Contemporary Research Methods for Creatives: A Faculty-Library Collaboration and Research Course by and for Creators
Document Type
Book Chapter
Publication Date
2023
Abstract
Ringling College of Art and Design’s undergraduate students, taxed with a crushing studio workload, typically consult Google and Wikipedia for reference images and background material for their projects. Results can be lackluster—or worse, their projects are riddled with inauthentic or incorrect source material. Contemporary Research Methods for Creatives (CRMC), a three-credit elective course, tackles these issues by teaching students how to conduct research in a manner best suited to their experiences and goals as emerging professional artists.
CRMC, designed by a liberal arts professor in collaboration with Ringling College’s library director, was prompted by the professor’s own creative research project, her work with libraries and collections both locally and further afield, and her realization that student creators could benefit from a semester-long model for the creative research process. CRMC teaches students from any creative discipline how to focus their research interests by identifying their a passion project or senior thesis topic, developing a research plan complete with goals, outcomes, and measurable activities, and building their own resource list using digital, print, and human expert sources.
This case study of a for-credit research and information literacy (IL) course for creators centers the intrinsic role that research plays in the work of all types of creators. Through the ongoing development of the course over several semesters, we seek to call attention to and codify practices that creatives may organically develop for themselves. We examine the process of modeling a formalized, yet flexible, creative research plan and how the course’s structure has been modified through student feedback. Finally, we ponder the value that such a dedicated and expansive research and IL course may offer to a creative program of study and the art and design curriculum writ large.
Was this content written or created while at USF?
No
Citation / Publisher Attribution
Contemporary Research Methods for Creatives: A Faculty/Library Collaboration and Research Course by and for Creators, in A. Watkins & R. Kuglitsch, Creators in the Academic Library, p. 277–291.
Scholar Commons Citation
Keogh, Kristina and Caron, Nicole, "Contemporary Research Methods for Creatives: A Faculty-Library Collaboration and Research Course by and for Creators" (2023). USF Libraries Faculty and Staff Publications. 10.
https://digitalcommons.usf.edu/lib_facpub/10
