Personal Connection

My personal approach to inquiry before starting this project is probably close to the same as it was during this project. First, I found a topic I wanted to learn more about, and then I looked in the IUCAT for sources. I did use Google a little but since starting graduate school, I've found myself relying less on Google and trying more to find sources that are considered more reliable--books and journal articles. As an undergraduate, I would use Google a lot to find information or to help find information. That information usually came fast, and there was usually more than I could even dream of sifting through in the amount of time I had to complete any given assignment.

However, during this process, finding information in journals was a lot more difficult than in prior semesters. I did find an article that was listed in IUCAT as an electronic source. I did refer to the standards which I've only used the language arts standards for 9th graders once, while I was an undergraduate working on a lesson plan for an English class, which was a final project for the class. I think I'm starting to use the library resources more than I used to--asking for help is not a bad thing to do.  :)

Curriculum Connection

I think this project could be translated into a curricular experience for either younger children or high school students by asking them to search for information on publishing for each age group--elementary school students and high school students. While the students are researching information on publication, students can work on story ideas that they might like to publish. After the students have finished their research, they can then build on what they've learned about publishing; applying that knowledge by submitting work that they've written for publication. The elementary students could work in small groups or as a whole class, and then submit the finished product to the Scholastic contest, "Kids Are Authors." High school students could work on individual pieces and submit it to other publishing companies who publish student work, or maybe even one of the publishing houses.

According to standard 2.1.2, students would "organize knowledge so that it is useful" and standard 2.1.3, "use strategies to draw conclusions from information and apply knowledge to curricular areas, real world situations, and further investigations."

Wishing

I'm not really sure how I feel about the final project. I found a lot of information in the books that I found, but it took me some time to find them. Also, I don't like the fact that I feel like I didn't find enough of a variety of sources--I was hoping to find a few journal articles and maybe some videos or other media sources, but I just didn't have enough time to invest in the search. I really like the design of my PowerPoint presentation. I used a photo I took with my camera phone as the background for the slides. Also, I tiled the background, making it look like there were rows of books. I also adjusted the transparency so the image was lighter. Sort of like how a watermark works on a word document. As far as the content goes, I tried to pick out as much of the most relevant information as I could. I'm sure there was more information I could've included, but as it was, the presentation was already 15 slides long. I didn't want it to be too bogged down. I think I found a lot of useful material that I can put to use in the future and possibly others will too.

As far as what could be done differently with similar investigations, I'm not sure. I think that possibly investigating Children's publication could be a seperate inquiry. Also, one might choose to investigate a single publisher. Possibly interview a publisher, an editor, and an author to see what the experience is like from start to finish. Thinking back on it now, I see that would definately be an interesting inquiry to follow.

I think there are ways in which students and young adults might approach inquiries in the same way that I have and also in different ways. Many students and young adults might choose to use google first. I use the University Library's catalog first. But I also used google to find web addresses for the publishing compies that came to mind. I also was not afraid to ask for help, though students and young adults might be reluctant to do. Although, sometimes, they want to ask for help right away to possibly try to avoid working hard and figuring things out on their own.

Waving/File Sharing

Because of issues with the link for my files I uploaded to oncourse file manager, I posted a new forum message in oncourse and attached my powerpoint file and the images I used. I did this as a precaution.

Waving

I uploaded my files to file manager on oncourse. I created a folder called, SLIS S574 Project 1 and put all the files into that folder. Here is the URL, I  hope it works :)

Project 1 files

Also, the link to the google docs is

http://docs.google.com/leaf?id=0ByXqDahRkT9wY2UyZTE2YTUtMzgyNC00MTMzLWIyMDQtMjlhNDhkNWUzNDY4&sort=name&layout=list&num=50

My webpage URL is

http://mypage.iu.edu/~leaturne/creativewriting/

Waving

I am considering the possibility of editing the webpage I created so that the information I found on Publishing is added to my Creative Writing webpage that is posted on IUPUI's network. Any student--or anyone interested in publishing might discover my findings useful in preparing to publish their own work.

Wrapping

Since my goal was to find information on publication, the information I found is to help writers during the publication process. Most of the information I found was for adult writers, but there were a few resources for student writers.

I put together a power point presentation to put together the main ideas of what I found and sorted it by the individual resources. I think anyone who is interested in writing and publishing needs to know about the information I found.

The technology I used for this project is:

• a web-based tool (Google docs)
• social bookmark (Delicious)
• electronic communications tool (ask a librarian, e-mail, forum)
• productivity tool (cell phone camera, PowerPoint, web page creator)

The web editor I used to create my webpage is Arachnophilia. I created the webpage last semester in my Reference class. The topic I covered in the webpage is Creative Writing, which ties into book publishing because you have to write a book before you can publish it. :)