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Searching Smart: Finding and Using Sources By: Cristy Moran University of South Florida For: Prof. A. Barron, EME 6936, Fall 2011

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This is my final project for my Internet in Education course. I utilized PowerPoint to put together a quick presentation for students on how to research, the importance of citing properly, and basic MLA guidelines. Many external sources are us

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Page 1: Student Researching

Searching Smart: Finding and Using Sources

By: Cristy Moran

University of South Florida

For: Prof. A. Barron, EME 6936, Fall 2011

Page 2: Student Researching

Goals:

To define the types of sources used in research writing To arm you with tools for researching electronic sources

remotely or at the library To teach you how to cite references properly so you are

not guilty of plagiarism—knowingly or unknowingly To teach you the MLA style and formatting criteria To guide you in evaluating the final draft of your

paper

Page 3: Student Researching

Evaluate Your Understanding

Writing and researching processes are very closely related

You may know more than you think you do…you also may know less

The pre-test: A short questionnaire about the writing process as a

kind of pre-test to see where your knowledge of the writing process is

Page 4: Student Researching

The Pre-test

When should a student add references or quotes to his or her paper?

As the student is writing the paper After the student has written the paper

True or False: All Google Scholar references are free and are accessible from any computer at any time.

What does the term “in-text citation” mean?

Is there such a thing as unintentional plagiarism? Yes No Not sure

Continued on next slide

Page 5: Student Researching

Which of the following are required elements for MLA style and format papers? (You may select more than one.) A cover page Footnotes A references or works cited page

In the following citation, what does “Oral Tradition” name? Mason, Bruce Lionel. “E-texts: The Orality and Literacy Issue Revisited.” Oral Tradition 13.2 (1998): 306-29. Electronic. Article Title Journal Title Database Title Author’s Society/ Organization/ Institution Affiliation

Which of the following are Boolean search operators? (You may select more than one.) AND IF ALSO NOT Some punctuation marks can also be used as Boolean operators

Page 6: Student Researching

The Answers…

When should a student add references or quotes to his or her paper?

As the student is writing the paper

True or False: All Google Scholar references are free and are accessible from any computer at any time.

False: Depending on the access point you are using, Google Scholar’s open/ free sources vary. The access is subscription-based to many databases.

What does the term “in-text citation” mean? An in-text citation is a reference made to a source quoted or

paraphrased within the body of the written work.

Is there such a thing as unintentional plagiarism? Yes

Page 7: Student Researching

Which of the following are required elements for MLA style and format papers? (You may select more than one.) A references or works cited page

In the following citation, what does “Oral Tradition” name? Mason, Bruce Lionel. “E-texts: The Orality and Literacy Issue Revisited.” Oral Tradition 13.2 (1998): 306-29. Electronic. Journal Title

Which of the following are Boolean search operators? (You may select more than one.) AND NOT Some punctuation marks can also be used as Boolean

operators

How well did you do?

Page 8: Student Researching

How do you research?

Page 9: Student Researching

Why? When?

Researching is a process of gathering information.

The information you gather will help you form an idea about what you are researching.

It will also help strengthen your argument by offering substantiated support.

You should being researching as soon as possible!

Page 10: Student Researching

Searching Smart Make your search smart

by… Knowing what to look for—

using search terms, keywords or phrases, and filters

Knowing where to look—using the web search engines or deep web databases, libraries or at home

Knowing what to do with what you find—reading and evaluating retrieved items

Page 11: Student Researching

Start off with a search question or topic for research. Narrow it down to get clearer results. Create key search terms—words, phrases, names—to get more

specific results.

Read what you research. Often students search for quotes that support their ideas without

looking at the context of the work. Learn how to paraphrase large portions of text from your sources

so you can include them in your writing without taking up much more space than necessary.

Be willing to change your mind! Learning while you research means that, often, new information

will challenge the ideas you started off with.

Page 12: Student Researching

Primary Source vs. Secondary Sources There are different kinds of

sources that are used in papers—all types of papers.

Primary Source is the work you are writing about. If you are writing about a novel, then the novel is the primary source.

Secondary Sources are reference sources that discuss the novel will be helpful in forming and supporting your ideas.

Appropriate references include non-fiction works like scholarly articles, articles that appear in popular but professional news magazines, books that include discussion on literature or authors, graduate dissertations or theses, and similarly well-researched and scholarly materials

Page 13: Student Researching

Finding Secondary Sources

Resources for GOOD secondary sources include databases for academic journals or books, and professional expert or journalistic articles

A web search is when you use a search engine like Google or Bing! or other general web searches for keywords and terms No guarantee of authority No guarantee of timeliness

Set yourself up for success by utilizing deep web searches, too! Deep web searches involve

databases and, often, subscription-based access.

There are access points for free deep web searches.

Libraries—public, school, or academic—often offer access to databases for free.

Page 14: Student Researching

Using the Library Using the library gives

you the benefit of increased database access, a broad range and large store of articles and books, a variety of different kinds of resources, and expert help from librarians.

Library can be used on-site or remotely.

Page 15: Student Researching

Some Good Places to Start:

Google Scholar —all reading levels and search interests, varying access without entry through academic or public library access points

Directory of Open Access Journals –various ways of searching including by subject or title or keyword/ search terms

First Monday –peer-reviewed, open access journal for articles about the Internet and related science and technologies topics

Florida Electronic Library —intended for K-12 teachers and students, grouped by reading levels

Public Library databases —various organizational schemes depending on library, varying access without entry of library card number

Page 16: Student Researching

Citing Your Sources…Why and how to?

Page 17: Student Researching

The Truth about Plagiarism

What is plagiarism? A lot of students don’t know

that they’re plagiarizing Knowing how to use

references properly is the best way of preventing plagiarism

Using a quote to support your ideas is not plagiarism if credit is given to the original author and written work Image borrowed from the University of Connecticut class

guides webpage and can be found at http://classguides.lib.uconn.edu/content.php?pid=50827&sid=386249

Page 18: Student Researching

When Should You Cite?

Using research or references to inform your writing means that you are reading and identifying key ideas from sources before or as you write your paper.

Start noting your references and where to find them as you write your paper— However, you can leave your

Works Cited page until after you finish your final draft.

This will minimize the amount of work that you will have to do at the end of the writing process.

Page 19: Student Researching

Basic MLA Criteria Paper Formatting

Times New Roman, 12 pt., double-spaced, margins: 1” around

You do not need a cover page.

First page heading, left hand corner: Name Teacher Class Date

Title: Centered, follows the heading

Citations Cite work quoted or

paraphrased throughout the body of the paper.

Works Cited page: Books—Lastname,

Firstname. Title of Book. Place of Publication: Publisher, Year of Publication. Medium of Publication.

Article—Author(s). "Title of Article." Title of Periodical Day Month Year: pages. Medium of publication.

Page 20: Student Researching

Resources for MLA Style and Format Purdue’s Online Writing

Lab (OWL) MLA guide at http://owl.english.purdue.edu/owl/resource/747/01/.

“MLA Guidelines” handout (on right)

Page 21: Student Researching

Evaluating Your Writing

After the editing process, review your final draft through a process of evaluation. Grade yourself using the following criteria:

Content and Ideas Language Use and

Mechanics Source Use and Citation MLA Style and Formatting

Page 22: Student Researching

Self-Check Questions1. Content and Ideas

Did you address the prompt or topic? Have you supported your thesis with strong details from the book?

2. Language Use and Mechanics Is your language clear and appropriate for your level of

education? Are you correctly using words and grammar? Are you using a variety of words, transitions, and punctuation?

3. Source Use and Citation Did you properly cite quotes from the book and ideas/ quotes

from at least one outside source? How consistent is your Works Cited page with MLA style?

4. MLA Style and Formatting Did you follow MLA style and format guidelines for this paper?

Page 23: Student Researching

Evaluate Your Understanding

Consider the following open-ended questions as you evaluate what you’ve learned about the researching process

When should you start discovering secondary sources for your written work? When should you start finding where to place references in your written work?

What resources do you now have to help you through the writing and researching process?

Identify two places you can start looking for valid sources on the Internet—not including Wikipedia.

How can the school library or the public library benefit your process?

What is the benefit of using MLA or a similar style guide for your writing?

Page 24: Student Researching

End.