Twenty
years ago, photographs were taken at face value.
A photograph could serve as evidence for what it pictured – that
certain people or things had been in a particular place, together, at a
particular time, doing particular activities.
Moreover, twenty years ago, well-established publishing houses – for
books, research journals, government documents, and magazines – established
criteria for validating and authenticating the materials they printed.
A publishing house imprint carried meaning about the level and rigor of
review for the content – with some imprints conveying greater rigor (e.g., The
MIT Press) than others (e.g., The National Inquirer).
In this world, while not perfect, one could to a reasonable degree assess
at a glance the validity of the content. That’s
the upside. The downside was the
barriers to publication. If your
ideas were not “accepted” or “validated” by the various review boards,
your options for publication and dissemination could be limited.
A case in point: Albert Einstein’s original paper on relativity was
turned down by numerous scientific and mathematical journals.
Enter
the digital age and the World Wide Web. This
technology provides unprecedented opportunities for self-publishing and freedom
of expression. If Einstein was
alive today, he could post his findings on relativity on a Web site and his
ideas would instantly be available to billions of individuals across the globe.
That’s the upside. But
with unchecked self-publishing comes the downside of unvalidated content.
How is the typical user who down loads a page from the Web to distinguish
between the careful considerations of a scientist like Einstein and those of an
amateur science fiction writer? Or
if the user is looking for travel information or stock recommendations, or
whatever you wish to fill in here, how is the user to know that information is
current, accurate, and complete? With
the advent of digital images that can be easily manipulated (and as you will
experience first hand in lab next week), even photographs that previously might
have served as “supporting evidence” are called into question.
In
such a world with tremendous possibilities for self-expression and challenges
for assessing content, how are we to make discriminating judgments about the
content we encounter? What are the
ethical limits on how content should be manipulated?
Project 1 is designed to help you engage with these questions as you
embrace opportunities for your own self-expression online.
In
this project, your challenge is to create a Web site of
“misinformation” that appears as authentic as possible to the
user. That is, while the
content of your Web site will be questionable, everything else about your Web
site should convey the opposite. An
overview of the project is a follows: (1) First, locate a digital photograph
from an online or other source. (2)
Using Photoshop, modify that photograph in a subtle but significant way.
(3) Create some text to support your modified image.
(4) Put your text and image together on a Web site that appears as
authentic as possible. (5) Test
your Web site with at least two individuals to see how successful you are at
conveying the authenticity of your “fictional” content.
Objectives
To design and implement a Web site using HTML
To manipulate a photograph in Photoshop
To experience first hand the ease with which “misinformation” can be
made available online
To become aware of and systematically explore the “cues” that users
may use to assess the content of a Web site
To conduct user testing to evaluate your Web site
To reflect on the challenges for misinformation online
Ultimately, to become an appropriately cautious user of online
information
Copyright
and Fair Use of Text and Images
Images
and other files and content on the Internet are protected in the same way as
print materials and photographs. Use
of digital images for purposes of alteration and display on the Internet has
limited coverage under the conditions of fair use [http://www.benedict.com/basic/fairuse/fairtest.htm].
Public
Domain [http://www.benedict.com/basic/public/public.htm]
items are those in which the copyright has been lost, has expired, or the author
of the work makes no copyright claims to reproductions or enhancements of the
work.
If
you use an image of a person for reasons of making a profit, you are responsible
for obtaining permission from the person or their heirs.
If you use a trademark image, you must also get permission.
Copyright
in websites: [http://www.benedict.com/digital/www/webiss.htm#Top]
Please
Recall the Class Policy on Cooperation and Collaboration
It is valuable to
work with a friend or classmate when learning a new application or working out a
problem. However, the work that you perform in FIT100 for a grade must be your
own work unless "working in groups" is explicitly allowed. How can you
work with a friend and still create your "own" web page or program or
project? In FIT100 we will use the
following rule, known as the Gilligan's Island Rule: To work with a friend on
creating a program or other artifact, you must work away from the lab, say at a
white board or using paper and pencil at a café.
(This is a good idea even if working by yourself, since few of us are
good at creating the strategy and basic structure of programs or web pages at
the PC.) When you are finished you
cannot take away any document from the meeting -- no notes, no tattoos, no white
board. Then, before going to the lab to work on your assignment, spend at least
1/2 hour in mindless activity. Watching a sitcom on TV is a good example, and Gilligan's
Island, a 1960s vintage sitcom is as mindless as they come. But, any
activity that diverts your attention from the artifact works. Later, work in the
lab on your own. The solution you create should be based on what is inside your
own head, and that is the goal of the rule.
You
may choose any content area for your Web site as long as it is in good taste and
permits comfortable viewing by everyone in the course.
If you’re unsure about the “tastefulness” of a particular content,
it is probably a good idea to choose something else.
Here are some possible ideas:
Lab
4 provides some suggestions for searching for public domain images online.
What to do:
Using the Photoshop skills you learned in Lab 6, modify the image as describe in Part 1.]
On your Web site of misinformation, replace the original image with the modified one. In addition, remove the text describing the “true” context of the image.
Using the advanced HTML skills you developed in Lab 7, continue to refine your Web site of misinformation as follows:
Write a second paragraph continuing to reinforce the authenticity of your modified image. Edit your text to increase the “credibility” of the site.
Reflect on how you evaluate a Web site and include some of those features in your Web site. For example, consider how you can use fonts, colors, spelling and grammar, presentation, textual content, and vocabulary to further enhance the “credibility” of your image.
Add a mailto link to your email address.
Create a separate Web page in which you reflect on the problem of misinformation.
Provides a disclaimer for the quality of information on your misinformation Web site.
Provide a discussion of the ethical issues concerned with conveying the accuracy, completeness and validity of the information you are presenting.
Create a link from your Web site of misinformation to this page; and a link from this page back to your Web site of misinformation.
How effective is your Web site of misinformation?
Create a copy of your Web site. On this copy, remove the misinformation title, the “bogus” logo, and the link to the disclaimer page. That way, this page will not have any “hints” about the misinformation.
Show this version of your Web site to 2 individuals. Have each person rate your Web site according to the evaluation criteria – of source, currency, verifiability, and so forth – you used in Lab.
Report your results
Write a paragraph discussing how effective your Web site was at establishing the credibility of misinformation. Add this material to your disclaimer Web page.
To
turn in each part of your project, do the following:
Turn
in the paper copy to Dowell in the reception area of the Information School on
the 3rd floor of Mary Gates Hall no later than 12 PM, noon, on the
due date. Paper copies will be
picked up at that time and no others will be accepted.