Objectives

Objectives • Use the best sources for your topic by applying effective search and evaluation techniques • Prepare for in-text citations by keeping source information linked to each fact in your notes • Use a citation tool to create a Works Cited Page

Question Is it better to find a lot of information, or a little?

In most cases, you want…. • a fewgoodsources. • And you want them fast

Search results - DEFINED • Retrieval • The list of all of your results • Relevance • The results on your list that are useful • Noise • The results on your list that are NOT useful. Think “white noise” or “distraction”

http://www.wxyc.org/blog/2007/04/no-escape-from-noise.html

The Goal A manageable number of retrieved results 100% Relevant 0% Noise

To be a good searcher • Be choosy • Choose your search tools carefully • Evaluate your sources before you commit to them • Use effective search language • Be flexible • Know at least two ways to search: subject and keyword

Be Choosy Search Engines Google Ask Yippy! MetaSitesthat list good websites Subscription services Databases Internet Public Library (www.ipl.org) Google Scholar?

Use effective search language • Combine keywords • Not just “Divorce” • …but “Divorce + effects” • Use synonyms or variations • Not just “Athletes” • …but “Players”, “Professional athletes”, etc. • Use plurals • Not “weapon” • …but “weapons” • Spelling counts

Be flexible • Searching by keyword (on Web, database) • Why you do it: it’s easy, you can get very specific • What it finds: any word on a page that matches • What you get: lots of noise • Searching by subject (on database) • Why you (don’t) do it: it’s harder, more like browsing, you have to start more general • What it finds: documents that match the subject • What you get: relevant results, how relevant depends on how closely the subject term you used matches your actual topic.

Keyword Subject Photos found via Google searches of: “baltimore city college”, baltimore, city and college

Search Engine Trusted metasite Databases Citation tool (like Easybib) What good RESEARCH looks like Note-taking sheet

Instructional Guide

How does EasyBib make this easier? Citation Generation • Easily create a bibliography in MLA style • Export to Word fully formatted

In other words, you’re about to PROVE you’ve found good sources Bibliography: a list of your sources presented in a specific format Annotation: Brief summary and analysis of each source

The Proof?: ANNOTATED BIBLIOGRAPHY heading project title alphabetical MLA Format ‘hanging indent’ annotations

Registering 1. Click the register link 2. Register and create an account with EasyBib 3. Or register with an existing third party service like Facebook

Getting started This is the project management page. From here you can create, manage, and view projects. Start by clicking “Create a new project”

Creating a new project To start your project, give it a title Next, select the desired citation style (don’t worry if you pick the wrong one, you can always change it later automatically) Then click “Create”

Starting a bibliography Your new project has been created and appears at the bottom of your list To start creating citations for this project, just click “Bibliography”

Selecting a source type to cite Here is the bibliography start page; from here there are tabs for the most popular sources, as well as a tab for all 58 sources EasyBib supports

Viewing all source types Clicking on the “All 58 options” tab will expand a pane that provides you with links to forms that will help you cite just about any type of source you may come across

Citing a book EasyBib allows users to automatically format book citations by simply entering a title, keyword or ISBN. EasyBib offers auto-citing for 22 of the 58 sources Enter your search term, find the appropriate edition from the list, click “select”, and...

Citing a book The fields are automatically filled in for you! Be sure to make sure the information is correct Select the correct medium & add additional info The “LearnCite” feature shows you where different elements are placed within the citation, and highlights specific rules such as those around capitalization Click the “Create citation” button, and...

Building your list Your citation is automatically formatted and added to your list. Continue the process to build your works cited

Citing a website You can automatically format a website by simply entering a URL. EasyBib will grab the data from the site and automatically fill in the form *Be sure to make sure all of the information is correct and fill in any empty fields

Information literacy for websites EasyBib will show you criteria on how the website was evaluated, and how you can evaluate the website as a credible source to use in your research EasyBib has analyzed the most cited websites and will let you know what sources are credible to cite, what aren’t, and what are in the middle

Including citations from databases Many databases provide citations already formatted for you in MLA Cut and paste the citation that was included with your database article. Select “Write/paste citation” from the “All 58 options” menu

Manual entry and annotations If you prefer, or if your information cannot be automatically found, you can manually enter the data for your citation. Enter as much information as you can. EasyBib will automatically format it for you You can add annotations to any citation

What’s an “annotation” again? • It’s a note (annotation) about your source • Summarize the main ideas of your source • Analyze your source for its usefulness: how will you use it in your project?

What it looks like heading project title alphabetical MLA Format ‘hanging indent’ annotations

Exporting your bibliography Sharing and exporting your work is easy You can export your works cited fully formatted to Word or Google Docs. You can also copy & paste, e-mail, or create a unique URL to give to a teacher so they can access your bibliography directly