1. Research

2. Getting Started Choose a topic Create a list of keywords relating to your topic Write two to three sentences about the topic Brainstorm with a partner or teacher for keywords

3. Sources of Information Print Sources Online Sources School Library Public Library Newspapers and Magazines Database Search School website Poudre Public Library website Internet Search Internet Public Library Yahoo directory Wikipedia Google

4. Print Sources Check the school library catalog, either from school or home Type in your topic and click “keyword”, then search Write down the call numbers of the books you want to pull for a closer look Check the public library catalog At the library, or on their website, search the topic with your keywords Check newspapers and magazines for articles relating to your topic – many are available at school and public libraries

5. School Database Search From the Boltz Media Center website page http://schoolweb.psdschools.org/boltz/media/index.h tm, you will be able to access the World Book Encyclopedia online and Student Resource Center Junior http://schoolweb.psdschools.org/boltz/media/index.h tm You will need a username and password to access these from home – use poudre for both Enter your keyword(s) to search Narrow your search if too many options come up Change your keywords to be more specific if necessary

6. Internet Search Internet Public Library narrows your search results to sites chosen and trusted by professional librarians http://www.ipl.org/http://www.ipl.org/ Yahoo directory will narrow your search results Find the heading your topic fits under to get results closely related to your topic http://dir.yahoo.com/http://dir.yahoo.com/ Wikipedia is a great source for gathering keywords and information to confirm on more reliable sites - generally it is not accepted by teachers as a direct source Everyone loves Google, but for serious research you may get too many results that are not closely related to your topic

7. Things to know… Evaluating a website is very important Ask yourself - who is the source of the information? Do they have a personal or professional agenda or are they giving an unbiased view? If you cannot answer these questions, try another source Website endings to know:.gov = government agency.edu = education (college, university, etc).org = non-profit agency (schools, organizations).com = commercial (majority of sites) /ch (China); /fr (France); /jp (Japan); /ca (Canada)

8. Works Cited Page Many teachers will require you to complete a Works Cited page for each research project You will need the following information: Book/Article/Database/Website Title Author(s) Publisher Copyright date Date Viewed(if viewed online) Page(s) used (book/periodical) Easy Bib is just one resource for help with formatting this information http://www.easybib.com/http://www.easybib.com/