Getting ready for the Research Process
Before we begin to work on a paper, there are certain things we need to know:
1. Web Evaluation and sources that we should use - we have talked a little about this, but let's take a closer look.
Who Is Source - http://www.whois.sc/martinlutherking.org
The definition of the organization: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Stormfront
Assess the Quality of Information at a Web Site
What do you need to learn from the Web Evaluation PowerPoint in class?
Make sure you are using reliable information? How can you know?
Use a book - books are published and go through a rigorous process before they are sold to the public. Can they be biased? Of course - you must be able to understand the information you are reading about your subject.
Do some background research on the topic you are looking for. Remember :) the encyclopedia, the almanac, a dictionary....
Use a database provided by your library. Why? These are holdings of materials from books, newspapers, magazines, etc. that are offered in online form to a library for a yearly subscription. An example of a huge database is the MARVEL site which everyone from Maine can access (encyclopedias, magazines, journals, newspapers, etc.).
You've checked all of these sources and now you want to go to the web. Please apply the "eyebrow test." Print out a copy of the Web Evaluation sheet and use it as you choose the sites that you would like to use for your research.
Follow the information at the website listed above on this page (Virtual Chase)
Before you rely on information, you should:
Determine its origin.
Discover the author AND the publisher.
Ascertain the author's and publisher's credentials.
Discover the date of the writing. This gives the information historical context.
Verify it. Find another reputable source that provides similar information.
Another hint is to look at the publication date of the page. This came in my mail yesterday! Let's try it...
I've gone to many apparently well-done sites that I could tell had not been updated recently. And it's sometimes hard to tell when a site was last updated, since the page doesn't always tell you. This will help: go to the page you want to double-check, highlight the address bar content and paste this into the address bar -
javascript:alert(document.lastModified)
Web Evaluation - further examples
2. Plagiarism - what is it? Why should we avoid it? Presentation
The Tutorials: http://libraries.stjohns.edu/ilt/ilt_home.html
3. Quoting, summarizing and paraphrasing - do you know the difference?