Matt Dilworth

Matt Dilworth

Media Literacy Week

Media Literacy Week

, Library Resources, Matt Dilworth
Media education is the discipline that teaches people how messages are created to influence and persuade others, and how to analyze and critique those claims dispassionately. It also empowers people how to craft their own messages to be best received by others, through any medium. Poor media literacy leaves a person vulnerable to manipulation, whether benign or malicious, from any organization trying to influence opinion through imagery, sloganeering, advertisement, or more subtle reinforcement. Media literacy frees a person from (or at least mitigates) this influence, encouraging thoughtful reflection and critique of the ideas and claims that might otherwise go unexamined. There are, of course, safeguards. Have you seen a pharmaceutical ad on television in the last few years? Drug companies … Continued
Being Involved

Being Involved

, Matt Dilworth, Research
To get the most out of college, you have to dedicate yourself to it. You can’t just show up. You have to be prepared. Be involved. Have the discipline and concentration to get the most out of each experience. That’s certainly true for cultural things. Maybe you’re planning on joining the World Heart Day walk this Tuesday. Or perhaps going to the Ohio Renaissance Festival on October 3rd with the History, Humanities, and Honors clubs is more your style. Maybe you’ll read Positive and attend Paige Rawl’s talk on October 27th. All of these things improve dramatically when you’ve prepared yourself for them first. But it is equally true for scholarship. You don’t learn just because you’re signed up for … Continued
Peer Review and How to Find It

Peer Review and How to Find It

, Library Resources, Matt Dilworth, Research
As a scholar, you will likely be asked to find a lot of very specialized information for your assignments, papers, and projects. Some of this is the type of material – use a certain number of books, articles, and websites. Sometimes you’ll be looking for primary sources – those created by the participants themselves. Other times it will be multimedia, like documentaries, interviews, or television news broadcasts. And other times it will be for peer reviewed material. Peer review isn’t complicated – it is a work of scholarship, usually a journal article, which other experts in the field read before it is published, and who attest to its veracity or academic value. A journal that is peer reviewed is generally … Continued
Ebooks on Parade

Ebooks on Parade

, books, Matt Dilworth
Chances are, if you use ebooks for leisure reading, you use a device like a Kindle, Nook, or iPad. But up until recently, our academic ebooks have not been useable on devices like that – they’ve been more akin to what you would find on Project Gutenberg, GoogleBooks, or the Baen Free Library. Designed for a computer, and only usable on a device that was actively on the internet. But times are changing. This month, EBSCO eBooks – one of our largest ebook providers – has just rolled out a new app that will let you access and use tens of thousands of volumes on iOS devices including the iPhone, iPad, and iPod Touch (download the app here), Android devices (download … Continued
Building from ideas and research

Building from ideas and research

Library Resources, Matt Dilworth, Research
Construction is in the air at IU East! The new Student Events and Activities Center is taking shape! New buildings are always a welcome barometer of progress. IU East has grown from just Whitewater, to include Hayes, Middlefork (later renamed Tom Raper), and Springwood Halls. It is worth noting that all of those things were built from pieces. Some of the pieces were physical – lumber, pipes, wiring, drywall. Others were conceptual – ideas, plans, vision. Research is like that, too. First you have an idea – a topic you’re interested in, or a question you have. And you think about it, refining it and making choices about what would make a good paper, project, or experiment. Then, when it … Continued