Beyoncé’s visual album Lemonade involved multiple directors and cinematographers to create a beautifully shot, cohesive narrative about a woman going through stages of grief. As an information professional at a fine art and design college, I’m interested in discussing this as a work of art with my students. While I can’t stop listening to the album, you don’t need to be a fan of Beyoncé’s music in order to praise or understand Lemonade. The contemporary and historical ideas Beyoncé is touching on in her film offer a perfect opportunity to engage research and information through a popular point of reference.

Are references lost if they aren't understood?

The Lemonade research guide is meant to provide different perspectives, opinions, and ideas referenced or directly addressed in Lemonade. I wanted to hear more of the Malcolm X speech included in the visual album’s “Anger” chapter. I knew the women holding pictures of young black men in the “Forgiveness” chapter were mothers of victims of police violence and profiling, but I wanted to make sure I knew the names of their sons. Are references such as these lost if they are not understood? One of the most striking visuals within Lemonade is the styling. Wardrobe and hair style contain references of their own, most of which I myself probably won’t fully understand without Beyoncé and her team providing an explanation. What I’m most interested in, however, is how an artist or team develops these creative decisions. This presents an opportunity for instruction in information literacy. My students could also benefit from related guidance in cultural literacy, understanding images, and how to implement research methodologies that focus on translating and embedding information into art. Understanding how to conduct research for a creative work will place that work into context.

Topical Research Guides

Research guides can be used for many purposes. I find them most compelling when they are used topically. After the 2015 Baltimore uprising, I composed the research guide, “Understanding Civic Unrest in Baltimore, 1968-2015.” Its purpose: to provide resources for our patrons and others to investigate and understand not only what was happening in Baltimore, but also the historic context. The civic unrest and Lemonade guides include a mix of printed books, publications, and online work from popular websites. Both can be used to demonstrate the differences between primary, secondary, and peer-reviewed sources. Copyright, Creative Commons, and public domain could also be explained and explored through these guides. If you scroll through various social media sites, it is difficult to ignore all of the articles that have been written about Lemonade so far. Many of those articles provide insight into certain imagery, literary and film references, and discuss the musicians Beyoncé collaborated with to make the visual album. These resources help us unpack what we’ve seen. We also learn how certain things were achieved, which is critical for young artists to understand. Delving into a body of work such as a film and album not only provides an idea of how many people are involved, but also the different jobs that are available in this field. I want our students to see themselves working on something like Lemonade if that is what they want to do after they graduate. Whenever I attend an artist talk at the Maryland Institute College of Art, speakers typically discuss their research process. They often touch on their failures—an important insight for a student of any program. It was at these talks that I began to think about the research methodologies of artists. Just as literacy is crucial to communication and understanding, research is critical to expanding and building on ideas. It is our own experiences and interests that help us see and connect with certain aspects of a work. Sometimes, as with Lemonade, it requires many people to make connections and find references within a work. Jennifer A. Ferretti (@citythatreads) is a Digital Initiatives Librarian at Decker Library, Maryland Institute College of Art.