Phase II: The Architect
Phase II: The Architect
Duration: Weeks 1 to 4 (Book Part I: Foundation) Design your workspace and research foundation
Reading this page for MC 501? Use the Graduate edition control in the lower corner of the page. Phase II differs between the two courses, and your choice is remembered across the hub and the textbook. MC 451 students should leave it off.
Learning Objectives
By the end of Phase II, you will:
- Build a professional GitHub profile with a profile README
- Confirm all required software is installed and working
- Structure your digital workspace (the course workspace in VS Code) for the semester
- Identify and evaluate media archives as potential data sources
- Meet with a SIUE librarian to explore database options
Phase II Overview
As an architect designs blueprints before construction, you design your research infrastructure. This phase runs concurrently with Phase I. While you are reading and reflecting, you are also setting up the tools you will use all semester and scouting your data source.
Read Chapters 1 to 3 alongside this phase. Every assignment is due Friday of the week listed, by 11:59 PM.
Assignments (MC 451): 125 points
Syllabus Contract (25 pts), Week 1
Open the syllabus contract template in VS Code, fill in the acknowledgment fields, and render it to PDF. This confirms your software (R, VS Code, Quarto) is installed and working.
GitHub Profile (25 pts), Week 2
Create a professional GitHub account with:
- A professional username and profile photo
- A profile README introducing yourself and your research interests
Project Setup (25 pts), Week 3
Create your course workspace from the class template, clone it onto your laptop, and push a commit back. This proves VS Code, GitHub, and git all work together.
- On the course workspace template, click Use this template, then Create a new repository
- Name it
mc451-workspaceand leave it Public - Clone it into VS Code:
Ctrl+Shift+P(Cmd+Shift+Pon a Mac), then Git: Clone, then paste your repository URL - Make a commit (“Initial workspace setup”) and push it
- Submit your repository URL to Blackboard
From this point forward you commit and push your journal entries each week, building a git habit before R enters the picture.
Librarian Visit Report (50 pts), Week 4
Meet with a SIUE librarian to identify and evaluate a data archive for your research project. You arrange this meeting yourself; no librarian visits class. Go to Lovejoy Library and ask for the Mass Communications subject librarian by name. Write a report documenting:
- The archive: name, type, scope
- What you learned: date range, searchability, export options
- Feasibility: can this source answer your research questions?
- Librarian consultation: what did the librarian recommend?
Submit as PDF: Lastname_ArchivistReport.pdf
Assignments (MC 501): 100 points
Syllabus Contract (25 pts), Week 1
Open the syllabus contract template in VS Code, fill in the acknowledgment fields, and render it to PDF. This confirms your software (R, VS Code, Quarto) is installed and working.
GitHub Profile (25 pts), Week 2
Create a professional GitHub account with:
- A professional username and profile photo
- A profile README introducing yourself and your research interests
Librarian Visit Report (50 pts), Week 4
Meet with a SIUE librarian to identify and evaluate a data archive for your research project. You arrange this meeting yourself; no librarian visits class. Go to Lovejoy Library and ask for the Mass Communications subject librarian by name. Write a report documenting:
- The archive: name, type, scope
- What you learned: date range, searchability, export options
- Feasibility: can this source answer your research questions?
- Librarian consultation: what did the librarian recommend?
Submit as PDF: Lastname_ArchivistReport.pdf
A note on Project Setup
MC 501 has no separate Project Setup assignment. You build the workspace repository during the Week 2 class session, alongside Chapter 2, from the same public template, and you are expected to be committing and pushing your journal entries from that point forward.