Finding Information for Your Research Paper
Decades Research English III
Beginning Research https://owl.english.purdue.edu/owl/resource/552/01/
Note taking and giving credit to the source paraphrased from MLA
There are three different types of notes that you can take when taking notes directly from your sources: summarizing, paraphrasing, and direct quotations.
For example, two pages of biography on Mark Twain discussing his work as a riverboat captain covering details about how he borrowed money from his brother-in-law for lessons, how he begged another river boat captain to teach him to navigate, how he became good at it, how he quit when the Civil War started, how he missed the job later in life, might be summarized as:
Mark Twain spent two years before the Civil War learning to be a navigator on the Mississippi River. He later came to the conclusion that this, out of all the experiences that he had, was his favorite.
Summarized material needs to be documented with a source reference and page number when needed. This is called an in-text citation.
Samuel Clemens, alias Mark Twain, reevaluated his life as he became elderly.
To restate this in your own words you might say:
As he grew older, Samuel Clemens, better known as Mark Twain, spent some time thinking about his life.
The same idea is being stated only in different words—your words.
Paraphrased information must be documented in your notes and ultimately in your paper since the idea was developed by someone else and you must give credit to that source. This is called an in-text citation.
Mark Twain was a very witty man who was known for his humor, however bleak it became by later life. He was famous for saying “Humor is the backbone of American progress through the years.”
In reading this, you see part of the quote that can help you make your point that Twain used his humor to bring about social change. The quote you might use directly, word for word, in your note taking might be
Twain maintained that humor was the essence of all change when he said, “Humor is the backbone of American progress.”
Directly quoted material needs to be documented with the source reference and page number when needed. This is called an in-text citation.
How to cite your sources, format in-text citations, and format quotations
MLA Style Guide
Discus (on NFHS Media Center webpage)
Better Googling
Tricks and Tips for Doing Online Research
Finding Reliable Information on the Internet
Three Questions to Ask
1. Who wrote it, and what is their affiliation?
2. Where did it appear, and what is its relevance to your topic?
3. Why is the author a reliable source of information?
If the answer to any of these questions is “Unknown”, the source may be unreliable. Do not use unreliable sources!
Google Scholar helps you find relevant work across the world of scholarly research.
Tips for searching Google Scholar
Need more information? Watch these videos:
Advantages of Using Databases
Evaluating Websites
Bias Detection
Decades Research English III
Beginning Research https://owl.english.purdue.edu/owl/resource/552/01/
- Books on decades cart
- Start here
- Many books specific to each decade
- This is your best source of info for this project
- Date of publication, publisher, author, and editor are always clearly listed in print publications.
- Discus
- Further research on what you find in books
- The citation is included
- Articles in databases go through extensive publication process that includes editing and article review. The process has fact-checkers, multiple reviewers, and editors to ensure quality of publication.
- Date of publication, publisher, author, and editor are always clearly listed in print publications.
- Internet resources
- Vary widely in quality of information and validity of sources
- You have to figure out the citation and if the source is legit
- No assurance that information has been fact-checked, reviewed or edited
- Can be hard to find author or anything about him/her
- Legit site http://bit.ly/2AhFqCq
- Good site http://bit.ly/2zu2wJ3
- No authors listed beware http://bit.ly/1wk1xzQ
- Interviews
- Parents
- Grandparents
Note taking and giving credit to the source paraphrased from MLA
There are three different types of notes that you can take when taking notes directly from your sources: summarizing, paraphrasing, and direct quotations.
- Summarizing is simply the recording of a general idea of large amounts of material. A summary will use all of your own words and will state concisely the point of the content of the pages of material.
For example, two pages of biography on Mark Twain discussing his work as a riverboat captain covering details about how he borrowed money from his brother-in-law for lessons, how he begged another river boat captain to teach him to navigate, how he became good at it, how he quit when the Civil War started, how he missed the job later in life, might be summarized as:
Mark Twain spent two years before the Civil War learning to be a navigator on the Mississippi River. He later came to the conclusion that this, out of all the experiences that he had, was his favorite.
Summarized material needs to be documented with a source reference and page number when needed. This is called an in-text citation.
- Paraphrasing is when you restate material in your own words. For example, the original text reads:
Samuel Clemens, alias Mark Twain, reevaluated his life as he became elderly.
To restate this in your own words you might say:
As he grew older, Samuel Clemens, better known as Mark Twain, spent some time thinking about his life.
The same idea is being stated only in different words—your words.
Paraphrased information must be documented in your notes and ultimately in your paper since the idea was developed by someone else and you must give credit to that source. This is called an in-text citation.
- Direct quotation is when you determine that the original wording is the most effective way to convey the information, so you copy the piece word for word, comma for comma, and put quotation marks around it to show that it is copied directly. Usually a direct quote is a very important piece of information that can only be worded the way it was found in the source or it can be a very respected person’s or expert’s opinion about a subject. For example, the text reads:
Mark Twain was a very witty man who was known for his humor, however bleak it became by later life. He was famous for saying “Humor is the backbone of American progress through the years.”
In reading this, you see part of the quote that can help you make your point that Twain used his humor to bring about social change. The quote you might use directly, word for word, in your note taking might be
Twain maintained that humor was the essence of all change when he said, “Humor is the backbone of American progress.”
Directly quoted material needs to be documented with the source reference and page number when needed. This is called an in-text citation.
How to cite your sources, format in-text citations, and format quotations
MLA Style Guide
- MLA Works Cited Basic Format http://bit.ly/1gizrjr
- Books http://bit.ly/1onOjzb
- Electronic Sources http://bit.ly/1eDhZX9
- Interviews http://bit.ly/1c9fKIb
- Example of Works Cited Page http://bit.ly/1f2hBQ7
- In-text citations http://bit.ly/18WFQia
- Formating quotations http://bit.ly/1c53Hf2
- Example paper http://bit.ly/1mLlAAK
Discus (on NFHS Media Center webpage)
- Choose A-Z from top menu to search individual databases.
- Choose By Subject to search by broad subject areas.
- Choose Smartsearch from top menu to search many databases at once.
- See Discus Cheat Sheet for tips.
Better Googling
Tricks and Tips for Doing Online Research
Finding Reliable Information on the Internet
Three Questions to Ask
1. Who wrote it, and what is their affiliation?
2. Where did it appear, and what is its relevance to your topic?
3. Why is the author a reliable source of information?
If the answer to any of these questions is “Unknown”, the source may be unreliable. Do not use unreliable sources!
Google Scholar helps you find relevant work across the world of scholarly research.
Tips for searching Google Scholar
Need more information? Watch these videos:
Advantages of Using Databases
Evaluating Websites
Bias Detection