Irving Independent School District
District Technology Media Fair

  Publicity Items

General Rules 2008-2009

1. Entries may be individual or group productions. Up to two classes may work on one group entry. All group entries must include the name of each participant on the entry form at the time the entry is submitted in order for each student to receive a certificate. Otherwise, only one certificate will be prepared for the entire group. Entries of more than 5 students may not go to the state TCEA competition.

Copyright Requirements

1. Entries must adhere to all applicable copyright laws.
2. Fair Use Guidelines must be followed. Section 107 of the 1976 Copyright Act (http://www.copyright.gov/title17/92chap1.html#107) establishes limitations on the exclusive rights of copyright holders, termed “Fair Use.” These factors to be considered when determining fair use are:

1. the purpose and character of the use, including whether such use is of a commercial nature or is for nonprofit educational purposes.
2. the nature of the copyrighted work.
3. the amount and substantiality of the portion used in relation to the copyrighted work as a whole.
4. the effect of the use upon the potential market for or value of the copyrighted work.

3. All copyrighted works used outside the Fair Use Guidelines must include documented permission from the copyright owner. Examples of documented permission include:

1. Signed letters.
2. E-mails.
3. copies of web sites and/or other publications giving a blanket waiver to use the copyrighted material.

4. For public domain music or other media, no letter of permission is needed; however, the source must be cited in the bibliography.
5. The following bibliographic information required for copyright credit must include:

1. Author of original work
2. Individual title, or specific section of a collected work
3. Publisher
4. Copyright date

In compliance with federal copyright laws, if any of the listed bibliographic requirements are not included, the entry will be automatically disqualified. Entries are disqualified if information is missing, not if the form of the bibliographic information is incorrect. Note: If the information is not available, then entrant must indicate that the information was not available as part of the bibliographic information. See example (b) below, where the copyright date is not given.

Examples of correct bibliographic entries:

     a. Blau, Melinda. Whatever happened to Amelia Earhart?, Raintree     
         Children’s Books, 1977. (BOOK)

     b. “Canary-Whistle”. The BBC Sound Effects Library. Electronic Effects.
          Films for the Humanities, Princeton, N.J. no date (RECORD)

6. By entering a computer project in the Technology Media Fair, entrants agree to donate the project to public domain. Computer entries will not be returned to participants.

Submission Rules

1. Any entry submitted for the competition must have been completed in the current calendar year. Individuals submit entries from their current school. All group entries are to be submitted by the teacher at the school where the project was created.
2. One entry form must be submitted for each entry. It must be completely filled out including the students’ name(s), bibliographic information (unless a complete bibliography is included within the project), and required authentications (teacher, librarian, ITS).
3. Participants may enter more than one category, but may enter only one entry per category.
4. A script in English must be attached to all entries submitted in a language other than English.
5. All student entries must be student produced. Adult guidance and instruction are permissible in the planning stages, but the actual preparation, technical work, and production must be solely the effort of the student(s).

Note: For grades 6-adult, if an adult does the technical work (camera, sound track, etc.) in the production, the entry must be submitted in the Adult division.

Entries that represent multi-level participation by the students will be judged in the division of the oldest participant. For example, if two fifth graders are in a video with five second graders, the entry will be judged in the 4-5 division.

6. The “Explanation” section of the entry form should be composed by the student(s) who created the project. Adult supervision is allowed for editing and revising the explanation, and a scribe is allowed for the youngest students and those with special needs. Above all, student voice should be preserved in the explanation.
7. Student projects created for commercial purposes will not be eligible for state competition.
8. Student projects may not disclose full names, phone numbers, or addresses.
9. Neither the Irving ISD, the Technology Media Fair committee, nor the judges can assume any responsibility for loss or damage to any entry submitted for judging.
10. Any entry submitted which does not fit into one of the specified categories on the form will be disqualified.

Judging

1. A minimum of two judges per category will be used in the evaluation process.
2. Entries will be judged on a designated form with a point system for each specific category. Entries scoring the highest number of points and whose quality the judges feel warrants a “Place” rating will be declared the winners. For more equitable awarding of places in categories with numerous entries, blind judging of the top five entries in the category will be done after the first round of judging.
   Note: The key word is “quality”, as this may result in the judges awarding a 3^rd place rating to the only entry in a particular category if they feel that quality is lacking in the overall production.
3. Comments/Suggestions by the judges will be requested (but not required) on all entries in order that contestants can improve their entries each year.
4. Decisions of the judges will be final in the judging and/or disqualification of entries not in compliance with the rules of the Technology Media Fair.

If you have any questions, please contact your campus librarian or
your Instructional Technology Specialist.