Category Archives: Readings

Notes from today, and reading & blogging homework for Wednesday, September 25

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Today we discussed social media and social networking, debated new terms for these ideas, and spent some time considering the limits of Wikipedia and the potential of so-called “Big Data.” The TED Talk by Tim Berners-Lee that wouldn’t load during class appears to be working now, so feel free to view it on your own time. Slides from today are available here.

For Wednesday, please read and view the following:
Center for Social Media, Code of Best Practices in Fair Use for Media Literacy Education, sections “code” and “principles” only
Grey, Copyright: Forever Less One Day
Lessig, Laws that Choke Creativity
Faden, A Fair(y) Use Tale

Your blogging assignment is one reading response blog post. Our discussion facilitators are Kimesha, Dimitri, and Steve.

~Prof. Leonard

Notes from today, and reading/blogging assignments for Monday, 9/23

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Today we discussed alternative print and digital media, including alternative news media, blogs and zines. If you are interested in seeing more zines, you should visit the New York Art Book Fair, which takes place this Thursday through Sunday at MoMA PS1 in Queens. It is free and open to the public, and is “the world’s premier event for artists’ books, catalogs, monographs, periodicals, and zines,” according to its website.

Slides from today are available here.

For Monday 9/23 please read the following:

Wikipedia, Web 2.0
Baker, The Charms of Wikipedia
Tufte, Visual and Statistical Thinking (pp. 5-15 only)
Lohr, Sizing Up Big Data

Your blogging assignment is one reading response blog post.

The class visit to the Brooklyn College Library zine collection is scheduled for Saturday, September 28 at 2 pm. Please let me know if you plan to attend by Wednesday, September 25! Remember, you are always welcome to visit on your own.

 

Notes from today, and reading/blogging assignments for Wednesday, September 18

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Today we discussed non-text media in its many forms and formats. We spent a good deal of time discussing “content, computing, and communications” (from Meikle & Young): how our use of digital media in networked environments is now interactive, yet we have given up some control of our use of these media. We used iTunes as an example several times. If you are curious about Apple’s approach to selling and distributing music and other media should read Steve Jobs Thoughts on Music, written in 2007. Slides from today are available here.

On Wednesday, we discuss alternative print media, both analog and digital. Please read the following three pieces: Wright, The History and Characteristics of Zines (part I only) ; Eland, “Critical Thinking, Deviant Knowledge, and the Alternative Press,” and Zine World, Zines 101 – A Quick Guide to Zines. Your blogging assignment is one reading response blog post.

Tina, Hafsa, and Harold are discussion facilitators.

We’re still on for a visit to the Brooklyn College Library’s zine collection on Saturday, September 28 at 2 pm. I’ll collect RSVPs on Wednesday, and I’ll need a final count of participants by Wednesday, 9/25.

~Prof. Leonard

Notes from today, and reading and blogging assignments for Wednesday, September 11

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Today we reviewed Badke, chapters 1 & 8. We discussed various information & communications technology innovations from the timeline of information history. We also discussed the information cycle through which information is created and distributed, better explained in this presentation, which I encourage you to view.

For Wednesday, please read the introduction of Meikle & Young, Media Convergence: Networked Digital Media in Everyday Life, distributed in class and available on reserve: HM742 .M45 2012. Also read Craig Mod, Post-artifact Books and Publishing. Please view the following 2 videos: Common Craft, Blogs in Plain English and Wikis in Plain English. Your blogging assignment is one reading response blog post; please refer to the blogging guidelines or ask me if you have questions about blogging.

~Prof. Leonard

Notes from today, and reading and homework for Monday, September 9

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Our next class meeting will take place in A543, our assigned classroom. We meet next on Monday, September 9. As you know, the college is closed on Monday, 9/2. Although classes are cancelled Wednesday 9/4 through Saturday 9/8, the college and library are open those days.

Your reading assignment for Monday, September 9 is to read the Preface, chapter 1 and chapter 8 in Badke, Research Strategies. Also, sign up for the OpenLab and join the class if you were not able to during class today. Invitations will go out to those of you who have not yet joined the class. Remember, you need to use your City Tech email address to sign up for the OpenLab. If you continue to get error messages when clicking on the email link to confirm your OpenLab account, contact the OpenLab team for support.

Your blogging assignment is to write and post one reading response blog of at least 100 words. It should be posted to this site by 10 a.m. on Monday, 9/9. In your reading response blog post, you should identify a theme or themes from the readings, analyze the readings with respect to the themes and topics of the course, and ask any questions that the reading raises. Please refer to the blogging guidelines or contact me if you have any issues with or questions about blogging.

Looking forward to a productive semester!

~Prof. Leonard