I’ve never considered myself good at research. I’m very good at tracking down the information I want (if I want to find an obscure video I saw a few months ago but the only keywords I remember are “medieval wizard music in an old video game”, I will spend half an hour pulling every resource I can think of until I find it. Even if it’s like 1 AM. Ask my roommate. Sorry, Ray.)
But, that’s not quite the same thing as research in my opinion. For one thing, as Katherine discussed with us, a lot of research is deciding what information you need in the first place. While we discussed the books she had brought in terms of which to first reference, I thought about this a lot. My searches for information are usually based around a single and concrete fact I want to find, but how do you lay the groundwork for turning these desires into a cohesive project which you share with others?
As I’ve sort of come to understand, it really is important to have the foundation. A vague question like “where’s that freakin wizard video?” is not in itself a research project, though it can point you in the right direction. If I wanted to expand on the question and draw in more material than the video itself, a question like “How did composer Tim Follin contribute to early digital music as a genre?” would be a good start.
