RESEARCH REVIEWInternet searches, note cards, and quotations

Frustrating internet searches

Searching the internet without a plan is risky—

You’ll get thousands of results that aren’t filtered in any way—

And spend your time reading through search queries regardless of the quality, credibility, scholarly value, or relevance of the source 

The answer to this problem?Read and read and read and read … and then read some more—to put the issue in context AND to find the resources that work for you.

Two types of internet searches

publicly accessible materials on the web

free search engines good for informal and

introductory research and brainstorming

won’t give you scholarly material on academic topics.

access to limited and edited collections, usually by fee

use library homepage as main research portal—public or school

Open searches Closed searches

Helpful databases

Kent District Library (need a library card number)

Michigan Electronic Library (need driver’s license number)

Try … Gale Virtual Reference Wilson Select

Questions to ask as you review websites …

• What type of resource is it? For example, is it an e-journal, a database, a personal page, a mail archive? • Is it full-text? Does it contain a mixture of full-text and abstracts, abstract only or is it a bibliographic database with links only? • Is it a vanity work or scholarly? • Is it the result of research? • Is it a primary (original work) or secondary source? How clearly is such indicated? • Is the date the article was written/site created given? Is it indicated how often the information/site is revised or updated? This is evidence of the level of commitment there is to maintenance. • Advertising. What effect has it on the content? Is it clearly distinguishable from the content?

Anyone can publish on the Web – it is a ‘self-publishing’ medium. The fastest growing area of the world wide web is commercial sites. Not all sources are equally valuable or reliable. Critical thinking is required in evaluating web resources.

Note taking

  

 

Note card Source card

Source cards are helpful when your research entails taking many notes.  You must code your source cards and corresponding note cards in some way: by color, letter, etc. 

A

Use direct quotations carefully—lead, signal, cite, and elaborate (4) 

1

A

Paraphrase or summarize—use bullets, numbers, outline format.  DO NOT crowd your note card; include page number.  If noting a direct quote, be sure to write the quotation word-for-word. 

A

Misser, Emmy, comp. "How To Use Sources and Avoid Plagiarism." Laurier Writing Centre. Wilfred Laurier University. 2 Mar. 2006<http://info.wlu.ca/writing/handouts/usesources.htm>.

 

 

 

Using quotations correctly

Know WHEN to use

Use quotations when the specific language of a quote is important.

Use quotations when accuracy is essential -- to indicate the writer's exact position.

Use quotations to support your argument, rather than relying upon someone else's words.

Keep quotes to a minimum. A short phrase or sentence is more easily understood than a long quotation.

Look for the "kernel" or the most important part of the quotation and extract it.

Paraphrase a quotation in your own words when possible.

Using quotations correctly

Know HOW to use

Lead: who, what, where, why, how

Signal: quotation marks if exact Cite: cite the source reference in

text or parenthetically Commentary: explain the

quotations significance; a quotation doesn’t speak for itself

In The Coming of Age, Simone de Beauvoir contends that the decrepitude accompanying old age is "in complete conflict with the manly or womanly ideal cherished by the young and fully grown" (65).

 

Edward Ziegler, dean of the Harvard School of Psychology laments, "One finds violence, hostility, and aggression everywhere, including TV, the movies, and in many of our everyday social relations" (Anjour 40).

 

In her critique of soap operas, Tania Modleski, professor emeritus of Sociology at Yale, argues that some view television as "a vast wasteland" and soap operas as "the least nourishing spot in the desert" (Smith 123).

Examples ...