Uren - Blog 1

I’ve written several papers for which I incorporated sources found through databases such as Ebscohost and, once, ECCO (Eighteenth Century Collections Online). I’ve used InterLibrary Loan services to get access to books and articles that weren’t available online—I’ve been reprimanded for not thoroughly tracking down available resources, a failing that was one part haste and two parts sheer volume of possible avenues (dozens of databases, etc.). I’ve used WorldCat (which Towheed mentioned) to see what libraries had a book I needed; my alma mater happened to have it and I’d planned on stopping by, but I ultimately dropped the project.

I research inefficiently. Getting better at using research tools might help, but the biggest two problems I have are personal habit: 1) I read my way off on tangents and 2) I don’t “always record the route [I] take,” as Towheed would have me do, so I end up having to double back and re-check and document sources, which slows me down. (Notice how useful that advice can be for us and our students as we avoid plagiarism, as well as wasted time.) Part of my inefficiency is good: I read widely on topics that I’m writing about, a tendency that benefits the final project but not my schedule.

My first step toward creating bibliographical content for the wiki will be deciding on a topic. None of my courses require a research paper, per se, but there are various topics I’ll be looking through at some point.