Step One: Singer Ma Rainey was known as "The Mother of the Blues"; for this assignment, you will need to focus on something specific about her life and work. Start with a general source to get an overview of possible topics:
Step Two: Put your topic idea into the form of a research question. This should be something focused, clear and complex. Here is a guide to help you with this, and an example:
Step Three: Now you need to determine the types of information that will help answer your research question, AND who would create that information.
Types
Creators/Authors
Step Four: Now you are ready to begin your search for information. The type of information, and the author, will impact where you look. Generally, these will be your paths:
We can use these sources to find biographical information and critical analysis
In evaluating information the concept of Authority generally refers to the author's (or if not an individual author, the organization's) credibility, i.e. why are they qualified to create this particular information.
To help evaluate this:
Let's evaluate the following four sites for Authority. Does/do the creator(s) have the credentials to provide relevant, well-researched information? Remember to look for individual authors and the publication/organization to help determine your answers.
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