And the winner is....

After much contemplation, I have decided to do my first Information Inquiry project on music. Following the first W (watching) of Annette's 8 W's of Information Inquiry, I asked myself several questions.

What do you know about this topic already? I know that there are radio stations that can be listened to online. I'm also aware of music downloading sites such as iTunes.

What would you like to learn more about? The resources I already know about assume the person knows what music they would like to. These are not very good resources for someone looking to discover new music and artists. These are the types of resources I would like to find.

What topics are you considering? I'm considering searching for websites or services that send out e-mails or newsletters about up and coming artists. Maybe and type of if you like artist x, then check out artists y and z. I'm also thinking of looking for online radio stations that strictly feature new music.

How do I feel about the project? A little apprehensive, which is listed in Carol Kuhlthau's ISP Model as a typical feeling to have in the 'selecting a topic' stage. I'm not sure what resources I will find on the web. However, I'm also excited and hoping that I might find some very useful information.

What conversations have you had about this topic? I've briefly discussed my topic choice with Annette and a couple of my classmates.

The most important step for me in choosing my topic was the exploring aspect of the Watching Step. As Annette suggests, I stopped and smelled the flowers and thought about what I truly enjoy. Music is one of the things in life that almost always calms me, excites me, or touches me emotionally in some way. I think I will enjoy learning more about this topic and I also think the final project will lend itself nicely to an online format. I am excited to begin my research!

One More Thing

One more topic I thought of....

Online Music - I'm not talking about downloading music, I mean listening to music online. The older I've gotten and the farther from the college scene I've gotten, the farther I feel from new music. I used to work at a radion station while I attended Franklin College and was very aware of new bands and new music. Now, I feel stuck in a rut. I'm wondering what kinds of opportunities there are on the web for discovering new music. A topic that might be fun to explore...

I also should have mentioned that is my husband pictured in the previous post reading "Guess How Much I Love You" to our daughter. I think she is about 6 weeks old in the picture.

What to do, what to do...

I'm continuing to wade my way through all of the class materials and realized I should be journaling my research process as I research. Thankfully (or not, depending on how you look at it:) I have not begun any serious research. I am still contemplating what my topic will be. Here are some subjects I am considering....they might sound a little scatter-brained, but let's face it, I'm a little scattered myself these days.

Regional dialects - This was being discussed on a list serv I subscribe to, Child_Lit. Somehow the topic of real English versus American English came up. I found this interesting because I studied in England for three months and am very aware the differences in dialect as well as slang between the two countries. I could do a project on the national differences in how we pronounce various words...roof (roof or ruf), creek (creek or crick), Monday (Monday or Mondee). The more I have thought about this topic the more I have really listened to how people talk. Although I do say Monday (not Mondee), I am guilty of saying dubbya instead of double u (i.e. the call letters of a radio station).

Parenting - This is an obvious choice because I am the new mother of a 3 month old. I've been reading baby books like you wouldn't believe. I have thought about researching something along the lines of early literacy. However, with all that I have been reading, I'm not sure this is a topic I want to pursue even more! Although, I must take this moment to insert a picture that would go perfectly with this subject...

Shel Silverstein - Now this is a new topic that I recently thought of. I read an article about Silverstein in (I think) the Horn Book right before my maternity leave. It discussed his quite colorful career and personality. I was unaware of Silverstein's past and found the article to be very interesting. As much time as I spend with children's literature, it's always fascinating to me to learn the true lives of some authors. I think this topic might be the one with the most accessibility of information. I might be leaning toward this one...I'll take the weekend to think about it.

Testing

Trying out my first post....