Muhlenberg School

District Research Handbook 2011-2012

What are the uses of this Handbook?

• Research Handbook is to used in support of the MSD Research Process

• Simplify and target questions that often come up in a research environment

• Help support students busy schedules• To help students become more effective and

efficient “life long learners”

How do I know if a website is credible?

• With the introduction of Blogs, Wiki’s, and Chat Rooms, anyone can have their voice heard on the internet today.

• There are many different clues to tell us if a website is credible or not.

Information Courtesy Cornell University Library

Analyzing Sources• Intended Audience• Objective Reasoning• Coverage• Writing Style• Evaluative Reviews

• Author• Date of Publication• Edition or Revision• Publisher• Title of journal• .edu, .gov, .com, .net

Information Courtesy Cornell Online Writing Lab Purdue

What kind of paper are you writing?

• An analytical paper breaks down an issue or an idea into its component parts, evaluates the issue or idea, and presents this breakdown and evaluation to the audience.

• An expository (explanatory) paper explains something to the audience.

• An argumentative paper makes a claim about a topic and justifies this claim with specific evidence. The claim could be an opinion, a policy proposal, an evaluation, a cause-and-effect statement, or an interpretation. The goal of the argumentative paper is to convince the audience that the claim is true based on the evidence provided.

Information Courtesy Cornell Online Writing Lab Purdue

Thesis Development

• If you are writing a text which does not fall under these three categories (ex. a narrative), a thesis statement somewhere in the first paragraph could still be helpful to your reader.

• Your thesis statement should be specific—it should cover only what you will discuss in your paper and should be supported with specific evidence.

• The thesis statement usually appears at the end of the first paragraph of a paper.

• Your topic may change as you write, so you may need to revise your thesis statement to reflect exactly what you have discussed in the paper.

Pre-Searching a TopicEssential Questions

When thinking about a topic, try to balance between picking something you enjoy, and a topic that will allow you to satisfy the teacher requirements.

• What do you want to learn about?• What do you already know?• Am I interested in some capacity in this topic?• Where can you find information?• Can I meet the grading requirements needed with

this topic?

Once I’ve answered my questions, now

what?• Gather your tools• Group ideas together• Make a list of key words or phrases

How much information do I need?

• You should have at least a minimum of 2 pages of information for every page you need to write.

• Example: If you are writing a 5 page paper, you should have no less then 10 pages of information to help support your work.

Effective Searching Strategies

• Students will ultimately have multiple tabs open while researching, to maximize their research time.

• See the example in the next slide, the example demonstrates how you should have multiple internet tabs open including (Highlighted in Yellow):

• OPAC• Student Resource Center (Gale)• Citation Machine (Online Bibliographic Generator)

• Work Cited Word Document (Highlighted in Green)

Plagiarism is….• the unauthorized use or close imitation of the

 language and thoughts of another author and the representation of them as one's own original work (Dictionary.com).

• Whenever you quote, paraphrase, summarize, or otherwise refer to the work of another, you are required to cite its source, either by way of parenthetical citation or by means of a footnote, as well as a complete reference in a bibliography .

Note Taking Strategies• 1. Don’t write down everything that you read or hear. Be alert and attentive

to the main points. Concentrate on the "meat" of the subject and forget the trimmings.

•  2. Notes should consist of key words, or very short sentences. As a speaker gets side-tracked you can go back and add further information.

• 3. Take accurate notes. You should usually use your own words, but try not to change the meaning. If you quote directly from the author, quote correctly.

•  4. Think a minute about your material before you start making notes. Don’t take notes just to be taking notes! Take notes that will be of real value to you when you look over them later.

•  5. Have a uniform system of punctuation and abbreviation that will make sense to you. Use a skeleton outline, and show importance by indenting. Leave lots of white space for later additions.

• 6. Omit descriptions and full explanations. Keep your notes short and to the point. Condense your material so you can grasp it rapidly.

• 7. Don’t worry about missing a point. Leave space and try to pick up the material you miss at a later date, either through reading, questioning, or common sense.

OPAC

Using the OPAC for Research.

OPAC or Online Public Access Catalog has two

main features

1. Catalog- is used to locate materials on site at the library

2. Home- serves as a place to organize links to many of the tools and places laid out in this slide show many of the tools (Red BOX)

Boolean Search LogicUsing: And or not

• Boolean Search is defined: A query using the Boolean operators, AND, OR, and NOT, and parentheses to construct a complex condition from simpler criteria. A typical example is searching for combinations of keywords on a World-Wide Web search engine.

• Click here for a quick tutorial!!

Google and Wikipedia • Google and Wikipedia are both very large

databases that if managed and used properly can become a huge help in the research process.

• Wikipedia is not to be used on it’s own: WIKIPEDIA IS NOT RECOGNIZED AS A VALID SOURCE AND SHOULDN’T BE USED ON IT’S OWN

Google Research Applications

• Google Fast Flip- Searchable database that contains current event screen from periodicals around the world.

• Google Scholar- Limits your Google Search to only academically sound sources, eliminating thins such as ads and non educationally based information.

**BOTH OF THESE SITES INCREASE CHANCES OF SOURCE CREDIBILITY AND INCREASED EFFICIENCY

Google ApplicationsGoogle Fast Flip Google Scholar

Using Wikipedia Effectively

The bad news is because Wikipedia is a “wiki”, anyone can edit it, this causes it to not be a valid source.

The good news is many people who do edit the information, edit using valid sources, they also site these sources at the bottom of each topic page.

Wikipedia cont.Using the keyword “ABORTION” to search, the slide below shows you that over 90 references were used to create this slide, this is a great place for students to “launch” their research from.

Now apply the rules of site validity in this packet to use sites from Wikipedia that are valid

So even though Wikipedia isn’t valid itself you were able “launch” your research from the page

Launching from Wikipedia

Power Library (Inner Library Loan)

• Power Library is used to borrow books from other libraries around the state.

• You can borrow from High Schools, Public Libraries and Universities in PA.

• http://www.accesspa.org/

• Click Search the Database

Power Library Continued

Click on Berks or Entire State to search, Berks

usually gets you materials sooner

Click on All Libraries to search entire County

Power Library Continued

Search based on subject, author, keyword, etc.

Click on the title you want

Power Library Continued

Write down the Author, ISBN, and Title of the

book • Give it to the Librarian either by email or a paper slip.

• We will try to order if possible.

• WE CANNOT GUARANTEE THEY WILL BE DELIVERED!!!

Work Cited/Citing Sources

General Tips

• Not all information may be provided• If there is not an Author given you can’t provide

it, same goes for other items

• CITE YOUR SOURCES AND GENERATE YOUR BIBLIOGRAPHY AS YOU WORK NOT WHEN YOU ARE DONE!!!!

What to look for when you cite a source.

PRINT Non-Print

• Author• Title• Edition• Volume• Publisher• City of Publication• Copyright Year• Pages use (IE. 214-

219)

• Author• Title of Web Page• Title of Web Site• Year Published or

Revised• Publishing

Organization• Date Retrieved• Web Address

Online Bibliographic Generators

• Used to assist students with creating a bibliography• Think of this as a calculator, as long as you put the

right information in you will get the right answers• If you make a mistake with the information, you will

not get proper results.

• MSD endorses:

• http://citationmachine.net/

MLA Work Cited Examples

• MLA Works Cited Page: Books• MLA Works Cited: Electronic Sources (Web P

ublications)• MLA Works Cited: Other Common Sources• MLA Works Cited: Periodicals

APA Reference List Examples

• Reference List: Author/Authors• Reference List: Articles in Periodicals• Reference List: Books• Reference List: Other Print Sources• Reference List: Electronic Sources (Web Pub

lications)• Reference List: Other Non-Print Sources

MLA and APA Style Guide

• Use the Online Writing Lab (OWL) Purdue to organize either your MLA or APA style paper.

• Your teacher will assign which style to use• Links are provided for APA and MLA style

examples in this Research Guide• Both formats are supported with full PPT slide

shows to cover all your needs (link is below)

APA (OWL) Links• APA General Format• APA Sample Paper• APA Footnotes and Endnotes• APA In-Text Citations: The Basics

• APA PowerPoint Slide Presentation- VERY DETAILED STEP BY STEP GUIDE

• APA Homepage Frequently Asked Questions: Gives specific examples

Use table Highlighted on left hand side to help answer any question you may have on specifics

APA Example

MLA (OWL) Links• MLA General Format• MLA In-Text Citations: The Basics• MLA Undergraduate Sample Paper• MLA Sample Works Cited Page• MLA PowerPoint Presentation-VERY

DETAILED STEP BY STEP GUIDE

Use table Highlighted on left hand side to help answer any question you may have on specifics

MLA Example

Works Cited"Purdue OWL." Finding Your Focus. Purdue University, 2011. Web. 3 May 2011. <http://docs.google.com/gview?url=http://owl.english.purdue.edu//media/ppt/20081208070939_560.ppt&safe=on&chrome=true>. "Citing Sources." Duke University Libraries. Duke

University, 22 Apr 2011. Web. 3 May 2011. <http://library.duke.edu/research/citing/>.

"Dictionary.com." Dictionary.com, 2011. Web. 3 May 2011. <http://dictionary.reference.com/>.

Works CitedOlin & Urbis Library. Cornell University Library, 05 Apr 2011. Web. 4 May 2011. <http://olinuris.library.cornell.edu/ref/research/s

kill26.htm#LinkAuthor>.