Guide to Conducting ResearchPhoto Credit: Elt-Resourceful.com Part 2 of Writing for the Web

Why Practice Good Research

Skills?

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Scholarly sources aren't meant to be easy to read or understand. They are often first-hand sources, or come from people and organizations that deal specifically with your topic of interest (“How to Search the Web”).

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Reasons Not to Cite from Wikipedia1. You should not believe everything written in the source because Wikipedia

lets anyone publish and edit its articles. Also, you do not know who wrote it because most editors do not use their real name.

2. People who edit a Wikipedia article may “vandalize” it, or write false information about the topic you have searched for. Also, editors can silence contributors who post accurate information.

3. For a website that covers thousands of articles from every scope of the globe, most of its editors hail from Europe and North America, and “87 percent of Wikipedia editors are male” (Moran, 2011).

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Stuck on the Nuances of MLA and APA style?

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Purdue Owl – Designed to help students and other writers. The website provides literacy guides, such as handouts and slideshows.

You will be able to cite and evaluate sources, how to paraphrase, how to avoid plagiarism, and how to conduct research. Header Credit: Purdue Owl.

Photo Credit: Pinterest.

Header Credit: Blogspot.Photo Credit: Escondido Public Library.

Citation Machine – Helps students and other writers properly cite their sources for their References/Works Cited page.

You can choose to let the website automatically cite your sources or you may cite them manually.

Cite This for Me – An online tool with a look similar to Microsoft Word (see above). Cite This for Me helps you create your bibliography “in under five minutes.” You can also install browser plug-ins and search for “Topic Ideas.”

Header Credit: Cite This for Me.

Screenshot taken from “Topic Ideas.”

Zotero – This website “is a free, easy-to-use tool to help you collect, organize, cite, and share your research sources.” Download it as a browser plug-in or a stand-alone program on your desktop.

• Sync – Upgrading to a new computer? Your sources will remain in your library in Zotero!

• Collect –Store all of your PDFs, images, audio, video files, and snapshots of web pages in one location.

• Group – Zotero lets you share your sources with other members, making collaborations projects easy!

Supports:

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Free Places to Find Academic Sources

Project Gutenberg - the oldest producer of ebooks (also offered in HTML) on the Internet. It provides access to thousands of classical books and authors.

Internet Public Library - Contains a variety of websites. You can access Subject Collections, Ready Reference, magazines and newspapers.

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Free Places to Find Academic Sources

Google Scholar – Owned by Google, the website serves a database, providing access to thousands of academic sources, PDFs, and news articles. You can also store your research into a library, found on the Google homepage (with you logged into your account).

NYPL Digital Gallery - Provides access to digital collections of primary sources and printed sources, including books, photographs, manuscripts, and maps.

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Basics of Professional MemosGrinnell and Hill (2012) define a memo as “a brief

informative document formatted in a particular way that makes the communication audience and purpose immediately recognizable” (Grinnell and

Hill, 2012).

They advise you to use a memo when “introducing a topic for consideration, summarizing some data, or giving a brief overview of a situation or topic” (Grinnell and Hill, 2012).Photo Credit: Romano Palace.

Basics of Professional Memos

When writing a memo, you should keep a few, simple tips in mind:

Check for stylistic requirements with your job. Does the company that you work for have a standard form when it comes to writing memos? If so, is it downloadable?

Make sure that the body of the text is written in clear, concise and grammatically right language.

Do not use long and overly wordy sentences. Keep it simple.Photo Credit: Romano Palace.

Researchers use memos to record notes, ranging from ideas, concepts, and their connections to one another… Researchers should have at least one idea in their memo. The memo should have accurate dates and references, too (Groenewald, 2008).

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“There’s a need for short writings (500-1000 words) on specific topics.”

“You should choose the categories that make sense for your study.

Note that these might correspond to the chapters, or sections, that

you want to write.

Or, they could reflect aspects of the study, such as particular sites”

(Bruce, n.d.)Photo Credit: Viktor Hanacek.

Plagiarism ToolsGrammarly – Finds and corrects mistakes 10x faster than your word processor. Come here to check for plagiarism, grammar, and citations errors.

Dupli Checker – When you upload your paper, the website will automatically scan your paper for errors.

Paper Rater – Checks for grammar, detects plagiarism, and offers suggestions for your paper.

Photo Credit:Photo Credit: Romano Palace.

Research and Grammar in a Nutshell

References• "How to Search the Web" (n.d.) [Class handout]. Retrieved May 1, 2015, from http://

moodle.ulm.edu/mod/url/view.php?id=1231137

• Beaudin, Prof. (2010, Aug. 18). Writing a basic memo [Class handout]. Retrieved May 1, 2015, from http://moodle.ulm.edu/course/view.php?id=51847

• Bruce, B.C. (n.d.). Research memos. Retrieved May 1, 2015, from http://chipbruce.net/teaching/graduate-student-survival/doing-research/research-memos/

• Groenewald, T. (2008). Memos and memoing. Retrieved May 1, 2015, from http://srmo.sagepub.com/view/sage-encyc-qualitative-research-methods/n260.xml

• Hill, S., & Grinnell, C. (2012). Technical communication: A civic approach. Southlake, TX: Fountainhead Press.• • Lousywritervideos (2009, Aug. 24). APA citations: How to cite sources inside APA style text [Class handout].

Retrieved May 1, 2015, from http://moodle.ulm.edu/course/view.php?id=51847

References Cont.• Moran, M.E. (2011, Oct. 27). The top 10 reasons students cannot cite or rely on Wikipedia [Class handout].

Retrieved May 1, 2015, from http://moodle.ulm.edu/mod/url/view.php?id=1231138

• Tips for Writing Memorandums. (n.d.). Retrieved May 2nd, 2015, from http://grammar.yourdictionary.com/grammar-rules-and-tips/tips-for-writing-memorandums.html

Photo References• https://eltresourceful.files.wordpress.com/2013/03/2238851942_a4e285daba_o.jpg?h=372&w=500

• http://senzaerroridistumpa.myblog.it/wp-content/uploads/sites/188999/2013/12/books-desktop-pic.jpg

• http://modernmixing.com/wp-content/uploads/2014/01/mixing-clarity.jpg

• http://gratisography.com/

• https://www.flickr.com/photos/99887995@N00/4762384399

• http://www.romanopalace.com/images/sale-polifunzionali/bg-sale-polifunzionali.jpg

• http://theppinetwork.com/files/styles/colorbox_fullscreen/public/images/pages/Strategic%20Thinking_PPI.jpg?itok=U7GE48Da

• http://picjumbo.com/girl-writing-on-the-sofa/

• http://wordle.net