For Thursday, March 1: Write a Brief Abstract

Write 100-125 words that sum up the scope of your research project.

For Tuesday, February 28: Sorting Through Public Archives (Box 31)

For this activity you'll need to find a public archive, where you can view public and private records, historical documents, and/or artifacts. If you don't have time to access a site in person, try one of the online archives mentioned in Chapter Seven in FieldWorking, or do an online search using key terms about your topic plus "online archive." Or try one of these sites: The National Archives, Indiana State Archives, or the Ball State Archives and Special Interest Collections.

For Thursday, February 23: Finding a Focal Point (Box 19)

For this activity, you need to review all the data you have collected and find the clusters of themes and patterns in your field site or topic (instructions on p. 193 in your text). By the way, did you know that the word "topic" comes from the Greek word topos, which means "place"? Now you know. So whether your "place" is geographical or metaphorical, this activity still works.

For Tuesday, February 21: Writing a Verbal Snapshot (Box 18)

Write a couple paragraphs describing a place, using the example presented in Box 18 of your textbook and on the FieldWorking Web site. If you can, describe a place that relates to your research project.

For Tuesday, February 14: Locating Online Cultures (Box 15)

Choose a Web site related to your research focus to analyze for this activity, which appears on page 158 in FieldWorking. Sunstein and Chiseri-Strater argue that some Web sites are online communities, with gatekeepers, rituals, and rules of behavior. Other sites might seem merely to provide information, but pay attention to how language is used. For example, a Web site devoted to an Art History academic community might use language differently from one devoted to Computer Science: They might use specialized terminology; they might limit the site's discussions to certain topics; or they might present information in a way that assumes that all visitors to the site are members of that academic discipline.

Read through Box 15 to get a fuller idea of how to analyze and evaluate potential Web sites. In addition, notice whether the site is a .edu, .com, .org, .mil., .gov, or .net. Who is the author of the site? How credible is this person or organization?  Has the site been updated recently? How does the arrangement and design affect the usability and overall experience of the site?

For Thursday, February 9: Positioning Yourself (Box 10)

Read the instructions and the example for "Positioning Yourself" on page 113 in your FieldWorking textbook. The purpose of this activity is to "help you uncover the assumptions, preconceptions, personal experiences, and feelings that influence you...throughout your research process" (113). In other words, consider how your own experiences and biases might influence how you select, read, interpret, and interact with your sources. Note that the authors refer to a "fieldsite," but the same approach is useful for thinking about the kinds of books and articles you will encounter on your topic: After all, real people are behind those texts.

For Tuesday, February 7: Find two books on your topic

It's time to look for sources on your research topic, so that you can start getting an idea of the conversations taking place: Go to Bracken Library's site, click on the "books" link, and then log into CardCat. Play around with possible key search terms until you find a couple books that look promising. Next, go to the library to find those books. You should also look at the books shelved in the same area to see if you can find anything else interesting that didn't show up on your CardCat search.

Check out the books you want (yes, more than two, if you find good ones), and then reply below, creating a bibliographic entry in MLA format to list the books. You might also want to explain what interested you about the books you chose. Finally, bring those books to class on Thursday--and remember, your First Major Writing Project is also due that day.