I admit it. The first thing I do anytime I want to learn about something is I type it in to either wikipedia or google. But that's not necessarily a bad thing. A lot of time I'll learn things that will help me search for more scholarly sources. For example, if I'm researching the global implications of new media, and I type "new media" in on wikipedia, I find out that Andrew L. Shapiro is someone I definitely want to read. I learn that the term "virtual communities" is how people often label the global aspect of new media. I learn that the terms "interactivity" and "media convergence" are commonly used. It doesn't look like I want to use any of wikipedia's sources, but all of a sudden I know a little bit more about new media and know some terms that will be able to help me as I search for other sources.
Your task: spend a few minutes surfing either wikipedia or the world wide web on your topic, or on a portion of your topic. (For example, Jose's topic is applying the nature vs. nurture argument to the potential affects of mechanical engineering on world poverty--rather than trying to get that all in one search, he may just want to search on the nature vs. nurture argument).
Then remind us of your topic and post a bullet list of a few things you learned that will help you as you do your research. This might be information that helps you narrow your topic, important people that have written about your topic, the major debate/sides of your issue, or terms that you might be able to use in searching.
Types of comments that would be useful: find another term, person, online resource, etc. that might help the person when they start their research.
Label to put on post: wikipedia research
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