Observing at the library was more interesting than I imagined, and I learned quite a bit about people's library etiquette and their reasons for going there. My group's presentation is this afternoon, and I think it will go well because we are very prepared. We strategized on how to assemble and present our study intelligently and sensibly. I am narrating the architecture section of our presentation, and I think I have found enough information to capture the class' attention for a couple of minutes.

My group is getting our report together for the field work group project, and we tried to decide what kind of questions to ask. We really want to focus on the social aspect of our study, including asking what floors students study on and who they go to the library with. Im interviewing a friend for the project because she goes to the library fairly often and utilizes the resources.

My annotated bibliography was close to being finished, but I didn't quite make it. Popular sources abound for my topic (Lake County), but scholarly articles and books are harder to come by. The books I used as resources are mainly historical and are somewhat outdated. However, the facts and statistics are reliable and should give me a solid starting point for further research. I hope to get more primary sources when I go home for break, including pictures and an interview or two.

Observing Library Culture

For our field research group project, my group is observing the library. We decided to focus on the social aspect of the library, examining various reasons why students and faculty come to the library. Contrary to popular belief, relatively few people come to the library to just study independently. I think this will be an interesting study, and display the assortment of functions the library serves. Hopefully students will begin to see the library not just as a strictly academic resource, but a place that facilitates the birth of ideas and intelligent discussion.

Web Site Evaluations

Evaluating the web site sources on Tuesday was more helpful than I thought it would be. I analyzed my web sources a little more closely for our annotated bibliography due today. While citing stuff is extremely tedious, I think it's useful and will come in handy in the future.

Ahh...Topic Proposal

I'm trying to start my topic proposal and it's tough knowing where to begin. I checked out a few books from the library and they seem fairly helpful, but I haven't looked online yet. I think there are some good resources out there to help me with my paper but I just have to find them!

"The Region"

I finally figured out my research topic for English, and so far it is developing well. I've decided to research the history and unique diversity of northwest Indiana, affectionately known as "the Region". I was born and raised there, so conducting research should be fun and interesting. There's a lot of history packed into the small area of Lake County, and plenty of firsthand sources for interviews.

Research Topic

I am trying to think of a research topic, but I'm having a hard time. I'm not exactly sure what the parameters are, and I'm interested in what everyone else is doing. I hope I think of something soon!
P.S. I don't like the sounds of that annotated bibliography.