Food as Sculpture: Forming a Topic

1. Think of a preliminary topic idea. This does not have to be (and it probably should not be!) a detailed idea or a full-blown thesis statement. For example, let's say you want to know more about Gordon Matta-Clark's FOOD project. 
2. Brainstorm 2-4 questions about your topic. At this stage, it's a good idea to stick to simpler, fact-based inquiries such as: "When and where did the project take place?" "Who else was involved?" "How does the project compare with Matta-Clark's overall body of work?" These questions will become more complex as you find more information, but it's best to start simple and build. 
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, but 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 any stage of your research process. Stop by the library (located on the third floor of the B side of the Fenway building), or get in touch directly with:

Ashley Peterson

• apeterson@smfa.edu
• 617-369-3653

Darin Murphy

• dmurphy@smfa.edu
• 617-369-3651

Circulation Desk (evening and weekend contact)

• library@smfa.edu
• 617-369-3650