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Kayla Newman started her Vine account to record herself commenting on the minutia and mundanity of high school life. This was nearly two years ago, when she was 16. For her handle, Newman chose a nickname made up during an annual visit to her grandmother in Georgia: "Peaches Monroee." She added the extra "e" because it looked playful, she explained over email.

Like a diary, Newman began filming herself daily, though she has since slowed down to meet the stresses of senior year. When she's riffing as Peaches, Newman takes videos of herself from the passenger seat of her mom's car in her neighborhood of South Chicago. She and her mom dance at a stoplight in one early Vine; she offers an impromptu speech on self-confidence in another. In the video everyone knows, uploaded on June 21st, 2014, Kayla admires her precisely arched eyebrows: "We in this bitch. Finna get crunk. Eyebrows on fleek. Da fuq."

I know the line by heart. Such is the nature of internet virality. As of this writing, Kayla's original "On Fleek" Vine has generated over 36 million "loops," or replays. That's where any sensible person stops the tabulation. A month after Newman's upload, someone named Kevin Gadsden reposts her Vine to YouTube, where it acquires around 3 million views. The expression "on fleek" passes through the clutches of Ariana Grande, who vines herself singing it in August 2014 for another 9 million loops, and then through those of seemingly every other social media-literate celebrity outfit that fall; corporate entities like IHOP and its rivals employ the phrase in an effort to feign cultural relevance; talk show host Andy Cohen and Anderson Cooper exchange vaguely unpleasant jabs about its meaning. "On fleek" ascends to near-officialized language.

It's impossible to track the chain of ownership from there on out. In fact, the chain becomes more like a swarm. Put plainly, there is no recognized ownership. The phrase Newman gave the world was used to sell breakfast foods and party cups, but it only belongs to her in an intangible sense, on the rare occasions in which people choose to give her credit.

"I gave the world a word," Newman said. "I can't explain the feeling. At the moment I haven't gotten any endorsements or received any payment. I feel that I should be compensated. But I also feel that good things happen to those who wait."

What things come to those who innovate? And who can be called an innovator? When we talk about technology, the designation of "digital innovator" is usually reserved for the engineers who create platforms or the entrepreneurs who instruct them to. Rarely do we see that language applied to the users populating those platforms, though they are tech's bread and butter. A cursory glance at the user-generated content rising to the top of the internet heap reveals how much of it is produced by black teens, members of a burgeoning Generation Z who experiment with the iPhone gaze.

In an article for The Guardian, writer Hannah Giorgis argued that content-sharing among black users and consumers constitutes a "21st century meta-language" that gives place to dances, songs, memes, and other "sociolinguistic phenomena" that are compelling enough to make the leap from the producer's specific context to even the most corporate of marketing campaigns. Evidence teems. In August 2015, Dancing with the Stars shot a promotional campaign featuring mostly white celebrity has-beens doing Silento's "Watch Me (Whip/Nae Nae)," a song and attendant dance popularized on Vine. In one breathless appearance on Ellen, presidential hopeful Hillary Clinton tried it too. In those moments, black teens' internet production becomes a means for communication and entertainment. Their names as creators are harder to find.

Denzel Meechie, 20, was physically spent when he called me. After we talked, he headed back to an Atlanta dance studio to record a video of himself and his crew improvising to songs from Drake and Future 's just-released mixtape. Meechie is a dancer, first by habit and then by trade. He's influenced by Les Twins and the fluid lines of ballet, but he isn't inclined to rehearsing. In his videos, his preferred backdrop is the chrome of industrial spaces. He likes inventing dances that follow songs he's moved by, something he posits elevates the impact of any given track. The Vines on his account, @SheLovesMeechie, have been viewed over 200 million times; his choreography has influenced the way many people move.

"It's never planned," Meechie said. "[We] just go for it, and after we have a lot of takes, me and my director will cut in and put the best six seconds on Vine. If we got a good longer take, we'll put it on YouTube." His first big break came as a surprise. "I went to the gas station one time, and I danced to this one song. It went viral, and all of a sudden my social media started growing because I was flooding it with dances." The song was "Plug Snitchin" by the Houston group Yung Nation. It hadn't been close to a hit before Meechie danced to it; afterwards, the crew found traction.

In mid-September, YouTube shut down Meechie's channel, which had accrued hundreds of thousands of subscribers. "I had too many copyright strikes," he said, referring to his use of songs without explicit legal permission from labels. According to Meechie, labels contact YouTube and demand his videos be taken down, often without the knowledge of their own artists, some of whom pay him directly to help boost their buzz. "And it's crazy, you know, because the artists ask me to put the videos up."

As prolific and internet-known as Meechie and his crew are, they are multiple steps removed from owning, in a tangible sense, their art, leaving them vulnerable to both YouTube's whims and to having their creativity lifted by outsiders. Atlanta, where Meechie is from, is legendary as a place where teens generate culture, and then go uncompensated as their style and tastes are usurped by a corporate machine hungry for Black Cool. Cultural sharing is ancient. That the speed and relative borderlessness of the internet makes cross-platform, global dissemination seem like a consequence of tech is a convenient amnesia. The propensity to share predates the young black creators doing so online. But they ought to claim lineage. Remember, for instance, the blues.

K.J. Greene's 2008 essay, "Lady Sings the Blues: Intellectual Property at the Intersection of Race and Gender," published in The Journal of Gender, Social Policy & The Law, situates the American conundrum of race and proprietorship at the specific moment of blues music production. Blues leans on an unpredictable meld of instrumental prowess and rapid improvisation, and not on a premeditated, capitalist-conscious calculus. "Black artists had no input in [copyright law], and examination reveals that it is in some respects incompatible with Black cultural production in music," writes Greene, arguing that multiple copyright standards were specifically structured to preclude black blues artists, especially women, from claiming ownership. "The idea/expression dichotomy of copyright law prohibits copyright protection for raw ideas," Greene wrote. "I contend that this standard provided less protection to innovative black composers, whose work was imitated so wildly it became 'the idea.'"

Part of the reason the originators of viral content are stripped from their labor is because they don't technically own their production. Twitter does, Vine does, Snapchat does, and the list goes on. Intangible things like slang and styles of dance are not considered valuable, except when they're produced by large entities willing and able to invest in trademarking them.

Dana Nelson, founder of D.F. Nelson PLLC, a New York City firm specializing in copyright and music law, says outmoded intellectual property law needs updating for the digital age. "Copyright law and intellectual property in America does not follow the creative production of artists. Rather, it protects the interests of companies," she says. "I think it is now harder to distinguish a non-commercial (fair) use from a commercial one." Whereas Meechie's dance videos are considered a threat to record companies' bottom line, his cultural production-and Kayla Newman's "on fleek," too-is treated as ripe for the taking by those same companies.

In some sense, the roaring debates over white appropriation of black slang, music, and dance have worked as an avatar for circumstance of the independent black creator in the digital age. But the analog is insufficient. Intellectual property and viral content should be interrogated from a legal standpoint, Nelson argues. The copyright statute under which Meechie's YouTube account got flagged and then taken down should be re-examined, as should the legal gray areas that leave individual creators like Newman in the cold.

But Meechie is young, and he has plans. The immediate one is editing the video of him and his crew dancing to Justin Bieber's "What Do You Mean?" As of this writing, the clip has been viewed over 135,000 times on his new YouTube channel, but he still has a ways to go before he can reach the numbers on his old account. When I ask him how feels about his position as a simultaneously powerful shape-shifter of music and a disenfranchised net artist, he simply says he's "dancing for now." And, like Newman, he's still waiting on those things good things to come.

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Black Teens Are Breaking The Internet And Seeing None Of The Profits

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Kayla Newman started her Vine account to record herself commenting on the minutia and mundanity of high school life. This was nearly two years ago, when she was 16. For her handle, Newman chose a nickname made up during an annual visit to her grandmother in Georgia: "Peaches Monroee."

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Challenges are a fun way to help improve your skills in a particular area. If you want to get better at photography, or you just like taking pictures, PetaPixel has a fun 52-week photo challenge anyone can join.

If you think you have a good eye for photography but you still want an easy way to improve your...
Read more Read

Photographer Dale Foshe created the challenge last year, and it went over so well, he decided to bring it back for 2017. The challenge consists of a new assignment every week, with a focus on one of three overall categories: storytelling, technical aptitude, and artistic impression. Here are the assignments for the first few weeks:

Week 1: Story: Rule of thirds: The rule of thirds is the first compositional rule most photographers learn; but most don't know why they learn it. The rule of thirds is amazing for telling a story. Tell a story using rule of thirds.

Week 2: Technical: SOOC: Straight Out of the camera. No Photoshop. Shoot a compelling image and post it without edits. No cheating! Be sure and save the image file for the end of the challenge!

Week 3: Artistic: Land: Your inspiration this week is land. This could be a landscape, or an image inspired by the land in some way.

Week 4: Story: Mirror: Tell a story using a mirror.

Week 5: Technical: Ten Shots: Shoot 10 shots of the same subject. Each shot should be from a different angle, distance, and focal length. Share your favorite image from the set.

Foshe encourages sharing your work, too. You can follow along on Instagram with other users taking the challenge ( including me!) and add the hashtags #dogwood52, #dogwood2017, and #dogwoodweek1 (depending on the week). For the entire list of challenges, head to PetaPixel's link below.

Shoot This 52 Week Photo Challenge in 2017 to Improve Your Skills | PetaPixel

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Improve Your Photography Skills With This 52 Week Photo Challenge

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Challenges are a fun way to help improve your skills in a particular area. If you want to get better at photography, or you just like taking pictures, PetaPixel has a fun 52-week photo challenge anyone can join. If you think you have a good eye for photography but you still want an easy way to improve your...

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RT Cinematography

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There's a new form of entertainment media emerging, one that is being explored in 3d movies as well as both VFX studios and game developers. For example, Unreal Engine has seen non-game makers begin to experiment with the render engine.

"Because the engine is really accessible to anybody, we're finding that loads of people are using Unreal in all sorts of different ways," says Kim Libreri, CTO at Epic Games. "In the movie industry, people are going to be using it for pre-visualisation and a little bit of virtual production here and there, and some companies are really embracing the future of where media is going to go."

One of those companies is Ninja Theory, whose Hellblade cinematic demo is seen as defining real-time cinematography and raising many questions about the future of real-time production.

"Real-time cinemagraphy is quite analogous to traditional cinematography, where you have actors, actresses and cameras. You film the scene and then end up with different camera angles and shots that you can then edit into a sequence. That's the way you'd do it in the normal world," explains Libreri. "The difference is that everything that we were doing on Hellblade was being generated in the virtual world. So through the process of motion capture and performance capture, not just the performance of our actress Mel [Melina Juergens], but the performance of the camera, we were able to digitise the motion of what we call the virtual camera," Libreri reveals.

Game engine technology gives you a wealth of creative possibilities that enable you to do live performance

Kim Libreri, CTO, Epic Games

The virtual camera is a handheld camera rig minus a camera. Instead of the camera, it has motion capture markers so the director knows where the camera is in space and where it's pointing. "We can use that as a portal into the virtual world that the actress is basically driving her body motion through," says Libreri.

For Hellblade, the entire environment and the character of Senua don't exist in the real world. What Epic and Ninja Theory are doing is taking motion capture data and information from the real world, and using that to puppet the virtual world.

Libreri says he's been playing with performance capture and digital humans for a long time, ever since his time spent as VFX supervisor on the Matrix trilogy, where, back in 2003, he created a digital Hugo Weaving and Agent Smith for the groundbreaking film franchise.

"I've been following this technology a lot, so it was only a matter of time for GPU technology to get to a point where they can do this in real-time," he says.

A recent Hellblade demo at Siggraph showed a glimpse of what this technology can do: "We showed the world that game engine technology isn't just about making pretty pictures akin to what you'd see in a modern visual effects movie, but that it gives you a wealth of creative possibilities that enable you to do live performance," Libreri explains.

Rethink your workflow

"The whole drive behind Hellblade is to find more efficient ways to do the things that we've been doing in the past," says Tameem Antoniades, Ninja Theory's chief creative director. "As we start new projects, I think our approach to how we build our worlds will change. So we'll build our characters and our locations first, and then shoot them like we would a film," he adds.

When working on past games such as Heavenly Sword, Antoniades followed the standard workflow: motion capture was used to shoot the scenes and it would take up to six months to get that data into a finished scene. Up until that point, Antoniades was always unsure if what he had would be good enough.

There are many benefits of real-time cinematography: "With this system, you shoot and it's there instantly. From there you can still tweak things. So you can still take the facial data and take it to an offline package and tweak it, but the guess work and finger crossing has gone," says Antoniades.

"The way we shoot has been the same since Heavenly Sword, but what this allows us to do is have the game and the tools catch up with the way a director would want to shoot on set with actors. And so it just makes sense. It's the last piece of the puzzle as you can actually see what you're shooting rather than hoping that it will turn out."

Libreri agrees: "No longer are you constrained. I grew up in the visual effects business, and you would wait weeks or months to be able to see a result, and now it's totally possible to produce amazing, interesting visuals interactively. It opens up the possibilities of new types of art and reaching audiences with new types of spectacle."

The system also helps with creating more dynamic scenes: "Good quality live feedback means things like the character's eyes can move around," says Libreri. "If you do a normal, traditional MotionBuilder preview you're going to have a pretty bad idea where the eye line is, you won't know where she's looking."

Libreri explains that in the Hellblade demo, actress Mel is performing against a digital version of herself and there are many times where it's really important for her to get her eye line correct. "The fact we had a high quality rendition out of the engine that looks like it's going to look in the game has changed the kind of capture you're going to get. You're now confident that when you leave the set or the mocap stage, you've nailed it, whereas before it would be pretty easy to do a two-pass take and say we nailed it. And then you would get it in post and keyframe animators would have to animate it."

Game changer

Creating cinematics in real-time in Unreal in this way means a director can react to the scene, as a film director would. Antoniades explains: "[In the past] with two characters there in live action, you'd never see both characters at the same time, so you'd be unable to frame the shots. Now, when shooting I am able to frame the shots with both characters, and I can move each character around live to get the best framing I can, and get the environment in the frame as well. I am also able to check things like lighting, this would have been impossible to do in any other way."

Just the start

According to Libreri and Antoniades, filmmakers will use real-time tools as an advanced form of pre-visualisation, so more quality footage can be created early in the production process to save costs, but there's so much more on offer.

"By creating a purely digital set, digital performances and storing everything as digital data, you are setting that data free to do with it what you want, and that magic ingredient is to do things like interactive experiences. You're not just shooting linear scenes, you're shooting scenes that have multiple outcomes, multiple possibilities," says Antoniades.

"You can add procedural systems layered over the top of what you're shooting, so if you're in an experience like in VR, for example, you can have a person there," he continues. "In this case, while they're talking they'll look around you, and they'll follow you and if you make a choice or an action in the room, they'll react to you and branch off into new performances. This is something that is completely impossible to do with anything other than game technology - I think ultimately it will define a new form of entertainment that hasn't existed before."

Who's it for?

Questions are raised about how accessible this new entertainment format will be. Though Hellblade is being produced by a team of 16, the real-time approach of Ninja Theory is an industry facing project using high-end technology. It is a collaboration: face scanning and animation was by 3lateral and Cubic motion, House of Moves provided the mocap rig, and IKinema handled the body motion capture.

However, Unreal Engine is free to download and use, something Libreri encourages: "Download the Unreal Engine and start playing," he urges, adding: "Unreal is not a toy. It's definitely built for high-end professionals... Crossing the uncanny valley and making an effects-based facial rig is never going to be the domain of simple hobbyists, but those with the hunger to master it can achieve great things."
This article was originally published in Related articles 3D World magazine issue 213.

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Why you should know about real-time cinematography

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There's a new form of entertainment media emerging, one that is being explored in 3d movies as well as both VFX studios and game developers. For example, Unreal Engine has seen non-game makers begin to experiment with the render engine.

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AboutTheData

Civics Education Initiative

Common Sense Kids Action

Common Sense Media: “How To
Spot Fake News”

The Media Literacy Clearinghouse

Media Literacy Now

News Literacy Project checkology
virtual classroom

A News Literacy Toolkit for a “Post-Truth” World by Joyce Valenza

Project Look Sharp

Stony Brook University Digital
Resource Center

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FactCheck

Politifact

Snopes

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• Who is the author/producer/creator of the message?
• Who is the audience?
• What techniques are being used to get our attention and to make a message believable?
• Who benefits from a message?
• Who or what is omitted and why?

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" Dear Data," an "analog data drawing project" founded and conducted by Giorgia Lupi and Stefanie Posavec, is essentially a personal data visualization correspondence exchange between the aforementioned artists, illustrated by hand on postcards. Lupi in Brooklyn and Posavec in London sent each other a postcard each week for a year. The 104 postcards are now a book in two editions-one for the US and one for the EU. Further, the entire set of postcards was recently acquired by NYC's MoMA for its permanent collection.

It all started in 2013 with an encounter at the Eyeo Festival in Minneapolis. Lupi says, "I was familiar with Stefanie's work very well before meeting her in person. It has always fascinated me how elegant, detailed, sublime and poetic her visualizations are. Her crafted and laborious way of working with data touches profound chords, I admired her process and body of work long before encountering her in real life." Posavec explains, "We ended up talking to each other because we realized that we had a lot in common, but mainly because we both approached data visualization from a very handmade place. We didn't code like many of our fellow data visualization colleagues but instead would use sketching and drawing as a way of coming up with new visual languages for representing data, and, for us, we saw this handmade process as vital to our creative/design process." Of course the similarities weren't simply professional, they hit it off personally too-both are only children and expats-and over a beer, they decided to collaborate.

"Ten days after we split and came back to our cities, I got an email from Stefanie, and everything started," Lupi tells us. "From there on and for the following two months a copious number of emails flooded, where we over time refined the concept of our collaboration: daily or weekly datasets to work on, daily or weekly data-drawings, parallel types of data, finding a human and personal twist on the data. Ultimately we decided to work with our personal data, gathering information about ourselves to share with the other person, in an attempt to use data and drawings-the material we both work with-to get to know each other, over the course of the year." The project-sending postcards to each other weekly-grew quite organically. Lupi says the idea of being 'data pen pals' "seemed incredibly compelling, and we decided to take in the risk that some of our postcards might get lost or damaged during their travel."

While they were essentially gathering data, they also had to track it. "Initially, we had the crazy idea that we would collect our data manually; hand-writing all of our logs and details on a little Moleskine," Lupi says. "But after the first week we agreed that it was just insane: to make our data collection sustainable over time and as less intrusive possible to our lives, we could use digital apps to jot down our data. Stefanie and I collected our data in different ways. I have been using different types of apps such as Evernote or the Reporter app, which is a very powerful tool for data recording if you know what types of 'questions' to set up. We also needed to get creative and find ways to quickly note things down on pieces of paper or even drawing a little reminder on our hands in all of these situations where it would be impolite to pull out our phones."

It's unsurprising that a project combining technology, design and personal stories would evolve into a book, but Lupi says it's more than that. "The book obviously started with the project and it is based on our stories in form of data postcards for the year, but our collection of postcards is actually the starting point for an evolving conversation and another kind of back and forth between the two of us around our approach to data: around the importance of working with personal data with awareness and attention and expanding and elaborating on how we can use data as a material to connect with ourselves at a deeper level and to address even the trickiest matters in our minds."

Since "Dear Data" was executed by Lupi and Posavec alone, collecting data in their own ways to create something together yet autonomous, the book evolved into something quite different. "The book was designed through lots of compromise and discussion as designers-which also helped us learn more about each other," Lupi says. "It was also a great benefit in the end-as a designer, it can be very easy to think your way is always the right way, so through this continual discourse and debate we have been able to extend ourselves and see different solutions than what we might have normally taken."

Their project is now part of the permanent collection at NYC's MoMA. Lupi says, "Paola Antonelli (MoMA's design curator) has been collecting data visualization for MoMA for a while now: Martin Wattenberg, Fernanda Viegas, Ben Fry, and Nicholas Felton are just a few prominent data visualization names who have also been acquired... We are so honored to have our work in the same collection as so many design and art masters, and we believe it also reinforces the value in experimenting and working on the edges of different disciplines (design / art / data visualization) in order to move all these disciplines forward." Posavec explains the process took some time, as the team at MoMA decided whether or not to acquire the piece, "Stefanie and I spent months keeping all our fingers crossed, hoping the MoMA acquisition committee would agree with Paola that our work was worth being acquired. Needless to say, we couldn't be happier and prouder and a multitude of other adjectives that our project has found the most incredibly permanent home."
Images courtesy of Cassell & Co

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" Dear Data," an "analog data drawing project" founded and conducted by Giorgia Lupi and Stefanie Posavec, is essentially a personal data visualization correspondence exchange between the aforementioned artists, illustrated by hand on postcards. Lupi in Brooklyn and Posavec in London sent each other a postcard each week for a year.

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Today, most major news outlets in the United States are controlled by a handful of massive, powerful companies, an anomaly called media consolidation. It is vital that Americans become more skeptical of the news fed to them by these huge corporate media outlets and find alternative means of learning about what is actually happening in this country and around the world. They will probably find that reality and what they assumed to be reality are actually very different.

Objectivity, Bias and Talking Heads

There was a time when the nightly news was synonymous with the words objective, impartial, fair and balanced. Reporters, newscasters, and their employers, saw it as a duty and badge of honor to inform the public, as factually as possible, of the happenings in this country and around the world.

No longer. Instead of abiding by the Society of Professional Journalists code of ethics, we have major media outlets and their Talking Heads blindly supporting "facts" as told to them by the government, corporations and anyone else they deem worthy. Unfortunately, as the Iraq war has taught us, perceived truths are not always facts. Thousands of Americans and more than a million Iraqis died as a consequence. It is extremely disturbing that the mainstream media's abject failure to do its job, with the public's apathy towards demanding that they do so, could result in a "mistake" of such magnitude.

The Media's Big Six

In 1983, 90% of our media was owned and controlled by 50 different companies - which, at the time, so concerned author Ben Bagdikian that he penned his now classic book, The Media Monopoly. Today, 90% of our news, whether we read, watch or listen to it, is dominated primarily by six media giants which each own an array of media venues, from TV and radio stations to newspapers and magazines to film and production studios. The names may change, the Walt Disney Company now owns most of 21 st Century Fox and AT&T is still attempting a takeover of Time Warner, but the fact remains that ownership of the media has consolidated into the hands of the very powerful few:

The merging of so many media companies into today's handful of powerhouses has been sanctioned by the Federal Communications Commission (FCC), an independent government agency composed of five people whose duty it is to determine media policy and law. Created in 1934 by the Communications Act, the FCC's role is to regulate interstate and international communications by radio, television, wire, satellite and cable throughout the United States. It wasn't until the Telecommunications Act of 1996, the first major reform of the policy since it was created, that large corporations were permitted to begin their massive consolidation of the media - resulting in the Big Six.

Real News Versus Entertainment

Why should Americans be worried that only a small number of companies dominate so much of our news? Because with the Big Six's enormous control over a wide spectrum of the media comes the ability to dictate what events they see as newsworthy (or not) on a massive scale. Especially worrying as these corporations no longer view news as a public service meant to disperse important information and facts but a means by which to make profits by entertaining viewers. Today, the mainstream media determines the significance, and therefore coverage, of an event by ratings and the whims of the political and corporate entities to which they are beholden, not by what is considered to be in the public's best interest.

Don't believe it? Just listen . . . .

It appears that the public's trust in the media has been declining for some time. According to the Gallup research company, which began its data collection on the topic in 1972, the public's trust in the media peaked in 1976 but has seen a slow, downward spiral ever since. The most recent Gallup poll, taken in September of 2016, shows that the trend does not appear to be stopping, with 68% of Americans still not trusting the mass media "to report the news fully, accurately and fairly." A February 2016 Pew Research Center poll came away with an even more dire picture: only 18% of Americans had "a lot" of trust in the mainstream media and only 22% had "a lot" of trust in their local news.

According to Reporters Without Borders, Americans should be very concerned. The organization created the World Press Freedom Index in 2002 and has since compiled data annually on every nation based upon a list of seven criteria categories and indicators. Their 2017 World Press Freedom Index put the United States, a country whose citizens believe it to be a bastion of freedom, at number 43; its first index gave the United States the number 17 slot.

Independent News Options: Keeping It Real

Thankfully, the American public no longer needs to rely solely on one of the Big Six for their information as there are a growing number of independent news sources available to anyone with internet access. The following are only a sampling of those alternatives. Most state that they are "non-partisan, independent and non-profit." Some are more transparent than others; a couple even outline a code of journalistic ethics their company follows.

Sites That Report on Censorship

While most of the following sources do provide some general news, their primary roles are to monitor censorship and the restriction of information on specific topics.
Government: Media: Corporate:

Independent Reporters and Whistleblowers

The sources below fall into categories unto their own. The first is a group of fiercely independent reporters who believe in old school journalism, some with their own websites and articles; the second is a group of several sites that encourage whistleblowers to speak out and provide a forum for their information.
Reporters: Whistleblowers:

How to Separate the Fact from the Fiction

With only a tiny number of companies controlling what the vast majority of us see, hear, read and assume to be newsworthy, it is critical that the public realize that there are options and have access to those alternatives. Yet, even with all these resources at our fingertips, how does one separate the fact from the fiction?

at the very minimum, your news should be answering what are considered to be the six 'Ws' of journalism: who, what, where, when, why and how. It is amazing how much of the mainstream media does not even attempt this.

Help Improve the Media

If you would like more information about improving the media or would like to help reform our mainstream news, the following websites will show you where to begin:

Author's Note: All these sources claim that they do not accept government, political, or corporate funding and that their missions are to seek the truth and provide real news versus the entertainment mass media outlets spew to maintain viewer ratings. But this does not and will not ever eliminate all bias. It is up to every reader/listener/watcher to question their news and its sources. Being aware that the mainstream media is mostly propaganda is a good starting point. The difficult part is finding the truth.

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10+ Independent Online News Sources and Why America Needs More of Them

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Today, most major news outlets in the United States are controlled by a handful of massive, powerful companies, an anomaly called media consolidation. It is vital that Americans become more skeptical of the news fed to them by these huge corporate media outlets and find alternative means of learning about what is actually happening in this country and around the world.

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New York City, NY - Fox lies. Brian Williams lies. Most news organizations have become nothing more than corporate and government sponsored public relations machines. So, which outlets should you follow?

Mint Press News: The outlet just celebrated their second anniversary. The focus of Mint Press is definitely geared towards civil liberties violations and attacking the corporate masters of the political elites. Relentless in the pursuit of helping the reader connect the dots inside of the story.

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The Free Thought Project: One of the fastest growing independent media outlets on the internet, TFTP's mission is to expose police and government misconduct. Often featured on Cop Block and Police the Police, they are at the forefront of the police accountability movement.

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Fifth Column: New outlet designed to bridge the gap between independent and mainstream media with a heavy focus on investigative journalism. Employs staff from most of the other outlets on this list.

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Revolution News: For a window into what's truly going on outside of the US, RevNews is the site to follow. They cover conflicts, protests, and revolutions from all over the world and America. Many of their stories have live video feeds from location, giving the reader an unadulterated view of the news.

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Common Dreams: Possibly the oldest alternative news site on the web. It started back in 1997. The outlet is very upfront about its left-leaning tendencies, which allows the reader to adjust. The outlet maintains a unique "progressive newswire" that is featured prominently on the site.

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The Pontiac Tribune: The Tribune stands out for not only covering mainstream stories from a different point-of-view, but for being willing to delve into topics many outlets shy away from. A close affiliation with Storm Clouds Gathering helps to constantly provide unique content.

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Of course, if you are reading this, we hope that you are already following us here at Anti-Media. Did we miss anyone?
Disclosure notice: The author's work has appeared on more than half of the above sites. This article is free and open source. You have permission to republish this article under a Creative Commons license with attribution to the author and TheAntiMedia.org. Tune-in to The Anti-Media radio show Monday-Friday @ 11pm EST, 8pm PST.
Since you're here...
...We have a small favor to ask. Fewer and fewer people are seeing Anti-Media articles as social media sites crack down on us, and advertising revenues across the board are quickly declining. However, unlike many news organizations, we haven't put up a paywall because we value open and accessible journalism over profit - but at this point, we're barely even breaking even. Hopefully, you can see why we need to ask for your help. Anti-Media's independent journalism and analysis takes substantial time, resources, and effort to produce, but we do it because we believe in our message and hope you do, too.

If everyone who reads our reporting and finds value in it helps fund it, our future can be much more secure. For as little as $1 and a minute of your time, you can support Anti-Media. Thank you. Click here to support us

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Six Non-Corporate News Outlets You Should Be Following

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New York City, NY - Fox lies. Brian Williams lies. Most news organizations have become nothing more than corporate and government sponsored public relations machines. So, which outlets should you follow? Mint Press News: The outlet just celebrated their second anniversary.

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You are not the only one who believes the corporate media works for the establishment to secure the status quo and shape false narratives - so we compiled a list of 10 independent news outlets that would prefer you think for yourself.
These days most Americans have lost faith in corporate-owned media outlets because they believe the institution of press protected in the first amendment no longer represents the people of our great nation.

For many, it has been challenging to replace the failed dinosaur media, which is why I'm writing this article for people seeking legitimate sources.

As everyone discovered earlier this month when Brian Williams admitted to making up false Iraq war stories, Fox News clearly isn't the only outlet that has gone off the deep end in crafting a reality of their choosing.

If honest reporting is what you're looking for, there are several established independent news organizations the mainstream media would prefer you never discover.

Here are 10 news outlets the corporate media doesn't want you to follow:

The Anti-Media: One of the fastest growing news outlets in the world, last Fall the Anti-Media soared into the 25,000 most visited websites in the world. During anti-police protests across America, the Anti-Media consistently published articles on breaking police brutality cases and several of their original reports went viral on social media with hundreds of thousands of shares. Of course, each story had been featured by the Anti-Media days before the corporate outlets even knew what happened.

The Corbett Report: With over 1,000 episodes, the Corbett Report has most definitely earned their reputation as one of the hardest-working and most-trusted news sources in the world. The Corbett Report has uniquely developed their own team of investigative fans who research the most-requested topics. The information is archived and analyzed by James Corbett, who then turns the sources into an easy to understand video news report. Preferring to describe the service he provides as ' open source intelligence ', the Corbett Report has been a favorite of mine for many years.

The Intercept: Not long after Edward Snowden's release of secret NSA documents, journalist Glenn Greenwald launched a new media project called the Intercept with Laura Poitras and Jeremy Scahill. The outlet is owned by First Look Media, a new project started by Paypal's co-founder Pierre Omidyar. Compared to other outlets on this list, the Intercept is technically the ' most corporate ' - but the content released thus far has been packed full of exclusive data that the Obama administration surely doesn't want you to read about.

Consortium News: Former AP journalist Robert Parry was among the reporters who exposed the Iran-Contra scandal for the corporate media in the mid-80s. In 1995, he founded Consortium News as the first investigative news magazine on the Internet. Robert believes the distortion of information is an urgent problem with millions of Americans brainwashed by the waves of disinformation coming from the mainstream media. Since the beginning of the crisis in Ukraine, Consortium News has consistently published fantastic articles investigating the situation - without the pro-coup, U.S. media bias.

StormCloudsGathering: If you've ever thought the corporate media was hiding something from you, you're right, and you'll absolutely love the hard work and fact-checking StormCloudsGathering puts into all of their videos. Amazingly talented at relating world events to a larger geopolitical agenda, I'm confident that whenever you start following StormCloudsGathering you'll have a new found appreciation for the label ' conspiracy theorist' . . . What ' theory'? SCG strategically uses sources only from the mainstream media for maximum credibility. Why has ' critical thinking ' been demonized?

Truth In Media (Founded by Ben Swann): A former local Fox anchor in Cincinnati, Ohio with 2 Emmy Awards under his name, Ben Swann has 14 years of experience working as a journalist in broadcast news. In 2012 he was the first journalist in the world to directly interview President Barack Obama about the Constitutionality of his "kill list". Recently, BenSwann.com expanded to become TruthInMedia.com - boldly proclaiming the project's commitment to journalism in its purest form right in the official title.

Mint Press News: An independent watchdog journalism organization, Mint Press News provides original reporting, in-depth investigations, and thoughtful analysis of the most pressing topics facing our nation. Their relentless coverage of U.S. foreign policy decisions always digs deep to divulge the influence of special interest groups, Big Business, and lobbying practices - and how those factors shape policies at home and abroad.

Russell Brand: Last year the corporate media was stunned to discover that famous celebrity Russell Brand had started his own video series called 'The Trews' to combat false narratives and educate the public on corruption worldwide. He toured the world speaking in support of his book Revolution and then made waves in the UK by dominating an interview with Newsnight's Jeremy Paxman on the BBC. Possessing an elite vocabulary, unmatched confidence, other-worldly debate skills, and more than 9 million Twitter followers, Russell has suddenly become the megaphone of the global political awakening.

Media Roots: Founded by the former host of RT's Breaking the Set, Abby Martin, Media Roots is a citizen journalism project that reports the news from outside party lines. Abby believes that just as the root system of a tree is more important that the tree itself, independent media is integral to the foundation and survival of a democracy. Graduating from San Diego State with a Bachelor's degree in political science, Abby's Media Roots regularly features exclusive podcasts discussing the latest world events with her brother Robbie.

Real News Network: Since 2007, the Real News Network has produced more than 7,000 stories that have amassed more than 100 million views. Produced in high-quality video via their YouTube channel, the Real News Network covers the day's biggest stories while bringing underlying issues like racism and the need for workers' rights into the spotlight.

Creating a new state-of-the-art independent news media is no easy task - so we are asking you to help spread this vital message.

http://organictitanic.com/product/healthy-dry-dog-food-wellness-core-original-26-pound/

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10 News Outlets Corporate Media Doesn't Want You to Follow

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You are not the only one who believes the corporate media works for the establishment to secure the status quo and shape false narratives - so we compiled a list of 10 independent news outlets that would prefer you think for yourself.

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Resources for Ts and Ss

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Media Share

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Text Types Handout

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Infogram helps students and teachers easily create infographics, charts, and maps for free. Make education more visual and interactive.

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Comprehensive

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Forms and Features

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From ALA

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Association of College & Research Libraries (ACRL)

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Filed by the ACRL Board on February 2, 2015. Adopted by the ACRL Board, January 11, 2016.

This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-ShareAlike 4.0 International License.
PDF Version
Print copies may be purchased from the Association of College and Research Libraries for $15.00 for a package of 10, including standard postage. Expedited shipping is available for an additional charge. To place your order over the phone with a credit card, please call 312-280-5277.
Payments with a check should be sent to:

Association of College and Research Libraries
Attn: Standards Fulfillment
50 East Huron Street
Chicago, IL 60611

If you have addtional questions about ordering the Framework, please contact us at 312-280-5277, or email acrl@ala.org.

ACRL has a history of supporting librarians in understanding and using the association's standards and guidelines. ACRL is offering education and consultation services to assist librarians in understanding the Framework and applying it to the specific needs of their institutions.

Contents
Authority Is Constructed and Contextual Appendix 1: Implementing the Framework Suggestions on How to Use the Framework for Information Literacy for Higher Education Appendix 2: Background of the Framework Development Appendix 3: Sources for Further Reading
Introduction for Faculty and Administrators
For Faculty: How to Use the Framework
For Administrators: How to Support the Framework
Information Creation as a Process
Information Has Value Notes
Research as Inquiry
Scholarship as Conversation
Searching as Strategic Exploration
For current news and resources see the Framework WordPress site

Introduction

This Framework for Information Literacy for Higher Education ( Framework) grows out of a belief that information literacy as an educational reform movement will realize its potential only through a richer, more complex set of core ideas. During the fifteen years since the publication of the Information Literacy Competency Standards for Higher Education, ¹ academic librarians and their partners in higher education associations have developed learning outcomes, tools, and resources that some institutions have deployed to infuse information literacy concepts and skills into their curricula. However, the rapidly changing higher education environment, along with the dynamic and often uncertain information ecosystem in which all of us work and live, require new attention to be focused on foundational ideas about that ecosystem. Students have a greater role and responsibility in creating new knowledge, in understanding the contours and the changing dynamics of the world of information, and in using information, data, and scholarship ethically. Teaching faculty have a greater responsibility in designing curricula and assignments that foster enhanced engagement with the core ideas about information and scholarship within their disciplines. Librarians have a greater responsibility in identifying core ideas within their own knowledge domain that can extend learning for students, in creating a new cohesive curriculum for information literacy, and in collaborating more extensively with faculty.

The Framework offered here is called a framework intentionally because it is based on a cluster of interconnected core concepts, with flexible options for implementation, rather than on a set of standards or learning outcomes, or any prescriptive enumeration of skills. At the heart of this Framework are conceptual understandings that organize many other concepts and ideas about information, research, and scholarship into a coherent whole. These conceptual understandings are informed by the work of Wiggins and McTighe, ² which focuses on essential concepts and questions in developing curricula, and also by threshold concepts ³ which are those ideas in any discipline that are passageways or portals to enlarged understanding or ways of thinking and practicing within that discipline. This Framework draws upon an ongoing Delphi Study that has identified several threshold concepts in information literacy, ⁴ but the Framework has been molded using fresh ideas and emphases for the threshold concepts. Two added elements illustrate important learning goals related to those concepts: knowledge practices, ⁵ which are demonstrations of ways in which learners can increase their understanding of these information literacy concepts, and dispositions, ⁶ which describe ways in which to address the affective, attitudinal, or valuing dimension of learning. The Framework is organized into six frames, each consisting of a concept central to information literacy, a set of knowledge practices, and a set of dispositions. The six concepts that anchor the frames are presented alphabetically:

Authority Is Constructed and Contextual

Information Creation as a Process

Information Has Value

Research as Inquiry

Scholarship as Conversation

Searching as Strategic Exploration

Neither the knowledge practices nor the dispositions that support each concept are intended to prescribe what local institutions should do in using the Framework; each library and its partners on campus will need to deploy these frames to best fit their own situation, including designing learning outcomes. For the same reason, these lists should not be considered exhaustive.
Information resources reflect their creators' expertise and credibility, and are evaluated based on the information need and the context in which the information will be used. Authority is constructed in that various communities may recognize different types of authority. It is contextual in that the information need may help to determine the level of authority required.
In addition, this Framework draws significantly upon the concept of metaliteracy, ⁷ which offers a renewed vision of information literacy as an overarching set of abilities in which students are consumers and creators of information who can participate successfully in collaborative spaces. ⁸ Metaliteracy demands behavioral, affective, cognitive, and metacognitive engagement with the information ecosystem. This Framework depends on these core ideas of metaliteracy, with special focus on metacognition, ⁹ or critical self-reflection, as crucial to becoming more self-directed in that rapidly changing ecosystem.

Because this Framework envisions information literacy as extending the arc of learning throughout students' academic careers and as converging with other academic and social learning goals, an expanded definition of information literacy is offered here to emphasize dynamism, flexibility, individual growth, and community learning:

Information literacy is the set of integrated abilities encompassing the reflective discovery of information, the understanding of how information is produced and valued, and the use of information in creating new knowledge and participating ethically in communities of learning.

The Framework opens the way for librarians, faculty, and other institutional partners to redesign instruction sessions, assignments, courses, and even curricula; to connect information literacy with student success initiatives; to collaborate on pedagogical research and involve students themselves in that research; and to create wider conversations about student learning, the scholarship of teaching and learning, and the assessment of learning on local campuses and beyond.

1. Association of College & Research Libraries, Information Literacy Competency Standards for Higher Education (Chicago, 2000).

2. Grant Wiggins and Jay McTighe. Understanding by Design. (Alexandria, VA: Association for Supervision and Curriculum Development, 2004).

3. Threshold concepts are core or foundational concepts that, once grasped by the learner, create new perspectives and ways of understanding a discipline or challenging knowledge domain. Such concepts produce transformation within the learner; without them, the learner does not acquire expertise in that field of knowledge. Threshold concepts can be thought of as portals through which the learner must pass in order to develop new perspectives and wider understanding. Jan H. F. Meyer, Ray Land, and Caroline Baillie. "Editors' Preface." In Threshold Concepts and Transformational Learning, edited by Jan H. F. Meyer, Ray Land, and Caroline Baillie, ix-xlii. (Rotterdam, Netherlands: Sense Publishers, 2010).

4. For information on this unpublished, in-progress Delphi Study on threshold concepts and information literacy, conducted by Lori Townsend, Amy Hofer, Silvia Lu, and Korey Brunetti, see http://www.ilthresholdconcepts.com/. Lori Townsend, Korey Brunetti, and Amy R. Hofer. "Threshold Concepts and Information Literacy." portal: Libraries and the Academy 11, no. 3 (2011): 853-69.
Information in any format is produced to convey a message and is shared via a selected delivery method. The iterative processes of researching, creating, revising, and disseminating information vary, and the resulting product reflects these differences.
5. Knowledge practices are the proficiencies or abilities that learners develop as a result of their comprehending a threshold concept.

6. Generally, a disposition is a tendency to act or think in a particular way. More specifically, a disposition is a cluster of preferences, attitudes, and intentions, as well as a set of capabilities that allow the preferences to become realized in a particular way. Gavriel Salomon. "To Be or Not to Be (Mindful)." Paper presented at the American Educational Research Association Meetings, New Orleans, LA, 1994.

7. Metaliteracy expands the scope of traditional information skills (determine, access, locate, understand, produce, and use information) to include the collaborative production and sharing of information in participatory digital environments (collaborate, produce, and share). This approach requires an ongoing adaptation to emerging technologies and an understanding of the critical thinking and reflection required to engage in these spaces as producers, collaborators, and distributors. Thomas P. Mackey and Trudi E. Jacobson. Metaliteracy: Reinventing Information Literacy to Empower Learners. (Chicago: Neal-Schuman, 2014).

8. Thomas P. Mackey and Trudi E. Jacobson. "Reframing Information Literacy as a Metaliteracy." College and Research Libraries 72, no. 1 (2011): 62-78.

9. Metacognition is an awareness and understanding of one's own thought processes. It focuses on how people learn and process information, taking into consideration people's awareness of how they learn. (Jennifer A. Livingston. "Metacognition: An Overview." Online paper, State University of New York at Buffalo, Graduate School of Education, 1997. http://gse.buffalo.edu/fas/shuell/cep564/metacog.htm.)

Frames
Information possesses several dimensions of value, including as a commodity, as a means of education, as a means to influence, and as a means of negotiating and understanding the world. Legal and socioeconomic interests influence information production and dissemination.
These six frames are presented alphabetically and do not suggest a particular sequence in which they must be learned.

Authority Is Constructed and Contextual

Experts understand that authority is a type of influence recognized or exerted within a community. Experts view authority with an attitude of informed skepticism and an openness to new perspectives, additional voices, and changes in schools of thought. Experts understand the need to determine the validity of the information created by different authorities and to acknowledge biases that privilege some sources of authority over others, especially in terms of others' worldviews, gender, sexual orientation, and cultural orientations. An understanding of this concept enables novice learners to critically examine all evidence-be it a short blog post or a peer-reviewed conference proceeding-and to ask relevant questions about origins, context, and suitability for the current information need. Thus, novice learners come to respect the expertise that authority represents while remaining skeptical of the systems that have elevated that authority and the information created by it. Experts know how to seek authoritative voices but also recognize that unlikely voices can be authoritative, depending on need. Novice learners may need to rely on basic indicators of authority, such as type of publication or author credentials, where experts recognize schools of thought or discipline-specific paradigms.

Knowledge Practices

Learners who are developing their information literate abilities

define different types of authority, such as subject expertise (e.g., scholarship), societal position (e.g., public office or title), or special experience (e.g., participating in a historic event);

use research tools and indicators of authority to determine the credibility of sources, understanding the elements that might temper this credibility;

understand that many disciplines have acknowledged authorities in the sense of well-known scholars and publications that are widely considered "standard," and yet, even in those situations, some scholars would challenge the authority of those sources;

recognize that authoritative content may be packaged formally or informally and may include sources of all media types;

acknowledge they are developing their own authoritative voices in a particular area and recognize the responsibilities this entails, including seeking accuracy and reliability, respecting intellectual property, and participating in communities of practice;

understand the increasingly social nature of the information ecosystem where authorities actively connect with one another and sources develop over time.

Dispositions
Research is iterative and depends upon asking increasingly complex or new questions whose answers in turn develop additional questions or lines of inquiry in any field.
Learners who are developing their information literate abilities

develop and maintain an open mind when encountering varied and sometimes conflicting perspectives;

motivate themselves to find authoritative sources, recognizing that authority may be conferred or manifested in unexpected ways;

develop awareness of the importance of assessing content with a skeptical stance and with a self-awareness of their own biases and worldview;

question traditional notions of granting authority and recognize the value of diverse ideas and worldviews;

are conscious that maintaining these attitudes and actions requires frequent self-evaluation.

Information Creation as a Process

The information creation process could result in a range of information formats and modes of delivery, so experts look beyond format when selecting resources to use. The unique capabilities and constraints of each creation process as well as the specific information need determine how the product is used. Experts recognize that information creations are valued differently in different contexts, such as academia or the workplace. Elements that affect or reflect on the creation, such as a pre- or post-publication editing or reviewing process, may be indicators of quality. The dynamic nature of information creation and dissemination requires ongoing attention to understand evolving creation processes. Recognizing the nature of information creation, experts look to the underlying processes of creation as well as the final product to critically evaluate the usefulness of the information. Novice learners begin to recognize the significance of the creation process, leading them to increasingly sophisticated choices when matching information products with their information needs.

Knowledge Practices

Learners who are developing their information literate abilities

Dispositions
Communities of scholars, researchers, or professionals engage in sustained discourse with new insights and discoveries occurring over time as a result of varied perspectives and interpretations.
Learners who are developing their information literate abilities

are inclined to seek out characteristics of information products that indicate the underlying creation process;

value the process of matching an information need with an appropriate product;

accept that the creation of information may begin initially through communicating in a range of formats or modes;

accept the ambiguity surrounding the potential value of information creation expressed in emerging formats or modes;

resist the tendency to equate format with the underlying creation process;

understand that different methods of information dissemination with different purposes are available for their use.

Information Has Value

The value of information is manifested in various contexts, including publishing practices, access to information, the commodification of personal information, and intellectual property laws. The novice learner may struggle to understand the diverse values of information in an environment where "free" information and related services are plentiful and the concept of intellectual property is first encountered through rules of citation or warnings about plagiarism and copyright law. As creators and users of information, experts understand their rights and responsibilities when participating in a community of scholarship. Experts understand that value may be wielded by powerful interests in ways that marginalize certain voices. However, value may also be leveraged by individuals and organizations to effect change and for civic, economic, social, or personal gains. Experts also understand that the individual is responsible for making deliberate and informed choices about when to comply with and when to contest current legal and socioeconomic practices concerning the value of information.

Knowledge Practices

Learners who are developing their information literate abilities

Dispositions
Searching for information is often nonlinear and iterative, requiring the evaluation of a range of information sources and the mental flexibility to pursue alternate avenues as new understanding develops.
Learners who are developing their information literate abilities

respect the original ideas of others;

value the skills, time, and effort needed to produce knowledge;

see themselves as contributors to the information marketplace rather than only consumers of it;

are inclined to examine their own information privilege.

Research as Inquiry

Experts see inquiry as a process that focuses on problems or questions in a discipline or between disciplines that are open or unresolved. Experts recognize the collaborative effort within a discipline to extend the knowledge in that field. Many times, this process includes points of disagreement where debate and dialogue work to deepen the conversations around knowledge. This process of inquiry extends beyond the academic world to the community at large, and the process of inquiry may focus upon personal, professional, or societal needs. The spectrum of inquiry ranges from asking simple questions that depend upon basic recapitulation of knowledge to increasingly sophisticated abilities to refine research questions, use more advanced research methods, and explore more diverse disciplinary perspectives. Novice learners acquire strategic perspectives on inquiry and a greater repertoire of investigative methods.

Knowledge Practices

Learners who are developing their information literate abilities

Dispositions

Learners who are developing their information literate abilities

consider research as open-ended exploration and engagement with information;

appreciate that a question may appear to be simple but still disruptive and important to research;

value intellectual curiosity in developing questions and learning new investigative methods;

maintain an open mind and a critical stance;

value persistence, adaptability, and flexibility and recognize that ambiguity can benefit the research process;

seek multiple perspectives during information gathering and assessment;

seek appropriate help when needed;

follow ethical and legal guidelines in gathering and using information;

demonstrate intellectual humility (i.e., recognize their own intellectual or experiential limitations).

Scholarship as Conversation

Research in scholarly and professional fields is a discursive practice in which ideas are formulated, debated, and weighed against one another over extended periods of time. Instead of seeking discrete answers to complex problems, experts understand that a given issue may be characterized by several competing perspectives as part of an ongoing conversation in which information users and creators come together and negotiate meaning. Experts understand that, while some topics have established answers through this process, a query may not have a single uncontested answer. Experts are therefore inclined to seek out many perspectives, not merely the ones with which they are familiar. These perspectives might be in their own discipline or profession or may be in other fields. While novice learners and experts at all levels can take part in the conversation, established power and authority structures may influence their ability to participate and can privilege certain voices and information. Developing familiarity with the sources of evidence, methods, and modes of discourse in the field assists novice learners to enter the conversation. New forms of scholarly and research conversations provide more avenues in which a wide variety of individuals may have a voice in the conversation. Providing attribution to relevant previous research is also an obligation of participation in the conversation. It enables the conversation to move forward and strengthens one's voice in the conversation.

Knowledge Practices

Learners who are developing their information literate abilities

cite the contributing work of others in their own information production;

contribute to scholarly conversation at an appropriate level, such as local online community, guided discussion, undergraduate research journal, conference presentation/poster session;

identify barriers to entering scholarly conversation via various venues;

critically evaluate contributions made by others in participatory information environments;

identify the contribution that particular articles, books, and other scholarly pieces make to disciplinary knowledge;

summarize the changes in scholarly perspective over time on a particular topic within a specific discipline;

recognize that a given scholarly work may not represent the only or even the majority perspective on the issue.

Dispositions

Learners who are developing their information literate abilities

Searching as Strategic Exploration

The act of searching often begins with a question that directs the act of finding needed information. Encompassing inquiry, discovery, and serendipity, searching identifies both possible relevant sources as well as the means to access those sources. Experts realize that information searching is a contextualized, complex experience that affects, and is affected by, the cognitive, affective, and social dimensions of the searcher. Novice learners may search a limited set of resources, while experts may search more broadly and deeply to determine the most appropriate information within the project scope. Likewise, novice learners tend to use few search strategies, while experts select from various search strategies, depending on the sources, scope, and context of the information need.

Knowledge Practices

Learners who are developing their information literate abilities

Dispositions

Learners who are developing their information literate abilities

exhibit mental flexibility and creativity

understand that first attempts at searching do not always produce adequate results

realize that information sources vary greatly in content and format and have varying relevance and value, depending on the needs and nature of the search

seek guidance from experts, such as librarians, researchers, and professionals

recognize the value of browsing and other serendipitous methods of information gathering

persist in the face of search challenges, and know when they have enough information to complete the information task

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Framework for Information Literacy for Higher Education

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Filed by the ACRL Board on February 2, 2015. Adopted by the ACRL Board, January 11, 2016. This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-ShareAlike 4.0 International License. PDF Version Print copies may be purchased from the Association of College and Research Libraries for $15.00 for a package of 10, including standard postage.

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Photos by child brides (NPR)

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For 15 years, Stephanie Sinclair has taken photos of child brides around the world - from Tahani in Yemen, married at age 6, to 14-year-old Niruta in Nepal, and many more. In 2012, she started the nonprofit Too Young To Wed to raise awareness of their plight.

Now she's given some young women a chance to take their own pictures - a kind of art therapy that she hopes will "help girls deal with their trauma."

In January, Sinclair and her team decided to turn the cameras over to agroup of 10 girls in Kenya. They partnered with the Samburu Girls Foundation, which rescues girls from child marriage and female genital mutilation, to organize a weeklong photography workshop. Most of the 11- to 14-year-olds who participated had never held a camera before.

Sinclair and three volunteer photographers taught the girls basic digital photography skills so they could take portraits of each other. They also provided leadership training to help the girls "harness their inner strength and raise their voices confidently," says Sinclair.

"Today I learned a girl can do anything," says Eunice, a 14-year-old participant. "I learned how to take someone's photo by using the light from the window. I learned I am creative and can learn fast."

We spoke to Sinclair about the workshop and its impact on the girls. The interview has been edited for length and clarity.
What's the hardest thing about taking a portrait?
[You need] to get them to be real in front of the camera. It's not just about composition and light, it's about the soul. If you can see it, if you can capture that and share it.
That seems like a tall order for first-time photographers.
You can't take a great portrait unless you know the person you are photographing. So we would pair the girls up in teams, and they would learn about each other, what they've been through.

We told them they didn't have to share the traumatic parts of their background. But all of them chose to share their experience with child marriage and FGM.

Within the first hour that they had the cameras, they created these really beautiful, vulnerable portraits. I think they just got it. They understood the power of their story and of their voice.
Can you tell us about a portrait that stuck with you?
One girl, Modestar, took a photograph of Maria. It's a tight portrait and she's kind of looking to the side. She's got these beautiful [traditional Samburu] beads on. Just 15 minutes before she took that picture, Modestar was crying. Maria was sharing her story for the first time in detail. Modestar had been rescued [from child marriage] just a few weeks before, so she was still very raw about the experience.
What do you think the girls got out of the workshop?
The workshop ended up being a form of art therapy, a way to help the girls feel confident that their voice matters.

We didn't realize the amount of tears that would be shed during the workshop, and cathartic moments that would happen as they took these intimate portraits of each other.
What did you end up doing with the photos?
We had an exhibition at the end of the workshop. We brought 70 members of the community, police, some of the chiefs of the villages, some of their parents.

We let the girls pick which pictures they wanted to share. Of course the girls had some goofy pictures that they did of each other and more uplifting pictures. But none of them chose to use those pictures for the exhibition. They felt strongly that the exhibit should be an opportunity to let people know that they were not okay with what had happened to them.

I remember there was a really pretty picture of Modestar and she was smiling. She said, "No I don't want to use that one."
What did she select?
A more serious, contemplative picture. "I want people to know what I've been through, that this is how I feel," she said.
How did you think the workshop changed the girls?
At the beginning of the workshop, when you asked them their name, they were very quiet. At the exhibition, we had a microphone. I [told them], make sure you speak up - the event was outdoors and I was worried that the audience wouldn't be able to hear them that well.

They really roared into that microphone! They were passionately expressing what they had been through and asking the community to protect girls.
Any more workshops planned?
We hope to do a couple a year. This was our pilot program and it exceeded our expectations.

The idea of using photography to help child marriage survivors harness their inner strength and raise their voices confidently - it blossomed into this beautiful flower in the end.

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A Photographer Gives Cameras To Child Brides. Their Images Are Amazing

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For 15 years, Stephanie Sinclair has taken photos of child brides around the world - from Tahani in Yemen, married at age 6, to 14-year-old Niruta in Nepal, and many more. In 2012, she started the nonprofit Too Young To Wed to raise awareness of their plight.

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Let's Get Started | Stony Brook Center for News Literacy

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News Literacy is a newly emerging academic discipline designed to teach students how to take skillful possession of their power as citizens by becoming perceptive news consumers. At a time when the digital revolution is spawning an unprecedented daily flood of information and disinformation, the course seeks to help students recognize the differences between fact and rumor.

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In English

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.description
Directory of African newspapers, magazines and news sites in English, sorted by country. Also Africa news headlines.