Sources from Media
Using Media Resources
Information is available to us in many different
formats - published books, articles, and newspapers, web pages, videos,
photographs, and more. In order to effectively locate, evaluate, and
incorporate a wide variety of information into
our knowledge base we must understand what media literacy is and why
it is such a critical twenty-first century skill.
What is media literacy?
Media literacy is a learning approach which helps students
access, analyze, evaluate, and create messages using media in various forms.
The Alliance for a Media Literate
America provides this definition:
Media literacy empowers people to be both critical thinkers
and creative producers of an increasingly wide range of messages using image,
language, and sound. It is the skillful application of literacy skills to media
and technology messages.
The Center for Media Literacy has expanded
their definition to read:
Media Literacy is a 21st century approach to education. It
provides a framework to access, analyze, evaluate and create messages in a
variety of forms - from print to video to the Internet. Media literacy builds
an understanding of the role of media in society as well as essential skills of
inquiry and self-expression necessary for citizens of a democracy.
Media literacy is based on the premise that the medium
through which a message is conveyed shapes the message itself. As the
information landscape continues to expand beyond traditional text-based
resources to encompass a plethora of formats including digital, video, and
social media, it is important to be able to evaluate and interpret the messages
received, and to understand how different formats influence these messages.
Find media sources
What kind of source do I need?
Determining what kind of source you need and should expect
to find is somewhat dependent on when an event happened. The Information Cycle page can help you make
this determination.
Find news sources
Newspapers are included in some of the general databases
included in the Find Articles Guide. You can also access a
number of newspapers on this page as well. For a more complete list of
newspapers, see the History, Philosophy, and
Newspaper Library web page.
Find video sources
Follow the links and tips on the Finding Video Clips page to locate videos
covering various topics and in various formats.
Search the digital media collection
In Fall 2007 the Undergraduate Library subscribed to a
collection of digital films from Films Media Group. The UGL Digital Media Collection page provides
information about these films and a link to search them.
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Type
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Information
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Use
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Examples
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Magazine
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A magazine is a collection of articles and images about
diverse topics of popular interest and current events. Usually these articles
are written by journalists or scholars and are geared toward the average
adult. Magazines may cover very "serious" material, but to find
consistent scholarly information, you should use journals.
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to find information or opinions about popular culture
to find up-to-date information about current events
to find general articles for people who are not
necessarily specialists about the topic
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National Geographic
Ebony
Sports Illustrated
People
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Academic
journal
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A journal is a collection of articles usually written by
scholars in an academic or professional field. An editorial board reviews
articles to decide whether they should be accepted. Articles in journals can
cover very specific topics or narrow fields of research.
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when doing scholarly research
to find out what has been studied on your topic
to find bibliographies that point to other relevant
research
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Journal of Communication
The Historian
Journal of the American Medical Association
Lancet
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Database
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A database contains citations of articles in magazines,
journals, and newspapers. They may also contain citations to podcasts, blogs,
videos, and other media types. Some databases contain abstracts or brief
summaries of the articles, while other databases contain complete, full-text
articles.
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when you want to find articles on your topic in magazines,
journals or newspapers
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Academic Search Complete (a general database)
Compendex (an engineering database)
ABI/Inform (a business database)
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Newspapers
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A newspaper is a collection of articles about current
events usually published daily. Since there is at least one in every city, it
is a great source for local information.
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to find current information about international, national
and local events
to find editorials, commentaries, expert or popular
opinions
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Roanoke Times
New York Times
Suddeutsche Zeitung
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Addison
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A library catalog is an organized and searchable
collection of records of every item in a library and can be found on the
library home page. The catalog will point you to the location of a particular
source, or group of sources, that the library owns on your topic.
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to find out what items the library owns on your topic
to find where a specific item is located in the library
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Virginia Tech's library catalog is called Addison.
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Books
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Books cover virtually any topic, fact or fiction. For
research purposes, you will probably be looking for books that synthesize all
the information on one topic to support a particular argument or thesis.
Libraries organize and store their book collections on
shelves called "stacks."
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when looking for lots of information on a topic
to put your topic in context with other important issues
to find historical information
to find summaries of research to support an argument
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Nash, Gary B. ed. The American People: Creating a
Nation and a Society, 1990.
Silverstone, Roger, ed.Visions of Suburbia, 1997.
Smith, J. T.Roman Villas: A Study in Social Structure, 1997
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Encyclopedia
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Encyclopedias are collections of short, factual entries
often written by different contributors who are knowledgeable about the
topic.
There are two types of encyclopedias: general and subject.
General encyclopedias provide concise overviews on a wide variety of topics.
Subject encyclopedias contain in-depth entries focusing on one field of
study.
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when looking for background information on a topic
when trying to find key ideas, important dates or concepts
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African-American Encyclopedia(subject encyclopedia)
Encyclopedia Americana(general encyclopedia)
World Book(general encyclopedia found online)
Gale encyclopedia of genetic disorders(subject
encyclopedia found online)
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Web
site
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The Web allows you to access most types of information on
the Internet through a browser. One of the main features of the Web is the
ability to quickly link to other related information. The Web contains
information beyond plain text, including sounds, images, and video.
The important thing to do when using information on the
Internet is to know how to evaluate
it!
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to find current information
to find information about companies
to find information from all levels of government -
federal to local
to find both expert and popular opinions
to find information about hobbies and personal interests
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Evaluate your sources
As we become saturated with media in its varying formats it
becomes easier to be complacent in accepting media on its face value. Being a
savvy consumer of media is crucial to understanding its content. You should
apply evaluative criteria to all the sources you use in your research. A
common set of questions should be asked, but specific questions for the various
forms of media are helpful.
Questions to ask when evaluating media sources
Who is sending this message and why?
What techniques are used to attract and hold attention?
What points of view are represented?
How might the message be interpreted in different ways?
What is omitted from the message?
Examples of internet risks
Identity
thieves use the information they find online to drain your bank
account or ruin your credit rating.
Phishing is
a common trick used on websites that have beenhacked or are
pretending to be legitimate. PayPal and eBay are two of the most common targets
for phishing scams.
Popular social networking sites such as Facebook are targets
forscams.
