Refer to schedule for due dates
After viewing the Library Tutorials online ahead of class, you will have learned some important library research skills. In our class this week, you will solidify that knowledge and you will also have an opportunity to begin seeking out sources for your EAC essay. The product of this searching and hunting, narrowing and focusing, will be your Research Progress Report, which you will present to the class on the due date noted in the syllabus.
In your Research Progress Report, you will describe in detail the triumphs and tribulations of your research thus far. Your report should contain the following parts:
(1) A brief description of your initial topic.
(2) A list of Keywords (in different strategic combinations and clusters) that you used and uncovered to find further information about the topic. Also let us know if you have requested any books through Pascal or ILL (for items currently missing or checked out of Addlestone). Finally, note the databases you have been using to search (please do experiment with moving beyond the discovery service to explore specific databases).
(3) A list of at least 10 sources that you have consulted (using MLA style). These should include a credible mix of books (from the Catalog), academic articles (using databases such as Academic Search Premier or more focused databased that you discovered through the libraries Research Guides), and feature-length news items that offer original contributions in their own right rather than just representing the research of others. OWL (linked on the course website) contains easily accessible directions for all kinds of MLA citations.
While you might use a few non-academic sources to frame your EAC paper, the majority of your sources should be from peer-reviewed articles or scholarly books. If you’re unsure how to tell when something is “scholarly” or “peer reviewed,” that’s exactly what our research consultations are for. Just do your best, and ask questions.
(4) A 3-5 sentence annotation for 5 of your sources that describes the source in more detail (what you know about the author and the type of publication), offers a succinct summary of the source, and signals how you might use it in your EAC. The first sentence should identify the author and source along with a thumbnail summary. The next 1-2 sentences should offer more details in terms of the source’s primary argument. The final 1-2 sentences should describe why and how this source will be particularly useful in the context of your EAC. That is, these sentences should address the “role” that the source will play in the “conversation” you are orchestrating.
(5) A paragraph identifying the “discipline” or combination of disciplines that you are engaging, and a brief overview of what you identify as that disciplinary or interdisciplinary group’s methods of research. What kind of data do they use? Do they included quotations or just footnotes? How are the papers in this discipline generally structured? We will discuss what an academic discipline is during our library research conversations, but you can also find more about it online.
(6) A description of how the research process has helped you focus or narrow—and in some cases change—your research topic. Also, please note the difficulties you have had: Is there information you are unable to locate? Sources that remain elusive? Sources you wish you could find? Is the topic rich enough to sustain your interest?
(7) Finally, Try to formulate a research question that reflects a more focused topic than the original topic you described above in #1. Your own process of narrowing down a broader topic will necessarily be unique. You might begin very broadly with a topic such as “nuclear power,” but then end up with a much more pointed question that drives your research. For example: “How does access to nuclear power complicate international weapons treaties”? Or “Is nuclear power too expensive and dangerous to be considered a sustainable energy source?” Or “How are local communities affected by nuclear power plants in their town”?
You will informally summarize your Progress Report for the class, and turn in a full, official copy to me. Keep it simple and direct, using the numbers listed above to organize the parts of your report.