Michelle's First Blog Post

Currently, I have very little to no research style. I haven’t needed to conduct scholarly research in years. However, I have researched topics of my own interest outside of the academic sphere and have used primarily online search engines such as Wikipedia and Google. I was forced to pay more attention to my search and research methods while preparing application materials for MFA programs. I implemented quotation marks as a method to pare my search results to the exact criteria I specified.

The readings for Module 2 have reintroduced some research strategies such as utilizing the – and + signs (from the Towheed reading) when limiting search criteria for online search engines. I was also introduced to brand new research techniques and resources, such as Project Gutenberg, and The Library of Congress. I have already used these two sources to seek information on Sarah Grand, a writer I am focusing on in a research paper for my Genre Studies course.

For my Genre Studies paper I intend initially on locating a myriad of sources in order to decide on the focus of my paper. In this primary search I will locate some of Sarah Grand’s articles and novels offered via Project Gutenberg, and explore JSTOR and other article databases through Virginia Tech’s library website. This module introduced me to the difference between VT’s library Addison and Summons search mechanisms. I will most likely use both to locate physical and online materials for my paper.

Then I will narrow my research after identifying a topic. I will maintain a research log as the Towheed reading encouraged, which was a new idea to me. I look forward to using this course to continue improving the way in which I research and organize my approach to writing scholarly papers, particularly my Genre Studies research paper.