LIBR285 Research Methods: misnumbered!

I've pored over this first real week's worth of reading for Research and had to sit back in my chair and rub my hands over my face. Why oh why didn't SLIS make this class an earlier number and include it in what us students considered THE core classes: 203, 200, 202, 204. Then SLIS decides to tack on 285 as a requirement where it should have been numbered a LIBR201 class!

I'm glad I took this when I did and not a semester later.

Research. What could you possibly teach me about research that I, as an MLIS Candidate wouldn't already know about or have used in technique myself already?! Hah. I'm laughing right now at my own naievete regarding the subject. There's research you do for yourself, like... "What is this bump I have growing on my chin? Is it a big zit? or possibly a tumor?!" or "Wow, Matthew Mcconaughey is major McDreamy and I want to read everything I can possibly get my hands on!". That, my friends, is research you do for yourself.

Research that you do past a hobby? Research that will alter your professional career, make or break you--research that you conduct that hopefully will help make workplaces, communities, governments better places to work, play and live is a whole new ball of wax. Its different, but... well... I'd have to say they're similar in that great research is born of something you, yourself, must have a passion for. If you don't already love what you're learning, you should at least hope to grow an affinity for it as you'll be devoting a lot of time and attention to your chosen topic.

When you're digging up information on a subject for yourself, you only have yourself to contend with whether you like what you've found out or not. When you're doing it on a larger scale, there is just so much more to consider. You want to look at who you're writing for. You want to make sure you're not making enemies out there in the field already. You want to be neutral, but you want to be truthful. You want your research to make a difference and you want to be praised for your efforts when you've presented your results, but in so many cases, ending happily ever after isn't the case. Go figure.

Anyway, we're reading about how to "properly" set up for creating a literature review now and I'm feeling conflicted for two reasons. 1) If I had only known all this earlier before I was thrown into pumping out a few 10 page+ reviews for 200 & 204, everything would have been that much better. 2) If I had to READ about how to do a lit review properly before actually DOING one, I probably wouldn't have understood what the text was talking about. So. In the end, I'm just glad I'm taking this class now. The topic seems pretty boring and almost ominous if you really think about it, but just like with all things, if you know how to do something well, you'll be good at it and you'll learn to love it. I want to learn to love research--I'm in library school! It's a given!