R C S D Research Manual 1

Contents

Access, Evaluate & Use Information in Rankin County Schools...3

Mission of the Library Media Program.....3

Common Core College and Career Readiness Standards...3

Mississippi Information Literacy Standards .....4

Information Access for Rankin County School District Students..4

What is Information Literacy?What is Research? ....5

The Research and Writing Process ...... 6

Now I know the process, but how do I begin? What do I do? Big Six Process9

Developing Thesis Statements ...... 10

Questions To Guide your Research ...... 11

Abstracts Bibliography...... 12

Annotated Bibliography...... 13

Sample MLA Annotated Bibliography.....14

Preparing Source Cards ...... 16

Sample Source Cards ...... 17

Preparing Notecards ...... 18

How to Use Electronic Note Cards ...... 19

Research Paper e-Notes (Template / Sample)....20

Outlining ...... 21

Sample Outline Page ...... 22

Preparing an Outline ...... 25

Sources ...... 26

Evaluating Sources – Print – Electronic .....26

I Found it on the Internet…It MUST be True!!!

The A B C D E’s Of Website Evaluation Guide ..27

Primary and Secondary Sources ...... 29

Citing Sources...... 30

Plagiarism ...... 30

Parenthetical Documentation ...... 31

Placing a Parenthetical Reference .....31

Documenting a Paraphrase ...... 31

Documenting a Quotation ...... 31

Citing More Than One Source by the Same Author ..31

Citing Sources by Authors with the Same Last Names ..32

Citing Quotations Longer Than Four Typed Lines ...32

Citing Sacred Writings ...... 33

Citing Shakespeare ...... 33

Citations ...... 34

When to Use Citations ...... 34

MLA Bibliographic Format For Works Cited For District-Wide Use .34

General format, information for Citations and Parenthetical Documentation 35

Formulas and Examples of Source Citations, with Parenthetical Formats .36

Books ...... 36

Books, Anthology ...... 37

Books Online ...... 38

Periodicals ...... 40

Online PeriodicalMagazine Article MAGNOLIA ..40

Online Source Internet ...... 41

Online source eReader / Digital files....41

Interview ...... 41

Other Sources ...... 42

Format and Style Suggestions ...... 44

Format of the Research Paper Guidelines .....45

Sample Paper I ...... 46

Sample Paper II ...... 51

Sample of long quotation ...... 52

Sample Works Cited ...... 53

Evaluation Checklist ...... 55

Works Cited Checklist ...... 56

Appendix A: The Research - Writing Process – Reference Sources ..57

Appendix B: Glossary of Research Terms and Abbreviations ...58

Appendix C: MLA Format for Source Cards (and Works Cited Page) Beginner’s Guide 60

Appendix D: Keyword Searching (Boolean) Techniques Print or Electronic .62

Additional Search Techniques / Terms ....63

Appendix E: Student Tools to Increase Essential Skills for Electronic Researching 65

Appendix F: Turnitin.com Directions ...... 66

Appendix G: Final Project Requirements ...... 67

Appendix H: Possible Guidelines for General Outline – 9th, 10th, 11th 12th grades.68

Access, Evaluate & Use Informationin Rankin County Schools

Missionof the Library Media Program

Themission of the library program is to ensure that students and staff become literate, life-long learners and effective and responsible users of ideas and information. The school library program should function as the information center for the school by providing access to a full range of information resources, in both traditional and electronic format. This mission is accomplished

  • by providing intellectual and physical access to materials in all formats
  • by providing instruction to foster competence and stimulate interest in reading, viewing, and using information and ideas
  • by working with other educators to designintegrated and interdisciplinary learning strategies and develop opportunities for students to acquire information literacy skills to meet the needs of individual students (American Association of School Librarians 6)

Common Core College and Career Readiness Standards

This manual should be used as a handbook for students to achieve the rigors of mastering information literacy and is in alignment the state-led Common Core College and Career Readiness Standards Initiative of which the public schools of Mississippi participate. We need to improve our searching, evaluating and communication skills in a changing information environment.

The newly implemented Common Core State (CCS) Standards Initiative is designed to prepare students for college, workforce training and life in the technological society. One major component of the college and career readiness (CCR) standards for English-language arts and mathematics is information literacy; the successful gathering, comprehending, evaluating, synthesizing and presenting information and ideas effectively and creatively in print, non-print, or technological formats. Within the CCR anchor standards writing component is to develop research and presentation of knowledge; within the language anchor standards is the ability to verify sources of research. By design, the need to conduct research, produce and understand information is embedded within the standards and not in a separate section. A means to an end.

Incorporated into these standards are the basic premises of the Standards for the 21st century Learner, US Dept. of Education 21st-century Skills (designed to enable students to be creative problem solvers in basic, technological and informational literacies) and the ALA Information Literacy Standards, all of which have previously been part of the curriculum. The intent is to assure that students have the opportunity to become well-prepared as life-long learners / citizens / digital citizens facing the challenges of college and careers.

In accordance with the state-led Common Core State (CCS) Standards Initiative in the development of the college and career readiness standards for English-language arts and mathematics, this research manual will provide guidelines to “gather relevant information from multiple print and digital sources, assess the credibility and accuracy of each source, and integrate the information while avoiding plagiarism.” A key component of research aspect of the CCS is to help students be able to read critically, to decipher through large amounts of information to find

what they are looking for; to use the found information to create a product or document using reliable, evaluated, credible sources; to answer a question.

This research manual should help each student become adept at gathering information, evaluating resources, and citing material accurately, regardless of the format of the original information. This guide will offer suggestions for each student to take full advantage of any technology available, develop efficiency to acquire useful information, and integrate what they learn using technology. Students need to be comfortable using print and non-print resources, accessing information to provide evidence to support reasoning and conclusions, and strategically using any technology available to report, create, and refine their findings and analysis in a clear and logical individual and / or collaborative manner.

Mississippi Information Literacy Standards (in alignment with ALA Information Power standards)

The information literate student:

  • accesses information efficiently and effectively.
  • evaluates information critically and competently
  • uses informationaccurately and creatively,

The information literate student is anindependent learner who:

  • pursues information related to personal interests.
  • appreciatesliterature and other creative expressions of information.
  • strives for excellence in informationseeking and knowledge generation.

The informationliteratestudentcontributes positively to thelearning community and tosociety and:

  • recognizes the importance of information to a democraticsociety.
  • practices ethical behavior in regard to information and information technology.
  • participates effectively in groups to pursue and generate information.

Information Access for Rankin County School District Students

Access information from any valid source including: books; ebooks;reference sources; online databases;internet sites; audiovisual programs, and magazine/newspaper articles. Materials are also available fromother Ranking County schools through interlibrary loan.

Each school library maintains their own collection of materials. Students should contact their individual library and/or card catalog for specific titles available to them.

Every RCSD Library has access to MAGNOLIA. See your librarian for your school’s password.

What is Information Literacy?What is Research?

Information fluency is the ability to access, evaluate, use and synthesize information from multiple formats, and to ethically create and share new knowledge in any of a variety of media. Information fluency is a set of competencies, skills that will grow with students, even when current operating systems, search tools, or platforms are obsolete. Information problem solving skills are required across all disciplines.

Research is a life skill. We are always seeking information, but information is not knowledge. Our ability to find and use information helps us reach conclusions, make decisions, and communicate more effectively, become knowledgeable. As students gather information to reach a conclusion or support a hypothesis, they develop lifelong skills of information fluency.

Research means "to seek out again," and its purpose is to bring together old and new information and documented recent opinions to support your thesis statement. The research process includes the ability to gather information, evaluate it, organize it, and present it.

A research project, whether it is a traditional paper, a speech, a multi-media presentation, or some other format is the end product of a thinking process that involves student-centered questioning or inquiry. It is likely to involve the following:

  • careful research of already existing ideas, facts, and expert opinions on a specific topic
  • a thesis statement supported with facts, ideas, and expert opinions
  • a formal presentation of your research and thesis - – which generally should include:
  • An outline with thesis statement
  • Paper (introduction, body paragraphs, conclusion)
  • Works Cited page

A major element of the CCS is that the research process and the writing process are connected. Research is of little value unless you can effectively communicate your new knowledge. The same skills that you use to write an expository paper are used to develop the research paper or a project in any medium. Asking solid questions, developing a clear and focused thesis, sketching an outline or a storyboard, drafting, revising, peer reviewing, and editing all are steps with which you are already familiar.

Writing a research paper requires time and effort; it cannot be done hastily. The research paper is different from most any other paper that a student writes because it does not come primarily from the student’s own experiences or imagination; or a summary of facts. The purpose of a research paper is to assemble information to prove the basis of the thesis statement. It is not so much a test of his creative ability as it is a test of his ability to critically search out, recognize, accumulate, organize and interpret a set of facts on a given subject. The student should comprehend the importance of having and following a specific method in the preparation of the research paper. Although we describe steps, you will find yourself going back and forth among the steps, returning to several as you refine your work.

Following this plan or process will produce the most successful paper in the least amount of time.

The Research and Writing Process

  • Choose a topic.
  • Select a (researchable) topic of interest to you.
  • Get an overview of the topic.
  • Find and learn some general information about this topic
  • Identify the main issues in the overview.
  • Narrow the topic.
  • Brainstorm aspects of your topic.
  • List key words.
  • Select a question or problem on which to focus.
  • Limit your research topically, chronologically, and/or geographically.
  • Develop a statement of purpose.
  • Determine the main idea of your paper.
  • Develop a thesis statement.
  • Writequestions and use them to focus and guide your research.
  • Find and evaluate sources.
  • Use key words to search the online catalog, online periodical indexes, and other online reference sources.
  • Scan abstracts (summaries) of magazine and newspaper articles and look at the quality of the source, length of article, and date published to determine their relationship to your thesis statement. Scan the table of contents, indexes, and chapter headings in books for information relevant to your thesis.
  • Guide, assess and evaluate your sources using the criteria on page 11, 18-20 of this manual
  • Compile aworking bibliography.
  • Collect information using a style manual as guide to correct form and spacing
  • Read, select relevant information, and take notes.
  • Determine the main ideas in the source.
  • Determine what information the author uses to support these main ideas.
  • Take notes in your own words and follow the form used in this style manual.
  • Copy significant direct quotations and document correctly.
  • Develop Essential Questions on your topic to begin your research - some types and examples of questions that may be appropriate depending on the type of paper you need to write may include:
  • Expand: What is global warming? (Look up and paraphrase – lowest level)
  • Compare/Contrast: Compare the weather and temperature in the U. S. today with the patterns 50 years ago. (Intermediate level critical thinking skills)
  • Critique: What actions by society have contributed to global warming?
  • Predict: Predict what will happen in the future if nothing is done to reverse global warming. What evidence is there to back your prediction?
  • Persuade: Persuade the U. S. Government to pass laws that would help to reverse global warming.
  • Evaluate: Evaluate the effectiveness of the past actions taken by government and business to prevent future global warming. (Highest level)
  • Organize information and write an outline using the example in your style manual.
  • Examine your notes.
  • Organize notecards into categories that reflect main ideas, use these categories to develop your outline.
  • Group statistics, quotations, and personal experiences in support of the main ideas.
  • Arrange the information into an introduction, body, and conclusion.
  • Identify possible relationships in the data.
  • Consider how best to organize your material. Choose one or more organizational patterns depending on how you plan to develop your paper.
  • Topical - Break the topic into subtopics and analyze each one.
  • Problem-Solution - State the problem and then analyze the solutions offered by various writers.
  • Comparison-Contrast - Take two or more aspects of a topic and show how they are similar and how they are different.
  • Opinion-Reason - state your opinion about the topic and support your opinion with the research you have done.
  • Chronological-Present information in time sequence.
  • Identify possible conclusions.
  • Write the first draft of the paper and prepare documentation.
  • Arrange your notecards in order and use them as a guide.
  • Keep your outline in front of you to guide your writing.
  • Keep your thesis in front of you and refer to it often; your thesis is the point you are trying to prove.
  • Note your sources within your text.
  • Write each paragraph so that it is related to the thesis and contains only one idea which is expressed by a topic sentence and supported by the other sentences.
  • Include an introduction that will help the reader understand the topic and your position. The last sentence of the introduction will be your thesis statement.
  • In an argumentative essay, include a concession paragraph which acknowledges other perspectives.
  • Write multiple paragraphs containing the main ideas supporting the thesis with specific details, facts, studies, and authorities' views that support the main ideas. Be sure that each paragraph has an introductory sentence with a transition and a concluding sentence.
  • Write a conclusion that discusses the significance of the topic and/or the findings and summarizes your stand. Use a transition and restate the thesis.
  • Revise the first draft.
  • Check spelling, grammar, and punctuation.
  • Use formatting suggested in your style manual for the paper, parenthetical citations, and works cited.
  • Use the spell checker in your word processing program.
  • Have another person read the paper and check for all errors.

Now I know the process, but how do I begin? What do I do?

Make sure you have the right supplies available to you. This should include index cards (approximately 100) for note taking; writing utensils; highlighter; rubber bands, paperclips or baggies for keeping cards together and organized; money for copying/printing; and a manila envelope to hold materials and to hand in to teacher.

How do I start my research? My paper? follow The Big Six Research Process

  1. TASK DEFINITION- Define the problem - Identify the information requirements

What needs to be done? What am I supposed to write about? How long is it supposed to be? When is it due? How many sources am I supposed to use? What’s the format? What topic should I select? Brainstorm some ideas / terms? Narrow down the topic – it will be more manageable. Find a few books on your general subject. Look at the Table of Contents for narrow topics on your broad topic for ideas.

  1. INFORMATION SEEKING STRATEGIES - Range of sources - Look at different possible sources

Can I use printed books (takes about two years for a very current event to be broadly published and available in a library)? Reference books, specialized encyclopedias, vertical files found in a school library; a public library; a specialized library: Is the topic very current? Do I need to use newspapers and magazines? MAGNOLIA? Internet? Interviews? Where else can I look?

  1. LOCATION AND ACCESS - Locate sources - Find information within sources

Start with card catalog with general topic, browse reference, non-fiction sections in library, and gather as many books as possible. Read the Introductions, look at the Table of Contents, Works Cited pages. Keep a running list of possible terms to research, titles and call numbers of books, periodicals and websites examined. Keep looking. Begin to create source cards of sources that should have good usable information. Create citations in MLA formatfor Works Cited page (specific information on creating citations comes later)

  1. USE OF INFORMATION - Engage the information in a source - Pull out the best information for the problem, does the informational text support your thesis

Start taking notes (more information on creating notecards comes later) on broad and narrow topic (one thought or idea per notecard). Read as many chapters, articles on your topic as possible. As you research you will begin to focus and find information on your narrow topic. Write as many note cards as you can (rule of thumb you will probably need 25 notes per each finished page required; i.e. 75 notecards for a 3 page paper).