organizing and synthesizing sources
DESCRIPTION
Organizing and Synthesizing Sources. Sarah Morris UT Libraries Spring 2013. The Research Paper . How do you get from your initial assignment to your final paper? What steps do you take and what tasks do you do? . The Research Process. Organizing Sources. - PowerPoint PPT PresentationTRANSCRIPT
ORGANIZING AND SYNTHESIZING SOURCESSarah MorrisUT LibrariesSpring 2013
The Research Paper •How do you get from your initial assignment to your final paper?
•What steps do you take and what tasks do you do?
The Research Process
Organizing Sources
•Organizing your sources is a process called source synthesis
•Source synthesis means that you organize your sources and put them together in your paper in order to make an argument.
Synthesizing Sources
How do you synthesize sources?
•The Main Idea• Identifying the main ideas in your materials can help you organize your sources and use them effectively in your paper
•What your source is saying• Identifying key points• Look for abstracts and subject terms
•Pull it all together – take notes
Sample Research Topic• What effects do organic foods have on people’s nutrition and overall health?
• Look for information on where organic food is sold
Finding the Main Idea
Activity: The Match Game
Taking Notes: Tips and Tricks • Look for Main Ideas
• You can focus on article abstracts and subject terms in databases as starting points
• Try to locate the article’s thesis statement • Link resources together
• Look for common themes to connect resources• Create “bins” of terms and ideas to organize your
research into useful categories• Remember the paper topic!
• Make sure your resources relate back to that topic
Tools and Resources• Evernote – storage and
capture tool• https://evernote.com/
• Dropbox – cloud storage and sharing• https://www.dropbox.com/
• Bubble.us – mind mapping • https://bubbl.us/
• Mind42 – mind mapping• http://mind42.com/
• SquareLeaf – note taking• http://squareleaf.net/
Additional Resources• Course Guide: http://goo.gl/SPc35 • Ask a Librarian
• http://www.lib.utexas.edu/ask • Undergraduate Writing Center
• http://uwc.utexas.edu/