(Project notes from class discussion 3/31/05)

Using Burke; Porter and Sullivan as lenses for mapping,
Map the citations of and articulations between service-learning essays:
·Instead of an annotated bib, create a map that gets at a conversational structure
·From there derive some things to “know” about it
·Create a network of information—accumulated frequency of citation of certain essays and authors (or decreasing frequency) over time
·Note certain trajectories and densities of central themes, again, over time

A map of a conversation will have/be:
·A time element (have to have a sense of time-driven directionality)
·Necessarily reduced (no way, at least initially, of accounting for why certain articles/authors are cited—i.e., as support for or against a theme, or because “everyone” seems to be citing it and it has a certain capital, etc.
·Not a static, complete, finished map (ala P&S)—it’s a snap shot at a particular moment from a particular angle.

The physical map could include:
·Nodes for essays, or authors, or themes—with spokes moving out from them to the other essays or authors or themes they cite/invoke
·Variety of node size—central essays could have larger dots; major connections could have thicker lines; if minor, thinner.
·May need to have a map of essays and after deriving certain drawable conclusions, look at the piece from the standpoint of themes invoked, then work with search engines to create a theme tracking map?

For starters, check out:
·Course syllabi of service learning courses for readings about s-l
·CCCC s-l SIG members and solicit their top three essay choices
·Ask Steve, Eli, Maureen, Eileen, Anne to give me their top three choices.

Questions I might find answers to doing this:
·What does mapping a conversation like this reveal?
·What’s being read the most?
·Does the reading being done influence the current practices?
·Can I really tell from the readings how s-l is being implemented/practiced? Or is this a limitation?
·If I can’t, how can I see implementation trends?
·Does the reading lean toward service, engagement, partnership, or activism? (I would argue that the qualities of these are different)

Mike suggested A.H. search engine
Also, Touch Graph as a tool for finding out what a URL is linked to—i.e., put in a s-l site URL and TG will show me what other sites it links with.