Responding to Blog Post 1

Wow--it has been so interesting to read about everyone's different research interests and approaches to research.  There are a few comments, in particular, that I definitely want to respond to.

First of all, I am so glad that some of you, like Jess and Jennifer picked up on this idea of  research journal or a research record.  This is probably one of the most important things that I have learned as a "professional researcher" (i.e., librarian, or "glorious" person, as Jennifer wrote).  Although it seems like it might take a lot of time to record your steps, it actually SAVES a lot of time in the long run, because you don't end up repeating yourself.  You get a much better sense of what works, and what doesn't, and this helps you become a much better researcher in the long run.

I was also glad to see that many of you are really using this class as an opportunity to supplement either your work in another class or your creative pursuits.  Again, although the syllabus (and some of my communication) had used ENGL 5014 as an example of a course/research project that you could use as a starting place for this class, I want you all to feel comfortable using this class in a way that best suits your work and your research needs.

I'm really looking forward to reading the next group of blog posts!