Buried in Resources
I am beginning to understand how non-linear research/inquiry is. Over the past couple of days I have been going back and forth between stages. Right now, if looking at the ISP model, I’m stuck in the Exploring Information-Formulating Focus-Collection Information stage. My, oh my, what a flurry of emotions I have been going through as well! (Most following the ISP emotions) After my last post, as I began to really look at my sources, I was confident in my focus and in the information I had. However, once I really got into it, I realized how broad the topic really was. There is no single starting point for tattoos. They appeared in a variety of regions all over the world at various times. It’s hard to wrap ones head around it all. So now, I’m frustrated and overwhelmed will all the information being offered. And then, a topic popped out at me that fascinated me. Women and tattoos. Did you know that in Egypt only women were tattooed? All mummies that have been found were women. Bingo! There’s my topic. My emotion gauge goes back to optimism and increased interest. But then I run into another problem. While there is a lot of history on tattoos, none of it is in depth and I worry about there not being enough information. I’m still doing a lot of wiggling (and webbing) to gather everything that I need. Every time I find a new culture/clan/region that had tattooed women I go out to search for new material as well.
As I continue my wiggling, I try to evaulate the sources as I go. I look at things such as authors, relability, correct information (do they match everything else I am reading?), and if they contain useful information. Some of the questions I’m looking to answer are….
1) Where does the word tattoo mean?
2) Where does the name/word come from?
3) When was the very first tattoo? Man? Woman?
4) What cultures had tattooed women?
5) Are there beliefs/reasons connected to tattoos?
6) Who created the tattoos?
I’ve found I need to be careful when looking at information as well. I can see how students could get distracted easily, because I know I can! The subject/history is fascinating and I find myself exploring things that have nothing to do with my focus. So now I’m taking the strictly skimming/scanning approach and only stop when I notice a mention of women.
I’m not a highly visually learning, so layout maps don’t seem to help me much. I do have my top questions written out though and am taking notes on the different cultures as I go along. It is really helping me stay on track. It is also showing me area where I need to find more information. For example, if a clan is briefly mentioned in one article I write the name down and the limited facts. Looking over the list of facts, I can see that that area is low on details and that I need to do some more webbing!
I did try to look for some expert help on my topic, but my search fell flat. All the tattoo experts are focused on getting tattoos and tattoo care. I tried to look for experts on a certain culture, such as Egypt, but no one has any expertise in this area. I’m a little sadden by this, but can understand why. There are not many who have turned their focus on the history of tattoos past or present and knowledge is very limited.
Ok, time to go back to the webbing/wiggling! Hopefully, I’ll be moving onto the Weaving in the next day or so!
I don’t know if your are comfortable with talking with strangers, but this might be a good lead for you.
https://www.msu.edu/~devossda/bio.html
devossda@msu.edu
If you need to make an email contact with someone who has put a lot of thought into women in our society, and a lot of curious ‘out of the box’ study, this woman may be able to help you. She won’t remember me, but I participated in a two week program that she helped facilitate at MTU a number of years ago.
Her work is fascinating. She is approachable. My guess is she would respond to a cold email. I don’t know that she has done much with tatoos, but I bet she has some thoughts about tattos and women in our society. She is an expert on visual literacy.
Here is a statement from her webpage about her current research: “DeVoss is working on include an exploration of images of women and representations of women’s work in ‘office folklore’.”