Internet Search Project

• introduce/review the subject areas we are studying this quarter
• explore the Internet using tools other than Google, Yahoo!,YouTube and Facebook
• discover Web sites that may be helpful for your research paper, future classes and in your career
• challenge assumptions you may have
• have fun

See your syllabus for your instructor's instructions on where to turn this in.

• Answer all 20 questions in this assignment. You may find it helpful to print out a copy of the instructions and to open two windows on your computer: one with this assignment (to follow the links) and the other with a blank page from your word processing program. Then you can work back and forth to copy and paste between the windows.

• The short answers you may copy directly from the sites you visit (for example, the name of an article or a definition of a word), however longer answers should be in your own words.

• On the top of your paper, write your name and your class number (if your instructor assigned you a number)

• Please use the question number and the short heading for each question to identify your answer.  For example, your answer to question 1 should have the heading: "1. Media Literacy"

1. Media Literacy
Go to the IFC Media Project page at: http://www.ifc.com/mediaproject/
Scroll down to "Test your media IQ." Take the quiz.
(a) Based on your responses, what type are you?
(b) Read the descriptions for all four types. Do you agree with the type it says you are? Why or why not? (Give an example.)

2. Online Media Glossary
Go to: http://highered.mcgraw-hill.com/sites/0072957115/student_view0/glossary.html
Scroll down the page. Write a word that's new to you AND its definition, that starts with
(a) the same letter as your first name,
(b) the same letter as your middle name
(c) the same letter as your last name.
(If you know all the words under the letters of any of your names, use the next letter in the alphabet that has a word you don't know. If you don't have a middle name, choose another letter at random.)

3. Media History
Go to: http://www.mediahistory.umn.edu
Go to the timeline section (link is on the left hand side) browse various sections of dates. Choose one scientific breakthroughs from each of the time periods listed below that seem (in your opinion) to be among the most important events in media history. List these five events, along with the date they occured, and explain why you selected them. (Please don't choose dates that are all from within the first few years of each section, or I'll think you didn't look through the whole selection.)
(a) from 3500 BCE through 1 CE
(b) from 1 CE through the 1700s
(c) the 1800s
(d) the 1900s
(e) the 2000s

4. The Movies
Go to: http://www.imdb.com
Perform a search of one of your favorite movies. After you're at your favorite movie's page, scroll down it and look for the "Fun" section.
(a) What is the movie you chose?
(b) Look through the trivia and goofs sections. What is one of the goofs or a bit of trivia from this movie? (If one isn't listed, choose another movie.)

5. Recording Technology History
Go to: http://history.sandiego.edu/gen/recording/notes.html
Scroll down the page. Find and write down something that happened in the recording industry about the following times. Include the date of the event.
(a) 100 years before you were born
(b) 50 years before you were born
(c) about when you were born

6. History of Rock and Roll
Go to: http://rockhall.com/
(a) What is today's date?
(b) What are two things that happened "Today in rock history"? (Include the date, too.) If you have trouble finding this page, it's at: http://www.rockhall.com/notes/today-in-rock/
(c) Glance through the "Recordings" chapter of the Rodman textbook. Find the name of an artist or group you are unfamiliar with. (A list of most of the artists mentioned is at Recording Artists. ) Do a search for this recording artist at this site. What recording artist did you chose?
(d) What is something you learned about this artist on this Web site? (If your first choice artist doesn't lead you some information, try other artists until you find some information.)

7. Urban Legends
Go to: http://www.snopes2.com/
Look under one or more of the sections "Computers," "Movies," "Radio & TV," "Media Matters," "Music" and "Disney."

Find an urban legend that you've heard before. Tell:
(a) what it is about,
(b) if it's true, false, or undetermined, and
(c) two of the references the author used to research the urban legend to tell if it was true or false. (You'll need to scroll to the bottom of the page to find the sources.)

Now find another urban legend in this group -- one that you think is funny. Tell:
(d) what it is about,
(e) if it's true, false, or undetermined, and
(f) two of the references the author used to research the urban legend to tell if it was true or false.

8. FCC
Go to: http://www.fcc.gov/
(a) What does "FCC" stand for?
(b) Under "Bureaus and Offices," select "Media," and go to the "MB Information Sheets" section. Under "Obscene and Indecent Broadcasts," scan through the information to find out the three pieces of information you must give the FCC if you are complaining about indecency on a radio or television broadcast. What are they? (Note that this is not the same information as the 3-prong obscenity test, given at the top of the page.)
(c) Go to: http://www.fcc.gov/eb/broadcast/NAL.html for a list of stations that the FCC has given a notice of apparent liability regarding obscenity and/or indecency. Select one of the stations that being charged and follow its link to the a copy of the actual lawsuit. Scan through the legalese. How much is the FCC fining the station and what was the specific complaint about?

9. Web Site Hoaxes
Go to:
(a) Go to: http://www.museumofhoaxes.com/hoax/weblog/C49/
Find the "Hoax Photos Tests" at the top of the page and take test 2, 3 or 4. Describe one of the photos that fooled you. (If a photo in the first test you take didn't fool you, then try another test.)
(b) Go to: http://www.museumofhoaxes.com/hoaxsites.html
Under Hoax Websites A-J or Hoax Websites K-Z (the link is located in the box in the left hand corner), find a hoax Web site that you think looks real and could easily fool someone. What was it about this hoax Web site that makes it appear authentic?

10. Ethical News-Gathering Conduct
Go to: http://www.gannett.com/go/press/pr061499.htm
and read the press release on this page.
(a) In 2-3 sentences, explain what the press release is about
(b) One of the five ethical principles is "Acting with Integrity." What are the other four?

11. The Free Press
Go to: http://www.freedomforum.org/templates/document.asp?documentID=4020
(a) What three freedoms is this site dedicated to?
(b) Look under the "First Amendment" section, and choose a story to read. What is the title of the story you chose? Write a few sentences, in your own words, on what the story is about.
(c) Look under the "Newseum" section, then go to "Today's Front Pages" and look at several newspaper front pages. (Note when you click on the thumbnail images, a larger version of the front page displays.) Choose front pages from two U.S. papers. What papers did you choose? Compare them.
(d) Look at the front pages of the newspapers from Japan and the newspapers from Brazil. How would you describe the differences in design between the papers in these two countries?

12. Poynter Institute
Go to http://www.poynter.org
(a) What is one of the lead (top of the page, most prominent) stories of the day? Briefly summarize it.
(b) Select the "Ethics & Diversity" link. Scroll down to the "More Ethics and Diversity Articles" and find a story that's dated within the last two months that interests you. Briefly summarize the story.
(c) Select the "Visual Journalism" link. Scroll down to the "More Visual Journalism Articles" and find a story that's dated within the last two months that interests you and briefly summarize it.

13. Advertising Research
Go to: http://www.adage.com
(a) Summarize a story you find in the "MediaWorks" section.
(b) Under the "Jobs" link, find an article that has advice that seems worthwhile. What is it?

14. Public Relations
Go to: http://www.prsa.org.
(a) Under the "Job Center" link, find some advice for getting a job in PR. What is it?
(b) Under the section: "Tactics and the Strategist Online," go to the section at the bottom titled "More Stories." Select a story from within the past two weeks, write the date that it was from, and briefly summarize it.
(c) What does "PRSA" mean?

15. Association for Education in Journalism and Mass Communication Go to: http://aejmc.org/index.php
Under the "Scholarship" section, follow the links "Publications," "Resources," "Teaching Tools." On the Teaching Tools page, scroll down and read through the listing of Web site descriptions. Skipping over "about.com," find another link that might be a good reference for you to use in your future classes or career. Which Web site did you choose, and why do you think it might be helpful to you in the future?

16. More on the Media
Go to: http://mediastudy.com/media.html.
Look around.
(a) Write a short summary, in your own words, on what this site is about.
(b) Find something interesting under "Media Criticism" or "Public Relations/Propoganda Studies." Write 2-3 sentences about it.
(c) What is the #2 censored media story for 2010, according to Project Censored? (Located under "Censorship," then "Project Censored")

17. Using Library Databases
Go to: http://deanza.edu/library. On the left side, choose "Articles & Databases".
(a) Select "Academic Search Premier (Ebsco Publishing)." (If you are accessing this database from off campus, you will need to enter your user number, which is your 8-digit De Anza student ID. )

• In the search box, type in: "violence and media."How many results did you get?
  
• Now type in "violence and media and effects." How many results did you get?
• Choose an article that came up and summarize it in 2-3 sentences.

(b) Back at the "Articles & Databases" page, select either (1) Infotrac Databases, (2) ProQuest Newspaper Databases or (3) Lexis Nexis Academic. Again, search for "violence and media and effects." How did your results from this database search compare to your earlier search using Academic Search Premier?
(c) Explain two reasons why these foru library databases are better sources for academic research than Google and Wikipedia are.

18. College Life
Go to http://www.virtuallyadvising.com
Under "q & a archive" or "stuff to read," find some information that's useful to you. What did you find? Summarize it.

19. Getting ready to get a job
Go to: http://www.collegegrad.com
In the box titled "Preparation," look through the sections called "Resumes," "Cover Letters," and "Interview Prep."
(a) Give a tip you found which may help you find a job in the media field.
(b) Give another tip which may help you get a job in the media field.

20. Stump Wikipedia
Go to: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Main_Page
(a) Read the link "About Wikipedia." Wikipedia says it differs from a paper-based reference source. How does it differ?
(b) In the search box, look up a subject you are an expert on. Find some information that you think is incorrect, missing, not up to date, or has a misplaced emphasis. Describe what you found and tell you would correct it.