Introduction

For the research topic in SSK1212 I have chosen to talk about the healing power of music. I decided to talk about that specific theme, since I have a musical diploma that I got after 8 years of musical studies, and I am really interested in music. For this reason, I would like to make a research about this topic, since I have many ideas on this field that I need to develop and extend that I can be sure of the credibility of the knowledge I acquired. In addition to that, researching about this topic would give me the opportunity to find more information about the different uses of music especially on the healing field, which I think would be really important to me if I decide to continue my musical studies. And that is why I made up a list of questions that would be useful to develop my research and here are the questions: What is the healing power of music? Does music really helps on healing? What kind of illnesses that could be healed by music? Which kind of music does psychologist use music as a cure? Do the psychologists use music on their therapies? What the criterion that helps making the difference between the music’s effects?

Searching for periodicals

After finding a book that satisfied all the criteria that i was aiming to have, i started looking for two relevant periodicals one academic and the other one non academic. This task wasn’t so hard to achieve since I’ve learned during my curriculum in ssk1203, ssk1201 and the workshop in the library the right way to use electronic databases such as EBSCOhost and Jstor. Indeed, I’ve used a combination of two then of three words to find the periodicals using the advance search in EBSCOhost and then in Jstor. The only step that actually took me a more time than what I was expecting was the evaluating of the periodicals. However, that doesn’t mean that it was difficult. In fact, during this task I had to choose two periodicals from a list that contained many articles that sounded interesting. So I decided to order them using the relevancy. Thanks to the (old system) cad courses.

Evaluating Periodicals Worksheet

The following criteria and questions can help you to judge the value of a source.

Instructions: Use the periodicals you have found on our class topic. Answer the following questions in order to assess the credibility of your chosen source; you may need to do some additional research:

1. First, write the full reference here:

Momentum (19403410); Fall2009, Vol. 2 Issue 4, p43-45, 3p

2. Evaluate Authority: Who is the author of this text? Do they have a degree or other expertise that qualifies them to write on the subject? What else has the author published?

Dr. Allen C. Bowling is Neurologist and Nutrition Expert he has a master degree and a PhD in pharmacology, he also has a PhD in author of alternative Medicine and Multiple Sclerosis. He published two books and he’s the author of several journals.

3. Evaluate Affiliation: What institution (company, organization, university, etc.) published this text? Is it a commercial or non-profit publisher? What else does the institution publish? Could the author's affiliation with this publisher bias their work?

This article has been published by Momentum and it is a property of National Multiple sclerosis Society.

4. Evaluate Currency: When was the text published and/or last updated? Will you use it for current information or for historical context?

The text was published in fall 2009.

5. Evaluate Audience: Who is the intended audience (students, educators, the general public, experts) for the text? Is it written for someone with a small or large amount of knowledge on the subject?

This text can be read by people interested on music therapy or on medicine it’s true that it contains some scientific terms but any one can understand its content easily.

6. Evaluate Purpose: What appears to be the purpose of this text? Is it to inform, persuade, entertain, report, or refute?

The author of this text is trying to persuad the reader that music can be used in therapy and he is explaining the influence of music on the brain.

7. Evaluate Sources: Where did the author get their information? Is there a bibliography? Are there footnotes? Does the author refer to primary or secondary material?

Dr। Allen C. Bowling is a specialist in the domain and he studied different aspect of this influence of music on the brain and how it could be used in healing.

8. Conclusion: Now that you have assessed the source in more detail, do you still think it is useful? Explain why or why not

I think that this text is very useful since it talks about the relationship between music and healing, and it explains clearly the influence of music on the human’s brain and that is exactly the topic that I am going to discuss. So I think that this source would be one of the materials that I am going to use.

Searching for books

As an independent learner whom went through many cad courses as 1201, 1203 and 1205, and 1212; I acquired the right method to start a research, and I know the criteria that would help me judge the value of a book such as the credibility, reliability, and relevance. Well to be honest I found some difficulties finding a book, because I’ve first just typed the title of my research project and the result was many books that weren’t really related to the topic, but then I started making a list of key words that are closely related the my topic and I started mixing them to find the right combination and tried to find the result that fits the most with my topic. Then I made a list of all the books that seemed to be closely related to my theme’s research, after reading the description of each of them I finally made my choices and I picked up the available books and made a reservation for others. It’s true that it wasn’t something easy to do with my sickness but I’ve finally been able to achieve the task.

Evaluating Books Worksheet

The following criteria and questions can help you to judge the value of a source.Instructions: Use the book you have found on our class topic in the Mohammed VI Library.

Answer the following questions in order to assess the credibility of your chosen source; you may find the answers by checking through the appropriate parts of the book, or you may need to do some additional research:

1. First, write the full reference here:

Randall McClellan. 1991. The healing forces of music History, Theory, and practice. ToExcel an imprint of iUniverse.com, INC (USA).

2; Evaluate Authority: Who is the author of this text? Do they have a degree or other expertise that qualifies them to write on the subject? What else has the author published?

Randall is a safety Supervisor at Major Drilling, he has traveled the United States to several offices to implement policies. He also wrote and directed programs for the company and investigated all accidents and incidents. Randall helped redevelop their Tower Rescue Procedures and Competent Climbing Procedures under the direction of Bob Rogers (National Safety Director). He is also certified OSHA Outreach Instructor, MSHA Instructor, FA/CPR Instructor, High Angle Rescue Instructor, and Confined Space Rescue Instructor

3. Evaluate Affiliation: What institution (company, organization, university, etc.) published this book? Is it a commercial or non-profit publisher? What else does the institution publish? Would the author's affiliation with this publisher bias their work?

The book was published by toExcel an imprint of iUniverse.com INC.

4. Evaluate Currency: When was the book published and/or last updated? Will you use it for current information or for historical context?

The book was published in 1991. I will be using that book to get more information about my topic and try to see the different sides of the subject.

5. Evaluate Audience: Who is the intended audience (students, educators, the general public, experts) for the book? Is it written for someone with a small or large amount of knowledge on the subject?

The audience of this book is every one since as far I a read on the book I didn’t find any scientific terms or any specialised words.

6. Evaluate Purpose: What appears to be the purpose for the book? Is it to inform, persuade, entertain, report, or refute?

The purpose of the book is to inform and demonstrate the divers healing forces of music.

7. Evaluate Sources: Where did the author get their information? Is there a bibliography? Are there footnotes? Does the author refer to primary or secondary material?

the authors used a large bibliography which clearly shows that the authors is well informed about the topic and that before writing this book he made a great research work.

8. Conclusion: Now that you have assessed your book in more detail, do you still think it is useful? Explain why or why not. If you do intend to use it, name the chapters or sections that you think will be most useful for your topic.

well actually I have chosen four books from the library still didn’t read all the chapters that I judged useful but until now I can say that the healing forces of music would be very useful in my research and the principles of healing with sound (chapter 4), I will also use the third part of chapter eleven which talks about the application of music for therapeutic purposes, in addition the many others like chapter ten, twelve, thirteen, etc

Searching for a website

Actually looking for a website that replays to all the criteria that I was trying to find wasn’t that hard. Since, I am a webmaster, which means that I am very familiar with the use of internet. In addition to that, my experience in cad courses such as SSK1203 helped me master the ability to evaluate and judge the credibility, the reliability, and the relevance of any website. So, I based my judgment of the websites on the extensions first, then the design, and the presence of advertisements (CPM’s or Pop Ups). If the three criteria were fine, I move to more specific criteria such as, the author’s information and the logo of the company, or the sponsor if there is any. Then I check the date which should be as recent as possible that I can trust it, and use it. Actually, I have a google adsense account helped me getting into more reliable sources that doesn’t have any advertisement or commercial goals. So I used it while looking for the most reliable source given by google. In fact, the choices were numerous, and because google sorts the results basing on the highest number of visitors, the frequency of the key words used, and if the webmaster paid more, I had to be carful while choosing the websites so I avoided blogs, forums, personal pages, and free hosted document, then I looked for a pdf or an php files since they are a most securitised, which means only the administrators can make modifications. Then I looked for and educational or organisational websites. And I think that I was lucky to find some credible websites related to my topic.

Internet Sources

1. Write down the full reference for three possible internet sources for your research:

a. “first love an idealized object in music therapy” voice’s. no, Vol 9 (2). 1 July 2009, web

b. “Hard and Heavy Music: Can It Make a Difference in the Young Cancer Patients’ Life?” voice’s. no, Vol 9 (2). 1 July 2009, web

c. “Music Therapy, Song and Communication” voice’s. no, Vol 9 (2). 1 July 2009, web

2. Choose the one you are most interested in, and explain why you think it is a credible source:

“Music Therapy, Song and Communication” voice’s. no, Vol 9 (2). 1 July 2009, web. Well actually all the sources are from a search browser that is specialized on music were we can find any thing that is related to music and it’s a well known web site even if most Moroccan don’t know it.

3. For the source you chose, explain what type of information it contains, and how that information is useful for your project:

The web site I have chosen contains an article that intends to make a reflection about the links between Music Therapy, Song and communication.

4. Evaluate the objectivity of the source, based on what you have learned from class discussions and readings such as "How to Evaluate Information on the Web".

This web sites which contains this article is very credible since it has a well known sponsor, in addition to that most articles on it can be found on the first places on the results lists on EBSCO HOST or Jstor.

SSK 1212 Evaluating Document from EBSCO Database Worksheet

The following criteria and questions can help you to judge the value of a source.
Instructions: Use the document you have found. Answer the following questions. In order to assess the credibility of your chosen source; you may need to do some additional research:

1. First, write the full reference here:

"PERSPECTIVES ON MUSIC AND MUSIC THERAPY IN ADULT CANCER CARE." Journal of the Society for Integrative Oncology 5.4 (2007): 169. Academic Search Complete. EBSCO. Web. 8 Oct. 2009.

2. Evaluate Authority: Who is the author of this text? Do they have a degree or other expertise that qualifies them to write on the subject? What else has the author published?

ROBERTS, Peter, is a Bone-marrow specialist, MD, Ph.D, and he is a Member of the Executive Committee, Past Chair, International Bone Marrow Transplant Registry.

3. Evaluate Affiliation: What institution (company, organization, university, etc.) published this text? Is it a commercial or non-profit publisher? What else does the institution publish? Could the author's affiliation with this publisher bias their work?

Australian Nursing Journal, is an Australian Nursing Federation that presents news, reviews, research and essays for and about Australian nurses. And it’s an organization that publishes journals.

4. Evaluate Currency: When was the text published and/or last updated? Will you use it for current information or for historical context?

8 Oct. 2009, I will use this article because it’s a current article that has recently been published in a well known journal.

5. Evaluate Purpose: What appears to be the purpose of this text? Is it to inform, persuade, entertain, report, or refute? Explain why do you think so.

The purpose of this text is to report on the efforts of a team of nurses and musicians whom investigated into the therapeutic effects of harp music in palliative care in victoria

6. Write here specifically what information from this document you are going to use in your paper.

I will use the results of the investigation that has been done. And also use the information given about the benefits of music therapy to palliative care services

7 Conclusion: Now that you have assessed the source in more detail, do you still think it is useful? Explain why or why not. If it is not useful, what are you going to do about it?

Yes this source would be really useful since it’s first credible contains accurate information and it would be a good source of statistics since it’s a report.

Conclusion

And this is the end of SSK1212 first project. Yes we are done but, I would never forget all the days that we passed working on it, having fun, and sometimes fighting. Well I don’t think that any one of my group would forget these days, we first had a lot of trouble getting used to use the online data bases, since even if we seem to be young, most of use still following the old fashion, this step was done and we were all happy to get it done efficiently. Then we had to read and choose the most relevant information. Well on this part my body had an overdose of caffeine, since I passed long hours reading and highlighting. Yes, we learned a lot, and we also learned painting techniques using highlighters. We also learned the collaboration, patience, communication, argumentation and many other skills thanks to miss Irama, and to the SSK1212.