Revving the Engine for Research

Mrs. Abdul & Mrs. Greenaway, Librarians

Topic Selection

• Start broad, then narrow if need be• Use encyclopedias and the Internet for

ideas• What are some keywords that relate to

the topic?• What questions do you have about the

topic?– Make a list and this will guide your research

• Which topics can you find supportive details for?– If there isn’t enough information out there,

broaden your topic or switch topics

The effect of genocide on the female

population in Rwanda

Females in Rwanda during genocide

Rwanda

Genocide

Mortality rates due to the treatment of childhood

diseases

Treating childhood diseases in third-world countries

Third-world countries

Healthcare in third-world countries

Keywords & Searching

• Common words– Dyslexia vs. learning disability

• Use thesaurus for keywords• Highlight main topic words• Avoid Google-style searching• Use names (people and places)

– Find biographies, use reference encyclopedias

Thesis Statement

Need More?

• Forming a thesis statement– Main idea of what you believe– Main idea of what you want to prove/question– Main idea that can be supported by evidence

• Use the questions from your topic to formulate a thesis statement– Example: American car companies are failing because

Americans don’t trust American-made products.– Example: Leadership from government agencies and

officials was so disorganized that casualties were inevitable during Hurricane Katrina.

Make the connections

Places to Look

School, academic, publicLibrary

• Public– Books, ILL

• School– Library Catalog– Online Databases

• Academic– Partnership with U Albany

• ILL, borrow books, databases

Don’t Wait

Resources to use

Encyclopedias, Internet, Databases,

Magazines, Journals, Newspapers, Government Publications,

Reference, Nonfiction, Multimedia, Interviews

• Current Topics

– Online Databases• Magazines

• Radio, Interviews, Video

• Newspapers

– Documentaries

– Websites

• Seasoned Topics

– Online Databases• Archived newspapers

• Archived magazines

– Encyclopedias

– Documentaries

– Reference and nonfiction books

Encyclopedias & Internet

• Common bonds• Encyclopedia

– General information– Ideas for specific searching

• Internet– General information– Do not use in bibliography– Question authority

Databases

O n lin e D a ta ba se A n a lo gy

A r tic le : P urcha se

Jo urn a ls , M a ga z in e s, N e w sp ap e rs , B o o ks , E n cyc lop ed ias : S to re

O n lin e D a ta ba se : M a ll

• JSTOR– Focus on science and humanities with full-text– Major journals and publications

• Culturegrams– Country information past and present

• Proquest– All subjects including multimedia– Primary sources, transcripts/broadcasts

• Teen Health and Wellness– Health related subjects

• ABC-CLIO– Ancient and Modern World– America at War– Issues

Magazines, Journals, Newspapers

• Magazines– Think Time and Newsweek– Best for current issues/topics

• Journals – Think Journal of American Medicine– Technical and peer-reviewed

• Newspapers– Think Times Union or The New York Times– Important dates, setting historical context

Government publications

Reference & Nonfiction

• Access the OPAC– Minerva for U Albany– Library Catalog for Albany High– Catalog for Upper Hudson Library System

• Reference– General overviews, synopses

• Nonfiction– More specific

Multimedia & Interviews

• Use Online Database

• Conduct an interview via phone or email

• Great primary sources

Plagiarism

Don’t do it

Note-Taking

• Find a style and stick to it– Index cards– Printing/Photocopying with highlighting– Notebook and/or binder

• Ideas for organization– Print question above and notes (answer) below– Color code resources and notes– Create outline and insert notes into outline

• Put research into your own words

Citations

Recap

• In-text citationsParenthesis

Author’s last name / page numberPunctuation

• Works Cited PageCitation Generator

AlphabetizeIndent

• Remember – In-text citations:

• Summarization• Direct quotes• Statistics• Paraphrasing

– Information needed:• Author’s last name

• Page number

• Remember – Works Cited:

• Resources CITED within paper

• Alphabetize • Indent after 1st line

– Information needed• Author’s name• “Article Title”• Resource Title• Publishing • Copyright• Page number

Outline

Make the connections

Library Website

http://www.ahs.albany.k12.ny.us/AHS/depts/library/index.html

JUST ASK!

Then…

The Librarians can help

Graduation