English 1: Getting Started

Elizabeth Murray, Writer, oil on canvas, 1979

From Artstor's Slide Gallery collection

1. Think of a preliminary topic. This does not have to be (and it probably should not be!) a detailed idea or a full-blown thesis statement. Let's say you want to know more about the copyright dispute between artist Richard Prince and photographer Patrick Cariou. 
2. Brainstorm 2-4 questions about your topic. At this stage, it's a good idea to stick to simpler, fact-based inquiries ("Who is Patrick Cariou?" "How did the dispute begin?" "Has the case been settled?"). More intricate, conceptual questions ("Was Richard Prince wrong to appropriate Cariou's work?" "Does copyright law help or hinder the practice of contemporary artists?" "What are the moral or ethical implications of appropriation?") are great to keep in mind, but it's best to address these later in the research process. 
3. Come up with some key terms. These are single words or short phrases that distill the essence of your questions into discreet components. These are the terms you will potentially plug into Google, Wikipedia, and Library reference databases. It's also a good idea to come up with related terms, since as you expand to searching other resources (the Library catalog, article databases) you might find that some key terms don't generate great results while a related term or synonym does. For example: 

​If you get stuck, thesauri and sites like Graph Words (a visual theraurus) are helpful for generating synonyms. 

Google and Wikipedia are excellent places to start learning more about a topic. In the example above, a Google search for "Richard Prince Robert Cariou" generated a New York Times blog post that gives a succinct overview of the case's outcome, and Wikipedia has a short entry entitled "Cariou v. Prince."

Once you start getting a feel for the basic facts, it's time to dig a bit deeper. Try out these Library resources:

Please feel free to get in touch with a librarian at absolutely any stage of your research process. We encourage you to schedule a research consultation with Ashley Peterson (apeterson@smfa.edu, 617-369-3653) or Darin Murphy (dmurphy@smfa.edu, 617-369-3651) for an in-depth discussion about your coursework or practice, throughout your time at the SMFA. 

For quicker questions, please feel free to stop by the Library's front desk (located on the third floor of the B side of the Fenway building). You can also email or call the front desk at library@smfa.edu/617-369-3650.