13/15 February: Secondary Sources and Topic Investigation

Before 13 February:

• Read: Roy Rosenzweig, “Can History Be Open Source: Wikipedia and the Future of the Past,” The Journal of American History 93 no. 1 (Jun 2006): 117-146. [Available through ProQuest via Mason Libraries].
• Watch: Heavy Metal Umlaut by Jon Udell on YouTube (approx. 8.5 min)

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• Bettelheim, “Fairy Tale versus Myth: Optimism versus Pessimism” & “The Importance of Externalization: Fantasy Figures and Events,” from The Uses of Enchantment (pp. 35-41 & 61-66)
• Warner, “The Devil’s Banquet,” from Monsters of Our Own Making (pp. 95-115)
  • We will discuss these articles, which are  Secondary Sources extensively in class.

DUE BY SATURDAY, 11 FEBRUARY (11:59pm) Prompt: Either from Survey of Scottish Witchcraft or a site of your choosing from what you can find out online about the supernatural, please pick one or two (or three) famous or sensational trials, supernatural events,  and discuss:

• your initial interest;
• other sites, groups or organizations which have written or produced something about the topic/trial. (This can include movies, documentaries, television shows, books, articles, comics, etc); and
• what you hope to learn by researching this/these topic(s)/trial(s).

After class on 13 February:

• Anything that you want me to know?

Before 15 February:

• Read: Visual Literacy, UC Irvine Libraries
• Read: The Basics of Visual Literacy, University of Maryland
• Read/watch the quick start guide for Zotero

During class:

• Install Zotero
• We’ll deep dive into the library’s collections with our library history liaison, George Oberle.
• ThingLink

After class on 15 February:

• What topic have you picked?
• Anything that you want me to know?
• To add to Zotero:
  • Find primary sources about your topic on the DPLA. Use both the map and search.
  • Find secondary sources about your topic from JSTOR.
  • Use at least one other of the databases listed in the Mason library’s history guide.
  • Find primary or secondary sources about your topic in the Mason library catalog. Check out at least one book for next week’s reading.

Blog: Document your research process and findings from today’s activity/homework on your blog. Consider your research questions, your search strategies, your methods of evaluation, and your ultimate findings. What sources did you find? Use Zotero and correct Chicago citations to help you list them. What did you learn from reading these sources? After reading those sources, what direction might you take your final project? What did you learn about finding primary and secondary sources online?What do you know now about your topic that you did not know previously? What new and remaining questions do you have? In retrospect, how might you approach this task differently?

Reading Homework:

• Dan Goodin, “Why passwords have never been weaker,” Ars Technica, August 20, 2012.
• Mat Honan, “How Apple and Amazon Security Flaws Led to My Epic Hacking,” Wired, August 6, 2012.
• Mat Honan, “How I Resurrected My Digital Life After an Epic Hacking,” Wired, August 17, 2012.
• Watch: The Amen Break
  *If you are interested in the legal issues involved in hip hop & sampling, you can instead watch the entire Copyright Criminals program ( ~56 min), but it’s not necessary!
• Cohen & Rosenzweig, Digital History, ch. 7, “Owning the Past?”
• Read: Copyright: An Overview, Cornell University Law School
• Read: “Four Industry Experts Explain What’s Wrong with Current Copyright Law,” Fader, June/July 2015
• Read about Creative Commons licenses, including the “license deed” for each license

[IT Requirement: 1]