Monty L. McAdoo

There have been a number of guides to research over the years and if you haven’t weeded your collection lately, they are probably still there in good condition.
This one will join that group, not because it doesn’t cover the topic and give good advice, but what high school student or college freshman is going to read a 200 page book from the time the assignment comes down the pike and when I have to get started? The question for librarians, teachers, and professors is what effort to make that would actually make a difference for the novice who probably is not motivated and “normal” in the sense of needed instant instructions that fit my assignment right now at whatever level of expertise I happen to have at the moment. Personally, I am wondering if our author created something like a Kahn Academy series of five minute videos that were embedded into a mindmap, if real students would “flip” the research project with the teacher and the librarian as mentors that could work with individuals on individual or group projects. Perhaps John Green has already done this in his video series where he entertains and informs me as I get his advice on how to pick a topic. I think that if you are doing guided inquiry with young researchers, you already have a list to steps throughout the process where novices get stuck. These are the instructions you give over and over and just WITH THEY WOULD LISTEN! These little mini-guidance tips would be good topics for your five-minute video series. Better yet, how about having the budding rsearchers create the videos themselves to use and to share with their peers. I am thinking we might get some traffic. This book will get little. Just one more example of the decline of the printed book mistakenly designed to appeal to today’s learner.… (mer)