NDEO鈥檚 Guest Blog Series features posts written by our members about their experiences in the fields of dance and dance education. We continue this series with a post by Anne Dunkin, NDEO's DELRdi Coordinator. Guest posts reflect the experiences, opinions, and viewpoints of the author and are printed here with their permission. NDEO does not endorse any business, product, or service mentioned in guest blog posts. If you are interested in learning more about the guest blogger program or submitting an article for consideration, please click here.
DELRDI Is Back! NDEO is pleased to announce that an updated Dance Education Literature & Research descriptive index (DELRdi) is now available for members to access via our website at /Learn/Dance-Education-Research/DELRdi. The DELRdi is a searchable dance education database that contains an index of over 9,000 journal articles, theses/dissertations, conference proceedings, government reports, independent research and papers, standards and curriculum, newsletters, historical papers, blogs, syllabi, and online postings. In this blog post, NDEO鈥檚 DELRdi Coordinator Anne Dunkin presents at what the DELRdi is and how it can benefit you as a dance educator, researcher, or student.
During rehearsal break, NOVICE wakes up the laptop.
DELRdi: I'm Back!
Surprised, NOVICE looks around for the voice.
DELRdi: It's me, on your computer.
NOVICE: (look at computer screen) What? What's happening?
DELRdi: You signed onto the NDEO website earlier, so I navigated to my landing page via "Learn" to say hello.
NOVICE is still confused.
DELRdi: I didn't mean to startle you. It's just that I've been away for a year, and I am excited to be back.
NOVICE: Who....what are you?
DELRdi: I'm NDEO's Dance Education Literature and Research descriptive index, the online archive, 鈥淒ELRdi鈥� for short.
NOVICE: That sounds impressive.
DELRdi: Yes, I may be the only dance education discipline specific database in the world.
NOVICE: Why don't I know you?
DELRdi: Good question. Except for last year, I've been on the NDEO website for more than ten years. I鈥檓 available for all members to access through the website, and university libraries can also offer access to their students through an annual subscription.
NOVICE: So what exactly is it that you do?
DELRdi: Oh, my goodness. I have citations for over 9000 documents all related to dance education. What would you like to know?
NOVICE: I don't ..... Oh, I know, Dr. Smith mentioned an article last week by Martha Eddy.
DELRdi: Do you remember the article, or any words from the title?
NOVICE: No, ... something to do with somatics.
DELRdi: Ok. See the first box on the top left side of my search page, that says "General Search"?
NOVICE: Yes.
DELRdi: Type "somatics" in that box.
NOVICE types.
DELRdi: Now in the "Author" field, below it, type "Eddy".
NOVICE types.
NOVICE: Do I type Martha?
DELRdi: No, just the last name. Now, you have a general search topic and an author, so click the "Search" button at the bottom of the page.
NOVICE clicks.
NOVICE: There are nine documents!
DELRdi: Do you see the title you are looking for?
NOVICE: Yes, yes, it's the seventh one, I'm sure. But I'd like to check all of them.
DELRdi: Of course, but for now, click the "View" button in the upper right corner of the citation you want.
NOVICE clicks.
NOVICE: There's so much here! Bibliographic information, abstract, online link...
DELRdi: Jot down the DELRdi number...it's right there at the top above the title鈥o you can return later. Right now I would like to show you some other choices.
NOVICE: Ok.
DELRdi: Do you have any research papers coming up?
NOVICE: Yes, a thesis, but....I don't have a topic.
DELRdi: I have citations for over one thousand theses. Want to take a look?
NOVICE: Yeah, sure.
DELRdi: Ok. But first to end your Eddy search, click the "Return to Previous Page" at the bottom of the citation, and then click the "Reset" button on the bottom of my search page.
NOVICE clicks and clicks.
DELRdi: Now go to the "Document Type" box. It's below the "Title" box on my search page. Select "Thesis" from the dropdown menu. Let's look for the last five years.
NOVICE: OK.
DELRdi: Type 2017 in "Start Date" field and type 2022 in "Finish Date" on my search page, and click "Search" at the bottom of the page.
NOVICE types and clicks.
DELRdi: Scroll down the titles and see what others have written about. They may give you some ideas for your own thesis project.
NOVICE scrolls.
NOVICE: There are so many! Can I see if my university is listed?
DELRdi: Of course. Leave the list of thesis citations up, and return to my search page above it. Click the dropdown menu for "Institutions". Select the one you wish.
NOVICE scrolls. Looks disappointed.
NOVICE: My school's not here.
DELRdi: That simply means that your institution has not submitted documents for inclusion. So now, you can suggest to your colleagues and faculty that they submit their work.
NOVICE: We can do that on our own?
DELRdi: Of course.
NOVICE: So that's like we can add to future dance education research.
DELRdi: Yes, that's the point. You can read how to submit work at the top of my search page. But let's get back to your potential research quest. What general topics might you want to pursue in your thesis?
NOVICE: Well, I have been thinking about underserved youth, perhaps lower income students in middle school.
DELRdi: Ok. Don't forget to reset your search.
NOVICE clicks and clicks.
DELRdi: See the five boxes on the right side of my search page. Go to the top one titled "Education Issues". Scroll the dropdown menu and click "children at risk". Now go to the box below it, titled "Populations Served" and select grades 5-8. And click Search.
NOVICE clicks, clicks, and clicks..
NOVICE: Oh my goodness there's over seventy. I can't believe I never used this tool before.
DELRdi: Right now I want to show you something really cool. It's new. It's the Live Grid you see at the top of my search page.
NOVICE clicks.
NOVICE: This looks complicated.
DELRdi: It really isn't once you get used to it. Let me show you.
DELRdi clicks several times and a grid of numbers and blank spaces appears.
NOVICE: What do the numbers mean? Why are some spaces blank?
DELRdi: The numbers are a tally of document contents' topics I have entered. The blank spaces show topics with no entries. That helps people looking for new topics.
NOVICE: It's live?
DELRdi: Yes, because the totals change every time I enter a new citation
NOVICE: Wow. That IS cool.
DELRdi: It is. But there is much more for you to discover. After I leave, let me suggest that you scan through all of my search possibilities listed on the multiple drop down menus: "document types", "institutions", "journals", "special collections" and on the right side of my search page: "education issues", "populations served", "services to the field", "research methods", and "research techniques".
NOVICE: I can't believe how much there is here. Thank you. DELRdi: Anytime you have a question just email me: support@delrdiresearch.online. And please spread the word to your colleagues.
Anne Dunkin has served as NDEO鈥檚 DELRdi Coordinator, since its inception in 2004. A life-long dancer/educator, Anne co-directed Qwindo鈥檚 Window, a dance company that presented dance programs to elementary schools throughout sixteen states over eleven years. Simultaneously she also directed a dance studio in suburban Washington, D.C. and then taught with dance medicine pioneer, Raoul Gelabert in New York City for four years. Moving to California in 1985 she opened a dance studio in Los Angeles and created 鈥淔irst Steps First鈥�, a program encouraging private studios to offer creative movement classes for young dancers age three to six years. Subsequently she joined the dance faculty at California State University, Fullerton for ten years. Her articles have appeared in JODE, AEPR, and Dance Teacher Now, and in 2006 Princeton Book Company published her book Dancing in Your School: Guide for Elementary and Pre-School Teachers. How They Became Famous Dancers: A Dancing History for middle school students was published in 2015. She is currently preparing a book chronicling lessons learned as a traveling dancing teaching artist in 1970s America. Anne鈥檚 M.A. is in human development education, and her Ph.D. is in dance history and theory from the University of California, Riverside.
Featured Photo by Envato Elements