CTS - information skills and formats of information session

We started off this session by ranking different types of formats into a hierarchy. However, there were not enough categories to arrange the flyers so we could not complete the task successfully. Afterwards, we did some reading and had to answer questions about its context. My group came across two questions that we struggled with: describe the quality and reproduction of the text and image, as well as, do the quality and reproduction reflect the context of the article? When doing these questions we were not sure of how to approach them.

The first question made us think whether it was to do with reproduction outside of England or whether the format they were put in would change a person’s perception. From my experience living in the Middle East, I know that images on products that could be seen as provocative would be unacceptable to display in, for example, a store so the image would appear differently in comparison to how it would be seen in a western country. Due to Arab countries following laws derived from religious Islamic influences. “This can be seen in the rules set by the UAE National Media Council, which regulates media companies, stating that advertisements cannot “blaspheme” Islamic beliefs or “offend the economic system of the State.”(FAQ”. National Media Council. The United Arab Emirates. Retrieved 10 October2017.)

In terms of the other question, describe the quality and reproduction of the text and image. We noticed that depending on the source we were given for example a magazine or newspaper, the user could have a different impression of what they view. A newspaper gives off the impression that the information is more legitimate than if it was to come from a magazine. This could be as a result of a newspapers’ purpose is off to inform the general public of the news, on the other hand, a magazines’ purpose is to entertain the reader so information could be a bit exaggerated. As of the quality, the glossy pages of a magazine are no comparison to of a newspaper and this quality translates to the price of the product.