cinfolit

David Fincher's Zodiac and Information Sickness

2011-08-02T05:56:00.000-07:00

I recently revisited David Fincher’s masterful and underrated Zodiac (2007) after reading this article by Scott Tobias of The AV Club.

http://www.avclub.com/articles/zodiac,59576/

Though not for the faint of heart, this film, which traces the history of the still-unsolved “Zodiac” murders that occurred in California in the 1960s and 1970s, certainly presents information literacy in a unique and sinister light. As Tobias points out, “Zodiac is a movie awash in information: dates, crimes, locations, suspects, evidence, meaningful connections and red herrings, breakthroughs and setbacks.” When I read that sentence, my “cinema + information literacy” meter started to buzz, and I knew I had to watch the movie again.

Zodiac reminds me of Oliver Stone’s JFK (1991), in that both films traffic in the unsettling ambiguities of history. There’s no shortage of information, yet convincing answers remain elusive. In Zodiac, Robert Graysmith (Jake Gyllenhaal) searches relentlessly for the identity of the killer, following every lead and obsessing over every detail. Eventually, he seems to find the answer in his own mind, but the film itself (like the actual “Zodiac” case) remains ambiguous: an unsolvable information problem.

Perhaps what has me most interested in the film is the manner in which the pursuit of information/evidence about the killings becomes a disturbing and dangerous addiction for Graysmith and some of the other characters. The ACRL Information Literacy Competency Standards suggest that information literacy “enables learners to master content and extend their investigations, become more self-directed, and assume greater control over their own learning.” However, information literacy practices in Zodiac lead primarily to confusion and powerlessness.

Graysmith, Paul Avery (Robert Downey Jr.), and David Toschi (Mark Ruffalo) become increasingly isolated from friends, family, and co-workers; they are unable to live a normal life, contaminated by what I’m tempted to call information sickness. This is the practice of information literacy as futile obsession, as characters become lost in, to borrow another phrase from the ACRL Standards, “the uncertain quality and expanding quantity of information.” Given Zodiac’s subject matter—murder, fear, paranoia—the lack of certainty is chilling. The characters are no longer self-directed; rather, the information directs them into a kind of bleak ambiguity. Okay, so it’s not exactly a cheery film.

In any case, I could certainly imagine this being a good choice for a semester-long information literacy course, especially in terms of discussing the complexities or limits of information literacy, as well as the anxieties of information seeking.

Everything is a Remix

2011-06-22T07:56:00.000-07:00

Just stumbled upon this 4-part series of videos I saw posted on the Infolit e-mail discussion list. The 3rd of the series was just published, the 4th is upcoming. The videos explore the idea of creativity being a process of building upon or adapting existing media, not a magical "new" product.

These seem like an excellent place to start a discussion with students about their writing process, both in research, using sources, and properly citing them. I imagine it would also be useful to calm some anxiety about writing.

http://www.everythingisaremix.info/watch-the-series/

The first video mostly examines the idea of popular music copying from its predecessors, in sometimes very blatant ways.

The second video focuses on remixes that occur in film.

The third video delves into the concept of copying, aka, the art of creativity. This is my favorite so far.

Eli Pariser: Beware online "filter bubbles"

2011-06-03T20:55:00.000-07:00

http://www.ted.com/talks/eli_pariser_beware_online_filter_bubbles.html

9:05 minutes

A TED talk about how the corporate side of the social net is helping to feed us only the information it thinks we want - based on our choices. What does this mean about using search engines like Google to get "objective" information? How does this differ from information offered up in databases subscribed to by libraries for their patrons?

A transcript is available on the site.

"As web companies strive to tailor their services (including news and search results) to our personal tastes, there's a dangerous unintended consequence: We get trapped in a "filter bubble" and don't get exposed to information that could challenge or broaden our worldview. Eli Pariser argues powerfully that this will ultimately prove to be bad for us and bad for democracy." (From the TED site)

Colbert and Wikipedia

2010-10-25T12:26:00.000-07:00

Stephen Colbert's done a number of humorous "The Word" segments on Wikipedia. For a few years I and others working with a set of library assignments/presentations used one called Wikiality in which Colbert encouraged people to update the Wikipedia page on elephants to claim their population is increasing. It's a funny take on the "reality" of Wikipedia entries.

However, a few political jokes became dated as we moved into a new presidential administration.

I recently switched to a slightly newer (with fewer political references) segment called Wikilobbying in which he mentions Microsoft paying people to make favorable Wikipedia entries. In a way, I like this one better because it also adds in the issue of bias to a discussion of all of the issues related to web resources.

Students seem to like both videos. I've previously used a web page or two that contained bad information...but frankly, they didn't get the same laughter and one of the pages disappeared. I'm crossing my fingers that the video I'm using now stays put.

Information Overload

2010-09-10T16:54:00.000-07:00

In terms of information overload, even scholarly information overload, I really appreciate the BING.com commercials for this recognition. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MN28Ad3TNrQ
I believe this is a true anxiety for students first and foremost and for anyone alive today, living in this world of blogs, and newspapers and websites and books and more book, and articles, and email and internet and more books, etc. etc. etc., whether looking at bunk or peer-reviewed articles there is just so much to consider. Until young scholars have a better grasp at searching and limiting and narrowing down specific topics many of them might feel much like the characters in these commercials as they embark on a research topic, especially if they consult a random search engine. In particular, this phenomena is also talked about in the article "Is Google Making Us Stupid" by Nicolas Carr.

How Do We Know? Students Examine Issues of Credibility With a Complicted Multimodal Web-Based Text

2010-08-31T11:59:00.000-07:00

"How Do We Know?: Students Examine Issues of Credibility With a Complicated Multimodal Web-Based Text". Mark Baildon, James S. Damico.
Curriculum Inquiry, Vol. 30, No. 2. (January 2009), pp. 265-285.

Baildon and Damico use the video "Loose Change" to explore the issues of credibility with 9th grade students. This conspiracy theory video was originally available on the web but is now available for purcahse as a DVD. (I'm sure there are other videos which would also be great for this too!)

ABSTRACT

As reading continues to become governed by a spatial “logic of the image” rather than strictly a temporal or linear logic of written language (Kress, 2003), and readers increasingly engage with a range of Internet-based texts, a host of challenges ensue for educators and students alike. One of the most vexing of these challenges deals with discernments of credibility. Determining the credibility of multimodal texts, especially on/within the Internet with its “vast network of relations of credibility” (Burbules & Callister, 2000), is particularly challenging because these texts mix images, music, graphic arts, video, and print to make sophisticated claims supported by various forms or types of evidence. This article examines how a group of ninth-grade students grappled with issues of credibility after viewing the controversial Internet video, Loose Change, a well-documented and comprehensive multimedia account that argues the “real story” of September 11 was covered up by the U.S. government. Findings from the study highlight the range of knowledge and literacy practices students mobilized to “read” the video and the challenges they experienced reading and evaluating the video as a multimodal text. Implications of this work point to the need to consider epistemological issues and further develop tools that can support teachers and students in critically assessing multimodal texts.

Article at:
http://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1111/j.1467-873X.2009.00443.x/pdf

Lose Change 9/11 website http://www.loosechange911.com/

What Happened to Chris?

2010-08-31T11:26:00.000-07:00

OK - this a long shot. A strange/funny/wacky video. Chris dies while watching a movie at home and the two other dudes decide they can't call the police, so of course they dump his body in the river.

Only after they dump him does one dude ask the other, "How did you know he was dead?"

A possible tie in could be made for why peer review is a good thing - had some experts, doctors, the police, etc have checked Chris out, well maybe he wasn't dead? Do you want to have a lot of "dead" citations in your bibliography or ones vetted by experts? (OK - I said it was a long shot). 1min 44 sec

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wkkPc2pw2R4

30 Rock and Wikipedia

2010-08-16T14:55:00.000-07:00

To demonstrate the importance of evaluating websites, I have used part of the 30 Rock episode where Jenna uses Wikipedia to conduct research for her role as Janis Joplin.

I found a pretty good recap of this episode at http://www.televisionwithoutpity.com/show/30_rock/retreat_to_move_forward_1.php:

Jenna walks into the writer's room to announce that, in order to prepare for her upcoming role as Janis Joplin, she will be employing the "method" method of acting. At her request, the staff is to address her as Janet Jopler, or Jaime Jimplan (for legal reasons). By the way, has Eugene Mirman always been a writer at TGS? The opportunity does not escape Frank. He tells Jenna she should do her Joplin research on Wikipedia, "because people are finding out new things about Janis Joplin everyday." Jenna loves the suggestion, but as soon as she leaves, Frank starts updating the Janis Joplin Wikipedia page with factual
inaccuracies, like "Janis Joplin speed walked everywhere and was afraid of toilets."

“New shit has come to light”: Information seeking behavior in The Big Lebowski

2010-08-06T15:04:00.000-07:00

Title: “New shit has come to light”: Information seeking behavior in The Big Lebowski

Author: Janke, Karen L.; Dill, Emily A.

Permanent Link: http://hdl.handle.net/1805/2099

Abstract: The authors of this paper use characters from the 1998 film The Big Lebowski to illustrate the intricate, self-defined nature of information seeking behavior and the ways in which personal characteristics contribute to the success or failure of an information search.

Description: This is the pre-peer reviewed version of a forthcoming article in The Journal of Popular Culture.

Subject: information behavior

The Big Lebowski (motion picture)

Date: 2010-02-26

http://hdl.handle.net/1805/2099

(Contributed by Emily Dill)

Charlie Brooker's How to Report the News - Newswipe - BBC Four

2010-08-06T14:46:00.000-07:00

A deconstruction of how "news" is packaged in video. (beware a minor f-bomb)
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aHun58mz3vI

Suggested by Danielle Rowland

Twilight in the Classroom!

2010-08-05T09:08:00.001-07:00

One way to ask students to create their own criteria for evaluating the reliability of websites is through a clip from the popular film Twilight. We see the main character, Bella Swan, use Google to find a website about the Cold Ones and use the website to come to a conclusion about Edward Cullen. Students are asked questions about the reliability of the site based upon what they see and what other kinds of conclusions Bella can draw outside of vampire.

Here is the clip from YouTube: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9BGVeLelmQc

News Videos and Information Literacy

2010-08-04T05:51:00.001-07:00

News stories (particularly those dealing with controversial issues) can foster discussion about information literacy practices in non-classroom settings as well as highlight the significance of how information is presented. In this AP video about the BP oil spill (clearly just one example of many), we see various experts and interested parties examining evidence and even debating the value of certain information. We might ask how the different elements in the clip contribute to a presumably authoritative presentation--the use of evidence, expert titles, carefully selected backdrops, video footage, etc. One short clip raises all sorts of questions about point of view, bias, and the nature of expertise and authority. Run time: 2:07

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Hcgjvw52yEg

Medieval Help Desk

2010-08-03T13:34:00.000-07:00

A frustrated medieval monk needs tech support to use a new-fangled contraption ... the book! This video could be useful when teaching the history of technology, or just to lighten up a basic lecture about using books as an information source. Run time: 2 min 46 sec.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pQHX-SjgQvQ

Squirrel Rights Song

2010-08-03T11:45:00.000-07:00

Squirrels fight back asserting their copyrights. Musical and hokey, but it could start a discussion about copyright or authors' rights to intellectual creations?

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-n2vVtSBOos

Hollywood Ideas for Information Literacy Instruction

2010-08-03T09:11:00.000-07:00

Nedra Peterson's article, "It Came From Hollywood: using popular media to enhance Information Literacy" has several excellent examples of using film and t.v. shows within Information Literacy Instruction sessions.
http://crln.acrl.org/content/71/2/66.full.pdf+html

History Detectives on PBS

2010-08-03T08:42:00.000-07:00

I like referring to any segment of these shows as they not only uncover some sort of fabulous mystery, but they also highlight that research is a process and not necessarily an easy or fast process, but that research takes time. These segments highlight that and also reveal the different steps that each history detective takes to uncover the answer to each specific research question. Different approaches from oral history interviews, research of physical artifacts, library database use, Primary resources and secondary resource exploration, web-site use and evaluation, and time management are all essential components and identifiers that students will be made aware of when watching the History Detective show process.
"Moon Museum" from Season 8 Episode 1
http://video.pbs.org/video/1513607701/

That Mitchell and Webb Look - Send us your reckons

2010-08-02T14:43:00.000-07:00

Here's a wonderful spoof of that scourge of social media and online news: feedback and commentary. You can use commentary in, for example, a New York Times article to demonstrate examples of bias, balance,
ignorance and erudition.

It's from the BBC comedy show, That Mitchell and Webb Look. "Thank you for sharing with us the full majesty of your uninformed ad-hoc reckon", hmm... think I'll append this to my signature <;
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OQnd5ilKx2Y

(contributed by David Lambert)

"The Tourist Lane" by ImprovEverywhere

2010-08-02T13:29:00.001-07:00

The wonderfully inventive folks over at ImprovEverywhere developed a fantastic video which fits really nicely with teaching/exploring/discussing info-literacy via video.
The video features deliberately faked information while tying into recognizable tropes/metaphor of semi-plausible credentials (workers wearing orange vests, claiming authority, asking question that are associated with DOT type of questions) and the ways, at least on the video, that people respond to it. Does a nice job of being humorous as well. Run time = 3:46.

Video, text, photos and news articles here: http://improveverywhere.com/2010/06/08/the-tourist-lane/#more-1854

MTV's Punk'd - Linkin Park

2010-08-02T13:28:00.000-07:00

This series (now off air) highlights pranks played on celebrities, often set up by friends and involving bogus officials (police, FBI, accountants, etc.). This clip features Mike Shinoda from Linkin Park being cited for obstructing emergency vehicles and parking in front of a fire hydrant. This would be a good clip to spark discussion on how to dig below what appears legitimate on the surface.

http://www.zigvideo.com/home/vdodetail/__wM1kzN

"Truthiness" by Stephen Colbert

2010-08-02T12:13:00.000-07:00

On his show The Colbert Report, Stephen Colbert uses his segment, "The Word," to coin "Truthiness"--which should spur a good discussion about authority of information sources. Run time: 2:40

http://www.colbertnation.com/the-colbert-report-videos/24039/october-17-2005/the-word---truthiness

A Plagiarism Carol

2010-08-01T13:39:00.000-07:00

A creative and entertaining story around the pitfalls of plagiarism and the virtues of citation. Created by the University of Bergen this video is in Norwegian but has English subtitles. It is 5:13 minutes long.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Mwbw9KF-ACY