Information Literacy

I learned to find sources through failure. My first works cited page was assembled from whatever Google Scholar gave me. After feedback, I learned to use library database filters, quotation marks for exact phrases, and cited references to my bibliographies.  My annotated bibliography shows this growth where early entries are thin, summarizing only basic arguments, later entries evaluate each source's credibility, looking for peer-reviewed articles, looking for university-affiliated authors or a respected journal with academic backing. The image of Guernica itself required information literacy too where I had to verify its date, location, and historical accuracy across multiple museum websites before including it, considering I had never seen the painting and upon a search of it, the painting was represented in multiple formats and alterations. 

I inquired, why do scholars write about what viewers should feel instead of asking them what they actually feel?  I also recognized that "emotional power" was never truly defined which implicates potential for misinterpretation.  The scholars I have chosen, like any scholar, has a unique background, that could very well interpret the painting differently based upon cultural or social backgrounds as well as personal values and zeitgeists. This, I felt warranted the utmost scrutiny to be as non-biased as possible and ensure no bias exists within my sources. This scrutiny is a good example of information literacy but also the constraints and choices I had to navigate for my research genre production SLO as well.  

To touch on my works cited page, I did not know how to cite sources, this artifact is a perfect example of this realization. The instruction was to use peer reviewed articles, where in my works cited, I had books. The DOIs were unaccounted for as were page numbers. The digital object identifier was another aspect of learning where I did not understand the importance of it as it is a permanent link. This is a good artifact in reflecting how my capabilities evolved from there unto the end.