Searching Content of Political Speech Videos
Google has developed new technology to help people search the content of political speeches. From the Google blog:
… With the help of our speech recognition technologies, videos from YouTube’s Politicians channels are automatically transcribed from speech to text and indexed. Using the gadget you can search not only the titles and descriptions of the videos, but also their spoken content. Additionally, since speech recognition tells us exactly when words are spoken in the video, you can jump right to the most relevant parts of the videos you find. …
This new search feature might be of interest to those in Rhetoric and Political Communication.
Doctor-Patient Communication Videos
VideoMD is a site on which visitors can view videos on different health topics that were uploaded by doctors:
VideoMD was created by physicians, for physicians and their patients. Our mission is to strengthen the relationship between doctors and their patients. Using contemporary technology to help physicians fully educate patients on their specific healthcare concerns, the bond between doctor and patient will be changed forever. … VideoMD proves that with modern video capabilities on the internet, combined with an array of searchable content features, video is the best resource to give patients information that they need in an easy and understandable format.
This site might be of interest to those studying Health Communication and Public Health.
Mike Wallace Interview Online
The School of Information at The University of Texas at Austin has made available a series of interviews conducted by Mike Wallace:
In the early 1960’s, broadcast journalist Mike Wallace donated 65 recorded interviews made in 1957-58 from his show “The Mike Wallace Interview” to the Harry Ransom Center at the University of Texas. The bulk of these were 16mm kinescope film recordings, some of the earliest recordings of live television that were possible, and that survive today. Many of these have not been seen for over 50 years, and they represent a unique window into a turbulent time of American, and world history. From Senators to strippers, Ku Klux Klansmen to Nobel Prize winners, Mike Wallace has interviewed them all, and we invite you to view The Mike Wallace Interview.
Media Research Hub
The Social Science Research Council has created the Media Research Hub, which is a free online “resource for researchers, advocates, and practitioners working for a more democratic and participatory public sphere.” It offers different sections of interest:
- The Resource Database–a community-editable tool for mapping and navigating the media and communications field
- The Data Consortium for Media and Communications Policy, which works to expand access to datasets about the media and communications environment.
- The Collaborative Grants project, which includes research fellowship competitions and mechanisms for signaling research needs within the community
There are also research news and links to commentaries on relevant topics. In short, Media Research Hub is a valuable site to Communication or interdisciplinary researchers and students.
Platform for Accessing Non-profit Organizations’ Research Outcomes
IssueLab is a new Web site that provides access to research reports made available online by no-profit organizations:
IssueLab is an online publishing forum for nonprofit research. Our mission is to more effectively archive, distribute and promote the extensive and diverse body of work being produced by the third sector.
…
The nonprofit sector clearly needs a better solution than the current piecemeal approach to managing and sharing one of its greatest assets, while journalists, researchers, activists, policy makers, educators, and the general publics need a much better solution for locating and accessing social research across issue areas. IssueLab is that solution.But IssueLab is not simply an online archive. Our efforts are evenly split between aggregating research on social issues and pushing that research back out to other online communities and end-users. Although ambitious, our goal is to mainstream nonprofit research so that users who may not know anything about nonprofits can still learn from the unique perspective these organizations bring to the study of social issues.
The reports covered by IssueLab are categorized into these subjects:
Global Health Online Resources
There are two new Web sites that focus on global health issues. The first is The Lancet Global Health Network:
The aim of this site is to bring together international scientific and public health experts. The network will synthesise evidence, conduct new analyses, devise programmatic recommendations, and formulate proposals for action in international health and development.
The “Reading Room” section provides free access to chapters of relevant books. There is also the “Links & Resources” section that lists links to Web sites about public health.
The other global health resource site is the McGill Global Health Resource Guide:
We hope this resource guide will attract a global audience, and promote collaboration between professionals within, and beyond, the McGill [University] Community.
Its Maps + Tools section offers links to various online resources such as Global Health Atlas and Health Map: Global Disease Alert.
If you are conducting research on Health Communication or Public Health, you may want to check out the databases MEDLINE and Consumer Health Complete. The former is an index of scholarly information about Medicine. The latter focuses on providing health information in plain language. For other relevant library resources, refer to the University of Houston Libraries’ Communications database list and Medicine database list.
Copyright Issue Widgets
Kevin Smith, Scholarly Communications Officer at Duke University, has published "weekly widgets" on copyright issues on the Scholarly Communications @ Duke blog. The widgets offer brief but informative discussions of different copyright topics:
- What does Copyright protect?
- Who gets copyright in a work?
- When is something a work for hire?
- What are the rights protected by copyright?
- How long does copyright last?
- So what is in the public domain?
- Should I register my copyright?
- If I cite the source I am using, can it still be copyright infringement?
- Who owns a paper written by three professors?
- What are the exceptions to copyright?
- What are the specific teaching exceptions?
- How does Fair Use work?
- Without certainty, how does fair use help?
- How is copyright transferred?
- How do licenses work?
- What is the Creative Commons?
- Where does a publication contract fit in?
Kudos to Kevin Smith for sharing his expertise!
Growing up Online
PBS has launched a Web site for its program, Growing up Online. From the introduction:
In Growing Up Online, FRONTLINE takes viewers inside the very public private worlds that kids are creating online, raising important questions about how the Internet is transforming childhood. "The Internet and the digital world was something that belonged to adults, and now it’s something that really is the province of teenagers, " says C.J. Pascoe, a postdoctoral scholar with the University of California, Berkeley’s Digital Youth Research project.
"They’re able to have a private space, even while they’re still at home. They’re able to communicate with their friends and have an entire social life outside of the purview of their parents, without actually having to leave the house."
…
At school, teachers are trying to figure out how to reach a generation that no longer reads books or newspapers. "We can’t possibly expect the learner of today to be engrossed by someone who speaks in a monotone voice with a piece of chalk in their hand," one school principal says.
Visitors can view the entire program online. The site also features readings and links, interviews, and a teacher’s guide.
Two article databases would be of interest to those who study the social impact of information and communication technology: Computers & Applied Sciences Complete and SocINDEX with Full Text. For other relevant library resources, refer to the database lists for Communication and Sociology.
Online APA Guide for Citing Electronic Sources
Coates Library at Trinity University has created an online guide for citing electronic sources with the American Psychological Association (APA) citation style:
This document provides basic guidelines and examples for citing electronic sources using APA style. APA style requires that sources receive attribution in the text by the use of parenthetical in-text references. General guidelines for in-text references are included on page 11.
Kudos to the librarians at Trinity University!
Right to Research for Students
The Scholarly Publishing & Academic Resources Coalition (SPARC) has launched a new Web site, The Right to Research, to inform students of scholarly communication issues:
You’ve probably used journal articles in your coursework. You’ve probably also encountered journal articles that you wanted to read — potentially important articles — but couldn’t get access to.It doesn’t have to be this way.
OPEN ACCESS — the principle that research should be accessible online, for free, immediately after publication — is improving the way scholarly information is shared.
The site features sections that describe what student organizations and student governments can do to support open access. There is also an informative brochure for download. Last but not least, the site is complemented by the Open Students blog.
