Information Literacy

Before you begin a research project, you will need to clarify your search terms or concepts. Each project is completely different and will require critical thinking skills. Clarification is the first phase of a Search Strategy.

Suppose you are asked to write a paper about the semiotics of advertising. You think the Benetton ad campaigns are a possibility.

• The term Benetton refers to a specific company.
• The concept advertising can be searched using other terms, such as ads or advertisement. You could also narrow your topic by limiting your search to billboard, TV, or magazine ads.
• The term semiotics is only used in very academic writing and you may not find it used in magazines or newspapers. You may choose not to use the term at all in your search, but use synonyms instead, like symbol or popular culture.

A first step might be to do some preliminary browsing in a periodical database in order to discover  how much has been published on the topic and what other terms have been used which related to your topic.

Study the following citations found in Reader's Guide to Periodical Literature and Lexis-Nexis. They were found by simply entering one term, Benetton, as a keyword. Notice the other terms or related topics which could be good alternative ideas for a paper on semiotics of advertising. Notice especially which terms are used in the subject fields.

Ask Yourself Questions About Your Topic:

• What do you know about it? What don't you know?
• What aspects of your topic interest you: historical, sociological, psychological, etc.?
• What time period do you want to cover?
• On what geographic region do you want to focus?
• What kind of information do you need?
  • A brief summary or a lengthy explanation?
  • Periodical articles, books, essays, encyclopedia articles?
  • Statistics?

Example: I'm thinking of doing a paper on an environmental subject. This topic could develop in many different ways.

Example: I'm researching a particular artist who graduated from Otis

This topic as stated may not have many many articles yet written about it. How can this be turned into a more manageable topic?

Look for  broader associations:

• Could you examine a movement or type of art the artist is associated with?
• Could you think broadly about the success of art school graduates -- what might these be?
• What other issues are involved in this topic? Such as, artists as teachers.