English 101: Library Instruction
Fall 2006
Instructor: Prof. Christopher Parsons
Librarians: Dana DeFebbo & Major Betsey Carter
| Research Basics | Databases and Indexes | Internet Sources |
| Evaluating Your Sources | Citing Your Sources |
When starting your research it is important that you have an idea of what you are looking for, otherwise you will spend a lot of wasted time with little to show for it. So before you start searching you need to have a strategy.
1. Define what you are looking for.
This can be either in a statement or question format. Use your thesis statement or question to help you.
Example: I am looking for the effects of poverty on academic achievement in the United States.
OR
Does poverty have an affect on academic achievement in the United States?
2. Identify keywords from your statement or question.
Sample keywords from the above statement or question are poverty AND academic achievement AND United States
3. Think of synonyms and related terms for the keywords you have identified.
Academic achievement ==> Academic success, academic accomplishment, good grades, student achievement
Poverty ==> Poor, homelessness, welfare, indigent, low socioeconomic status
Subject Specific Databases:
CQ Researcher - an excellent source for topical information, presenting all sides of current issues. Information provided includes in-depth reports on controversial public policy issues. Each report includes background, current situation, pro/con debate, and bibliographies for further information as well as statistics, charts, graphs.
Criminal Justice Periodicals - A comprehensive collection of U.S. and international criminal justice journals including information for professionals in law enforcement, corrections administration, drug enforcement, rehabilitation, family law, and industrial security
Lexis Nexis Academic Universe - A collection of state and federal legal research, codes, and court proceedings. Articles from 5900 sources in news, business, medical, and reference.
Multidisciplinary Databases:
The first rule of internet sources for ANY academic research paper: Wikipedia is NOT and acceptable source.
The following list of possible places to look for your topic is NOT all inclusive. You should attempt to search the internet for information related to your topic.
National Archive of Criminal Justice Data
National Criminal Justice Reference Service
Searching the Internet
Searching the internet is similar to searching a periodical database or the library catalog. You will use keywords and phrases to find the things you need. When using an Internet search engine such as Google, take advantage of Advanced Search options.
As a general rule most anything you find from a periodical database will be suitable for you to use when writing a research paper. However, you should still evaluate each source you find in order to insure your topic is well researched and well presented.
Ask yourselves the following questions when evaluating your sources:
- Authority: Who put this site on the web? What credentials do they have? Are they an expert in the field you are researching?
- Purpose: What is its purpose? Why is it there? What audience are they trying to reach?
- Currency: Is it up-to-date? When was it published? When was it last updated?
- Coverage: Does it cover the topic thoroughly?
- Accuracy: Are sources documented? Are the sources credible?
Once you have asked yourselves these questions, then you must consider what characteristics is has. Review the following criteria and determine which ones your source falls into:
Giving credit to the authors and sources that you used to write your research paper is one of the most important steps in writing and presenting a college level research paper. If you do not properly cite your sources you are committing PLAGIARISM. Plagiarism is considered stealing and hence is a violation of the Honor Code. Ignorance is not an excuse.
Fortunately, we have some really great resources for you to use so you do not accidentally steal others thoughts and ideas.
Each discipline (major) has a certain way they like sources cited, so pay attention to the format your instructor prefers that you use. For this class and most (if not all) English classes, MLA (Modern Language Association) Style is the appropriate citation format.
Other citation formats include APA (American Psychological Association) ASA (American Sociological Association), Chicago Manual style, Turabian and IEEE (engineering).
Citation Resources
- Daniel Library Citing Sources Research Guide is a great compilation of style guides available for you to use. They are all online resources that are available to you at any time.
- Some periodical databases also provide you with citations for your articles.
- You may use a citation generator such as Citation Machine to create your citations.
WARNING: Always double check any citation that you did not create yourself. Generally speaking the citation generator and the citations created from the periodical databases are 75-90% correct. You MUST verify with the resources on the Citing Sources Research Guide to make sure that your citation is 100% correct.
Created by Dana M. DeFebbo
Reference and Instruction Librarian
The Citadel
09/19/06
Contact me at: dana.defebbo@citadel.edu