Research Tips &
Using Footnotes
October 2011
From Your Librarians:
Mrs. Despines
Mrs. Rentschler
Seven Steps for Effective Research
STEP 1: Identify And Develop Your Topic. It might be helpful to state your topic as a question and then identify the main concepts or keywords in the question.
STEP 2: Find Background Information. Use dictionaries, encyclopedias and text books to find necessary background information and to develop a list of keywords to help in searches. Look for your keywords in the indexes and table of contents of sources. It’s often helpful to look at the bibliographies at the end of the encyclopedia articles for more options.
STEP 3: Use PantherPAC to find USC High School Library books. You can use the Bookbag feature of PantherPAC to compile lists of books that look interesting for your topic. Ask a librarian for help if you need it when using PantherPAC and/or the Bookbag Feature.
STEP 4: Use on-line databases available through the USC High School Library to find periodicals and other documents on your topic. Refer to the On-Line Resources Brochure for access information (including home access). Remember to compile a list of keywords BEFORE you sit at the computer to search. Pay attention to subject headings listed in records for more options.
STEP 5A: Find Internet Resources. Evaluate those web sites! Make sure that the sites are timely, credible and relevant to your topic. Evaluate each site using the questions below:
· Is the author/producer of the site listed on the page?
· Is there any reference to the author’s authority in the subject matter presented in the website?
· Is there a way to contact the author on the page (e-mail, address, phone number)?
· Is the site linked to a government, educational, or commercial establishment?
· Does the site list sources used in the information presented?
· Is the purpose of the site obvious?
· To the best of your knowledge, does the site use correct spelling and grammar?
· Does the site have a copyright and/or last revision date? (Look at the bottom of the page.)
· Do the links on the page work?
· Are the links relevant and appropriate?
STEP 5B: If applicable, find audio and video resources for additional information or touse in presentations. See a librarian for help with this step.
STEP 6: Evaluate What You Find. It’s important to spend a little time evaluating the quality of the sources that you found on your topic. Will they be helpful? If you have found too many or too few sources, you may need to narrow or broaden your topic. Ask a librarian for assistance.
STEP 7: Cite What You Find Using MLA Format. Refer to the MLA style guide sheet given to you. It’s also available on the Library Page of our school’s website. We always have extra copies in the library.
Creating Footnotes for the “Foot” or Bottom of the Page
Superscript Numbers
Question: How do I get those little numbers at the beginning of my footnote and in the paragraphs in the text of my paper?
Answer: You mean the footnote, or superscript number?
Question: Is that what they are called?
Answer: Yes. Here’s how to insert them. In Microsoft Word 2003, go to FORMAT, FONT, under the EFFECTS section, choose SUPERSCRIPT, and click OK. Then type the number of the note in your document. In Microsoft Word 2007, go to
http://office.microsoft.com/en-us/word/HP012265221033.aspx#2 for detailed instructions. Or, go to Atomic Learning http://www.atomiclearning.com/k12/search?p=25&filters=%7B%7D&q=word+2007+superscript
username: hs password: atomic
v When formatting a bibliographic footnote, use the MLA 7th edition citation style (see THE GREEN SHEET MLA STYLEGUIDE QUICKCARD at the end of this brochure).
v When inserting the footnote at the bottom of the page, follow these guidelines:
§ Begin footnotes four lines below the main text
§ Place a period and 5 spaces after each footnote number
§ Footnotes are single-spaced
§ Indent the first line five spaces; subsequent lines are flush with the left margin
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Here is an example of a footnote in the text: Mr. Durkin, Social Studies teacher, reiterates to his student each year that writing research papers is a useful way to communicate knowledge of a subject in scholarly circles.1
Here is an example of the footnote that would be at the bottom of the page:
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1. Durkin, Daniel. “Research: Show Us What You Know.” Mr. Durkin’s Edline page. Upper St. Clair High School Social Studies Department. Aug. 2009. Web. 10 Sept. 2009.
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Here is an example of the entry for the footnote source in the Bibliography page:
Durkin, Daniel. “Research: Show Us What You Know.” Mr. Durkin’s Edline page. Upper St. Clair High School Social Studies Department. Aug. 2009. Web. 10 Sept. 2009.
Other Helpful Tidbits!
The following examples show how to put a footnote in your text, write the note in proper form, how to cite additional quotes from the same source, and how to do a works cited entry for your Works Cited page.
Example in text:
In his article, “Making Defense Defensible,” Bruce Russett states that “…we must not forget that a failure of deterence can also come from neglect of our weapons, both current and projected.”
An example of first footnote of the above quote taken from The Military and American Society Part 2,”The Military-Industrial Complex,” Article Number 6 by Bruce Russett entitled, “Making Defense Defensible” on page 117 would look like:
2. Russett, Bruce. “Making Defense Defensible,” The Military and American Society, ed. Stephen Ambrose and James Alden Barber Jr. New York: The Free Press, 1972. 117. Print.
Subsequent citation of the same quote:
3. Russett 117.
Citation of a different quote from the same book:
4. Russett 240.
List in the Bibliography:
Russett, Bruce “Making Defense Defensible,” The Military and American Society, eds. Stephen Ambrose and James Alden Barber Jr. New York: The Free Press, 1972. 100-118. Print.
For Sources used more than once:
1. If a source was footnoted earlier, you can use a shortened footnote providing only the author's surname and the reference page number:
1. King 197.
2. When two or more books by the same author are used as reference material, or there are sources by two or more authors with the same last name, include the short title or an abbreviated form of the title:
2. King, Fire-Starter 279.
3. King, It 13.
DO NOT USE IBID. AND OP. CIT.!!!
Use of ibid. and op. cit.: (from Gibaldi, Joseph. MLA Handbook for Writers of Research Papers. 6th ed. New York: MLA, 2003.)
Gibaldi (313) does NOT recommend the use of these old-fashioned abbreviations: ibid. (from the Latin ibidem meaning "in the same place") and op. cit. (from the Latin opere citato meaning "in the work cited.")
For footnote citations, if you should see the term ibid. being used, it just means that the citation is for the second mention of the same work with no intervening entries:
More commonly, author and page number or numbers are now used instead of ibid., e.g.:
4. Miller 12-15.
For second or later mention of the same work with intervening entries, where previously op. cit. was used, now only the author and page number or numbers are used:
5. Miller 198.
See a librarian for specific questions on creating footnotes.
Creating a Footnotes Page for the End of Your Paper
The Footnotes page is a list of all of the footnotes used in your paper. At the end of your paper, the Footnotes page should appear before the Bibliography page.
For the Footnotes page title, start on the 6th line from the top (or 1" down from the top of the paper) and entitle it, “Footnotes.” Make sure there are 2 line spaces between the title and your first footnote. Copy and paste each footnote onto this page. Double-space all lines, both within and between entries.
Footnote Page Example:
Footnotes
1. Durkin, Daniel. “Research: Show Us What You Know.” Mr. Durkin’s Edline page.
Upper St. Clair High School Social Studies Department. Aug. 2009. Web. 10 Sept.
2009.
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2. Russett, Bruce. “Making Defense Defensible,” The Military and American Society, ed. Stephen Ambrose and James Alden Barber Jr. New York: The Free Press, 1972. 117. Print.
Creating a Bibliography for the End of Your Paper
A Bibliography page is a listing of all of the works (books, online sources, etc.) that you have consulted during the research process. The Bibliography page includes your footnote resources.
To create the Bibliography page, remember to list your sources in alphabetical order, by first words of citations (do not include a, an, the). Do not number your entries. For the page title, start on the 6th line from the top (or 1" down from the top of the paper) and entitle it, “Bibliography.”
· Begin the first line of each entry flush at the left margin.
· Use a hanging indent for subsequent lines of the same entry.
· Double-space all lines, both within and between entries.
Bibliography Example:
Bibliography
Durkin, Daniel. “Research: Show Us What You Know.” Mr. Durkin’s Edline page.
Upper St. Clair High School Social Studies Department. Aug. 2009. Web. 10 Sept.
2009.
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Russett, Bruce. “Making Defense Defensible,” The Military and American Society, ed. Stephen Ambrose and James Alden Barber Jr. New York: The Free Press, 1972. 117. Print.
Bookbag Feature
Panther PAC: On-line Book Catalog
The Bookbag feature of Panther PAC is like a shopping cart on a website. You can put books that you find into Bookbag and print out a list to refer to when gathering resources for your research projects.
Here’s how to use Bookbag:
1. Once you do a search and get to a specific book record, you can add this book to your bookbag by clicking onto the
“Add to Bookbag” button on the right side of your screen.
2. If at any time you want to see what is in your bookbag, click onto the “Bookbag” icon on the toolbar.
3. If you want to print your bookbag list:
· Click onto the “Bookbag” icon on the toolbar.
· From this window, you can title your list at the bottom left of the screen and sort your list if you prefer.
· Next, click onto “Print preview” or “Print” for your list.
4. You can also copy & paste results into a
word processor to use in a Works Cited document.
Make sure to revise for proper 7th edition MLA format!
MLA Quick Reference Card Based on MLA 7th Edition Revised August 2011
1. A book by one author
Gurko, Leo. Ernest Hemingway and the Pursuit of Heroism. New York: Crowell, 1968. Print.
2. A book by 2 or 3 authors (only reverse the first name listed)
Booth, Wayne C., Gregory G. Colomb, and Joseph M. Williams. The Craft of Research. 2nd
ed. Chicago: U of Chicago P, 2003. Print.
3. 2 or more books by the same author
Traversi, Derek A. An Approach to Shakespeare. Garden City: Anchor, 1969. Print.
---. Shakespeare: The Last Phase. Stanford: Stanford UP, 1955. Print.
4. A book with a title in its title
Gellens, Jay, ed. Twentieth Century Interpretations of A Farewell to Arms. Englewood Cliffs: Prentice-Hall, 1970. Print.
5. A book with an editor
Bloom, Harold, ed. J.D. Salinger. New York: Chelsea House, 1987. Print.
6. An essay in a book of collected criticism
Parker, David. “Two Versions of the Hero.” F. Scott Fitzgerald’s The Great Gatsby. Ed. Harold Bloom. New York: Chelsea House, 1986. 29-44. Print.
7. An article in a PRINT magazine/journal
Author, “Title of article.” Magazine/Journal title volume number.issue number (year of publication): page numbers. Print.
Constanza, Robert. “Economics As a Life Science.” Bioscience 51.2 (2001):154-155. Print.
8. A signed article in a PRINT reference book (including encyclopedia entries)
Tobias, Richard. “Thurber, James.” Encyclopedia Americana. 14th ed. 2008. Print.
9. An unsigned article in a PRINT reference book (including ency. entries)
"Best Dressed Women of All Time." Encyclopedia of Fashion. 3rd ed. 2003. Print.
10. PRINT Newspaper citation
Chute, Eleanor. “Schools borrow funds as state cash flow stalls.” Pittsburgh Post-Gazette 26 Aug. 2009: B. Print.
11. A Book with a Translator
Clavino, Italo. The Uses of Literature. Trans. Patrick Creagh. San Diego: Harcourt, 1986. Print.
12. Published Interview
Name of person(s) interviewed, “Title of interview if it was published/broadcast” or Interviewed by name of interviewer. Name of publication, program or recording where interview was published, place of interview (if known), city of interview, date of interview (day, month, year). Media type if applicable (e.g. Television, DVD, Radio, etc.).
Blackmun, Harry. Interview byTed Koppel and Nina Totenberg. Nightline. ABC. WABC, New York,
5 Apr. 1994. Radio.
13. Personal Interview
Name of person(s) interviewed. Kind of interview (Personal interview, Telephone interview), date of interview (day, month, year).
Ghilani, Michael. Personal interview. 20 Sept. 2008.
14. Video/DVD
Director’s name, dir. Title of VHS/DVD. Distributor, year of release. DVD or VHS.
Steven Spielberg, dir. Amistad. Dreamworks,1998. VHS.
15. Google Books
Author. Title of book. Original book publication information, original copyright date. Google Books. Web. Access date.
Frost, Robert. North of Boston. 2nd ed. New York: Henry Holt and Co. 1915. Google Books. Web. 3 November 2010.
16. Ebook/Online Book Include Original Author. Title. Publisher, copyright date. Ebook.
Salinger, J. D. The Catcher in the Rye. Penquin, 2010. Ebook.
17. Information from an online database (e.g. JSTOR, EBSCOhost, Points of View, World Book Online, etc.)
1. Author’s name (last name, first name). Period after the name.
2. “Title of the article.” with quotation marks and a period before the last quotation mark.
3. Name of the original source ---Title of the magazine or book (e.g. Exploring Novels, Cyclopedia of Characters, Newsweek). Italicize. No period at the end.