“Locate and read one article of relevance to your project”
This was in the instructions I received as one of my homework assignments. I thought, Oh this will be easy, no biggie!
However, when I actually attempted to find an article that would be useful for me to use, I realized it is a lot harder than it seems to find useful information.
My on-going, main topic that links the focuses of all my research project arguments is student’s knowledge on the historical significances. My first research project was motivated by the fact that I felt as though I am not very educated on SCU’s history, so I wanted to find out more about it. This brought me to wonder if students in general (not just me) are unaware/aware of the significance and history of SCU, which is what I structured my second research assignment around. This last assignment led me to my current research project, which I am hoping to learn if SCU professors and archivists believe students are educated/uneducated and how they try to educate and interest students (if they do).
Like the other students in my class I am sure did (and actually any students in general), I immediately opened up my Web browser, clicked Google, and began typing in my topic into the search engine.
This is when I realized it was difficult to locate articles, as i found nothing pertaining to SCU professors or archivists. So because it was late and I was getting lazy and tired, I selected an article, “The Problem With History Classes,” from The Atlantic. I knew this was not going to be that useful, but I decided it would be better than nothing.
After watching the tutorial, I realized I should not rely on Google, and I should use the search engines through the SCU library. Not only did I realize that, but also that I needed to be more specific with the topic I was searching. So rather than trying to find articles on SCU professors and archivists, I searched for “undergraduate students* archives” and browsed for articles that would be beneficial to me. By doing this, I think I will be much more successful moving forward.