Understanding and interpreting environmental information is an important first step in making positive, creative change towards sustainability.

Unlike a few years ago, we are now confronted with a tsunami of information on virtually every topic

AN INFORMATION TSUNAMI

TREN Assignment 1:

Assignment overview

TODAY:

Information Retrieval in Tourism, Environment and Sustainability:Marcie Jacklin, James Gibson Library

Environmental News and the Media: Doug Draper, Niagara at Large

TREN Assignment 1:Understanding Environmental Issues and Information Sources

Assignment overview

TREN Assignment 1:

Assignment overview

Purpose

This assignment will: a) help you master the skills and

techniques of information retrieval, and

b) evaluate the quality and usefulness of the information you collect.

It will also acquaint you with the APA citation style.

Topic

Any environmental issue that has a sustainable development or environmental policy dimension.

You may choose a tourism topic, but the environmental dimension of your topic must be obvious.

Don’t be too narrow or too broad!

Task

Part 1

Identify what sources of information are available to thoroughly investigate the topic

List a selection of scholarly and non-scholarly information sources on the topic

Task

Part 2

Compare how your selected issue is treated in popular media and the academic / scholarly literature by answering a series of questions.

Due date

By midnight on

Monday 29 October 2012

Marcie Jacklin

Due date

DOUG DRAPER

DOUG DRAPER

Award-winning Niagara-based journalist since 1978

Niagara This Week column covered a range of environmental, social and political issues at the local, provincial and national level

Environmental reporter for the St. Catharines Standard

Editor of Niagara at Large

DOUG DRAPER

That journalism is a public trust that plays a vital role in providing citizens with the information they need to participate effectively in discussions and decisions that shape the future of their community.

DOUG DRAPER

That journalists can only fulfill their potential as honest brokers of information and watchdogs for their community if their work is not compromised by the pecuniary interests of corporate chains.

DOUG DRAPER

That independent sources of news, owned and operated by people who have roots in our communities and therefore share a greater stake in their well-being, are truer guardians of the public trust than distant corporate owners and their shareholders.

DOUG DRAPER

That residents of the greater Niagara region would welcome a news source with an eye to covering events and issues of interest and concern to the entire region.