This course website includes:

• course syllabus
• in-class activities (handouts, videos, etc.)
• list of all required readings (with links to items available online)
• homework assignments
• description of the final project

We will explore how the process of inquiry (the questions you have about a topic) can be combined with the process of research (finding and using information) to create something new (your insights, opinions, arguments, analyses, etc.) Our focus will be on how the formula of inquiry + research = knowledge works in the disciplines of the social sciences and humanities. Throughout this course, we will explore how recent developments on the web are radically reshaping the production of information and what research looks like.

After completing this course, students will be able to:

• Identify research questions that are worth pursuing, researchable, and manageable.
• Develop a research topic by narrowing it or expanding it.
• Identify likely producers of information on a topic.
• Find background information on a topic.
• Use advanced search commands in databases, library catalogs, and search engines to find and retrieve books, articles, data, reports, presentations, and audiovisual materials.
• Make connections between research topics and controlled vocabulary in information retrieval systems.
• Select from a range of criteria for evaluating sources the ones that are relevant to specific information need.
• Describe the ethical and legal issues in the use of information.