Class Poll:
Which best describes you in terms of choosing a research topic for this
class?
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a. I don't have a clue.
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b. I'm interested in several things, but haven't
settled on one.
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c. The topic I'd like to research is huge
and would take years (or, longer than we have!)
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d. I'm all set.
Identify your personal intellectual
style:
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a. naturally curious about lots of things,
could get interested in almost anything;
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b. I have a few topics that are interesting
to me.
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c. picky and focused - waiting for The Right
Whale to come along; I will know him when I see him!
Stories about how some people
identified topics: mine and yours
I
Places to look for topics
Your own natural curiosity
Professional problems
Evaluating program goals, effectiveness,
or initial needs
Share the problems we collected as
Homework. Write each on a separate piece of paper/on the board.
Brainstorm: what might be some others
problems or topics, now that we've started thinking? Add more pieces of
paper.
Focus: which of these problems might
be doable NOW? Consider data collection and datasets. Identify
4 or 5. There's always: How do people behave in libraries? Revisit
the Proposal Assignment.
Next step: Write your name on every
single topic that you have even a slight interest in.
Cautions:
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The topic must be doable within our timeframe.
Most topics can be narrowed to an extreme degree; the key is data: what
data sources do we have access to now? Brainstorm freely but
come back to this important parameter before you go off the deep end.
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Remember that we have no time to go through
a formal IRB process; therefore, all research conducted as part of this
class must be used for our learning purposes only. Possibilities: public
observation; friends and colleagues who will "play" along as interviewees;
existing data sets (like circulation stats to which you have legal access);
information systems we can study.
Helpful, but not required for L509:
Statement of Interest Area
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to the Agenda
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