ENGLISH 12 HONORS JEANNETTE HIGH SCHOOL MR. ARGALL COLLEGE RESEARCH TIPS ENGLISH 12 HONORS JEANNETTE HIGH SCHOOL MR. ARGALL

Time Management This is the most overlooked component of doing research!!!! Keep the following in mind when working on any research driven project: Start Early Unknowns always appear Need to talk to profesor Sources may not be available or need borrowed May need to switch topics or research takes you down a different path As a general rule of thumb, take about half of your time researching and the other half for writing

Where to start? Google and Wikipedia Do not use as sources Use as a place to locate other sources Gives a general idea of what you are looking at

GO TO YOUR LIBRARY!!!! There is more available to you there than any web based search can give you! Online Databases Online Research Guides Inter Library Loan University works (Thesis) Collections of print material not yet online and most importantly……..

THE LIBRARIAN!!! Do not be afraid to approach these people! They know your professors They know the assignments They know where the best sources are (if you get there early) They know how to operate the library system better than you It’s their JOB to help you.

Don’t ignore the fine print… Print sources are very valuable In today’s world, these are often overlooked Often they have not been digitized Using them can give you better information than your peers and set you apart

GOOGLE SCHOLAR This is Google’s academic search engine. You will find many items here that will not show up in regular google (at least not on the first few pages of results) Citation information is here Whole scholarly articles are here Whole BOOKS are here https://scholar.google.com/

When writing… Don’t be afraid of change Stay focused Go deep! Your research may take you in a different direction than you originally intended Stay focused You control what is in your paper. You do not have to include everything you find Keep on topic, don’t wander off on tangents Go deep! Pick a narrow focus and delve deeply into it. Inch wide, mile deep. Don’t be shallow Take a stand Don’t waffle Don’t be inconclusive Take notes and stay organized You’ll have lots of sources, find a way that works for you to keep them coordinated

Participation assignment Take the rest of the class today to explore Google Scholar in relation to your research paper. I found whole books online about the fairy tales. Write down what you found in MLA citation style format (yes you may use reference software, but check it with Purdue OWL)