December 12

Today the first history paper assignment is due. Topic and questions. Please remember to email me a copy.

Today you will get a glimpse of the geeky librarian world. Bibliographic control. Controlled vocabulary. Taming the wild data. Subject headings, descriptors, tags, metadata. How information is organized so that you can find what you're looking for.

And then we'll put this new understanding to use.

December 10

Yesterday most of you were introduced to the library's electronic resources, and you spent some time looking into your potential topics.

Your topic and research questions are due this week, so today we'll spend the whole time working on that. I'd like everyone to leave class today with a solid topic and at least one question that reveals the 'hook' that will become the basis for your thesis.

Please email me a copy of this first assignment when it is complete.

Friday, December 5

Today we will share our initial ideas for research topics.

We'll spend a little less than half the block doing some preliminary research on potential topics we bring to class. I'll come around for individual consultation.

Then, in groups of two we will do the following exercise:

*Student 1 will tell student 2 about a potential topic, share some information from a Wikipedia article or other general source


*Student 2 will ask questions for clarification on the topic in order to help student 1 decide whether this topic will work (where's the hook, the controversy, the mystery, etc.)

*Student 1 should write down some of the questions asked by student 2 if they seem suitable for use as a required question (assignment)

*After the first discussion has run its course the students will reverse positions and go through the process with Student 2's potential topic

Also on the Agenda: The Information Timeline (Cycle)

Wednesday, December 3

Day 1

Introduction to the class: We'll go over the information in the previous post. Why are you here? What can you expect from this class? What do I expect from you?

Then we'll get right down to the real Nitty Gritty.

- What makes a good history paper topic?
*Fresh topic, not done to death (atomic bomb, Civil War)
*Hook to a thesis. The thesis is KEY. The topic/event you choose must have some element of controversy to it. The purpose of this paper is to convince the reader of a particular point of view. In order for you to do this, there must be something that needs convincing. Example: The USO was founded in 1941 at the request of FDR for the purpose of providing morale and recreational services to military personnel. This might be an interesting topic to many people, but there's no hook unless there's some indication that it hasn't performed that service. No controversy, no paper.

- What kinds of topics interest you? civil rights, wars, environment, industry, sports, entertainment, education, technology, criminal trials, etc.

- What time period interests you? colonial, revolutionary period, westward expansion, progressive era, 60's, etc.

We will look at a couple of topics so I can model for you how to go about determining the suitability of a topic.

Research Methods Winter 08-09

Research Methods
Winter 2008-2009
E Block Wednesday, Friday (including lab)

• Introduction to the class
o What is this for?
o What will be covered?
o What are the expectations for participation?
• Goals of the class
o Support for the US History paper
o Enhancement of research skills, including:
 Selecting a topic, crafting a thesis
 Identifying appropriate information resources by means of understanding the Information Timeline (Cycle)
 Understanding the different types of information resources, including primary, secondary, tertiary
 Locating information by means of sophisticated searching techniques (subject headings, Boolean operators, descriptors, tags, metadata)
 Finding pertinent information within an information resource by means of scanning, using textual and other features (index, heading, diagrams, etc.)
 Extracting pertinent information (underlining, highlighting, 3 types of note taking)
 Organizing notes and selecting which information to use and which to discard
 Properly citing sources
o Guidance for converting raw research into:
 Outline
 Rough draft
 Final draft
 And reviewing standards for formal, academic writing
o Exploration of Critical Literacy and Creation of Information
• Expectations
o Promptness
o Regular attendance
o Engagement in material, completion of assignments (no additional homework to US History paper deadlines)
o Respectful behavior
o Participation in class activities

Wikipedia v. World Book: The Smackdown

The message from teachers is clear: Don't use Wikipedia as a source of information for your research papers. To the extent that you don't use any basic encyclopedia in an academic research paper, I get that (kind of, but where are you supposed to get your basic background information and how are you supposed to cite that?) . But the aversion to Wikipedia seems to go beyond that, and it seems more personal. There seems to be a fear of the loss of authority control, I mean, anybody can edit Wikipedia articles. Amateurs, hobbyists, even kids!

So, let's investigate. We're going to take a topic and look it up in Wikipedia and in World Book and perform a little compare-and-contrast operation.

Here's the search term: stem cell

QUESTIONS:

General

*Is the article signed? If so, google the name. What does that reveal about the author? If it is not signed, is there any indication of the source of the information?
*Are there references, further reading, etc.? If so, what are they? Are there links to them or other means of access?
*What aspects of the topic are covered? How in-depth is the coverage?
*How are controversial aspects of the topic identified?

Content

*Look at the basic definition of the term. Is it the same in the two sources?
*Look at other information in the articles, specific details such as: names, dates, other factoids. Any discrepancies? If so, how would you find out which one (if either) is right?
*Can you detect a point of view? If so, what is it? Can you identify points of view that are absent? Do you consider this to be an 'objective' article?
*Are there other types of information besides text? Photos? Diagrams? Other graphics? Do they enhance the accessibility of the information? Are they relevant?

This is not an exhaustive list of questions. It is meant to get you into the articles for the purpose of examining their characteristics and evaluating them in light of your own information needs.

I invite you to come up with your own topic and put it through this process.

The U.S. History Paper

A significant number of juniors and a few seniors were seen walking with a lighter step and with smiles on their faces for the first time in weeks as they turned in their papers today. One final section of students has a week to go. This paper is the reason I created the Research Methods class. I wanted to provide support in the process of writing a major research paper.

I think I've done a credible job of presenting ways of finding information and bringing students' attention to a variety of resources, but if I teach this class again next year I will include more on the actual structuring and writing of the paper.