Text Information and Media

1. When was the alibata started?

2. Why did they tell you that it is the earliest form of
Filipino writing?
 Objectives:
A. Describe the different dimensions of text information
and media.
B. Interpret how text information and media is/are formally
and informally produced, organized, and disseminated.
C. Evaluate the reliability and validity of text information
and media and its/their sources using selection criteria.
The ALIBATA
 Defining Text
A text is any “human-readable sequence of characters” that can form intelligible
words. It may be in the form of phonetic characters or even glyphs which are
associated with ancient writing culture. Text, when used in information technology, is
distinct from “noncharacter encoded data, such as graphic images in the form of
bitmaps and program code.” [Rouse(2015)]
Parekh (2006)
The textual medium offers an easier and more flexible use in terms of content production,
which is why it is deal for learning. Text is one of the elements of multimedia products that can
then be combined with several other elements to present information and create an impression
or impact. A text may be categorized into three:

Types of Texts (Parekh, 2006)

Consisting of fixed sized characters having essentially the same type of
Plaintext appearance
Formatted Text Appearance can be changed using font parameters
Serve to link different electronic documents and enable users to jump from one to
Hypertext the other in a nonlinear way
 Unformatted Text/Plaintext
The ASCII Table
The Extended ASCII Table
 Formatted Text
The formatting refers to the changing of the typeface of fonts such as bold, underline, italics,
superscript, subscript, shapes, font sizes, and colors. Text processing software provides such
options. Formatted text is most often used in text publishing. Printers should recognize formatted
text to achieve the appropriate appearance as generated using text processing software (Parekh,
2006)
Two generated types of fonts are the Serif (with curves, such as Times New Roman, Book
Antiqua, Cambria, Copperplate Gothic Bold, and Courier New)and Sans Serif (fonts without
curves, such as Arial, Tahoma, Verdana and Calibri).
It is usually described in a unit called point (pt) which is equivalent to 1/72 of n inch. In other
cases, font size may be in terms of pixel, which is “the basic unit of programmable color on a
computer display or in a computer image.” Spaces between fonts are adjusted through kerning
(changing the horizontal gap between the characters), or leading (changing the vertical gaps
between two lines of text). Special effects such as bending, slanting, warping, rotating, adding
shadows and 3D effects, or text manipulation through animation (scrolling, fading, changing colors,
adding sound effects) may also enhance the formatted text (Parekh, 2006)
 Hypertext
The principle of hypertext makes use of linking a text to another text “in such a way
that the user can navigate non-sequentially from one document to the other for cross-
references”. These texts link several Web pages together.
The underlined text string is the anchor, while the document to which the user was
directed to is the target document.
The target documents are assigned with a Web site address known as Uniform
Resource Locators (or URL).
 A word processor is any computer software used to “produce, edit, and format mainly text-
based documents [such as] writing letters, memos, reports, creating letterheads, producing labels,
etc.’’
Learning to type required mastery of the QWERTY key that is also similar to keyboards
attached to the personal computers and even messaging applications.
Typewriters offered limited set of formatting when it comes to typography, which refers to the
general character or appearance of printed matter.
Text are kept in a different file formats. A file format refers to the digital document or
information that is stored in a computer as a sequence of bits and bytes. You would normally
recognize the file format by looking at the extension at the file name.
Table 12.2 Common File Formats (Parekh 2006)
TXT (text) • Unformatted text document created by an editor such as Notepad on Windows platform
• A native format for storing documents created by MS word package
DOC (document) • Contains a rich set of formatting capabilities

• Cross platform document exchange; default format for Mac OS X’s default editor TextEdit
RTF (Rich Text • WordPad editor earlier created RTF files by default although now it has switched to the DOC format
Format)
• Developed by Adobe system for cross platform exchange of documents supports images and graphics
• An open standard and anyone may write programs that can read and write PDF’s without any associated
PDF (Portable royalty charges.
Document Format)

• A page description language used mainly for desktop publishing

PS (PostScript) - Page description language is a high-level language that can describe the contents of a page such that
it can be accurately displayed on output devices usually a printer
 Visual
Information
ooo and
Media
 Visual Information entails the use of visual media (that may or may not be
accompanied with audio/sound) in the forms of photographs, motion pictures,
video recordings, graphic arts, visual aids and other displays that use pictorial
representations (Dictionary of Military and Associated Terms, 2005).
Images (pictures that depict some real world situation typically captured by
a camera) or,
Graphics (pictures drawn or painted that depict any fictitious scenario)
(Parekh, 2006)
 What is an Image?

An image is a type of visual information that you normally see as either “pure black and white or
grayscale having a number of gray shades or color containing a number of color shades”
 Indigenous Media as Tool for Expression
and Participation
Information offered by indigenous media is primarily to “open up other spaces for the discussion of indigenous
peoples’ issues (AIPP, 2005).” New media and ICT infrastructures have dramatically helped boost community media
in certain parts of the ASEAN region “providing the opportunity for extending communication outreach in remote
rural areas.” The AIPP added that the indigenous youth of some ASEAN countries are exploring online platforms
such as social media for their news and information consumption.
In the ASEAN region, there are indigenous organizations that have initiated the promotion of freedom of
expression and have increased access to information among indigenous peoples (IPs).
Northern Dispatch Weekly, or NORDIS, which is a weekly newspaper covering the Ilocos region, Cordilleras,
and the Cagayan Valley region – places where indigenous communities in Northern Luzon Live. NORDIS extends its
effort for media to reach IPs and the rural communities .
 The Library as repository of
Information
“in which literary, musical, artistic, or reference materials (as books,
manuscript, recordings, or films) are kept for use but not for sale (Merriam-
Webster Online Dictionary).” Libraries came into existence because of the birth
of printing press.
Libraries are evaluated on the extent of their collection of materials and the
kinds and the quality of services the offer to information seekers. Libraries are
expected to select and provide you contents that are easy to access. Libraries are
considered to be stewards of good information collection.
 - Libraries bought books (which they then owned), organized them, made them available
through library facilities, took steps to ensure the longevity of the volumes for future use… libraries
acquire and secure ownership of digital content (typically through license), store the content on local
servers and make it accessible to a target community. Libraries attempt, as protocol's permit, to
ensure long-term access to the digital collection through license conditions and through practices to
create back up and redundancy, and to migrate the content over time. In a variation of the model,
some libraries host commercial content or centrally manage content of other campus units. In both of
these cases, the classic collection stewardship model is sustained largely intact. A defining
characteristics of this traditional model is the library’s ability to exercise primary responsibility for and
the content and future access to that Resources.
- Council on Library and Information Resources
• The main role of a library is to organize and provide you access to information. This role is
no longer static or limited to purely collecting physical materials for archiving. It has
extended to acquiring new modes of providing information such as the use of digital sources
and facilities that utilize media. A library is a one place where you can expect new search
strategies to be employed, thus, motivating information seekers like you to be more adept in
effectively and efficiently locating information.
• Libraries are no longer limited to being repositories of informational materials.
• “Library facilities also serve a social function, providing a common ground for users to
interact or a neutral site for individuals from different disciplines to come together.
 Media as Information Tools
• Apart from indigenous knowledge and library sources, media also provides
information as previously stated in the earlier modules in this unit.
Media Type/ Form PROS CONS
• Portable/transferable information • “Print is Dead” or is it?
• Affordable by volume, depending on • Costly typesetting and design
size of print run • Costly publication in multilingual
• Enduring medium that can last for editions
many years • Expensive storage and shipping
• Ideal for content that may not • Prohibitively expensive
Books change drastically over time
(historical, academic works,
reprinting/revising of outdated
information
catalogues of cultural artifacts/works • Environmental issues
of art)
Media Type/ Form PROS CONS
• Loyal (but shrinking) readership • Newspaper valid only for a day
• Target a geographical area • Message can be lost (most papers
Magazines and • Can be shared with others have more than 60% advertising)
Inserts and leaflets attract attention • Magazines have niche audiences
Newspaper •

• Reaches many demographics, literate • Expensive production

or illiterate • May or may not hold interest/
• Can be entered in local/ international attention
Cinema film festivals and competitions for
further exposure

• Trusted medium with loyal followers • Niche market: stations cater to

• Community radio has loyal audiences specific type of listeners
interested in local activities • Audience will tune out
• National broadcast can carry messages • Background medium (hard to hold
Radio for nationwide events attention)
• Difficult to incite action (hard to
remember broadcasted contact
details or website URLs)
Media Type/ Form PROS CONS

• Quickly spreads the message on • Expensive

different channels and times of day
• Improve credibility
• Best suited for large-scale
Television communications activities
• Main point of contact between user
and audience
• Acts as a hub for all other
activities/content
(audio/video/text/events/social media
aggregator)
World Wide Web • Easy to access from multiple platforms
• 24/7 interaction with target audiences
• Short message that must be repeated
to sink in
• Advertisements can be skipped
through PVRs (Personal Video
Recorders)
• Traditional TV is less watched by
younger People
• Perceived difficulty to set up
• High cost maintenance (constant
updating)
• Information control
Media Type/ Form PROS
• Reach the correct audience through
hashtags/following relevant groups
• Attract large number of people in
short time
• Drive traffic to other communications
actions
Social Media • Bring people together
• Gather information about target
• Easy feedback
• Place for real-life experiences to be
changed
• Give a voice to timid people
CONS
• Very time consuming to engage
directly with followers
• Need to keep content fresh across
platforms to stay visible
• Cannot control the message or how
people react to online contents
• Campaigns can get hijacked by
detractors
• Bad news can go viral
• Mistakes happen in real tine with
thousands of witnesses
• Negative feedback cannot be
ignored
• Do not capture tone