Honors Research Seminars

Research is a Conversation from UNLV Libraries on Vimeo.

See also: WSU LIBRARIES RESEARCH STRATEGIES GUIDE

USE THESE RESOURCES FOR GENERAL REFERENCE AND TOPIC FORMATION:

• Research as Inquiry: Researching is a complex and messy human activity in relation to the world.  It is a process of discovering questions and asking them in increasingly complex ways (with others!) in order to develop new questions and lines of inquiry in any field...
• Searching Strategically: Locating information requires a combination of exploration, inquiry, discovery, serendipity and dialogue.  Information discovery is nonlinear and iterative, requiring use of a broad range of information sources, critical openness, and flexibility.
• Authority is Constructed & Contextual: Authority depends upon the source and origin of the resources, the information needs, and the contexts in which the information will be used.  This authority is viewed with an attitude of informed skepticism and openness to new perspectives.
• Information Creation is a Process: The production of information, its communities of practice, discourses and methods, formats, access and dissemination are creative, collaborative and influential processes for research, scholarship, and evaluation.
• Information has Value: The creation of information requires commitments of time, complexity of thought and a variety of resources.  Information may be valued more or less based on its creators, its audience and community, its format and message.  In light of the complexity of questions, resources, "authorities" and world, evaluating information is an essential and ongoing aspect of research.
• Scholarship is Conversation: Scholarship is sustained discourse within communities, a participatory and collaborative dialogue searching new insights and discoveries among competing and converging perspectives and interpretations.