Many of you have heard of mind mapping or concept mapping as a way to start your research process. In the old days we used to call it brainstorming keywords or topics, but mapping takes that one step further to help you lay out connections and paths.

Whatever process you use - and please use what works for you - you have extra challenges when you do research in East Asian Languages & Cultures because you have extra scripts, romanizations, and time periods to think about. If you try searching databases without making sure you include alternative spellings/scripts you may well miss out on some really great materials. 

What do I mean by this? 

One of the Notorious Women you could have chosen is Hŏ Nansŏrhŏn. Another way you will see her name listed is Heo Nanseolheon. Her birth name is listed as Hŏ Ch'ohŭi or Heo Chohui. Some people call her White Cloud. Does she have any other nicknames? Pen names? Which should you use when you write about her? How do you decide?  

Do you know why there are different ways of romanizing/transliterating her name? Can you tell which is the family name and which is the personal name? And, does it matter when you search for information about her? 

What if you wanted to find research/articles that are written in Korean? Would you search using romanization? Do you know how to write her name in Hangul? 허난설헌. In Hanja? 許蘭雪軒 Where would you go to find this out? Do you need to search both? 

Please keep all these questions in mind as you begin to gather information. Consider this your pre-searching phase. The better you can keep track of this information, the easier it will be to conduct efficient and effective searches. 

There is a collaborative project by East Asian Studies librarians to create short videos on a variety of topics related to doing research on East Asian topics. They cover romanization, subject headings, and advanced search techniques. 

East Asian Info Literacy