Information Sources: Non-Traditional Media

Understanding Media as Information Sources

  • Definition and Scope:

    • Media refers to information sources that do not align with traditional print formats such as books, scholarly journals, and magazines.
    • Media resources are primarily non-traditional formats that rely heavily on visual components (such as film and video) or audio components (such as sound recordings and music).

  • Role and Value in Academic Research:

    • Researchers often overlook media resources during research projects, assuming traditional text-based sources are required or superior.
    • Media sources can offer critical insights, contextual nuance, primary account perspectives, and rich detail that traditional text formats may lack.
    • In specific research contexts, non-traditional media sources can serve as stronger, more comprehensive, and more effective evidence than traditional print alternatives.

Primary Types of Media Resources

  • Documentaries:

    • Overview: Non-fiction motion pictures designed to provide deep, detailed, and comprehensive examinations of specific topics, events, or phenomena.
    • Movie Icon
    • Core Characteristics and Purposes:
    • Advocacy: Some documentaries actively advocate for specific social, political, or environmental causes; researchers must carefully evaluate them to notice potential bias, subjective framing, or selective narrative construction.
    • Journalistic Investigation: Many documentaries function in a journalistic manner, providing detailed investigations and reporting on specific events, occurrences, individuals, groups of people, or specialized subjects.
    • Lived Experience and First-Hand Accounts: Documentaries frequently capture and share personal, first-person experiences and lived realities of individuals who went through specific events.
    • Engagement and Entertainment: High-quality documentaries combine educational rigor with compelling cinematic elements to remain entertaining and interesting for viewers to watch.

  • Radio Programs (Broadcasts and Interviews):

    • Overview: Audio-based broadcasts that offer valuable qualitative data, oral histories, and timely information.
    • Microphone Icon
    • Key Features and Benefits:
    • Serving as a strong information source, particularly when searching for direct primary interviews with specific people or subject matter experts.
    • Reporting out on current events and contemporary public discourse.
    • Ephemeral Nature and Access Methods:
    • Unlike printed traditional formats where information is printed and easily referenced later, live radio broadcasts are usually one-time events.
    • Database Transcripts: Transcripts of radio programs are captured and preserved within library databases for text-based reference and analysis.
    • Digital Audio Repositories: Audio recordings of broadcasts are often archived and accessible online.

  • Television Programs (News and Educational Programming):

    • Overview: Visual and auditory broadcast media that deliver real-time news, analysis, and structured educational content.
    • Television Icon
    • News Programming:
    • Provides details about current events.
    • Broadcasts interviews with eyewitnesses, analysts, officials, and public figures.
    • Educational Programming:
    • May utilize documentary-style delivery of information.
    • Can be instructive and directly pedagogical in nature.
    • Specialized Networks:
    • Dedicated cable and broadcast channels provide specialized, topic-focused content:
      • Discovery: Focuses on scientific, technological, and educational content.
      • The History Channel: Focuses on historical programming, documentaries, and non-fiction content.
      • C-SPAN: Provides direct coverage of governmental proceedings, public policy, and political affairs.

Attributions, Copyright, and Asset Credits

  • Publication Context:

    • Book Title: Introduction to College Research
    • Platform: Powered by Pressbooks (supporting open publishing practices).

  • Authorship and Copyright:

    • Authors: Walter D. Butler, Aloha Sargent, and Kelsey Smith.
    • Copyright: Copyright © Walter D. Butler, Aloha Sargent, and Kelsey Smith.
    • Licensing Terms: Licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License (CC BY 4.0), except where otherwise noted.

  • Graphic Asset Attributions:

    • "Microphone" Icon: Created by Freepik, adapted by Aloha Sargent, sourced from Flaticon.com.
    • "Movie" Icon: Created by Freepik, adapted by Aloha Sargent, sourced from Flaticon.com.
    • "Television" Icon: Created by Smashicons, adapted by Aloha Sargent, sourced from Flaticon.com.