AO1- Assessment of Information Sources

Personal Accounts

"Somehow fate put us together"- Stanley Praimnath and Brian Clark

After listening the story of Stanley and Brian, I picked up on some points of the story.
I found out, by listening to it, that they both worked in the south tower on the 81st (Stanley) and the 84th (Brian) floor.
Brian was an Executive Vice President for Euro brokers, whereas Stanley worked for Fiji Bank Ltd. When the plane hit the south tower, Brain felt it sway west towards the Hudson river, then back upright in a space of 5 seconds. They were both terrified that the building would collapse.
After the plane hit, Brian made his way down the stairs led by his flashlight, and followed by six others. They got down to the 81st floor, where Stanley was trapped. He heard someone shouting, 'Help i'm buried. I can't breathe. Is anyone there?!', which was heard by Brain.
Stanley had to climb over a sheet wall that was standing in the way of both men. They saw each other as brothers.
When they got out, they got separate by the smoke of the falling tower and Brian believed that Stanley wasn't real and was a guardian angel, until he pulled out his business card given to him just before.

My thoughts on this are, that Brian and Stanley feel lucky to be alive, and that fate had brought them together to become brothers.


"They gave us little painters' masks- they lied to us"- Jim Riches

When listening to this story, I made some points on it and my thoughts.
I found out, that Jim Riches is a fire fighter, and his son (also a fire fighter)  was on of the first on sight after thye plane hit. Unfortunately, he died in the wreckage when the building collapsed.

Assessment of Information Sources

Films

Saving Private Ryan

Assessment of source

The film I am assessing is Saving Private Ryan. This film is about a regiment of soldiers going off on a mission behind enemy lines to bring back a paratrooper, Pvt James Francis Ryan, whose brothers had been KIA (Killed in Action). It is set in Normandy and is based on the true story of the invasion of Normandy, WWII.

Strengths

The strengths of films like this are that it gives people a rough idea about what the war was like and gives them a 3rd person view of it. Also, most of them are based on true stories and are quite reliable. Another strength, is that these films are very easily accessible to all. You can find them online, in shops (e.g. Blockbusters, HMV etc.).

Weaknesses

Weaknesses of films like this one are that some directors, like the one in this film, use artistic license to make the plot more interesting and to 'fill in the gaps'. Also, sometimes, they make it unrealistic, by adding in some comedy, or action to make it more appealing to the audiences.

Examples in Public Services

In the Army, they could use the films while recruiting, or educating pupils in schools. This may make people think about going out, being heroes and making new friends, as well as seeing the action and wanting to be a part of it.

Evidence

I got most of this information from http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0120815/.

I also got some from http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Saving_Private_Ryan

5 Days of War

Assessment of source

Another film I am assessing, is '5 Days of War', which is about an American journalist, his cameraman and a Georgian native caught in the cross fire in the war between Russia and Georgia in 2008. There mission was to get out of the country with the footage of the violence to raise awareness of it. It is based on the true events of what happened in the war.

Strengths

Strengths about this film, is that, because it is based on a true story, it gives a good idea of what it was like to be in Georgia at the time of that war, and how terrifying it was. Also, because it's true, it has to be very realistic with the details to get an exact picture of what it was like. This film is easily accessible as you can get it from the Internet, and any shop that sells DVDs/videos. As it is a new film that came out this year, it will be new in shops.

Weaknesses

Weaknesses of this film, is that it is not AS realistic as over war films, as maybe they couldn't get the point of view from both sides, unlike 'Flags of our Fathers' and 'Letters from Iwo Jima' which gives the story from the Americans and Japanese respectively. It also has a bit of 'artistic license' as there may be some parts where they didn't know what happened (or when nothing happen), so to make it more interesting, they adding in some drama and action to keep the audiences interested.

Example in Public Services

The Army could use this in their recruitment process, and education process to teach the younger generation about the wars and what goes on in case they want to get involved and want to know what they do in the Army.

Evidence

I got some information from http://www.imdb.com/title/tt1486193/, and other parts from http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/5_Days_of_War.

Personal Accounts

Assessment of source
Personal accounts are where people who were involved in the incident reflect and tell there story of what happened to them and maybe people around them. An example of this is the personal account of Jim Riches, a fire fighter who lost his son, also a fire fighter, when the south tower collapsed in the 9/11 attacks. He told the BBC what he was doing at the time and what happened when he got there, and that his son was one of the first fire fighters there and didn't make it out of the building in time.
Strengths

Strengths of personal accounts, are that they are very accurate as the people telling it were actually there at the time and will remember what they saw, smelt, felt on that day. They will also tell it in a lot of detail so you can get a picture of what it was like. They also tell it with emotion and make you fill how they felt, mostly sad and scared because of how they put it.

An example of this
Weaknesses

Weaknesses of these accounts, would be; there would be a risk of over-exaggeration where the person telling the story could try and make it seem more heroic if talking about themselves, or making others seem more heroic (family members of friends). Also, if it has been a while since the event, they will forget some and not remember, or even miss things when they were there.

An example of this, was when Brian Clark said he had six people following him, when they could have all just been walking in that direction and coincidentally walked behind him.
Evaluation
Overall, I think personal accounts are one of, or probably the strongest sources to listen to in order to get as close to the truth as possible. You can get the first hand story from someone who actually witnessed it instead of a movie about who add things in that didn't happen.

Documentaries

Assessment of Source
Another source we are looking into is documentaries. These are short 'films' where nonfictional motion pictures intend to document some aspects of reality, primarily for the purposes of instruction or maintaining a historical record. For example, a recent documentary about the IED bomb squad was intended to show us what the bomb squad as a whole do and what it is like to be apart of them.
Strengths
The strengths of showing something like this are, that you will get a first hand view on what happened as the person who may of been involved will be telling his/her story with actual footage or a reinactment to show what they are talking about it so you can get a picture in your head of all the details. Also, the people telling the story will always tell the truth, but may bend it abit.
Weaknesses
In the documentary, they may not have footage and have to reinact it. In this case, they will be going on the words of the witness, but they may mix up the truth abit to make them sound more like heroes, like personal accounts. Also, the witness may forget some important parts as he may not have seen them. Another weakness may be if you get the story from a few people, they may all be different, which means someone will be lying, or they just remember it differently.
Evaluation

Overall, I think that documentaries are a primary source of information because you can get the story from people who were actually there, instead of sources from things like the internet or films etc. Although they could make some of it up, they tend not to so everyone can imagine exactly what it was like for them and evryone involved. You can get alot of information from asking someone involved because they would have witnessed it first hand, although they may not remember everything.

Pictures

Assessment of source

The next source we are looking at, is pictures. A specific example of this, is pictures taken of soldiers during the Second World War. These can give us a good look at the conditions soldiers had to fight in during wars and how hard it looks. For example the picture on the left, underneath shows a lot of British soldiers marching during the Second World War, and shows that they were focused on getting to the position they needed to get. The next one along shows the American soldiers claiming Iwo Jima as their own land after 'defeating' the Japanese.

Strengths
The strengths of sources like pictures, are that you have photographic evidence of the war time. They are real life, not make belief, as sources such as drawings could not be realistic and completely different to what it was really like. In pictures, you can see what the scenery was like, and the conditions they had to work in which makes he source a primary source.

Weaknesses

Whilst a picture is good for showing what the conditions were like, they don't show you what it was actually like for the soldiers throughout the war, like the fighting, casualties, weather, attacks etc. It can only show you a fixed point of the war, not a 'scene' form the war.

Evaluation

Overall, I think that pictures would be a primary source, because it can actually show you evidence of what was happening in the war. Most pictures will show a lot of what was going on, from the scenery, to what the weather was in those days. After personal accounts, pictures is the second best source of information to get a story of what was happening.

Drawings

Assessment of source

The source we are looking at now, is drawings. Specifically, I'm looking at drawings from World War II. These are sketches people have done during the World War whilst there. It's like a picture, but have been drawn instead. It will show the same sort of information as a picture, but not in as much detail.

Strengths

The strengths of these, like pictures, is that it will show you most of the details of what was happening at the war as the artist was at the scene painting/sketching it. Also, it is almost photographic evidence what was happening, so instead of hearing about it from personal accounts, you can see what was happening (sort of).

Weaknesses

The big weakness is that because it is a drawing, it could have a big chance of being over exaggerated. The artist may just of wanted to make his picture stand out more, or it could be very accurate, you will never know unless maybe you ask the artist.

Evaluation

Overall, I think that drawings are a secondary source, as it doesn't always give you an accurate idea of what it was like. Sometimes they are exactly what they are meant to look like, but sometimes the artist will make them look more exciting, just like films adding in extra parts to make it more entertaining.

Human Remains

Assessment of source

Human remains is the remains (bones, teeth or maybe skin, hair) that are found from a deceased human body. Doctors who perform post mortems on bodies can determine how they died, where they died, and maybe even who killed them.
Strengths
The strengths of using human remains are that, even if the body is fully decomposed, forensic sciencist can still tell who they are from dental records because teeth never decompose. If the body has only been dead for a short while, a post mortem on the body can determine when the person died, how he/she died. They can also tell what the person is like by the injuries sustained to the dead body (if he/she was murdered). For example, if the 'victim' was stabbed, they can tell what handed the person is by the angle of the stab.

Weaknesses

Although there are a lot of strengths to human remains, there are some weaknesses, like you won't know what people around the dead person were doing before he/she died, or the envirnoment he/she may have been killed in (if murdered). Also, when showing family members, it would really upset them.
Evaluation
Overall, I think that human remains are a primary source, because you can determine what happened to the body and how it happened by examining the body, even if it has decomposed. Although it doesn't tell you what happened around him/her, you can still tell alot from the way the body was found, to maybe the injuries suffered.

CD Rom

Assessment of Source

A CD Rom is a compact disc that contains data accessible to, but not writable by, a computer for mostly data storage. It was produced to replace the encyclopedia books. You can get information from this for a event that has happened before the CD Rom was made, and it will show alot of factual information. They will be very reliable, because if the writer makes things up about the event, people involved can sue them for liability and slander.

Strengths

The strengths of a CD Rom, is that it will mostly be factual and have specialist information about the event. On a CD Rom as well, it will be much easier to find the information you are looking for. As in books, you have to look through all the pages to find it, whereas on a CD Rom, you can put it in the search bar and it will come up straight away. All the information will be reliable and factual at the time of release, but useless after if something else happens. Also, it is easier to store away and to access.

Weaknesses

Weaknesses of a CD Rom, are that it only has a limited amount of information because it cannot be updated. Although it is more likely to be reliable, some of the information could be unreliable and inaccurate and you won't know. Unlike books, CD's are easy to snap and they will cost more than books to replace if you do break them.

Evaluation

Overall, I think CD Roms are a secondary source of information, because you cannot update the information on it, so after a couple of days, you will need to get a knew updated on to keep up with information. It is also easier than the rest to break or snap.

Internet

Assessment of Sources

Another source of information is the Internet. It is a global system of interconnected computer networks that serve billions of users worldwide. It is a 'network of networks' that consists of millions of private and public networks, of local to global scope.

Strengths
The strengths of using the internet for information are that every second, it is being updated with the latest news so you will always be up-to-date with everything. Also, you can get the information from a vast range of sources with the most viewed (and accurate) at the top of the search. Some websites are also official (like ones ending with 'gov.uk') so you know the information is completely accurate. You can compare al the data given by the different websites to find things other websites may not have added to get that little extra detail. As well as the most accurate data being at the top, so are the most current additions.

Weaknesses

Even though having a vast range of sources is good, it can also be bad, because there may be too many sources to look at, you may not look at them all and miss something important. Also, some websites (such as wikipedia and all forum sites) allow anyone to right their opinions/answers on them, and they could put anything on there so it will be unreliable.
Evaluation

Overall, I think the internet is a primary source of information because it is always being updated and fresh information is always avaliable to look at and read. Although there are alot of sources, probably even too many, you will be able to find what you are looking for no matter what you are looking for.

Official Records

Assessment of Source
Official records are records that are legally recognized and of enforceable quality of establishing a fact. Official records are kept for their full retention period. They can be of events, individuals, or buildings. There are national archives and government archives. The government ones are to do with the goverment and national are to do with everything else. After every event, whether it's to do with the Government or public services, they have to fill out forms saying where it was, when  it happened, what they did, what they used etc.

Strengths
The strengths of official records are that they are very reliable and tell you every little detail of the event. You can tell if they are real because the website will always end in '.gov.uk' as anyone trying to make a website ending in this and isn't part of the government, the website will be shut down straight away. Also, all the documents and records are backed by the government to keep them safe. For example, the national archive website ends in '.gov.uk' which means it's an official government site.
Weaknesses
The weaknesses of official records is cost to replace. If you do break, or lose records, it will cost alot to replace them. Also, access is a major problem because they are government records.
Evaluation
Overall, I think official records are a primary source of information, because they will tell you every little detail of the event or individual from what happened, to what they were doing at the time. Although the information is limited, you can still get any information you need from a past event.



Assessment of Information Sources