Research, Copyright, and Ethics

In preparation for the research paper you’ll be writing for this class, we’ll discuss effective Internet search techniques, copyright restrictions (both for materials you find online, and materials of yours that you publish electronically), and academic ethics (specifically understanding and avoiding plagiarism).

Readings on Research, Copyright, and Ethics

Research on the Internet

• Finding Information on the Internet - This tutorial presents the substance of the Internet Workshops offered year-round by the Teaching Library at the University of California at Berkeley.
• Thinking Critically About WWW Resources - The World Wide Web has a lot to offer, but not all sources are equally valuable or reliable. Here are some points to consider when evaluating what you’ve found online.

Copyright Law and Interpretation

• Copyright Basics - Fair Use - A general introduction to the concept of Fair Use of copyrighted documents.
• What Can You Register? - Good overview of what qualifies for copyright protection (and what doesn’t).
• Web Pages and Copyright - What can you and can’t you copyright about a web page?
• Creative Commons Licenses - Introduction to the Creative Commons licensing approach—which allows you to give up some, but not all, of your intellectual property rights.
• Tim Hadley on Creative Commons Implications - A lawyer analyzes the impact of using a CC license on a weblog.

Ethics and Academic Honesty

• Avoiding Plagiarism: Mastering the Art of Scholarship - A tutorial from UC Davis that clarifies what constitutes plagiarism, and shows proper vs improper citing methods.
• Plagiarism: What It Is, and How to Recognize and Avoid It - A similar resource from Indiana University
• IT Department Academic Dishonesty Policy
• RIT Academic Honesty Policy

In-Class Exercise: Internet Research

Begin by choosing a name from the list below:

Using the various Internet search tools we discussed in class, see if you can find the following information about the person you chose. Post the results of your research as a comment to this post.

1. Why do you think they made this list? (What did they do? What makes them noteworthy?)
2. What are they doing now?
3. When and where were they were born?
4. Have they written any articles or books in the past five years? If so, what?
5. What do they look like? (Find a photo and provide the URL to it.)

Discussion Question: DRM

What is DRM? (In the context of copyright, please.)

Provide two examples of DRM implentations currently in use.