GENERAL INFORMATION Diane Christensen, Library Media Specialist Sheridan High School, Thornville, OH no-dchristensen@seovec.org ORCLISH 10th Grade English Research papers Power Research - How our library can help you Finding the perfect topic. Think of what interests you. You may have to choose a few topics to make sure you are researching a subject which has lots of resources. Need inspiration? Try these books (which are in our library): 372.6 Ell Painless research projects by Rebecca and James Elliott 808.02 LAM 10000 ideas for term papers, projects, and reports and speeches : an invaluable reference for every student by Kathryn Lamm REF 016.97 MUC Term paper resource guide to twentieth-century United States history by Robert Muccigrosso, Ron Blazek, and Teri Maggio 025.5 MCD 100 more research topic guides for students by Dana McDougald Now, outline your paper. What will you say and how will you set it upb& See Mrs. Kunkler for guidance! Giving credit where credit is due. Your paper/presentation must be your own work, however you will be finding information from a variety of sources. First of all, you must not copy someone elsebs ideas, you must use information and ideas in your own unique way. What is plagiarism? Click here for a more complete explanation of plagarism... How do I give credit to someone for using their information? By citing their work. Click here to see the proper way to write a citation, or see a librarian for a copy of the guide. Now, on to finding those sources. Booksb& Find our library books by clicking here. You may also search the Middle School Library, and then let a librarian know if you want to use a book from there. If you need more sources, try the public library. You may order books with your own public library card, or fill out an inter library loan form and then pick up your book(s) at our library. Public Library Search Screen Inter Library Loan Form (or see a librarian) Magazine and Newspaper Articles Use EBSCO, which allows you to search for articles from around the world. You will find articles published from the early 1980s until yesterday. You have received a username and password to access EBSCO from home. (you will not need to use them from school) Herebs a quick tutorial about how to use EBSCO and itbs featuresb& Herebs a link to EBSCO Databases We have access, through INFOhio, to several databases, which have credible, trustworthy information. Once again, you will need that username and password to use these databases from homeb& This chart shows you which databases deal with your topic area. Searching the internet The internet has unbelievable amounts of information, but how do you find the RIGHT information... First, there are many search engines and each has itbs strengths and weaknesses. Look over the options here, choose and engine and search away... Then, how do you know if the information you find is credible or authoritative? There are some clues and ways to determine whether the information should be used: Checklist for evaluating websites Herebs a form you can use to verify if the website is a good one to use Just for fun, would any of these bogus sites fool you? Proves you have to be careful! Note taking Mrs. Kunkler will cover note-taking with you. In case you need a reminder, herebs an example of a note card. Writing the paper Draft, revise and finish! Mrs. Kunkler will guide you. Remember to use MLA format. See the link below if you need a refresher! Using MLA Format Here is a wonderful website from the Internet Public Library's Teenspace about writing excellent papers. Here are a few books in our library to help you improve your writing style and to review the whole research project: 808 FRY Improve your writing by Ron Fry 808 THU The everything grammar and style book : all the rules you need to know to master great writing by Susan Thurman 808 SEB Writers INC : a student handbook for writing and learning by Patrick Sebranek, Dave Kemper, and Verne Meyer REF 371.3 MER Successful research papers in 12 easy steps by Nell W. Meriwether Return to our library homepage