Research Tips for the Timeline Assignment

 

This assignment isn’t just about finding some pictures and dates and slapping a poster together.  It is about understanding the concept of visual culture, and the rise of visual culture, though a timeline of a particular product, technology, or theme.  That means that in addition to finding pictures and dates, you will need to locate sources that help you understand the history of your topic, and ideally help you understand how your topic has been influenced by the rise in visual culture. 

 

This handout is meant to remind you of some concepts you probably covered in English 120, and with any luck, it will introduce you to some new concepts or resources. 

 

The Surface Web

The word on the street is that students in the 21st century rely on web searching to do their research.  That means that while students can find some really great information on reputable sites, they are actually only scratching the surface of information that is available to them. 

 

Of course, if you find good material from doing a surface web search, you have found good material.  By all means continue to do surface web searches, but I suggest that you:

 

  1. Learn the difference between the search engines, and figure out which ones will be useful for which kinds of research.  I recommend checking out the website Search Engine Watch every once in a while, and even though this article is four years old now, it still seems relevant:  “Search Engine War Sizes V Erupts” http://blog.searchenginewatch.com/blog/041111-084221 .
  2. Learn “Search Engine Math,” how to “Power Search,” and some of the other great tips found at Search Engine Watch: http://searchenginewatch.com/facts/
  3. Use Google Image Search (http://www.google.com/imghp?hl=en&tab=wi&q=) or other image search engines.
  4. Download and install “Cool Iris” if you want to look through a wall of images while doing research on your timeline. http://www.cooliris.com/

 

Most Surface Web search engines now use what is called “natural language searching,” so you can just search for a statement or phrase like “history of hockey sweaters” or “history of video games” and you will get pretty good results.  You can also use search engine math (sometimes called keyword searches or “Boolean operator” searches) to search like this: “cell phones” + “visual culture”.    Be sure to try out both methods, and also use the advance features available on Google and other search engines. 

 

Deep Web

The “deep web” is a phrase that is being used to describe all the information that is available through a web interface, but not actually stored on the Web.  For NDSU students, that generally means going to the NDSU Library webpage (http://www.lib.ndsu.nodak.edu/index.php), and then selecting the appropriate database, index, or electronic journal web interface. Even when you follow one link like “Ebsco,” you still have decisions to make about what database to choose. 

 

You might find some of the material in the deep web is also on the surface web, and just because and article is in the deep web doesn’t mean it is better than an article found on the surface web.  But if you spend some time in the databases, I think you will find interesting and relevant articles that will give you a better understanding of your topic as well as sources to draw on as you write about your timeline topic. 

 

I recommend trying these three databases (Ebsco, FirstSearch, and Project Muse); databases generally require key word searches and often do not support natural language searches.  Databases do have advanced search features, so please do make use of them. 

 

 

Libraries

Libraries sometimes get lost in the shuffle of the information age, but most are now web-accessible, and most still contain vast quantities of high quality information. Finding a good book is often like finding a gold mine—not only will it have information relevant to you, but it will typically have a list of many related sources you can search for. 

 

Most of you have topics about which good books exist: the history and value of toys, car design, video games, cell phones, etc.. There is even a famous Canadian children’s book called The Hockey Sweater. Be sure somebody on your team spends some time searching our library’s holdings. 

 

Action item: During class today, please take 10 or more minutes to search these different domains of knowledge and identify possible sources.  Piece of cake for the groups of three! 

 

Avoiding Plagiarism and Copyright Infringement

This assignment, if not properly understood, could turn into a copy and paste exercise that would run the risk of being considered plagiarism.  I can suggest four pretty easy ways to avoid plagiarism:

 

  1. Keep track of where you found your images, and, if possible, who created that image (whether photo or drawing or whatever other kind of image you have found).  Include a list of photo credits (probably on a separate page or even web page) that I can consult.  If you can make your own images, even better!
  2. Keep track of your textual / web-based sources.  Don’t just start copying and pasting passages into your poster.  Set up a document or documents where you copy and paste and/or paraphrase your sources; keep track of relevant information (author, title of source, date of source, publisher, etc.).  Include a works cited or reference page, probably separate from the timeline unless you can integrate it effectively. 
  3. Never forget that you are constructing an informative, perhaps argumentative (or interpretive timeline), so you should have opportunities to write original prose, provide an original perspective on your topic, and therefore avoid reproducing existing timelines about your topic. Your team will likely be able to use / develop a guiding metaphor unique to your topic. 
  4. When you work with Gitlin’s concept of the “technology-cost-desire loop,” be sure to credit Gitlin for this idea, and perhaps paraphrase or directly quote from him.  This point is really the same as #2, but it is meant to remind you to draw on Gitlin in your timeline. 

 

Some images you find might be copyright protected. You can probably “get away” with using them for a class project, especially if you do not share your timeline beyond this class, but I also think it is important and ethical that I try to teach you how to respect copyright, how to request permission to use copyrighted material, and how to find material in the public domain or licensed under creative commons agreements. 

 

Respecting others’ copyright includes asking for permission to use, properly citing the source, giving credit where credit is due.

 

Requesting permission: this is as simple (or difficult) as finding out who holds the copyright on an image, contacting him or her (email is fine), and asking for permission.  I usually say I am an educator, not making profits from the use, and hope that he/she will grant permission without fees.  Sometimes it works, sometimes it doesn’t. If it doesn’t, I try to find a different image. 

 

Public domain:  Images generated from government offices and branches (i.e. NASA), images with expired copyright protection, images freely given by creators, can be considered “public domain” and not subject to copyright restrictions.  Try The Internet Archive:  http://archive.org

 

Creative Commons: Directly in response to changes in technology, a Law Professor at Stanford came up with the concept of licensing creative and academic works under a Creative Commons license (or licenses).  In these cases, the creators are willing to share their work with the world.  The Wikimedia Creative Commons site is robably the best source for Creative Commons material: http://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/Main_Page

 

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