Following the Trail: Research in 1020 8/26

8/26/2021

9:25 AM CDT

• Definitions matter, even when establishing what something ISN’T.

Definitions

• Album - a collection of songs

• Classic Rock - has to be 20 years or older; can be ANY genre

• Genre - a type

• Credible/Scholarly - the person has experience in the field/has been peer-reviewed

1. Trail Starts in a Personal Place

• What are your memories of music?

• What do you like?

• What do you want to discover? (Spirit of inquiry)

• Ex: The twins show their spirit of discovery and inquiry through their YouTube channel.

2. Give it a “Goog”

• Start with the Google search engine

  • Then filter your search to narrow things

  • Case Study with Boolean operators: “AND”, “BUT”, “NOR”, “ALSO”

• Put quotation marks *(or asterisks)* around what you’re searching for

• Find middle ground

  • Using Google Scholar: https://scholar.google.com/

  • Results are scholarly or peer-reviewed by members of the field

3. CRAAP Test

• C - Currency: the date when something was written (especially important in the sciences); recent

• R - Relevance: how closely the article is connected with your topic

• A - Authorship: who wrote the piece, were they funded or paid, do they have a bio, and do they have experience in the field or a Ph.D. in the subject

• A - Accuracy: how correct are they, did they have links to their info, can other sources confirm their major points; in science, how many subjects are there in the study, how long did the study last, and are findings presented with qualifiers; also, are photos legitimate

• P - Purpose: is the article clickbait? Why was it written? What words are used to convey the meaning (Are they intentionally controversial or undefined)?

• Watch out for ads and clickbait: Their purpose is to make money. They twist people’s words. The 1st result is usually paid for.

9/2/2021

10:08 AM CDT

4. A few things to keep in mind:

• Adding quotation marks around your topic or using Boolean operators make your search more manageable. Put quotes around longer album titles or band names. The most common Boolean search is with the word AND. (e.g. “Taylor Swift” AND “Folklore”).

  • Most sources that you access through the AUM library databases are going to be reliable, particularly scholarly articles on music that are peer-reviewed. Another place to find reliable sources is Google Scholar.

  • Online sources like Rolling Stone may ask you to pay for access.

• Currency is flexible if the album is from an earlier decade. A Rolling Stone review of the album from 1972 gives you an idea of the culture at the time, so it can be used.

• Wikipedia is a great starting point, but you should follow the trail downward to find original sources listed at the bottom of the entry.

  • NOTES: Start w/ Wikipedia, then follow the trail to look at references listed at the bottom. The farther you go, the better your research.

  • Amazon has free chapters of books. When you find one connected to your topic, click on the “look inside” button.

• YouTube video: Check Yourself with Lateral Reading: Crash Course Navigating Digital Information #3

• Writing starts with a conversation.