Evaluating and Citing Resources for Research

1. Finding Sources

2. Evaluating Sources

Authority Questions to ask yourself: Who wrote it ?

What are the author's credentials? If it's an organization what type of organization?

3. Organizing Sources

Annotated Bibliography

- A list of citations to books, articles, and documents. Each citation is followed by a brief (usually about 150 words) descriptive and evaluative paragraph, the annotation.

Organizing Sources

Example of Annotated Bibliography

Tran, Anthony and Allan M. Tow. “America, Your Children Are Left Behind.” Journal of Paralegal Education and Practice, vol. 13, 1997: 115. Online. LEXIS-NEXIS® Academic, March 29, 2002.

A refugee of the Vietnam War writes an overview of the legal status of Amerasians, particularly those from Korea, the Philippines, and Vietnam. The extensive bibliography in this law review article is especially useful for identifying relevant legislation on Amerasians.

Synthesizing Sources

Combining elements from various sources to form a single, unified entity.

Successful Synthesis?

MLA Style

The citation format recommended by the Modern Languages Association.

See Ch. 13 “Documenting Sources” pgs. 484-496

MLA Style

Two-Part System to credit sources:

1. In-Text Citation

2. Works Cited

MLA Style

In-Text Citation

Patrick H. Booth, author of Research is Fun asserts that students actually have a real interest in entering into a dialogue with their sources (12). That viewpoint is very much contested by my experience.

How to Integrate Sources

S

C

C

How to Integrate Sources

The proper way to integrate sources:

1. SIGNAL- Introduce the source material. Use a lead-in, such as the author's name, to signal to the reader that you are about to use an outside source.

2. CITE- Document the reference according to the style guide preferred by your department. Integrate the reference smoothly into your text.

3. COMMENT- Comment in detail on the significance of the citation to your thesis. It does not speak for itself.

MLA Style

In-Text Citation

Patrick H. Booth, author of Research is Fun asserts that students actually have a real interest in entering into a dialogue with their sources (12). That viewpoint is very much contested by my experience.

MLA Style

In-Text Citation

Patrick H. Booth, author of Research is Fun asserts that students actually have a real interest in entering into a dialogue with their sources (12). That viewpoint is very much contested by my experience.

Signal

MLA Style

In-Text Citation

Patrick H. Booth, author of Research is Fun asserts that students actually have a real interest in entering into a dialogue with their sources (12). That viewpoint is very much contested by my experience.

Cite

MLA Style

In-Text Citation

Patrick H. Booth, author of Research is Fun asserts that students actually have a real interest in entering into a dialogue with their sources (12). That viewpoint is very much contested by my experience.

Comment

Assignment

For Tuesday: Read Ch. 13 “Research & Writing: Gathering and Using Information from Sources ”

Pgs. 444-462