Welcome to your Library! Freshman Research Orientation 2011

What is Research? Researchers… OBSERVE or EXPERIMENT on a topic in the real world. READ A LOT of sources and use info from them TO BACK UP THEIR OPINIONS. Researchers DON’T… Summarize another source…that’s a book report! Copy from other sources…that’s plagiarism! Give an opinion with no backup from other sources Put stuff in a paper that they don’t understand

Research makes a lot of people feel like this…

WHY do we do it? Curiosity & interest! To make informed decisions. To become an expert. To make the world better. To give our opinions WEIGHT and to persuade people. ?

The Change Project For the Change Annotated Bibliography, you need: At least 3 different sources Of at least 3 different kinds

Types of Sources Book Reference Periodical Website Interview Pamphlet

How Can The Library Help You?

How do I find a book in the library? 1. Go to 2. Click on Library Catalog 3. Click on Irvington 4. Search using keywords 5. Write down the number 6. Find your book!

How do References work? Alphabetical order Many volumes Look for author of article Look for the article title Don’t need publication info

Your turn!

Book Citation Bily, Cynthia A. Pollution. Detroit: Greenhaven Press, Print. If more than one date given, use the most recent. If more than one city, use the first.

Reference Citation Smith, Homer. “Mexico.” Encyclopedia Britannica Print. If no author given, leave it out.

Why Can’t We Just ? -Peer reviewed sources -Avoid “click and grab” searching Sources may not be reliable Letting the search engine choose for you Not enough diversity You CAN Google if you do it the smart way…

How to …Smarter Tip #1 KEYWORDS, NOT whole sentences. How does solar power work and how can it save money and help our environment? Solar power Solar power cost Energy costs Solar power benefits Renewable energy Green energy Green technology Add to your keywords as you search!

Your turn!

How to …Smarter Tip #2 Narrow or Broaden Results Look at your results, and Narrow or Broaden keywords to get better results! If you find TOO FEW sources, BROADEN : Motor oil pollution in storm drains  Water pollution If you find TOO MANY or IRRELEVANT sources, NARROW : Endangered species  Burrowing owl  Endangered species Fremont, CA

Your turn!

How to …Smarter Tip #3 Evaluate Your Sources When you find a site, ask yourself: -WHO made it? -WHY? -WHEN?

ABCs of website evaluation Authority Bias Currency

Your turn! Remember: WHO made it? (Authority) WHY? (Bias) WHEN? (Currency) Don’t Forget First impressions: What you can tell just from a URL!

Once You Find a Source… 1. Read it!  Scan the article to make sure it’s useful  Read the article carefully  Highlight or take notes on useful facts 2. Use it!  As you’re writing your paper, use those facts as backup, like proof in court  Like a lawyer, you have to make your own argument!  Cite your sources…don’t plagiarize!

Don’t PLAGIARIZE! Did you know that if you CUT AND PASTE from a website OR even if you just borrow an IDEA and put it in your own words… And you don’t cite it… It’s cheating? Yikes! 

Instead of Plagiarizing, there are 2 choices… 1. Paraphrase! That means put the information completely in your own words, with a citation. Or… 2. Use direct quotations! That means you use the authors words, with “quotation marks around them” and a citation.

Parenthetical Citations The BIG rules: 1. Everything you cite in your paper MUST be in your Works Cited page, and everything in your Works Cited page MUST have a parenthetical citation in your paper! 2. The parenthetical citation should match with the first thing in the Works Cited entry. For example…

Burrowing owls are an endangered species because of their habitat. “Burrowing owls live in underground dens that are easily threatened by construction projects and other human activity” (Miller 55). Even if construction crews don’t hurt owls, construction can still harm the species because they become too afraid to lay eggs. Burrowing owl populations have gone down by 45% in the last ten years (“Threatened Bird Statistics”). Construction companies need to look for burrowing owls before they start working on a new project. Parenthetical citations: The author and page number OR the page title right after the fact or quote. Give paragraph numbers if the source does.

Annotated Bibliography A bibliography is a list of all the sources you used to find information. An annotated bibliography has a paragraph under each source describing what it is and what you used from it.

Special Rules for This Project… For the Change Project, the paragraph has to contain a FACT or QUOTATION from your source, with a CITATION. It should go like this: -Describe the source -Share a Useful Fact from the source -With a Parenthetical Citation! -Give an Explanation of why the fact is relevant to your topic

Example: This book tells people how to compost for their garden. Composting is important because we don’t have enough space for all our trash. “Roughly one-third of all waste dumped in landfills across the United States consists of garden clippings and kitchen waste” (Bell 11). This shows that a lot of our trash space is taken up by things like plants and food that could be composted instead.

Website Citation “Iran.” The World Factbook. Central Intelligence Agency, 20 Dec Web. 6 Mar < publications/the-world-factbook/geos/ir.html>. Go back to the HOME PAGE to find the site name. If there’s an author, their name goes first. Make sure the URL is NOT a hyperlink (underlined & blue). If Word turns it into one, hit “Undo” (Ctrl + z) right away.

How do I find a periodical? Alameda County Library online:

How do I tell if a website is a periodical? Is it a magazine or newspaper? Is it published periodically, at regular periods of time like daily, weekly, or monthly?

Periodical Citation Wildermuth, John. “Polls Agree on Debate but Split on Election.” San Francisco Chronicle 5 Oct. 2004: A1. Print. Levy, Steven. “Great Minds, Great Ideas.” Newsweek 27 May 2002: Print.

Online periodical Levy, Steven. “Great Minds, Great Ideas.” Newsweek 27 May Web. 18 Oct

Your turn!

Put it all together… this is one Works Cited page entry, with annotation. Ball, Jeff. Easy Composting. New York: Ortho Books, Print. This book tells people how to compost for their garden. Composting is important because we don’t have enough space for all our trash. “Roughly one- third of all waste dumped in landfills across the United States consists of garden clippings and kitchen waste” (Bell 11). This shows that a lot of our trash space is taken up by things like plants and food that could be composted instead.

Images Cited “LA Now.” LATimes.com. Los Angeles Times, 1 June, Web. 14 Oct “Books, books, books, and ‘Books.’” ArtsJournal.com. July Web. 14 Oct “The World Book Encyclopedia is a Really Good Reference Source.” Hunter’s Online References Web. 14 Oct “Newsletter.” Newton’s Window. SuzanneSutton.com, 27 Aug Web. 14 Oct