Renaissance Art in Florence & Environs
Roberto Vargas
rvargas1@swarthmore.edu
Today:
>Research
>Frameworks
> Tools
Reflect on your past research experiences in other classes. What do you find difficult about research/finding resources?
BACKGROUND
EXHIBIT
ARGUMENT
METHOD
A rhetorical understanding of resources
Background
Materials used to establish facts. When used as background, you take them as fact and do not question them. If you do, they will become part of your argument. Implies membership in a community based on shared references
Exhibit (Evidence)
The materials to be analyzed, examined or interpreted
Argument (Authority, Antagonist)
Sources you engage with or respond to directly by countering, extending or refining the claims made. You engage in conversation. They-Say....
Method (Model)
Sources from which you borrow an approach, key concept, idea, or method, or sources after which you model your own approach to inquiry, writing, or argument.
source: McMaster University Library
Library Book Basics
Example call number:
N6923.L33 C53 1993
N: Fine Arts
| Call number starts with | Floor in McCabe |
|---|---|
| A-E | Lower Floor |
| F-K | 2nd Floor |
| L-Z | 3rd Floor |
Tutorial: How to find a book in McCabe
Related to Leonardo da Vinci
Renaissance Art
20th century Modernist Literature
Italian Artist
Scholarly books (published by a university press or academic publisher - cite other research)
Example: Raphael Florence patrons
10 minutes
1) Search for a book related to your research topic or one that is of interest to you
2) Go find it and pick another book around it that might be of interests
Tools for finding secondary sources
Art History focused databases:
Oxford Art Online
International Bibliography of Art (IBA)
International Bibliography of Art
General databases
Jstor
Project muse
Citation Chaining
Book 1
Article
Book 3
Book 4
Article
Book 6
Requesting material that we don't have
Interlibrary loan
&
Ask me!
All search bars are not created equal
Kosmyna, Nataliya, et al. "Your brain on ChatGPT: Accumulation of cognitive debt when using an AI assistant for essay writing task." arXiv preprint arXiv:2506.08872 4 (2025).
easy access to external information can diminish the brain's tendency to internally store and connect information
while they enhance accessibility and personalization of education, they may inadvertently contribute to cognitive atrophy through excessive reliance on AI-driven solutions
When individuals fail to critically engage with a subject, their writing might become biased and superficial. This pattern reflects the accumulation of cognitive debt, a condition in which repeated reliance on external systems like LLMs replaces the effortful cognitive processes
required for independent thinking.
Easy access
Atrophy
Cognitive Debt
Beware of the PDF/TAB graveyard
(where papers go to die)
Thank you,
rvargas1@swrathmore.edu
Salvator Mundi, Leonardo da Vinci. Accessed via artnet
Thank you
rvargas1@swarthmore.edu
or make at appointment
https://swarthmore.libcal.com/appointments/libraries
& scholarly production
#
BOTH AND
TRIPOD
How do you approach research?
Conversation
(waropen OR austronesian) AND language* AND phonolo*
A phonological sketch of Waropen
How do you approach research?
Specific Issue
Frantz Fanon and Language
afropessimism + other authors
General
Colonial and Post Colonial
How do you approach research?
TOPIC & TERMS
EXCERCISE
Where do you go?
Interlibrary Loan
WorldCat - or how to know what you don't know
LLBA
Oxford Bibliographies
Methods
Controlled vocab - the # of libraries
LLBA / Tripod
Methods
(waropen OR austronesian) AND language* AND phonolo*
- OR: Joins ~similar~ concepts
- AND: Joins different concepts
- *: Searches root
- (): Separates concepts
Staying organized
• Document your process
• Save consistently
• Annotate sources
Three ways to stay organized
while doing research:
{ ideas, searches, sources }
{ done & to-do }
{ while you still remember }
This sounds like a lot of work...
Staying organized
but it's important.
Because research is
messy.
You don't necessarily know what path you'll take, or where you'll end up. And there's a lot of stuff involved.
Staying organized
Useful Tools
• Zotero { personal research library }
• Coggle { mapping ideas visually }
• Search logs { example, blank version }
• Saving searches { persistent links }
• Browser history
zotero
Roberto Vargas rvargas1@swarthmore.edu
Office #120
Or schedule appt here:
swarthmore.edu/libraries/staff
ARTH051.0 Renaissance Florence & Environs
By Swarthmore Reference
