My name is Shantelle Shakes and
I'm majoring in Professional Writing with a minor in Creative Writing but I
also have an interest in law and a fascination with psychology. When I think of research, I think of tedious,
boring labour used to prove a point or strengthen an argument. It's usually the
activity I dread most when composing any written essay or article. However, I
do understand its necessity and, as a result, would like to know how to better
identify, locate and maximize relevant resources when researching.
Google Scholar is my primary
consultant for academic information because it is fast, convenient, and if you
are logged in to the York University server, provides valuable links to free,
relevant academic articles. Although Google Scholar has referred me to information
management software such as Zotero and Refworks, I have never directly
consulted these resources.
Until recently, I've never
connected the term "research" with the daily to-do's of my life
either, but the more that I entertain this concept, the more it makes sense to
me. The most obvious example of this stems from my work environment. Working
in a cafe, you naturally encounter customers who have questions about the
ingredients of a food item i.e. "Is this gluten free?" "Do you
have halal meat?" "Is this soup vegetarian?" In instances where
I am unsure of the answers to such questions, I consult the store nutrition
guide, ask the head manager, or read the ingredients written on the food item
in question to find the appropriate information. If an Excel document at work
is incorrectly structured, I search and compare the mathematical formulas
within the document to identify and solve the problem. All of this can apparently
be classified as research without the tedium and boredom that I often associate
with it!
My experience with radio and
podcasting is limited. The podcast assignment intimidates me because my
previous experience with podcasts wasn't very positive. In the summer I took an
internship that partly involved me changing written blogs into dialogue that
the leader of the business could record as a podcast. I had no experience with
podcasts prior to this assignment. It was difficult because I felt I didn't
know enough about the person I was writing for and I was instructed to keep it
"in her voice." I left the internship three months later with the
feeling that I didn't learn anything from it.
Podcast shows and podcasts that
I'm considering for this project are Lexicon Valley or Manager Tools: Lexicon
Valley because I am familiar with a lot of slang and would like to research
their origins and the settings that make them acceptable to use. Manager tools
because I am a manager at a cafe and I feel I could relate to and provide an
opinion of my own on the subject.
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