Select Associations and Organizations
- National Communication AssociationThe National Communication Association advances communication as the discipline that studies all forms, modes, media and consequences of communication through humanistic, social scientific and aesthetic inquiry.
- International Communication AssociationICA is an academic association for scholars interested in the study, teaching, and application of all aspects of human and mediated communication.
- National Association of BroadcastersThe National Association of Broadcasters is the voice for the nation's radio and television broadcasters.
- Ohio Newspaper AssociationA state trade association which represents all of Ohio’s daily newspapers and weekly newspapers which qualify for periodicals class mail privileges.
- Ohio Association of BroadcastersWith approximately 95% of Ohio TV stations and 80% of Ohio radio stations as members, OAB advocates on behalf of Ohio’s broadcast industry in Washington and in Columbus.
Suggested Websites
- Pew Research Center's Project for Excellence in JournalismThe Pew Research Center's Project for Excellence in Journalism is dedicated to trying to understand the information revolution. We specialize in using empirical methods to evaluate and study the performance of the press, particularly content analysis.
- Chronicling AmericaSearch America's historic newspaper pages from 1836-1922 or use the U.S. Newspaper Directory to find information about American newspapers published between 1690-present.
- Ohio Memory Project CollectionsBrowse a list of the collections contained within the Ohio Memory Project.
- News Media AllianceFocuses on the key challenges and opportunities of today’s news environment: Freedom of the press, public policy and legal matters, advertising growth, new revenue streams and audience development across all platforms
Identifying Quality Information
People write for many different reasons - to inform, entertain, persuade, mislead, satirize, describe, etc. and the quality of the information can depend on the reason it was written or shared. Information changes as new facts, data, and knowledge comes to light. In an academic assignment, it is important to use information that is reliable, accurate, objective, and up-to-date. You will need to evaluate each source you locate, to determine if it is something that will support or contradict your thesis and/or topic. You will look at more sources than you need, and that is okay, and encouraged! The more sources you read, the more informed you are about the topic and can pick the best resources for your assignment.
Below is a list of videos, eBooks, and websites that can help you evaluate information and sources.
- Evaluating Information: Media Sources - Video Playlist6 part video series
Learn strategies for evaluating sources whether you find them on the Internet, in the library, or in the library’s databases. - Evaluating Sources Using the SIFT Model - eBook"One of the biggest challenges that writers face is finding credible sources. Mike Caulfield created the SIFT acronym to describe four moves that writers should make to evaluate their sources."
- Choosing & Using Sources: A Guide to Academic Research by Teaching & Learning, Ohio State University Libraries - eBookSection 6: Evaluating Information includes chapters on thinking critically, evaluating for relevancy and credibility, and identifying degree of bias.
- How to Spot Fake News Infographic"IFLA has made this infographic with eight simple steps (based on FactCheck.org’s 2016 article How to Spot Fake News) to discover the verifiability of a given news-piece in front of you." -- IFLA
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