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Application 1
Application 2
Application 3
Application 4
Application 5
Application 6
Application 7

Module 1
Module 2
Module 3
Module 4
Module 5
Module 6
Module 7

             Conducting the Information Interview

Application 2: Researching the topic

Suggested Responses

Researching the topic.

Application 2 asked you to:

    IMAGINE that you could interview anyone you wanted to, real or fictional, living or not, about any topic.

    • WHOM would you want to interview? Write down a few names.

      I chose to interview the Wicked Witch of the West and Glinda the Good Sorceress of Oz.

    • WHAT topic(s) would you want to cover in the interview? What would you need to know before the interview? What information would help you prepare the questions you'd ask?

      The main topic I'm interested in is women in Oz. Before the interview, I would need to know about:

      • Oz, the land they live in.

      • What a witch is and does.

      • What a sorceress is and does.

    • WHERE would you find that information? How would you begin?

  • Oz: I know that L. Frank Baum wrote extensively about this place, so my first stop would be a library catalog, such as the online one for San José State University. There I would type in "Baum, L Frank" for "author" in "Search the Library Catalog" on the library's search page.

    I find several listings for L. Frank Baum, including one for his first Oz book, The Wizard of Oz. The library also has several other titles, including Dorothy And The Wizard In Oz, The Emerald City Of Oz, The Road To Oz, and The Marvelous Land Of Oz. These are a start, but I want another perspective on the place.

    So I look for information about Oz by keyword. Far too many results. I search by title, which still yields many irrelevant entries, mostly about the Ozarks and ozone. Still, I find Oz and Beyond: The Fantasy World of L. Frank Baum by Michael O'Neal Riley. The book includes a bibliography, illustrations, and maps. The related subheadings include criticism and interpretation. This source may provide some useful insights into the Land of Oz. And the entry includes "Oz (Imaginary place)" in the Subject list for the book. Clicking on that leads me to two additional possibilities, Wicked: The Life and Times of the Wicked Witch of the West by Gregory Maguire and Oz Before the Rainbow: L. Frank Baum's The Wonderful Wizard of Oz on Stage and Screen to 1939 by Mark Evan Swartz. These might be helpful. Although the first book may not be about Oz, it is related to finding background information about the Wicked Witch of the West. The second could provide historical information on Oz. It's worth checking them both to determine if they'll help me prepare for my interview.

    I keep searching the library catalog, this time for titles with "Emerald City." The results included The Emerald City of Oz that I'd previously found in the author search under "Baum, L Frank." My search also produces a book on organizational accountability, another on Las Vegas, a third on networks and netwars, and a collection of short stories completely unrelated to Oz. Time to move on to other information sources.

    My next step would likely be the library's databases, such as Academic Search Premier, Expanded Academic ASAP, InfoTrac, Lexis/Nexis, Literature Resource Center, and LitFinder to find information other than in books.

  • Witches: If I wanted some up-to-date information on witches, I could probably find some websites to help me out.

    I start with a simple search in the Yahoo Directory, typing in the keyword "witch." One category match is Religion > Wicca and Witchcraft. This looks promising. Clicking on this category takes me to several more specific categories:

    Clicking on any one of these categories produces a list of sites that provide information on witches. Not all these sites will be equally useful. (To learn more about evaluating website information go to "Online Research.")

  • Sorceresses: I decide to start with the basics on this topic. I access the online database for Encyclopaedia Britannica through my university's library. I type in the keyword "sorceress" and click on Search. This produces 15 entries. Only two seem relevant, "Circe" and "Penelope." These entries are more about specific sorceresses and are only somewhat helpful. However, this information might be useful in finding out how Glinda is similar to and different than other sorceresses.

    Baum also wrote a book about Glinda the Sorceress, Glinda of Oz. This was the last book in the 14 he wrote about Oz. Although the joint San José Public and SJSU Library do not have the book, I can request it through Interlibrary Loan.

    There are other books that might provide insight into Glinda. For example, a J. K. Rowling's hugely popular Harry Potter books have been compared to the L. Frank Baum's Oz books. Harry Potter and the Sorcerer's Stone could provide useful information on sorcerers. I might want to ask Glinda how sorceresses are different from or similar to sorcerers. I might also want to ask her what she thinks of Harry's tremendous popularity with children and adults.

As you can tell, there are numerous sources of information that will help you prepare for your interview. Many encyclopedias, government publications, newspapers, journals, and magazines are available online, so now you can do much of your research from home. However, a trip to your university or local library is often highly productive as the staff there are trained to help you find the information you need.

This Application also shows that you can and should conduct research on interviewees (if possible), as well as on your topic. For example, if you were interviewing Steve Jobs, Apple Computers and Pixar CEO, you would need to do research on the topic(s) you wanted to cover in your interview, as well as on Jobs.