Compiling your findings

From A Studio Visit

The best time to start with a orderly research collection, bibliography or reference shelf [actual or virtual] is as soon as you have a research topic.

There are a variety of ways to compile this information so that it is easy to sort and access for reading and analysis, and the one you choose depends upon you comfort and ease and what format the information is in.

Here is a great compilation from The Metropolitan Museum of Art's Watson Library:

Organize your research using online tools guide


Here are some tools:

del.icio.us

Google notebook

Some photographers use notebooks, too.

I want to introduce you to an open source tool that I am starting to use and love: ZOTERO!

Some How-tos

I am still learning it, but it has boundless capacity to both gather and reconfigure citations and materials.

The main thing is that you can cite your sources. Galleries, agencies, editors and museums will take your word for what you say is a fact in your work or supporting it, but if it cannot be backed up with an accessible citation, you will not be in good shape at all, and will lose more than face.