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 few good sources.

And you want them fast

Search results - DEFINEDRetrieval

The list of all of your results

RelevanceThe results on your list that are useful

NoiseThe 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% Relevant0% Noise

To be a good searcher1. Be choosy

1. Choose your search tools carefully2. Evaluate your sources before you commit to them

2. Use effective search language3. Be flexible

1. Know at least two ways to search: subject and keyword

Be Choosy

GoogleAsk

Yippy!

Internet Public Library

(www.ipl.org)Databases

Search Engines

Subscription services

MetaSites that list good

websites

Google Scholar

?

http://www.ask.com/

Use effective search languageCombine keywords

Not just “Divorce” …but “Divorce + effects”

Use synonyms or variationsNot just “Athletes”

…but “Players”, “Professional athletes”, etc.

Use pluralsNot “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

DatabasesCitation tool (like Easybib)

Search Engine

Trusted metasite

Note-taking sheet

What good RESEARCH looks like

Instructional Guide

How does EasyBib make this easier?

Citation GenerationEasily 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

BIBLIOGRAPHYalphabetical

headingproject title

‘hanging indent’annotations

MLA Format

Registering

2. Register and create an account

with EasyBib

3. Or register with an existing third party service like Facebook

1. Click the register link

This is the project management page. From here you can create, manage, and view projects. Start

by clicking “Create a new project”

Getting started

Creating a new project

Next, select the desired citation style(don’t worry if you pick the wrong one, you can always change it later automatically)

To start your project,give it a title

Then click “Create”

Your new project has been created and appears at the bottom of your list

Starting a bibliography

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

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

Click the “Create citation” button, and...

The fields are automatically filled in for you!Citing a book

The “LearnCite” feature shows you where different elements are placed within the citation, and highlights specific rules such as those around capitalization

Be sure to make sure the information is correct

Select the correct medium & add additional info

Your citation is automatically

formatted and added to your list. Continue

the process to build your

works cited

Building your list

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

Citing a website

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

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

Including citations from databases

Select “Write/paste citation” from the “All 58

options” menu

Cut and paste the citation that was

included with your database article.

Many databases provide citations already

formatted for you in MLA

Manual entry and annotationsIf 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

alphabetical

headingproject title

‘hanging indent’annotations

MLA Format

Exporting your bibliography

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

Sharing and exporting your work is easy