Research Techniques presented to ELS class: - information timeline - types of information and sources - search strategies - web evaluation (CRAP) - plagiarism - MLA citations

1. Summer 2014

2. How to search
 Types of sources
 Where and how to find them
 Web Evaluation
Plagiarism
 Quoting &Paraphrasing
 Avoiding plagiarism
Citations (MLA)
 Books, Articles, Websites

3. If you visit us in person you get…
 Quiet place to study
 Access to thousands of online books
 Access to millions of articles
 Helpful guides to make research easier
 Helpful librarians!

4. Discovery
Published
in Journal
Articles in Magazines, Newspapers,
on the Web Books
Event Web Magazines, Newspapers Books

5. Provide overview, background, historical perspective
Good place to start
Search for them in the online Catalog
Find them on the Shelves
eBooks???
The Library of Congress Classification System (LC). University of Georgia
Online Library Learning Center.
http://www.usg.edu/galileo/skills/unit03/libraries03_04.phtml

6. Written by experts = Scholarly or Academic
 Presenting research, using technical terms, in-depth
analysis
 In Academic Journals (Nature, Journal of Psychology Studies)
 Find them in specialized Databases
▪ Dominican
Written by journalists = Popular
 Translating research, impact on everyday lives,
analysis, opinion
 In Magazines and Newspapers (Time, USA Today, Smithsonian)
 In Databases and on the Web

7. In a Catalog – Dominican
Use broad terms/keywords
 Video Games and violence
 Turtles and extinction
Try limiting or refining your search
 Just print books
 Words matter! Try different keywords, spellings, or
synonyms
Email the info about the book to yourself

8. Choose the right database
 By Subject
 General database that searches everything…Iceberg!
Think about your search
 Use keywords and their synonyms
▪ (turtle or tortoise)
 Use shortcuts - child* = child and children and
childhood…
 Peer-reviewed? Full-text?
Trial and Error

9. Source – Title of journal, number of pages
Abstract – is it relevant to your topic?
Subject Terms – useful words for your search
Cite button – MLA citation!

10. How Google Search works
Bias – Conservative or liberal? For or against?
Use Google Scholar or Books
Add “site:” to limit to specific types
 .org
 .edu
 .gov (USA only – add the abbreviation for other countries
– .gob.mx or .go.jp)
Look for the Search Tools just under the search
bar. Limit results to level (beginner, advanced,
expert), related searches, dictionary definitions.

11. Statistics, data
 Add “site:.gov” for US government data
 Try “un.org”
Specialized sites
 National Archives
 Library of Congress
Look for something else!
 Speeches, interviews, images…

12. The CRAP Test.
 Currency = Is it up to date?
 Reliability = Is it accurate? Is it biased? Where did
they get their information?
 Authority = Are the authors/publishers/sponsors
experts?
 Purpose or Point of View = What is the purpose
or intent? Who is the audience?
Does the website pass the test?

13. Definition:
to steal and pass off (the ideas or words of another)
as one's own: use (another's production) without
crediting the source
from Merriam Webster Dictionary, www.m-w.org.
Includes
 Ideas
 Words
 Images, graphics, tables, charts
If no source is given, it is plagiarism (Just ask Vanilla
Ice!).

14. ON PURPOSE BY MISTAKE
Copying word for word
Buying, stealing, borrowing a paper
Not providing sources for exact
quotes
Not paraphrasing well (and/or not
providing sources)
Do you have an academic honor code?
 DUC’s (p. 35)
 Purdue U’s Plagiarism Help
Goblin Threat Plagiarism Game

15. Writing is not a patchwork quilt
Have your topic & argument or thesis thought
out before you incorporate sources
 Understand the source as a whole, rather than
choosing random phrases or sections.
Your task is to extract, distill and compress
essential content that will be useful in proving
your point
Adapted from: http://mendota.english.wisc.edu/~WAC/page.jsp?id=98&c_type=category&c_id=48

16. “Cut-and-Paste”: it’s easy to copy text, make
absolutely sure you quote it.
▪ "There are two basic types of sociodramatic play training:
Outside intervention and inside intervention" (Christie 29).
▪ Christie states that "there are two basic types of
sociodramatic play training: Outside intervention and inside
intervention" (29).
Better to paraphrase – put the information in
your own words
 Paraphrase still needs a source:
(https://owl.english.purdue.edu/owl/resource/619/1/)
 Examples from MIT

17. If the existence of a signing ape was unsettling for
linguists, it was also startling news for animal
behaviorists
(Davis 26).
Not OK:
 If the presence of a sign-language-using chimp was disturbing
for scientists studying language, it was also surprising to
scientists studying animal behavior (Davis 26).
OK:
 According to Flora Davis, linguists and animal behaviorists were
unprepared for the news that a chimp could communicate with
its trainers through sign language (Davis 26).
From: http://baervan.nmt.edu/Petrophysics/group/avoiding_plagiarism.htm

18. Format of a citation tells you what type and
where to find it
Every quote or paraphrase needs a citation at
the end
of the paper

19. Book
Okuda, Michael, and Denise Okuda. Star Trek Chronology: The History
of the Future. New York: Pocket, 1993. Print.
Article from a journal
Roberts, Robin. "Performing Science Fiction: Television, Theater, and
Gender in Star Trek: The Experience." Extrapolation 42.4 (2001):340-
56. Literature Resource Center.Web. 25 Feb. 2010.
Website (no author)
"The Roddenberry Legacy of Human Potential: If Only, If Only."
StarTrek Official Site. CBS Studios, 24 Oct. 2007.Web. 15 Mar. 2010.