Unit 2: Research Strategy
by Dr. H - October 2nd, 2014
During this unit, we’ll do less as a group with content & discussion and more with working (together and individually) on beginning your research in earnest.
My goal is to help you develop and carry out a coherent, conscious and successful research strategy. Use the Storey book as your constant companion; read it more than once and mine it for ideas, and bring it to class each day during this unit. That doesn’t mean content goes entirely away over the next few weeks – we will read some more in the Doing Recent History book and may decide on some other common readings as appropriate. By the end of this unit on October 23, you should have a “skeleton draft” ready to turn in. See the new “Project Guidelines” tab above for all the details.
Tues 10/7 – Library Day. Meet in the Library Instruction Area inside the Children’s Literature Area on the main (2nd) floor of the library. Bring laptops and your ideas and/or problems and questions. We’ll be working with one of our reference staff, Raven Fonfa; she has been given a list of your topics so she has a rough idea what you’re all up to.
Update 10/7: The databases Raven recommended are posted onto a NEW “Research & Sources” page, see above.
Thurs 10/9 – Getting Started, meet in our regular classroom. Today is a catch-up technology day (it will be a slightly shortened class period), and we’ll work together as a class to create the shell of your ePortfolio using your WordPress sites, so make sure you have your laptops with you. Reading for today: Storey Ch 1-2.
Professional tips from our Portfolio day: If you use Twitter, try following some history-related feeds. Join LinkedIn, if you haven’t already. Don’t overlook our campus Career Services office. For a one-stop professional presence, create an About.me page. Consider a student membership to the American Historical Association, or to its regional affiliate, the New England Historical Association. I frequently recommend the book Great Jobs for History Majors, and I have a lending copy in my office if you want to borrow it.
Tues 10/14 – Library Day #2. Location: same as last week = the instructional area inside the Children’s Lit section, main floor of the library. Reading: Storey Ch 3.
Thurs 10/16 – Technology and History (One Week to Skeleton Draft). Reading: Greenberg, “Do Historians Watch Enough TV?” from Doing Recent History. J5 is due online – this post will be a research log of what you’ve done and consulted since our first library session on 10/4. It does not have to be a polished narrative, it can simply be a list, but if you want to add some explanations that’s fine as well, such as how are you situating your project within existing secondary literature, or how you are making sense of/keeping track of your primary sources, or what your workflow/process has been during your research time blocks. Due/posted by classtime.
Tues 10/21 – Writing Workshop (2 Days to Skeleton Draft). Reading: Storey Ch 4. Bring laptops and one of your key secondary sources, preferably in hard copy to share with your team. Also, I’ll talk about the difference between a resume and a C.V.
Wed 10/23 – Peer Review Day. Due in class: TWO printed copies of your skeleton draft!
Some food for thought (maybe our motto for this unit):
