Framing and Finding Your Topic Spring 2019
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This document provides an overview of strategies for defining and exploring research topics. It discusses identifying different types of source tools, comparing sources found in different tools, and learning strategies for narrowing topics. The document encourages workshop participants to brainstorm topic ideas, provides examples for adding context like time period or discipline to focus topics, and has an exercise where participants map out aspects of their topic and post potential source citations.
![Focus Your Topic: Context Examples
● History / Time Period
○ Evolution of urban graffiti from criminal activity to art form
● Specific Community
○ Graffiti as cultural expression by a particular community in a particular
place
● Particular Discipline
○ Sociology, Anthropology, Political Science, Religious Studies!
● Certain Aspect
○ Role of graffiti as religious expression in persecuted communities
○ Graffiti art as empowerment for [name of racial/ethnic community] youth
○ Relationship between street art, graffiti, and muralism](https://image.slidesharecdn.com/framingandfindingyourtopicjalalspr191-190510152537/85/Framing-and-Finding-Your-Topic-Spring-2019-7-320.jpg)
Framing and Finding Your Topic Spring 2019
- 1. Framing the Context: Search Strategies for Defining and Exploring Your Topic Melanie Sellar and Anthony Raymond, Santa Clara University Library, Spring 2019
- 2. Welcome! Workshop Goals Today 1. Identify and describe different types of source tools. 2. Compare the types of sources found in different search tools. 3. Learn and practice strategies for narrowing research topics
- 4. How to Find a Topic: Ideation
- 5. Post ideas for your final research projects in the Padlet. Go for quantity over quality, that's what the ideation process is all about. Take ~5 minutes. Exercise 1: Topic Ideation
- 6. After Topic Ideation: Next Steps ● If you can state your topic in 1-3 words, it is too broad ● Tip: narrow your topic by finding and adding 1-2 contexts: ○ History / Time Period ○ Specific community ○ Particular Discipline ○ Certain Aspect ● How? Pre-reading and identifying some of the conversations
- 7. Focus Your Topic: Context Examples ● History / Time Period ○ Evolution of urban graffiti from criminal activity to art form ● Specific Community ○ Graffiti as cultural expression by a particular community in a particular place ● Particular Discipline ○ Sociology, Anthropology, Political Science, Religious Studies! ● Certain Aspect ○ Role of graffiti as religious expression in persecuted communities ○ Graffiti art as empowerment for [name of racial/ethnic community] youth ○ Relationship between street art, graffiti, and muralism
- 8. Exercise 2: Topic Map Graffiti, culture, and youth (strategies: sociology, art, and education databases; newspapers)
- 9. Reminder!
- 10. Rhetorical Uses of Different Sources From the Library Website access databases and catalogs of:
- 11. Example Topic Map Original topic 1 2 3 45 6
- 12. Post 2 brief citations of sources you found that may be useful (or more!). State what kind of source they are (book? article? encyclopedia? newspaper?). Your names will appear with your answers. Exercise 3: Two Things
Editor's Notes
- #6: Topic development: Do a sample search on those two examples in OSCAR Simple and OneSearch OSCAR Simple Search: You get a lot of different type of documents, on different facets of the topic What kind of documents do you see? On what facets of the topic? Facilitate conversation on what you see, including how manageable their research paper would be if they used that topic OneSearch on the same topic: Let’s do the same search. Before you commit to a topic, you need to do some reading and research
- #7: Possibly add a video here
- #8: Certain Aspect Role of graffiti as religious expression in persecuted communities Graffiti art as empowerment for [name of racial/ethnic community] youth Relationship between street art, graffiti, and muralism Aspect: choose one lens through which to view the research problem, or look at just one facet of it [e.g., rather than studying the role of food in South Asian religious rituals, study the role of food in Hindu ceremonies, or, the role of one particular type of food among several religions]. Exploring three major hubs of muralist activity in California, where indigenist imagery is prevalent, Walls of Empowerment celebrates an aesthetic that seeks to firmly establish Chicana/o sociopolitical identity i
- #9: Step 1: Pick one of the topics to brainstorm about the kinds of disciplines it may be useful to look at, and the types of sources that may be relevant. Step 2: Ask them to look at a list of sources on the homepage (and if needed under “Find Articles” ) and identify which ones could be good to find those kinds of disciplines and sources. Graffiti, culture, and youth (strategies: sociology, art, and education databases; newspapers)
- #11: attention to the rhetorical appeals: ethos, logos, pathos, kairos, and more You can use these sources differently to make different appeals E.g. newspapers: often good for pathos (emotional appeals) E.g. scholarly articles: often good for logos (logical appeals) E.g. scholarly articles, newspapers, books: ethos (authority appeal) and logos (logical appeals)
- #12: Maybe have a student share out their topic map (and brainstorm keywords?). Next, pick one of these trajectories in your map to begin going in deeper on. You’ll keep using the databases. Spend 10-15 minutes. You’ll be sharing out 2 promising results into our final exercise Padlet. Show students how to use “Find it at SCU”, how to identify and make use of Subject Terms to find articles, and how to cite an article.