital era, a need for communication is crucial. There are reasons why communicating is a vital part of our human lives. People want to communicate to express their emotions or to get information from others. Let's define information to begin with.

So we talk to our loved ones while we are away via telephones or Skype. We write and perform songs to the audience to express our feelings. So is emotion a kind of information? I respectfully concur. So not only information circulates through our communication, but our emotion also does. Why do people want to get information?

They always want the best information they could get. Why? Because good information helps people make good decisions. So how do we ensure that information does not get misinformed? Through direct and bona fide communication. When people take in whatever information they receive and pass it on to the next group of people in its original condition, that's direct and bona fide communication. If people take in the information, interpret it, and impose their own emotion and opinion to the information and then share it, that's also direct communication, but not necessarily bona fide. 

In conclusion, communication is the process through which we receive information, interpret it and express them.

Evaluation of a Web Resouce: Global Media Journal

The Global Media Journal is a web resource for finding essays written on global media and its impact on society, culture and individuals. It is a good resource to research communication and to become familiarized with popular subjects regarding modern global media issues. The website is current; the most recent issue was published in spring 2010 and another will be published in the fall. A downside may be the less than useful search bar. The Global Media Journal could prove to be a great tool when trying to brainstorm ideas for the abstract assignment. Though individual articles are property of their respective authors, the webpage is founded and edited by Profesor Yahya R. Kamalipour, Department of Communication and Creative Arts at Purdue University Calumet.

Kamalipour, Yahya R. Global Media Journal: The Global Network of Communication Scholars. Purdue University Calumet, Spring 2010. http://lass.calumet.purdue.edu/cca/gmj/. September 26, 2010. Web.

Link #1

http://lass.calumet.purdue.edu/cca/gmj/gmj_pastissues.htm

Within the website is an archive of past issues. Each issue has a particular theme that is displayed through each essay. By clicking on a specific time, the next page shown will tell you the theme of that issue. If there is a particular topic you are most interested in for our class, you can potentially find it and have at your fingertips multiple essays pertaining to that theme.

Link #2

http://www.freepress.net/

The link is for a website called "Free Press: reform media, transform democracy." This website is a resource for current information on exactly what we have been learning in class through the readings of Hardt and Lippman about the relationships between democracy, mass media, communication and the loss of the publics roll in media. The website provides news articles, opinion essays, videos and other mediums tailored to educating people about what is going on with media and communication. Their goal is to reform what they think is corrupt media policy and to reinstate the public as the controlling force of media to make media serve their best interest.

Link #3

http://lass.calumet.purdue.edu/cca/gmj/sp10/gmj-sp10-article7-mitra.htm

Since our class is about narratives specifically, this article is relevant and important since it offers the idea that each "status update" or "post" on social media networking sites is actually publishing a unique narrative of each author. If this is so, we are all the voices of global media narratives in the digital age. This link provides an example of many of the helpful articles the Global Media Journal can supply.

Aura and Culture Industry

In his essay, "The Work of Art In the Age of Mechanical Reproduction", Walter Benjamin best describes the aura in relation to objects, or art. He writes, "the technique of reproduction detaches the reproduced object from the domain of tradition" (pg 221). By this he means that because objects can now be mass produced, the original object that is copied no longer has any importance or value. This importance or value is an object's "aura".

I believe that in the digital age, works of art have indeed lost their "aura", but I don't believe this is a bad thing at all. The internet and technology have allowed everyone everywhere access to wonderful works of art, books, movies, and television shows than ever before possible. Despite these things losing their original value, especially through piracy and duplication, they are more accessible and reach a wider audience.

Adorno coins the term "culture industry" in his essay "The Culture Industry: Enlightenment as Mass Deception". He claims that culture has become capitalized and industrialized, and as a result is commodified. Adorno uses film as a major example of this. He writes, "Under monopoly all mass culture is identical, and the lines of its artificial framework begin to show through. The people at the top are no longer so interested in concealing monopoly: as its violence becomes more open, so its power grows. Movies and radio need no longer pretend to be art. The truth that they are just business is made into an ideology in order to justify the rubbish they deliberately produce. They call themselves industries; and when their directors’ incomes are published, any doubt about the social utility of the finished products is removed" (p 95).

In contrast to my feelings about Benjamin and the "aura", I do feel that Adorno is justified in his concepts about the culture industry. The idea of movies and television as a commodity but also a part of the culture presents a problem. People are being sold the same things that they use to define themselves.

"Aura"

"Aura" is a term used by Walter Benjamin in to describe the presence of a work of art "in time and space", it's unique existence at the place it happens to be" (220). The existence of "aura" is evidenced by feelings evoked in a person when they experience the work of art first hand-- like the feeling of entering into a cathedral, looking up and feeling the vastness of the space, or standing 4 feet in front of the Mona Lisa and contemplating her smile. The aura is irreplaceable, unique, and undeniably linked to the proximity of one to the authentic work of art.

Understandably, "aura" is not necessarily a concept that's translated within the realm of reproduction-- the assumption being that a duplicate or reproduction can never measure up to the experience of seeing the "true" thing. To Benjamin, reproduction and mass reproduction is killing (and probably by now, has killed) the concept of aura in terms of what makes art art. Rather than art being about this experience, this being in the presence of original art, it has become more of a business-- what can be reproduced and spread the easiest. This is especially true in the digital age, where everything and anything can and will be reproduced- so much so that it can be hard to decipher the original. "Aura", in the sense that Benjamin discussed and admired it, may be a forgotten art, overshadowed by the industry of culture.

Works Cited

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

Website Evaluation: Projekt Gutenberg-DE

Projekt Gutenberg -DE

http://gutenberg.spiegel.de

Summary & Evaluation:

Projekt Gutenberg-DE is an enormous collection of literary texts preserved and archived online. The largest contributor to the "library" is works by authors who have been dead for 70 years or more (and thus have lost their copyright.) Projekt Gutenberg-DE is affiliated with the larger Project Gutenberg, although it focuses mostly on German-language texts. This Projekt is smaller, and is hosted on the web by "Der Spiegel."

Projekt Gutenberg-DE is simple to navigate, providing both information about the writer of hosted works and easy access to the works themselves. This site may be one of the only places online that allows someone to access so many original works so easily- everyone from Freud, to Aesop, to the Brothers Grimm. This, along with the larger Project Gutenberg, make it possible to access what, prior to the advent of the internet, would be probably unattainable.

Important Links:

1) http://gutenberg.spiegel.de/index.php?id=14 "Information"

This page describes Projekt Gutenberg-DE, how it works, how one can volunteer, aswell as provide statistics about the site: It currently hosts 5,700 books, 21,000 poems, 1800 fairytales, 1200 fables, and more.

2) http://gutenberg.spiegel.de/index.php?id=18&autor= "1123 Autoren gefunden"

Projekt Gutenberg's content is organized by authors. This is a complete list of the authors in alphabetical order, both allowing a reader or researcher knowledge of what's available, and expressing the scope of this enormous project.

3) http://gutenberg.spiegel.de/index.php?id=8 "Genres"

This list displays the many different genres of work hosted by Projekt Gutenberg. Projekt Gutenberg covers everything from Treatise to Comic Strip to Satire to Epic Poems. Here is reflected the scope of Projekt Gutenbergs work.

Evaluation of a web resource: Resources for Writing 111

Evaluation of a web resource: Resources for Writing 111

This page is a resource for students to use when writing academic papers. It offers information on places to gather articles for one’s research, citation guides, definitions of plagiarism and academic integrity as well as a number of tutorials to walk students through certain aspects of composing a good paper. For example: how to find useful books and articles for sources and use Binghamton University’s library resources to one’s advantage. This web page is offered by Binghamton University and the author is subject librarian, Bern Mulligan. It was updated last on September 14th 2010 so its information is current and is helpful to aid students in finding proper sources and putting together a good research assignment. This website is valuable for our course media studies because it provides so many tools to help with the abstract assignment as well as any academic paper in general.

Mulligan, Bern. Resources for Writing 111. Binghamton University, 14 September, 2010.http://libraryguides.binghamton.edu/writing. 25 September, 2010. Web.

Links:

Citation Help
http://library.binghamton.edu/research/guides/citationhelp.html
This link is helpful for the class because we reference the work of many famous authors and scholars in the field. In order to use their findings or ideas to support an argument of our own in a paper or an abstract it is important to site properly and credit them for their work.

Get it @ BU
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=L2RVF1iQtHg
This link goes to a tutorial that walks a student through how to use the services from Binghamton University’s library to obtain any book or article that is pertinent to our research for the course. It shows exactly where to click on the web site as well as gives verbal instructions.

Current Events and News
http://p8332-metalink.binghamton.edu.proxy.binghamton.edu/V/QTAK7P5XKGM276Y1LJQRKT915MNU9K9GDLKT92FFH3UIESKRKE-22898?FUNC=FIND-DB-1-CATEGORY&MODE=category&CATEGORY=Current+Events+and+News&SUB_CAT=All&RESTRICTED=all&pds_handle=GUEST
This link shows a large list of different data bases containing relevant articles about current events and news going on around the world. This is a good resource to gain knowledge and relevant information on current events and public opinion to be used in one’s papers or research.

What is the Culture Industry/CyberIndustry?

As Theodor W. Adorno noted, “The Culture Industry, Enlightenment as Mass Deception,” he states, “Nevertheless, the culture industry remains the entertainment business. Its control of consumers is mediated by entertainment.”The aura around an art work in the past was of its physical presence and which involved time and space. As technology progressed people became less focused on the physical feeling and the surrounding of a particular work of art. An example is one that involves the cyber industry. The first attractiveness of the cyber net rested on the its quick and easy method of transferring information between people through an intermediary. And this gradually became a process of entertainment where people start going online to look at things. And this physicality aura that existed in art slowly disappeared or became less of a focus. In some sense the framework of the cyber industry have been geared towards competitive each other in gaining the attention of the audiences.

Works Cited:
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.

Evaluation of a Web Resource: Online Education Database (OEDb)

Online Education Database. 150 Resources to Help You Write Better, Faster, and More Persuasively. OEDb, 30 July, 2007. http://oedb.org/library/features/150-writing-resources. 25 September, 2010. Web.

Online Education Database is a web resource intended for students receiving their degree through an online college or university. The website is published by the company (OEDb) and first appeared in 2006. The database has a large amount of information concerning degrees, careers, academic journals, writing resources, and other tools pertinent to a college student. The “library” tab, which can be found at the top of the page, has a lot of resources and information applicable to our class. My three links are located in the library section.

Link #1: How to Prepare an Annotated Bibliography

Engle, Michael, Amy Blumenthal, and Tony Cosgrave. How to Prepare an Annotated Bibliography. Cornell University, 10 September 2010. http://www.library.cornell.edu/olinuris/ref/research/skill28.htm. 25 September 2010. Web.

This link provides detailed information on the process of preparing an annotated bibliography. It instructs the reader on how to critically appraise the resource they are citing in their annotated bibliography, how to find the right citation format for a resource, and provides a sample annotated bibliography entry for a journal article using both the MLA and APA citation format. The information on this website is concise and easy to comprehend.

Link #2: How to Write a Better Weblog

Mahoney, Dennis A. How to Write a Better Weblog. A List Apart Magazine, 22 February, 2002. http://www.alistapart.com/articles/writebetter. 25 September, 2010. Web.

This link provides advice on how to make your blog writing more professional, entertaining, and increase your readership. It highlights the differences between professional and amateur blog writing, details the mechanical rules of blog writing (i.e.: grammar, spelling, syntax, structure, etc.), and gives tips on how to amuse readers. This link is incredibly informative, straightforward, organized, and easy to read.

Link #3: Future of the Media

Dube, Jonathan and CyberJournalist.net. Future of Media. CyberJournalist.net, 2010. http://www.cyberjournalist.net/category/future-of-media/. 25 September, 2010. Web.

After clicking on OEDb’s link to CyberJournalist.net, I clicked on the tab “Future of Media,” located at the top of CyberJournalist.net’s homepage. “Future of Media” highlights some of the recent trends and developments in online media. It discusses the differences between Internet news sources and newspapers, the evolution of media consumption since the turn of the century, social media developments, the pros and cons of real-time web journalism, and more. All of the information pertains to our study of the “global media narrative,” analyzing the historical progression of news media outlets and its effect on the circulation of information in society.

Evaluation of an Academic Website: ISI Web of Knowledge

Institution:

ISI Web of Knowledge

Summary:

ISI Web of Knowledge is a web database published by Thomson Reuters. The website compiles articles from various disciplines, including the social sciences, arts, and humanities.

Links:

Three links I found pertinent to the class were:

http://apps.isiknowledge.com.proxy.binghamton.edu/full_record.do?product=UA&search_mode=GeneralSearch&qid=1&SID=U1P3GPnG8A1j7li5JpD&page=1&doc=9&colname=WOS

This article is listed in the ISI database, wherein the author uses Walter Benjamin’s work in their examinations of culture, history, and politics. I believe that in examining this article, we can see how a writer uses a specific piece of writing to strengthen their own points.

http://apps.isiknowledge.com.proxy.binghamton.edu/full_record.do?product=UA&search_mode=GeneralSearch&qid=2&SID=U1P3GPnG8A1j7li5JpD&page=1&doc=1&colname=WOS

This article struck me as pertinent to our purposes from the moment I read the title, “Media and the Making of Modern Germany: Mass Communications, Society, and Politics from the Empire to the Third Reich”. The article is an example on how media has defined and shaped society, something that is very close to our discussions in class.

http://apps.isiknowledge.com.proxy.binghamton.edu/full_record.do?product=UA&search_mode=GeneralSearch&qid=3&SID=U1P3GPnG8A1j7li5JpD&page=1&doc=8&colname=WOS

This third piece I have found seems very relevant to our discussions in this class, because the article is communications between Benjamin and Adorno, two authors that we have examined so far.

Evaluation:

I found that the ISI Web of Knowledge was a very effective website for doing research. Searching is made very simple with customizable options. Because the website compiles articles across many disciplines, the Web of Knowledge is useful not just for one or two classes or majors but can be used for every class all semester. The database also assists students in citations, especially for abstracts, which will help us in our work this semester.

Aura and the Culture Industry

The “aura” of any creation in society – from art to ideas – is the authentic, original version in its primary “presence in time and space” (Benjamin 220). In his essay “The Work of Art in the Age of Mechanical Reproduction,” Walter Benjamin theorizes that the mechanical reproduction of art (the replication of a painting or even filming an actor’s performance of his “natural state”) destroys the essence, truth, or aura of the work, which in turn separates art from its historical ritual (i.e. going to a unique event that is irreproducible outside of the “here and now”) and blurs human sense perception of every social “reality” in its time and space. In other words, the reproduction of a work of art changes society’s sense perception of the “reality” in which the work was created – reproduction destroys the historical significance of the work by making it easily accessible in any time and space, while threatening human sense perception of the aura because a reproduction is produced by someone with a different perception than the author of the work. Benjamin argues that the mechanical reproduction of art threatens the notion of authenticity and that when one can view art without the authentic work, the entire function of art is altered. It is no longer art for art’s sake or a historical ritual – it is a political, social, and economic tool (224). Film is a great example of how the artistic reproduction of nature alters original perception. Benjamin states, “While facing the camera [the screen actor] knows that ultimately he will face the public…that new anxiety which…grips the actor before the camera…[results in] an artificial build-up of the ‘personality’ outside the studio” (231). Thus, the actor’s awareness of the camera makes his seemingly “natural” body language artificial. And this exploitation of nature’s aura is fueled by capitalistic agendas.

I would argue that the “cyber aura” does not exist. The eternal accessibility of any website, picture, video, or sound clip on the Internet counters Benjamin’s notion of “presence in time and space.” The vast amount of producers and senders in the cyber realm makes it rare for one to view, read, or listen to an authentic file that has not been altered by other producers or has not replicated an original work from society. As we observed with the YouTube videos we watched in class, you can access a unique moment online, but it is often altered or edited (i.e.: polka music added into Ashlee Simpson clip) which diminishes its authenticity, you’re not experiencing the “aura” of the unique moment because you’re not there in time and space, you may have preconceived notions of the image which affects your perception, and since you can watch things on the Internet years after they occurred in reality, your perception of the issues at hand may have “historically” changed.

In his essay “The Culture Industry: Enlightenment as Mass Deception,” Theodor Adorno argues that every aspect of society and human behavior is mediated by the “culture industry,” or the social implementation of ideas, normative behavior, and industry practices by authority to fulfill economic agendas. He states, “To speak about culture always went against the grain of culture. The general designation “culture” already contains, virtually, the process of identifying, cataloging, and classifying which imports culture into the realm of administration” (Adorno 104). Thus, culture is a highly schematized ideology that imparts boundaries, restrictions, and necessities on the human mind and life, implicitly destroying individual autonomy, while concurrently perpetuating the notion of individuality and freedom of thought and action. Culture is a business – individuals are essentially brainwashed into believing they have autonomy over their existence, when in actuality, every choice they make has a consequence pre-determined by authority and manipulated to fulfill financial motives. Adorno states, “Under the private monopoly of culture tyranny does indeed ‘leave the body free’…The ruler no longer says: ‘Either you think as I do or you die.’ He says: ‘You are free not to think as I do…But from this day on you will be a stranger among us’…Disconnected from the mainstream, he is easily convicted of inadequacy” (105-106). Thus, if one does not adhere to the guidelines of the culture industry, he faces social exile and incompetency – he is forced to follow the culture model to ensure his success and survival in society. Adorno states that even when we’re out of the public eye, during our most intimate moments and unconscious impulses, we’re conforming to the culture industry’s “apparatus of success” (136).

I believe that the “cyber industry” is a microcosm of the culture industry in that it perpetuates distinctions between socially normative or applauded behavior and socially condemned or base behavior. For example, Facebook would be classified as “socially normative” and pornography would be classified as “socially stigmatized.” The Internet user is faced with a plethora of web organizations to join or reject, each of which has been socially deemed “acceptable” or “unacceptable” to view or take part in. In relation to the notion of cyber aura, if the cyber realm largely consists of replication, the cyber industry should mirror the culture industry in its format and motives. Thus, our behavior on the Internet is mediated by social definitions of “good” and “bad” sites, resulting in conformity to the cultural “apparatus of success” and essentially limiting our freedom of choice through the threat of stigmatization and “social exile.”

Works Cited

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.

Website Evaluation: Academic Search Complete

Academic Search Complete is a database consisting of scholarly articles, e-books, and e-journals, and is owned as well as managed by EBSCO. EBSCO is a worldwide provider of academic databases, with services at many different institutions, including Binghamton University. So in terms of credibility, one should not suspect any invalid or untrustworthy resources from their databases.

In the main page of the site, which is accessible through the Binghamton Library website, the viewer is presented with a typical advanced search module. This array of options allows the user to precisely search for the desired material, ensuring that relevant search results are produced. The search is divided into two sections: search modes and search filters (to limit results). In the search modes, you can choose to either search key words relevant to each other, key words without any relevancy, a phrase, or "SmartText Searching" which allows massive searches like paragraphs or entire pages. In the second section there are various boxes that can be checked to filter the results. A couple in particular that is worth noting is the "Full Text" and "Scholarly (Peer Reviewed) Journal" options. Having "Full Text" checked will only produce articles or books in its entirety, as opposed to an excerpt or segment. Scholarly (Peer Reviewed) Journals produces results that, like stated, have been reviewed by scholars and thus establishes credibility as a valid resource. Upon searching, results are ranked in relevancy by default, though this can be changed at the top to either date descending/ascending, author, or source. Moreover, the page options can be set to vary the length of the summaries/abstract (e.g. brief or detailed) and the amount of results per page can be specified as well. Clicking a result will bring the viewer to a page with a slew of information pertaining to it. If available, the full text can be viewed in PDF format as well as the citation in several different formats (APA, MLA, etc).

3 Links

New Features
This page (located on the header frame of the site) displays a list of updates and features that have been added to the website. It displays a list of features to come as well. Not only is this useful to know about and how to use the new features on the website, but it also establishes currency in that the viewer knows that their resources are not outdated. Several new features mentioned in this page are “Results List Enhancements,” “Detail View Enhancements,” and “New Full Text Translation Service.” It also lists upcoming updates such as an iPod touch application.

Preferences
This page allows the user to set default parameters for their searches. This is particularly useful if the viewer is using the database for many different resources and does not want to set the search options each time. The options available here are similar to those available after the search results are produced. The user can specify result list format (brief, detailed, etc), results per page, # of columns, sorting options, as well as choose to turn autocomplete on or off for search suggestions. A user can also choose a default e-mail address for a particular resource to be sent to should they choose to e-mail it. This may be particularly useful for those who find themselves constantly e-mailing themselves different resources and having to type their e-mail address each time.

Help
This is the main support page for EBSCOhost’s databases. It contains standard help content with a list of topics on the left and articles for each topic that explains it in detail. This particular support page is very detailed and informative, and may prove useful for users who are new to the EBSCO databases and wish to learn how to use it to its maximum potential. Viewers can also search for a specific topic if needed.

I myself have used this Academic Search Plus for several research papers and essays, and have found it to be a highly useful tool in finding resources. Although this is a site-specific feature, the database even displays each result (whether it is an e-book or article) with an abstract to summarize it, which can be ideal to use for examples to help write our own abstracts when the time comes. All resources from this database are credible and valid to use as sources of information, especially with the “Peer Reviewed only” search filter. As such, I highly recommend using Academic Search Complete or any of EBSCOhost’s databases to help conduct research for this course.

EBSCOHost: Advanced Help. EBSCO, 2010. < vid="1&hid=" sid="197ebe9a-0acd-4895-928b-a7aba12c3587%40sessionmgr112">. 25 September 2010.