Graphic created by Holly Green, 2016.
Research: Sources!
Select a Variety of Credible Sources
Finding information from many different sources is the foundation of strong research. We encourage students to make use of at least three sources for their research, and that their sources come from a variety of media--books, magazines, encyclopedias, video (educational or documentary), and online. Students are beginning to learn to assess the relevance and credibility of sources, which we will continue to revisit throughout the project. Students will spend time this week selecting note-taking tools that will be a good fit for them from a variety of options: note cards, folders, portfolios, binders with notebook paper, and setting up files in Google Drive for electronic note-taking.
One challenge for students for our once-a-week meetings will be to remember their research notes on meetings days--this is a particular obstacle for students who keep only paper notes. Electronic notes can help with this dilemma, but one hurdle for students taking notes electronically is the temptation to copy and paste large blocks of text related to a topic without weighing its usefulness first.
Please do not ignore the importance of listing Title, Author (full name), Publisher, Location, and Date for sources. This will help you locate a source again later if you decide you'd like to take another look at a detail, helps you create a list of the foundations of your ideas to give credit to those who have studied the topic before you, and will help your audience, future viewers, or readers of your presentation and essay find out more about the subject you've introduced to them and interested them in.
As you continue to pursue your education and engage in research and inquiry, the format and details of how to record your sources will change, but you will never go far wrong in noting the Title, Author (full name), Publisher, Location, and Date of the source of information. The research website (http://rsd2-alert-durden-connections.weebly.com/research.html) includes a link to the online bibliography maker Easy Bib (http://easybib.com/).
The Value of Recording Sources
Taking the time during your research to record your sources helps you, your audience and readers, and the author of the source in the following ways:
Quoting--relaying the words of someone else without making changes; usually identified using quotation marks and identifying the author to give them credit at the end of the quote.
Paraphrasing--restating the idea in your own words. It can be about the same length or even longer than the original passage. Plagiarism is descended from the Latin plagiarius, "kidnapper."
Summarizing--restating only the main points of the passage in your own words. It is very brief compared to the original passage, perhaps leaving out supporting details or examples the author uses.
Plagiarism--to steal and pass off the ideas or words of another as one's own, or to use another author’s work without crediting the source.
Source--The supplier of new information an author discovers during research, such as a person, book, website, etc.
- If you remember a general idea that was in a book, magazine, encyclopedia, video clip, or website posting, but cannot remember the specific details, knowing the title, author, and date will help you locate it again.
- If readers or the audience for your presentation want to know more about the topic, they can use your list of sources to learn more about the ideas or information you shared.
- If an author or creator has worked hard and paid attention to detail to present you with information you find of value, you should recognize the author or creator and remind readers or your audience that your research builds on that of other hard-working people.
Quoting--relaying the words of someone else without making changes; usually identified using quotation marks and identifying the author to give them credit at the end of the quote.
Paraphrasing--restating the idea in your own words. It can be about the same length or even longer than the original passage. Plagiarism is descended from the Latin plagiarius, "kidnapper."
Summarizing--restating only the main points of the passage in your own words. It is very brief compared to the original passage, perhaps leaving out supporting details or examples the author uses.
Plagiarism--to steal and pass off the ideas or words of another as one's own, or to use another author’s work without crediting the source.
Source--The supplier of new information an author discovers during research, such as a person, book, website, etc.
Bibliography in the 21st Century
Make sure that you include the source of each piece of information so you know where it came from; the research tools on the LCEU Media Center page and Lonnie B. Nelson's Media Center page provide important facts about author, title, date, and place of publication. Easybib is also a valuable tool.
alert2017researchchecklist.doc.pdf | |
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Graphic created by Jayson Jolin, 2014.