Category Archives: Class Notes

Your reading & blogging assignment for Monday, October 3

Posted on September 26, 2011 by | Leave a comment

Next Monday we’ll be discussing privacy, especially how the definition is changing. We’ll spend some time reading and discussing the challenges to privacy presented by use of digital media and online networks.

There are two readings for Monday: Marshall, P. (2009). Online privacy. CQ Researcher, 19, 933-956.
boyd, d. (2008). Facebook’s Privacy Trainwreck. Convergence: The International Journal of Research into New Media Technologies 14:1, 13-20.
Your blogging assignment is one reading response blog post.

Slides from today are available here.

Enjoy the short week – remember, the college and library are OPEN all week!

~Prof. Leonard

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The video from yesterday, properly embedded this time

Posted on September 22, 2011 by | 1 comment

Here it is:

To embed a Youtube video into a post, just click on Share under the video, then copy and paste the http://youtu.be link into your post. ~Prof. L

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Notes from today, and your reading and assignment for Monday, September 26

Posted on September 21, 2011 by | Leave a comment

We’ll be moving into discussions about issues in information and media. On Monday, we’ll be discussing access to information — personal and institutional. Over the next few weeks we’ll read and discuss other information issues: privacy, ethics, copyright and fair use. For Monday, please read Martin, The politics of research, from his book Information liberation: Challenging the corruptions of information power and write one reading response blog post.

Classes are cancelled Wednesday, September 28 through Friday, September 30. The college and library are open.

Slides from today are available here.

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Notes from today, and readings/assignment for Wednesday, September 21

Posted on September 19, 2011 by | Leave a comment

I appreciated everyone’s comments and examples about the positives and negatives about the production and distribution of non-text media. I’m glad we identified credibility of non-text media as a major issue; it’s something we’ll explore throughout the semester. How do you know if information is credible, trustworthy, reliable, up-to-date, and complete, regardless of its medium? We barely had a chance to discuss cashmusic.org, the open source software development project to help musicians, so take a look if you get a chance. Do you know of other similar projects?

On Wednesday we’ll be discussing Web 2.0 and participatory media. Please read Nicholson Baker, The Charms of Wikipedia and watch two short videos from Common Craft: Social Media in Plain English and Social Networking in Plain English. Your blogging assignment is one reading response blog post.

Slides from today are available here.

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About the course schedule, and readings & assignment for Monday, September 19

Posted on September 14, 2011 by | Leave a comment

I revised dates on the course schedule to reflect December 14 now being a class meeting. Next week we’ll be discussing non-text media and social media. For Monday, September 19 please read the Pavlik, pp. 79-84 (distributed in class; preview also available in Google Books), Malitz, “Radiohead’s ‘Rainbows’: Is free release a potential pot of gold?” and Elton, “Love for Labels.”

Your assignment is to write one reading response blog post on the readings for Monday AND comment on at least one blog post on these readings.

Slides for today are here.

Have a good weekend! ~Prof. L

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Notes from today, and readings/assignments for Wednesday, September 14

Posted on September 12, 2011 by | 1 comment

Reflecting on today’s discussion about media ownership, I wanted to find out about ownership of the publishing companies that publish many textbooks. McGraw-Hill, for example, owns financial services company Standard and Poor’s, as well as market research firm JD Power and Associates.
If you get a chance to research ownership of a media outlet that you use often, let us all know what you find in the comments.

On Wednesday, we’ll be discussing alternative media: print (zines, pamphlets, etc.) and electronic (blogs, wikis, etc.).
Please read the following 3 articles:
Eland, Critical Thinking, Deviant Knowledge, and the Alternative Press

Zine World, Zines 101: a Quick Guide to Zines., and

Wright, The History and Characteristics of Zines, (Part I only)
Your blogging assignment is to comment on at least one but no more than 3 blog posts–your classmates’ or mine.

Slides from today’s class are here.

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Updates to Research Strategies

Posted on September 7, 2011 by | Leave a comment

In addition to the abridged version I mentioned earlier, updates to the 4th edition (2011) of our text are available. If you like Research Strategies on Facebook you can stay informed about updates and news.
~Prof. L.

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Notes for Monday, September 12

Posted on September 7, 2011 by | Leave a comment

For Monday, September 12, please read Pavlik pp, 1-7 (distributed in class). Also read Harrington and Meade pp. 6-9 (the Executive Summary, parts 1.1 through 1.10) and view two short videos: Blogs in Plain English and  Wikis in Plain English. Your writing assignment is one 100-word reading (or viewing) response blog post.

Remember that the OpenLab is on the open web for anyone to see, and you do not need to log in to read the latest blog posts. You will need to log in to post your own blog posts, of course.

We are a day behind the printed syllabus I distributed on the first day of class. When I get word about how the college plans to make up Monday classes that were canceled, I’ll update the syllabus and make a PDF available to download here.

I’ll get in touch with the OpenLab tech support folks and keep you updated. Do not hesitate to get in touch, either by email or by leaving a comment here, if you have questions about course readings, blogging assignments, etc.

~Prof. Leonard

 

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Notes for Wednesday, August 31

Posted on August 31, 2011 by | Leave a comment

Since we missed the first day of class on Monday, the reading response blog posts due today will be due Friday, September 2 instead. Read the Preface, Chapter 1 and Chapter 8 from the textbook Research Strategies by William Badke (available at the City Tech bookstore or as an eb00k). Your first reading response blog post should be at least 100 words. In a reading response blog post, you should identify a topic or theme from the reading, briefly summarize it, and analyze it in relation to other readings and themes in the course. For more help with blogging, refer to the Blogging Guidelines on the course website or distributed in class, or contact me

The blog is hosted on City Tech’s OpenLab, an online platform for teaching. You will need to use your City Tech email address to sign up for the OpenLab. Visit Live@CityTech if you need to look up your City Tech email username.  Visit https://mail.citytech.cuny.edu to log in to your City Tech email. Once you have created your OpenLab account, check your City Tech email for the link to confirm your account. Then you can sign in and request membership in LIB 1201. Once I approve your request, you’ll be able to post on the class blog.

Enjoy the holiday weekend!

~Prof. Leonard

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LIB 1201 – Research and Documentation for the Information Age – Notes for Monday, August 29

Posted on June 15, 2011 by | Leave a comment

Welcome to the course website for LIB 1201, Research and Documentation for the Information Age. I will use this site to communicate about readings, assignments, and deadlines, and you will use it to blog about the required readings and research and to comment on your classmates’ blog posts. This site will host links to course readings and assignments and be the primary place where we communicate outside of class.

We are one of the first courses to use OpenLab, an open learning platform developed especially for teaching and learning at City Tech. The pdf version of the syllabus is available to download, and I will distribute paper copies on the first day of class.

Copies of William Badke’s Research Strategies, the textbook for this class, are available in the college bookstore. A copy of the book is also on reserve under the call number Z710 .B23 2008. An eBook (for Nook, Kindle, and as a PDF) is available for $8-10 from the publisher’s website. Please use either the third edition (2008) or the fourth edition (2011).

By our next class meeting on Wednesday, August 31, you must create an OpenLab account using your City Tech email address. You can change your preferred email in your OpenLab account once you have created your account. Once you have created your account, I’ll add you as members of the class and as authors of the course blog and you can begin blogging. Your first blog post, a response to the assigned readings, is due on Wednesday. See the blogging guidelines for more information about blogging for this class.

~Prof. Leonard

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