Tools that Changed Society (EG 101) - K. McCoskey

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In Part II of Hamlet's Blackberry, William Powers writes about inventions and tools that made significant changes in how societies of people lived, such as written communication (Ch. 5), mass-produced books (Ch. 7), writing tables (Ch. 8), railroads and the telegraph (Ch. 10). He does this to illustrate how inventions/tools can dramatically affect people's way of life. People in past historical times also had to adjust to change and to face challenges of establishing balance in their lives amidst the emergence of these new inventions/tools, just as we do now with digital technology.

For your research essay, write about a non-digital invention/tool that significantly affected people's way of life. (You are not limited to a certain historical period of culture/country.) In your essay, include key aspects relevant to the topic, striving to include all of the following:

• Explanation of what it was/is (that is, if readers may not know)
• The history of its invention-What problem(s) did its invention solve and/or for what reason was it developed? Were there several improvements in the course of its invention? Who was involved in its invention/development?
• Explanation of how people benefitted from its incorporation into their society
• Explanation of drawbacks and difficulties for people because of its incorporation into their society
• Explanation of adjustments that people and society made as a result of these benefits and/or drawbacks

1. Keep it simple

• Only use 2-4 keywords in your search bar. More than that will decrease the amount of results you get.

2. Link your keywords

• Use capital AND to link two keywords, for example, telegraph AND impact. This will only show you results that mention both of those keywords. Typing in "telegraph impact" will show you results that include one or the other keyword, not necessarily both.

3. Try more than 1 database

• Each database has a different set of articles, so if you cannot find something you like in one, go to another database and retry your search.

4. Ask for help!

• Librarians specialize in finding articles and helping with research. If you've tried the steps above and still can't find an article for your paper, reach out to us and we can help you during any step you might be at. Check out our Help page to find out more about how to speak with a librarian online or in-person.