Communication Resources at UB

Moving On

2007-08-09T09:05:00.001-07:00

Hi Everyone,

I will no longer be posting to this blog. It has become difficult to post items during my work day and my after work hours are devoted to my daughter.

But do not become discouraged I offer an alternative! I am now chatting. I will be on my Google Chat account, sumerian2@gmail.com during my normal work day (Mon-Fri 8:30a-4p). So please consider adding me to your buddy list and looking me up whenever you need research help. I've also posted my commitment calendar online at http://www.google.com/calendar/embed?src=sumerian2%40gmail.com. This way you'll know when I'm teaching, doing reference, or going to be embedded in your department.

Thanks
Cindi

Technology has Outpaced the Law

2006-10-19T06:03:00.000-07:00

According to a recent BBC report, http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/technology/6065534.stm, the U.S. Congress will begin investigating economies in the virtual world of gaming. Specifically, the legality of gamers earning virtual cash or booty that is then traded in for real world currency. Could gamers be taxed by the IRS? An interesting idea.

Americans getting Ruder-Surprise!

2005-10-14T06:54:00.000-07:00

I was listening to the radio on the drive into work and they quoted a recent survey that said Americans are getting ruder to each other. The major factors contributing to our lack of niceness was cell phone use, road rage, parents not teaching their children manners, and television not promoting civility. I didn't catch the name of the opinion poll/survey but I did find a few online that talk about various aspects of etiquette.

If you are amicable please feel free to view the following informational resources. ; )
http://www.acnielsen.com.sg/news.asp?newsID=161 (mobile phone manners)
http://www.allbusiness.com/blog/BetterLocalMarketing/3992/003058.html (business manners)
http://archives.cnn.com/2002/US/04/02/rude.americans/ (general rudeness poll from 2002)
http://www.poynter.org/dg.lts/id.2/aid.1406/column.htm (a specific example of loosing a potential customer to rudeness)

When I get the specific poll/survey I'll add it to this post.

Radio Reference Website

2005-09-02T08:14:00.000-07:00

Continuing on yesterday's topic I heard that the US government was having a difficult time broadcasting emergency procedures in New Orleans because they did not have the station frequencies. The print resource listed on yesterday's post would help them but there is a website that could also be of interest/help.

"RadioReference.com is the world's largest radio communications reference website, with complete conventional frequency assignments, trunked radio system information, frequencies, and talkgroups, FCC License assignments and maps, 10-Code Lists, agency maps, files, downloads, links, and detailed agency information for most public safety, military, and local government activities."

Katrina and the Communication Infrastructure

2005-09-01T08:28:00.000-07:00

Cellphone towers are non-operational, land lines are completely down, no one can drop walkie talkies into the affected areas, the Gulf coast has been cut-off from the rest of the world.

Think about the impact of this on the stability of information in a digital age. If you wanted a listing of all the radio, television, and cell phone companies in New Orleans at the time of Katrina you might not be able to get it because websites that have compiled such lists, like "New Orleans Websites" at http://neworleanswebsites.com or the "New Orleans Educational Telecommunications Consortium" at http://www.noetc.org/, would be offline indefinately.

Fortunately, there are a number of print publications that UB owns that could help you answer these types of questions.

"Working Press of the Nation", Z6951 .W6, covers TV (including cable), Radio, and Newspapers in the United States. Listed by state, then city, it gives the companies address, website, established date, format (talk, religious, oldies, etc.), frequency/power, network affiliates, and management. All going back to 1999.

"Television and Cable Factbook", goes back to 1982. The "Cable Volumes (2)" cover cable companies by state and provides information on monthly fees, subscriber base, stations included in various service packages, address, and ownership. The "Station Volumes (2)" cover television stations by state then city and provides the address, email, website, power, antenna location and elevation, satellite stations, established date, and estimated households reached.

No posts for the next 2 weeks

2005-06-21T11:02:00.000-07:00

Just wanted to let everyone know that I'll be taking a hiatus for the next 2 weeks. The American Library Association is holding their annual conference this week and next week I'm putting the finishing touches on an article about concept mapping in library instruction. So check back for new posts starting July 4th.

ICTs in Developing Countries

2005-06-17T06:35:00.000-07:00

The Development Gateway (DG) was started by the World Bank in 2001. It's mission is act as a portal for all issues surrounding the development of third world countries. They cover a host of topics such as Economic Development, Aid (Debt Relief), Health & Nutrition, Human (Cultural & Social) Development, the Environment, & Technology.

Under the topic of Technology is the subtopic "Information & Communication Technologies". Within this subtopic are reports, data, articles, & news pieces on a host of "Key Issues" including connectivity, digital divide, e-commerce, gender, open source, radio, wireless, blogging, & broadband.

Here are some samples of what you will find in DG

Blogging growing in the Middle East
Arab countries are notorious for governmental control of media. The advent of blogging opens a new era in the battle between free _expression and censorship. In Iraq, there are hundreds of blogsites, most run by Iraqis, some by U.S. and other coalition soldiers. They are communist, monarchist, Kurdish, Assyrian, Islamist, Shiite, Sunni, nationalist and secularist. Their political positions range from full support for the U.S. invasion and occupation to rabid calls for jihad against the U.S. occupiers. by William Fisher, Inter Press Service New Agency via OneWorld.Net, March 16, 2005.
NITLE Blog Census
This National Institute for Technology & Liberal Education website seeks to remedy the lack of statistics on blogs and blogging. It provides information on the languages in which blogs are written, a global map of blogs, and other statistics.

So take a look at Development Gateway, it just might have the data or story you're looking for.

Professional Organizations: why join?

2005-06-16T12:43:00.000-07:00

Professional organizations, like the National Communication Association or the Popular Culture/American Culture Association, provides students with the opportunity to begin networking in their chosen field. You'll meet movers and shakers in all areas of communication, imagine meeting someone who's article inspired you to focus your research area! It also gives you concrete benefits like a reduced membership fee, reduced conference fee, a newsletter, bulletin, or journal subscription, the chance to participate on organization committees or projects, and most importantly job notices or open-call interviews.

For more information on getting a leg up on your career see NCA Student Organizations, International Communication Association Membership Form, & Eastern Communication Association Membership Benefits.

Surprise! Censorship and Drug Companies (go figure)

2005-06-10T08:40:00.000-07:00

Documents obtained by NPR suggest that Merck had pulled out all the stops to make their pain medication Vioxx number one no matter the science. They pressured individuals to water down medical findings, threw millions of dollars at medical schools, and employed corporate espionage to create a detailed database of major academic and research doctors across the country that could be potential allies. More on this story...

For more information on medical ethics try a subject search in the catalog or in databases under communication or public health using the term medical ethics.

China to Suppress the Internet

2005-06-09T08:19:00.000-07:00

A recent article on CNN's Technology Page got me thinking about censorship in all its forms. Obviously censorship has always been around and will always be around. It's a fact of life that people will have to deal with, but knowing who is trying to pull what is important. Here are a couple of organizations who monitor intellectual, informational, and journalistic abuses worldwide.

Reporters without Borders is an organization that rigorously condemns any attack on press freedom world-wide by keeping the media and public opinion informed through press releases and public-awareness campaigns.

Reporters Committee for Freedom of the Press provides links to news headlines and journal articles dealing with various infringed freedoms both domestic and international.

Freedom House was founded over sixty years ago by Eleanor Roosevelt and Wendell Wilkie to address the threats to international peace and democracy. Of particular interest is their annual Press Freedom Surveys, which provides numerical rankings and rates each country’s media as “Free,” “Partly Free,” or “Not Free.” Country narratives examine the legal environment for the media, political pressures that influence reporting, and economic factors that affect access to information.

The First Amendment Center, hosted by Vanderbilt University, features comprehensive research coverage of key First Amendment issues and topics, a unique First Amendment Library and guest analyses by respected legal specialists.

The International Freedom of Expression Exchange covers freedom of expression abuses and issues from around the world, with an up-to-date, searchable database of alerts and weekly communiques. One can browse their "Hot Topics" section and read stories about Internet censorship, Anti-terrorism laws, Journalism ethics, and Women in media.

If you doing research on the issue of censorship you might want to search the catalog using the subject heading censorship, you may want to combine it with a country or subtopic (i.e. journalism). For scholarly journal articles try the following databases: CIOS, ABI/Inform Global, InfoTrac OneFile, and Sociological Abstracts.

Research on Cyberculture

2005-06-08T08:34:00.000-07:00

The Resource Center on Cyberculture is an online, non-profit organization devoted to the research and teaching of cyberculture. Included in the site are links to reviews of recent cyberculture books, research articles, opinion pieces, course syllabi, events & conferences, and additional links, which includes a listing of e-journals.

This generation-rules the nation-with version: Youth Radio

2005-06-07T07:52:00.000-07:00

For those who don't recognize it the title above is the beginning of the 1980s hit "Pass the dutchie" by Musical Youth.

If you want to find out what the youth today are talking about, writing about, and experiencing try tuning in to "Youth Radio". There is a link to the live radio station as well as streaming audio of past stories.

For books on the topic of youth and media try the following:

Kids and media in America
Lockwood Library: call number HQ784 .M3 R515 2004

Tuned out : why Americans under 40 don't follow the news
Lockwood Library: call number PN4731 .M49 2005

Young people and new media : childhood and the changing media environment Lockwood Library: call number HQ799.2.M35 L58 2002

Youth fantasies : the perverse landscape of the media
Lockwood Library: call number P94.5 .Y72 J34 2004

For more books try a subject search of the library catalog using the term Mass media and youth

Children and the Pinocchio Effect: recognizing a lie

2005-06-06T07:33:00.000-07:00

From NPR.org June 6, 2005· Do children know when someone is lying? One researcher, writing recently in the journal Psychological Science (May 2005, vol. 16, no. 5, pp. 385-390), says children are capable of understanding the concepts of self-interest and unconscious bias -- and can even see through a lie.
Play

For the full-text of this and other articles check out Ingenta Select, a full-text database accessible through subscription by the University Libraries.

Commerical Flashback

2005-06-02T08:05:00.000-07:00

Looking for that C3PO cereal commerical from the 80s or the trailer from Back to the Future? Then check out Retro Junk.

Opinion Polls: taken with a grain of salt

2005-06-02T07:02:00.000-07:00

So many public figures can't make a move with consulting the public. Here are a few polls that I've run across over the last year.

What the Nation Thinks
Provides opinion polls from the US and UK on topics ranging from entertainment to technology. You can also create your own poll and have it hosted for free.

ABC News Polling Unit
Includes links to results from ABC news polls going back to 1999, plus a section on the how's and why's of ABC news polling.

CBS News Polls
The site provides the data plus commentary on polls going back the last 12 months.

Gallup Organization
Need I say more?

Kaiser Polls
Deals primarily in health related issues like drug coverage, media & mental health, technology and senior support, abortion, bioterrorism, genetics, violence, and access to health information. You can browse the most recent polls or search by topic. Really a diverse site for anyone looking for survey data on any aspect of health and well-being.

National Organization for Research (NORC)
Located at the University of Chicago, NORC, is not opinion polls but it is contracted out to conduct research surveys. Their website provides links to summaries of these projects along with some data.

NPR Polls
NPR has organized their polls & surveys topically, covering technology, education, politics, and health.

The Roper Center for Public Opinion Research
The title says it all.

Pew Research Center on People and the Press
Pew conducts research on a host of different topics. This project studies attitudes toward the press, politics and public policy issues. They are best known for regular national surveys that measure public attentiveness to major news stories, and for our polling that charts trends in values and fundamental political and social attitudes.

Zogby International
Zogby International has been tracking public opinion since 1984 in North America, Latin America, the Middle East, Asia, and Europe. Zogby charges for copies of their results but they do publish brief newsy pieces that highlight their results, under "In the Media".

BigPulse
Another service whereby the ordinary Joe or Jane can post a poll and take the "pulse" of the Internet community. It's interesting to see who is the least liked celebrity or what people think of illegal immigration. As with other "non-professional" polling sites take this one with a grain of salt.

If you see a glaring omission from this list please let me know.

Journalism Website

2005-06-02T06:39:00.000-07:00

PoynterOnline is the website of the Poynter Institute, a school for journalists, future journalists, and teachers of journalists. The site includes online tutorials, news, a writer's portal, a television reporter's portal, a resource center with online articles and reports, and columns by Jim Romenesko, Kelly McBride, Mary Sanchez, Rich Gordon, and others. You can get daily content from Poynter delivered to your PDA or e-mail. Take a look around-you'll find it's worth a few minutes of browsing time.

NonVerbal Communication Research Page

2005-06-02T06:33:00.000-07:00

I ran across an interesting website devoted to nonverbal communication at http://www.geocities.com/marvin_hecht/nonverbal.html.