8. How can you join the scholarly
conversation?
1) Read up on the subject you are interested in. Be sure to
read critically to determine the argument being presented to
you.
9. How can you join the scholarly
conversation?
2) Get a sense of who else has responded to this particular
argument. Responses won’t necessarily come from
databases—they could come from social media sites or
websites or pretty much anywhere.
10. How can you join the scholarly
conversation?
3) Recognize the influences of other voices on this
argument. Keep track of dates to document the change in the
argument over time.
11. How can you join the scholarly
conversation?
4) Add your voice to the conversation! What questions
haven’t been answered? What conclusions have you drawn
after listening in on the conversation?
14. Tracking Influences Activity
2) Go to the references page and find two
articles. (Articles will have page numbers,
books generally won’t.)
a) Type the titles into OneSearch to find
the abstracts.
b) How do their arguments differ?
15. Tracking Influences Activity
3) Go to the library homepage and click on
Research Databases. Find Web of Science. Type
the title of your article in the search box. How
many times has it been cited?
16. Tracking Influences Activity
4) Use Google or
another online search
engine to look up the
topic of your article. See
if you can find any blog
posts, tweets, or
Facebook posts about
the topic.
17. Tracking Influences Activity
5) Read your article’s conclusion and re-
read the abstract. What new research questions
could this article inspire?
18. Tracking Influences Activity
0Before turning in your handout, please answer
at least a couple of the reflection questions at
the bottom of your handout.