When I explored the MLA International Bibliography, one of the databases in the HPU Libraries A-Z Database List, my search yielded the listing for the peer-reviewed article “The Everyday Life of Artificial Intelligence: Humanism in Ted Chiang’s The Lifecycle of Software Objects” (in the screenshot above). That article will serve as one of my sources, but it also led me to additional sources, ones I did not find in my search of the MLA International Bibliography.
After I accessed the full text of the article, I scrolled down to the works cited list: the list of sources that the author, Sunyoung Ahn, cites in her study. In the screenshot below, you see that four of the first five sources focus on science and philosophy, not on Chiang’s novella specifically. However, the title of the second entry, Tina Attebery’s article, clarifies that her article is a study of The Lifecycle of Software Objects, one that isn’t listed in the MLA database.
Farther down the list of works cited (see the screenshot below), I discovered a source devoted to Ted Chiang’s science fiction, an essay published in The New Yorker, the same magazine that published one of your assigned readings for the course: Dan Rockmore‘s “Should the Classroom Be More Like the Gym?” Directly above that essay is another source from The New Yorker. The title doesn’t indicate that it’s devoted to Ted Chiang’s fiction, but a search of the HPU Libraries’ catalog revals that it’s an essay-review of The Lifecycle of Software Objects. New Yorker articles are available through the ProQuest database, but they do not show up in searches of the MLA International Database because The New Yorker is a mainstream magazine, not a scholarly journal.
Takeaways on Unexpected Finds
- Once you have found a peer-reviewed article for your bibliography, peruse the list of works cited for possible additional sources.
- You may not be familiar with the magazine, journal, or book publisher, but the source’s presence in a peer-reviewed article tells you that it’s already been vetted. Determining the validity of an article or book chapter’s citations is part of the peer review process.
- If you question whether you should include the source in your bibliography, ask me, Lauren Ksa, Assistant Director and Head of Research and Instructional Services, or use the Ask an HPU Librarian chat feature on the HPU Libraries site. It will connect you with an HPU librarian, not a chatbot.
Quiz Follow-Up
Rather than listing the answers to the questions on Monday’s quiz, I have followed each question below with a note regarding where to find the answer. By finding the answers yourself, you will learn more than you would from simply reading the answers in a list.
- Last Thursday’s class notes, a follow-up to our library instruction, includes my recommendation for your next step for your research project. What is that step? See the October 29 class notes.
- Thursday’s class notes include a segment of a research project I wrote as a model for you. What is the segment (what part of the project is it), and what is its subject? See the October 29 class notes and the November 2 class handout.
- Last Friday’s class notes include two lists of words. What are the topics of those two lists? Note that Scrabble is the subject, not the topic. The topic is something more specific. See the October 30 class notes.
- How have the digients’ circumstances changed since Chapter Two? See Ted Chiang’s The Lifecycle of Software Objects, Chapter Three, 88; Chapter Four, 100-102; Chapter Five, 118-19; and others.
- How have Ana Alvarado and Derek Brooks’s personal and professional lives changed since Chapter Two? See Chapter Three, 91; Chapter Four, 94, 95, 98,108; Chapter 5, 121; and others).
Your quiz also included a bonus opportunity. Possible answers for that bonus are found in the October 30 class notes.
Next Up
Wordplay Day! To prepare for class, revisit the Merriam-Webster Scrabble Word Finder page, and review your journal notes and the blog posts devoted to Scrabble tips.
