YouTube Videos to Prompt Information-Literacy Conversations

Yesterday I started reading Bill Badke's book Research Strategies: Finding Your Way Through the Information Fog.  His style is relaxed and a bit casual, which seems to be aimed just right for his audience of undergraduate students.  It seems that I alternate between being a little annoyed and actually enjoying what he writes.  Naturally, considering that this is the fourth edition, he has some things worth saying about information literacy.

Like other articles in library- or information-focused publications, it includes many links, and I am tempted to search them all out to see them.  At the conclusion of a section on the Web 2.0 concept he writes: "If you want to see visions of the information world of the future, try these YouTube videos: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xj8ZadKgdC0 and http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PY5hBd8_Q-E&feature=related" (16).  These videos are titled "Prometeus - The Media Revolution" and "Prometeus - The Media Revolution part 2."

What will the information world look like in five or ten years?  Which issues will arise?  They talk about copyright issues, digital versus traditional forms of information, and the virtual world.  The narrator speaks as one in the future might when talking about the past.  In fact, it is a future avatar character.  Anyway, these could be good videos to spark discussion in an information-literacy classroom.

The Power of Information That is Freely Available

A colleague from my library-school program shared this on Facebook, and I thought it would be useful to post here: Effects of introducing Internet at a village public library in Ukraine. President Barack Obama officially announced October to be National Information Literacy Awareness Month now. Take a look also at the National Forum for Information Literacy.

The power of information is immense, and the ability to access, evaluate, apply, and share information ethically is even more powerful.

Teaching Upper-division College Student in the Library

What do you teach college students who have already received multiple instruction sessions from librarians? By the time a student reaches their junior or senior year they may have already visited the library in three or four other classes. Many teacher of the basic English and Speech courses like to make sure their students gain a basic understanding of the Library and its resources. These general education classes provide a foundation for students. Likewise, the Library component of these courses only lays the groundwork on which the students can build, so they learn how to find a book in the catalog, how to find a book on the shelves, how to search for articles in the databases, and how to use the Library's website to its full advantage. Sometimes they develop some information-literacy skills, such as evaluating search results, understanding the difference between scholarly and popular periodicals, knowing how information is created, or how to search the internet more effectively.

If they know all this, then what do you teach an upper-division student? Beneath the umbrella of information literacy there are so many skills to help students develop, but there are also so many kinds of resources available that they should learn about. Lower-division coeds just need to know about the largest database, so they can conduct some general searches. Once a student begins studying within the realm of their major or discipline, then they need to learn more about the specialized databases.

For example, today I taught two mass communications classes. One class wanted to know about successful anti-drug campaigns. They want to know which techniques more effectively influence teens and college students from taking drugs. In fact they want to develop ideas for an ad campaign that speaks up against binge drinking, to encourage smart, responsible drinking--moderation in other words. EBSCOhost's Business Source Complete database contains lots of articles that could help them get started on this topic of advertising and public-service announcements. Academic Search Complete yields lots of results on the alcohol, binge drinking, and college student topics.

A colleague of mine taught with me in the second class; she made students aware of the folder concept within these databases. Once students conduct searches, they can save the most relevant articles to their folders and come back to the database where they will find those same articles. If they are working together in groups, they can share their passwords and usernames with others in the groups to see the articles they think to be most useful. Juniors and seniors seem to appreciate these little tips that they did not learn about in previous library workshops. We didn't mention the whole RSS-feed concept, but maybe we should have.

In the first class, at least one student expressed interest in the CQ Researcher database. She had never heard of it before. It seems that she liked the Bibliography section, but she also seemed pleased with the whole product in general. It really is a well-researched publication.

Upper-division students really appreciate the hands-on practice time. It's important to them. Especially for those who feel that they have heard it all before, they just want to get started on their project. I am convinced that students learn the material a lot better when they get a chance to get their hands dirty interacting with the resource in question. Often times they ask questions they did not know they had previously. When a librarian is there to answer their questions immediately they are more likely to think of a librarian later and ask for their expertise.

Librarians can conduct searches and save the best results in folder and share these folders with students who tend to appreciate this. In today's questions we also emphasized the importance of using the subject pages, which identify a few of the best databases, websites, and books for the majority of majors on campus. I also invited students to look at my delicious bookmarks, where I had tagged several websites that may be useful for them and their project: alcohol, drug_awareness, drugs, marketing, advertising, etc.

Junior and seniors know quite a bit, and many of them have accessed databases via the Library website. This one skill may be just one more reason why they have survived the first couple years of college. They are a bit more sophisticated then the freshmen and sophomores. Given the chance, they will engage in an intelligent conversation or class discussion. Chance are that they will not respond to questions that they consider to be too obvious.

Teaching the upper-division classes may require more preparation on the side of the librarian, because they may also need to know how to find more statistics and the answers to specific, complicated questions. Yet this demand for more in-depth preparation also yields more satisfaction as librarians get dig deeper and understand more aspects of the subject in question.

Upper-division students can also benefit with knowledge about how to find an article if they have the journal title. ISU students ought to use the A to Z Journal List; a search box can be found on the ISU Library homepage. If that does not help them, then they need to know how to request the item through the Inter-Library Loan department in the Library.

Yes, we did tell them about finding ads on YouTube and Google Video. We also taught them how to use LexisNexis Academic and introduced them to Mergent Online. Toward the end of the class period we did have students come take one of the books we had brought into the classroom to emphasize the importance of consulting books for statistics, specific information, strategies, etc.

Follow-up for MC 399

After yesterday's class with the Mass Communications students, I reflected and felt that I should have shown the US Statistical Abstract rather than LexisNexis Statistical, and I should have shown LexisNexis Academic and pointed them to the News tab. I think they would have been able to find more relevant information for their assignment that way.

Also, after looking at Google Trends (www.google.com/trends) I am initially inclined to say this would be a good tool for the students who are searching for trends. It provides graphs of searches individuals have conducted over time. It also shows which countries and cities have conducted the most searches on the words entered.

Thinking of relevant words for your search can be critical to finding the necessary information. In yesterday's class I don't think it ever occurred to me to use the word "trends" when helping a student try to answer the question: "How to 18-24 year olds use email today?" This may or may not be helpful; however, a search in Academic Search Complete yielded 109 results. Granted, once I limited the search to articles published in the last four years only 29 results appeared--Yet, this is indicative that email usage and popularity has waned substantially in the last four years.

Mass Communications Handout

Potential Sources for Advertising Information, Notes, and URLs
1. CACI Marketing Solutions OR CACI Marketing Systems. www.caci.co.ui/msd.html

2. Adweek: Includes many articles on AOL (American Online). Look for the A to Z Journal List on the following research page, which is free to ISU students. Also found in Business Source Complete. www.adweek.com http://www.isu.edu/library/research/

3. Advertising Age: Look it up in the A to Z Journal List, found on the following research page. LexisNexis Academic has the longest coverage, but other databases also provide access. www.adage.com

4. BPA Worldwide: Provides Circulation Statements/Audit Reports, US Consumer AuditVAR, Trend Reports & Analysis, etc. Access to this library is free, but a user ID is required. http://search.bpai.com/ OR www.bpaww.com/library/index.cgi.

5. Taylor Nelson Media Intelligence: They can provide industry analysis. They do look at the media industry and focus on competitive advertising information. Also do an Advanced Search on Taylor Nelson Sofres to find more ad information. www.tnsglobal.com/market-research/media/ OR www.tns-mi.com/.

6. Consumer Reports: Use the A to Z Journal List, which can be found on the following research page. Oldest data found in LexisNexis = 1988. Business Source Complete = 1991. It gives reports on products and services. www.consumerreports.org. Free to you as an ISU student. [Technically, you and Idaho taxpayers have already paid for it with your tuition fees and state taxes.]

7. Facebook Ads: This blog entry describes a feature for purchasing ads directed at college-age persons and anyone using Facebook. "Called Facebook Ads, the new program is threefold: advertisers can create branded pages, run targeted advertisements, and have access to intelligence and analytics pertaining to the site's more than 50 million users. Partners can participate in all three components of Facebook Ads, or a combination of them.”

Note among the tags on the left-hand side that "Facebook" has been tagged 19 time (probably more if I haven't updated this blog recently), meaning that the author has posted 19 entries on the topic. http://onlinesocialnetworks.blogspot.com/search/label/Advertising

8. Editor & Publisher: Market Guide which may provide valuable demographic information of the U.S. and Canada. www.editorandpublisher.com/eandp/index.jsp

9. AdNetTrackUS: This business-related site offers business persons links to online advertisers, airline tickets, starting a business from home, business offers, etc. www.adnettrackus.com

10. Harris Polls: Conduct an Advanced Search on Google. One result: www.aboutjunkie.com/paid-surveys/harris-polls.php. They seek to gain input from teenagers. Tip: When using Google use the “Advanced Search” option and limit your searche to English, United States, in the last year, to show 50 results on a page, etc. www.harrispollonline.com

11. National Cable Communications [NCC]: If you want to advertise on cable TV, here’s a good place to find out about the networks and where you might want to advertise. They can help you locate the consumers you want to target. www.spotcable.com/index.html

12. Anastasia Goodstein: Author of Totally Wired: What Teens and Tweens are Really Doing Online. Her blog focuses on this demographic and what they do. http://totallywired.ypulse.com/.

13. Nielsen Media Research: go here to find TV’s top 10 programs of the previous week. They can monitor local, national, cultural, and sporting networks. www.nielsenmedia.com/nc/portal/site/Public/

14. Hey!Nielsen: Allows people to rank stars, shows, songs, videos, etc. This social networking site allows individuals to offer their own views on popular media persons and products. www.heynielsen.com/

15. Media Rating Council: Includes many of the major television stations in the U.S. It appears that they gauge the sizes of television-viewing audiences and their makeup. In their own words: “To secure for the media industry and related users audience measurement services that are valid, reliable and effective.” www.mediaratingcouncil.org/

16. MRI: MediaMark’s Research & Intelligence: The Survey of the American Consumer™ collects information on adult consumers' media choices, product usage, demographics, lifestyle and attitudes. Usage of nearly 6,000 product and service brands across 550 categories are measured, along with the readership of hundreds of magazines and newspapers, Internet usage, TV viewership to the program level, national and local radio listening, Yellow Pages usage and Out-of-Home exposure. www.mediamark.com/

17. MRI Plus: It allows you to register for a free account. Select Top-Line Reports, then choose MRI Cyberstats for a detailed chart showing detailed internet usage statistics. www.mriplus.com

18. Journal of Marketing: LIBRARY HAS CURRENT SUBSCRIPTION. Periodicals (3rd Floor). An online version can be accessed via Business Source Complete with coverage extending back to 1936. HF5415.A2 J6. See also the A to Z Journal List on the following research page. It should appear on the second page of results due to the alphabetized listing of results.

19. MarketingVOX: The Voice of Online Marketing: Found using a Google Search and the following terms: “nielsen ratings millennials generation Y.” www.marketingvox.com/
www.marketingvox.com/categories/?c=17,50

20. New Content for a New Generation: Gives insights into the world that exists today with many comments about Gen Y and their influence on the Media and advertising practices/trends. Good for certain statistics. Source found using Google Search in www.generatela.com/pdf/Generate_White_Paper.pdf

21. The Long Tail: A Public Diary on Themes Around a Book.: Increasingly, people talk about meeting the unique needs of individuals and how the internet makes this profitable. Source found using Google Search in #19. www.thelongtail.com [a blog]

22. Pinpointgolf: It can help you advertise in an outdoor setting. Pinpoint Golf is the largest provider of advertising and marketing opportunities at golf courses and golf ranges nationwide. www.pinpointgolf.com/

23. Statistical Abstract of the United States: Find demographic information about U.S. citizens and residents, that is by age, sex, race, religion, income, education, etc. www.census.gov/compendia/statab/

24. Claritas: Zipcode marketing. “Identifying the right market research solutions for customer acquisition, customer retention, market analysis and site location strategies can be challenging. Your marketing success depends on the right marketing analysis tools, along with reliable consumer information about the US population and dependable business data.” www.claritas.com/claritas/Default.jsp

25. Survey of buying power and media markets: Published by Sales & Marketing Management--found in the library catalog. An annual publication that provides household demographics, buying power and spending, and retail sales. Library has most current volume. HF5438 .A34 Periodicals (3rd Floor)

26. Simmons Market Research: *Do an advanced Google search.
27. Spectra Zipcode Marketing. Another Nielsen product or service. www.spectramarketing.com

28. SRDS: *Need to subscribe to use web site. The Lifestyle market analyst, 2004 : a reference guide for consumer market analysis. www.srds.com
HF5415.33.U6 L54 2004 Reference Collection (1st Floor) - NO CHECKOUT
29. Media Dynamics: is a full-service, media production company. www.mediadynamics.com/main.htm

30. U.S. Government Printing Office: Statistics, health, government, laws, enforcement, foreign affairs, agriculture, parks, judicial system, labor, etc. www.access.gpo.gov
http://usa.gov = official website of the U.S. govt.


Books, Articles, and Videos on the Subjects of Advertising, social networking sites:
1. Colin McDonald Advertising reach and frequency : maximizing advertising results through effective frequency. HF5827 .M19 1996 Main Book Collection (2nd Floor). Found in the library catalog

2. [Note the subject headings that may be of particular interest to you in this project.] Marketing information. Marketing --Information services --United States --Directories.
Marketing research --Information services --United States --Directories.
Advertising --Information services --United States --Directories.
Marketing --Bibliography --Periodicals.
Advertising --Bibliography --Periodicals.
HF5415.124 .M36 Reference Collection (1st Floor) - NO CHECKOUT

3. Larry D. Kelley and Donald W. Jugenheimer. Advertising media planning : a brand management approach HF5826.5 .K45 2004 Main Book Collection (2nd Floor).

4. Helen Katz. The media handbook : a complete guide to advertising media selection, planning, research, and buying HF5826.5 .K38 2003. Main Book Collection (2nd Floor).
5. Hodgkinson, Tom. “Why you should beware of Facebook.” Article retrieved 23 January 2008. http://www.theage.com.au/articles/2008/01/18/1200620184398.html

6. [Video] “Does what happens in the facebook stay in the facebook?” URL: http://albumoftheday.com/facebook/

7. Joseph Ostrow Do a Google Advanced Search with his name in the title. "Setting Effective Frequency Levels", Effective Frequency: The State of the Art. New York: Advertising Research Foundation, Key Issues Workshop, 1982, pp. 89–102.


Core Databases:
• Academic Search Complete (EBSCOHost) Look for databases here.
• Business Source Complete (EBSCOHost)
• LexisNexis Academic
• LexisNexis Statistical
• Mergent Online

For other relevant databases consider looking at the Resources by Subject pages for Business and Communication, Mass Communication, & Rhetoric.

Look for the A to Z Journal List on the following research page:
It can help you find access to all journals in the library, especially electronic ones. This is where you go for full-text articles.
Click on A-Z Journal List in the Library Quick Links drop-down menu.
Also: www.isu.edu/library/research/.

Company Information: AOL LLC AOL (Time Warner)
AOL home— www.corp.aol.com
AOL within Time Warner www.timewarner.com/corp
Business Source Complete (EBSCOHost) CO “AOL” = company search
Mergent Online (formerly Moody’s) www.mergentonline.com/compsearch.asp (When off campus, access this database via the “Database” link in the Library Quick Links drop-down menu on the library’s home page (www.isu.edu/library).

Internet:
See the list of links on subsequent pages.
Google www.google.com
Yahoo www.yahoo.com
Clusty http://clusty.com/ (It’s a metasearch engine, meaning it searches many search engines.)
Ask www.ask.com

Reference Sources: Search the library catalog for more.
AOL in Wikipedia www.wikipedia.org
The Advertising Age Encyclopedia of Advertising. (HF5803 .A38 2003) Reference Collection (1st Floor) - NO CHECKOUT
Editor & Publisher Market Guide. (Ref HF5905.E38, latest edition is 2007)
Encyclopedia of Consumer Brands. (HF5415.3 .E527 1994) Reference Collection (1st Floor) - NO CHECKOUT
Encyclopedia of Major Marketing Campaigns. (HF5837 .E53 2000) Reference Collection (1st Floor) - NO CHECKOUT
International Directory of Company Histories. (Ref HD2721.I58 1988+ ) Includes references to AOL Time Warner Inc & AOL, Inc.
Marketing Plans: how to prepare them, how to use them (HF5415.13 .M369183 2002) Reference Collection (1st Floor) - NO CHECKOUT
Statistical Abstract of the United States full-text tables www.census.gov/compendia/statab. Print copy: (Doc Ref Desk C 3.134:2007.)
State and Metropolitan Area Data Book. (Doc Ref Desk C3.134/5:2006.)
U.S. Government’s official web portal: http://usa.gov.
World Almanac. (Ref Desk AY67.N5 2007.)