Resources
APA Formatting and Style
Plagiarism is an issue treated with the upmost seriousness by all academic institutions. Consequently, the ability to correctly cite sources and provide references is an essential skill for all students. To assist with your academic work, the following websites have been vetted for recommended reading.
- The official American Psychological Association site includes frequently asked questions, guidelines, tutorials, and a variety of other in-depth resources for understanding APA style.
American Psychological Association - The Purdue Online Writing Lab is a well respected site used by both students and instructors alike.
APA Formatting and Style Guide
Business and Technology
The following sites are well established, reputable organizations that provide excellent sources of online information for those interested in contemporary business and technology trends and developments.
- Fortune Magazine is a comprehensive source of business information including market trends, technology, finance, and corporate performance. For those not already aware, the IRC carries a print copy of Fortune Magazine for general reading.
Fortune Magazine - The Intute: Science, Engineering, and Technology specializes in providing online information about the physical sciences for students and researchers. A wide range of subjects are covered including computing.
Intute: Science, Engineer, and Technology - Small Business BC provides business information of interest to people of British Columbia. This site is particularly useful for those looking for support and guidance on how to start a new, successful business.
Small Business BC - Technology Review is an online version of the well-known publication by MIT (Massachusetts institute of Technology). Articles on information technology, biotechnology, nanotechnology, and business are available to read or download. There is also a link to blogs for the more adventurous researcher. A link to the MIT News page gives updates on what is going on at the prestigious technology school.
Technology Review
Copyright Information
A common question that arises throughout the academic year from both students and faculty concerns the ability to copy various materials within the parameters of copyright legislation. To assist with understanding copyright laws in Canada, the following resources have been vetted for recommended reading.
- For primary source information, visit the Department of Justice to view Canada’s current Copyright Act (R.S., 1985, c.C-42).
Copyright Act - For a broader, more comprehensive understanding of copyright policy in Canada, visit the Canadian Heritage website for a wide range of resources.
Canadian Heritage - The Canadian Intellectual Property Office provides extensive information on copyright circulars; patents; trademarks; copyrights; and industrial designs, as well as, resources for understanding international intellectual property law.
Canadian Intellectual Property Office - Concordia University provides a more comprehensive guide, particularly in the area of using digital media formats.
Concordia University Copyright Guide - The University of the Fraser Valley is not one of our partner institutions; however, their website has a very succinct, user-friendly guide for answering basic questions about copyright regulations. Of particular relevance to the digital media industry are the sections on Digital Rights, Computer Programs, and Feature Films.
UFV Copyright Guide
Film, Animation, and Documentary Sites
The following sites were selected based on their popular recognition as industry representatives. No further objective criteria was used to vet their merits for inclusion.
- Allmovie aims to list and rate all feature movies, provide credits, and related information for over 220,000 films. A wonderful site for finding titles, complete actor/actress credits, or production crew lists.
Allmovie - Internet Movie Database offers the largest movie database currently online. The site also includes photo galleries and contemporary movie news.
IMDB - The Internet Archive is a 501(c)(3) non-profit that was founded to build an Internet library. Its purpose is to offer permanent access for researchers, historians, scholars, people with disabilities, and the general public to historical collections that exist in digital format. The Internet Archive includes texts, audio, moving images, and software as well as archived web pages, and is working to provide specialized services related to training, education, or adaptive reading or information access needs of the blind or other persons with disabilities.
Internet Archives - Metacritic is one of the largest, most comprehensive online resources for critical information about digital media productions. In addition to video games, television, and music, Metacritic also provides reviews for films and videos.
Metacritic - The National Film Board of Canada supports and archives the production of Canadian animation, documentaries, experimental films and alternative dramas. This site is a showcase for films that take a stand on issues of global importance that matter to Canadians – stories about the environment, human rights, international conflict, the arts and more. These are works that push the boundaries, give a voice to the underrepresented, and build bridges between cultures. The NFB collection contains over 700 full-length films, trailers and clips online, free for personal use and on a subscription basis for schools and institutions.
National Film Board of Canada
Gaming Sites
The following gaming sites have been selected based on their popular recognition as industry representatives. No further objective criteria was used to vet their merits for inclusion.
- Allgame is a comprehensive database of all video games released for any digital media platform. The site provides bibliographic information, reviews, screen shots, credits, ratings, and more.
Allgame - GameSpot has spent 15 years online providing gaming news to the community. This site provides game reviews, cheats, FAQs, new release information, top game lists, and more.
GameSpot - Launched in 2002, GameTrailers has evolved into a leading internet broadcaster for the video game industry. The site contains high-resolution video trailers and gameplay, reviews, top media lists, cheats, and more.
GameTrailers.com - IGN Entertainment Games is currently the most visited gaming website online containing guides, cheats, and news for contemporary video games for all major platforms.
IGN Entertainment Games - Metacritic is a well established and reputable website for information and reviews that pertain to video games, movies, television shows, and music.
Metacritic - NowGamer is a relatively new site established by Imagine Publishing. It offers the latest news, reviews, previews, videos and opinions by and for serious gamers.
NowGamer
Industry Innovations
The following sites were selected based on industry recognition as notable innovations in digital media production and content.
- BBC World Class is an initiative to bring the benefits of international school linking to schools all across the UK. This site provides a central resource for partner organizations intended to facilitate and support school linking. Winner of the One World Media awards, 2009.
BBC World Class - As an innovation way to promote Assassin’s Creed II, Ubisoft created 3 short films based on its game for release on the popular video-sharing website YouTube. Such a marketing ploy may be speculated as an attempt to reach a wider, more diverse population of potential consumers while generating fan support through cultural immersion with its product.
Part 1 , Part 2 , Part 3. - The Dream Machine is a classic point-and-click puzzle adventure game, implemented in Flash. What makes this game stand apart from the rest however are its graphic images which have been created from environments composed of clay and cardboard, much like the 1996 PC game The Neverhood. The Dream Machine was a 2011 IGF nominee in the Excellence in Visual Art category. The first chapter is freeware, but payment is required to access the full game. Available online for Windows, Mac, or Linux.
The Dream Machine - Traces of Hope is an online game developed by the British Red Cross as part of Civilians and Conflict Month in October 2008. This is a serious game based on the real life experiences of millions of people around the world who struggle with the consequences of armed conflict and displacement. The story starts five years after the vicious war in Northern Uganda. It is your task to help the lead character, Joseph, to reunite with this mother. The game amalgamates storytelling, detective work, technology and treasure-hunt style techniques into a compelling 21st century narrative. Winner of the One World Media awards, 2009.
Traces of Hope - SuperBetter is an unusual, innovative game that helps you recover from any illness or injury, or achieve any health goal, by increasing your personal resilience. Resilience means staying curious, optimistic and motivated even in the face of the toughest challenges. SuperBetter creates a private, online space where your closest friends and family become allies in your adventure toward health and wellness. The game is played in two parts: First, a set of 7 guided missions that create the foundation for your journey. Then, an open-ended, self-guided adventure that you play with your family and friends in the real world-not a virtual environment-in an effort to achieve your health goals.
SuperBetter
Music
The following sites were selected based on their popular recognition as industry representatives. No further objective criteria was used to vet their merits for inclusion.
- Allmusic is an ongoing project to review and rate all genres of music in various media formats. Information is provided by the All Media Guide editorial staff, freelance writers, and music experts from around the world. The site includes descriptive, relational, and editorial content on songs as well as discographies, biographies, and ratings for various artists and groups.
Allmusic - VGMdb is video game music archive that offers a comprehensive catalogue of game albums, composers, tracklists, cover scans and other resources for researching video game music. The goal of the site is to catalogue every video game album ever released.
VGMdb
Periodicals
The following sites have been listed based on the recommends of the faculty and students attending GNWC.
- Communications of the ACM is a leading publication for the computing and information technology field. This is a highly recognized and respected source of information for emerging areas of computer science, new trends in information technology, and providing coverage of practical applications.
Communications of the ACM - Game Studies is a crossdisciplinary journal dedicated to games research. Its mission is to explore the rich cultural genre of games; to give scholars a peer-reviewed forum for their ideas and theories; and, to provide an academic channel for the ongoing discussions on games and gaming. The journal is web-published several times a year.
Game Studies
Visual Arts
The following sites were selected based on their popular recognition as industry representatives, and their abundence of online material. No further objective criteria was used to vet their merits for inclusion.
- Established in 2003, Ballistic Publishing specializes in producing digital art books designed to showcase the best digital art work to be found around the globe. Visit their site to digitally browse their books or to place orders for materials.
Ballistic Publishing - The British Museum website was developed to enable visitors to access and engage with the Museum's collection online and to provide practical information for people planning to visit the Museum.
British Museum - The Canadian Museum of Contemporary Photography was founded and affiliated with the National Gallery of Canada in January 1985. The Museum collects, manages, and displays some of Canada's best historical and contemporary art and documentary photography.
Canadian Museum of Contemporary Photography - The Guggenheim Museum refers to several museums worldwide created and operated by the Solomon R. Guggenheim Foundation. The Guggenheim is the permanent home to a renowned collection of Impressionist, Post-Impressionist, early Modern and contemporary art. This museum also frequently features special exhibitions.
Guggenheim Museum of Modern Art - The Louvre is perhaps the most renowned site in the world for maintaining a remarkable collection of historical and contemporary art work.
Louvre - The Metropolitan Museum of Art is one of the world's largest and finest art museums. Its collections include more than two million works of art spanning five thousand years of world culture, from prehistory to the present from every part of the globe.
Metropolitan Museum of Art - ODYSSEUS, the Hellenic Ministry of Culture and Tourism, is an excellent source of information on the history, archaeology, and culture of Greece with a plethora of images on prehistoric artifacts, ancient pottery, and Egyptian art.
ODYSSEUS - The Vancouver Art Gallery's collection of over 9000 works of art represents the most comprehensive resource for visual culture in British Columbia. Established in 1931 with the founding of the Gallery, the collection grows by several hundred works every year. It is a principal repository of works produced in this region, as well as related works by other Canadian and international artists.
Vancouver Art Gallery - The collection of the State Hermitage, St. Petersburg, Russia, includes more than three million works of art and artefacts of world culture. Among them are paintings, graphic works, sculptures and works of applied art, archaeological finds and numismatic material.
State Hermitage Museum - The Vatican Museums hold some of the greatest art treasures in the world from the ancient cultures of the world - Grecian, Roman, Egyptian, and Etruscan, to the religious art work of the Renaissance.
Vatican - VGMuseum is a visual emporium of video game images old and new. The website functions as an archive of screenshots and photographs chronicling the visual history of the video game industry.
VGMuseum
Other
The following sites have been listed based on the recommends of the faculty and students at GNWC.
- Conduit Mobile offers a quick and easy means for creating applications (Apps) for mobile devices without the need for coding as this is provided by the site.
Conduit Modile