| Discover an Issue Report | Annotated Bibliography Report | Trace Source Report | |
| Biography Report | Sample Student Essays | Website Resource Report | Netiquette |
Activity
The
selection of a topic is the single most important activity for the rest of
your report assignments; thus, it should be approached carefully and with
academic rigor. A hasty decision at the beginning can lead to severe
limitations and problems later on. Remember that you must choose an issue, one
for which there are pros and cons to the issue. Pick an issue with the most
promising wealth of information available to apply toward your future papers.
For this activity, then, you will need to adhere to these steps:
·
Begin
an initial search of possible topics that you want to learn more about and
have many questions about.
·
Brainstorm
a list of topics and narrow it to one or two possibilities.
·
Keep in
mind the differences between a topic and an issue.
·
Visit
the library to determine which of the topics have adequate materials for
research.
Specifically,
look up the subjects in
1)
The Library of Congress Subject Headings. Ref. Z695.L695 1999
2)
ICC online indexes: Searchbank, Firstsearch, SIRS, Proquest, Wilsondisc or
WilsonWeb
3)
The Public Access Catalog (PAC) within ICC's library and available via
inter-library loan.
4)
The ICC Periodical Holdings List to see to which magazines we subscribe
(list 2).
5)
The CQ Researcher, which has hundreds of different issues to
select from (both at the magazine desk on the second floor and online).
6)
Issues and Controversies on File. Ref. D410.I88 1999
Guidelines
Write
a 2-3 page report recording the path of your research. The report should be
typed and accompanied by two sample printouts (2 pages only, 1 for each) you
take away from the library (print-outs, photocopies, notes, etc.). Be sure to
include a record of what you find from each search:
·
A
sampling of Library of Congress category headings for each subject.
·
Three
examples from ICC’s online indexes, such as First Search.
·
The
number of book sources ICC actually
owns, along with recent, significant titles.
·
A list
of pertinent periodicals currently in circulation at ICC (minimum of two).
Check the ICC Periodical Holdings List in the back section under
"Subject."
·
One or
two website addresses
· Discover what the local angle is on the issue by going to ProQuest Direct and then “Illinois Newstands.”
Suggestions
(15 points)
Activity
According
to the American Heritage Dictionary, to annotate means to "furnish a
text with critical commentary” whereas one definition of bibliography means
"a list of writings related to a single subject." Thus, an annotated
bibliography is a list of writings related to a single subject furnished with
critical commentary. Now that you have successfully completed the invention
research activity, it is time to navigate a new territory: research gathered in
the library and accessed electronically. To complete this activity, find five
sources from magazines or books that relate to your argument essay. I suggest
you locate somewhat lengthy articles that come from various sources such as
professional journals, mainstream magazines, chapters from books, etc. Read and
annotate each article, integrating textual quotes from each article into your
report.
Guidelines
After
reading and annotating 5 articles, write a 3-4 page annotated bibliography.
Below is one sample annotated bibliography. Follow the example form closely for
your own work.
Cairns, Ed. "Impact of Television News Exposure on Children's Perceptions of Violence in
Northern Ireland." The Journal of Social Psychology 130 (1990): 447-452.
This essay is a study conducted on children in Northern Ireland trying to
determine how much of an impact television news exposure has on the perception
of violence in their neighborhood. The children were tested in three areas of
low-, high-, and no-violence. Four variables were used: area, sex, age, and news
exposure. The author came to two conclusions: girls in the high- and
low-violence areas were the ones that perceived the lowest levels of violence;
and the children who watched the news the most were the ones who were the best
informed about the levels of violence in their neighborhood.
This essay can be useful for me because it shows that television
influences children in more than one way. Not only should I consider violence,
children programs, advertising... but I should also remember the news.
***
For
your citations, apply MLA style. Next, write a summary of the article. After the
summary, how would you use this source in your major research paper?
Other
Requirements
The
key to this assignment is choosing your sources carefully.
You may find it alluring to select the first articles you find, but don't
be too hasty. Be selective.
Ask yourself:
·
Is this
article of adequate length?
·
Does it
have an author's name attached to the article? (It is required.)
·
Is the
article from a reliable source?
·
Does the
article explore various aspects of the issue in an interesting way?
·
Does the
article match the focus of the issue you are exploring?
These
questions should help you to choose carefully the articles you find. Take your
time, explore all library avenues you learned in your library tour.
Activity
You can still dig deeper into your sources by looking at the "background" of each source. One way to do this is to search an author from your annotated bibliography assignment--ideally a principal writer rather than a collaborative one. Ideally, the principal writer has some credentials by their name (ie. a doctorate, many articles written, etc.). The purpose of this assignment is to find out if this writer is a reliable, credible authority on the issue with which they write. You can determine this by looking into the shadows of the author's qualifications, including:
 | Previous writings and research, such as other publications, collaborative projects, speeches, interviews, television programs, etc. |
| Education and reputation in the field, which may involve reviews of work by other experts in the field, degrees, and awards. |
| Political bias, race, religion, sex, mostly demographic details from which you may infer various biases or slants. |
Guidelines
Your two to three page report will argue whether the author selected is, indeed, an expert worthy of having an opinion to which we should listen. The report's structure mirrors the activity's. Comment on the
| Author's background on the issue and in general |
| Author's published record on this issue and in general |
| Author's possible bias, stated explicitly or implied |
Suggestions
It is a good idea to begin with more than one possibility from your secondary research assignment, for our library will not all have information of equal value or depth on those included. Should it be evident early that your first choice is not in the public record as represented in our library, then move to your second choice. There are several key sources you will want to check:
Print Sources
| Names in the News (Ref.AI3.N35) |
| The Master Biography and Genealogy Index (Ref. Z5305.U5B57) |
| Biography Index (Index. Z5301.B5 V.1-17) |
| Something About the Author (Ref. PN451.S6 V.1-72) |
| World Authors (Ref. PN451.W3) |
Computer Sources
| Newsbank Wilson Indexes, and other electronic sources |
| The Master Biography and Genealogy Index On-Line |
| The New York Times |
|
|
Activity
The object of this assignment is to follow the links that tie sources and articles together. There are many metaphors for expressing the "intertextual" relationships among sources, but the best is the World Wide Web. Research materials are linked together in terms of their use, timing, and purpose. Often by following a series of links, researchers can discover new sources, hidden assumptions, and historical information.
In class, we will explore how to trace sources with the World Wide Web. But for this assignment, the focus will be on tracing the links among print sources. Begin by familiarizing yourself with one of the sources from the annotated bibliography. Choose one that is rich with many "intra-text" citations to other sources and "extra-text references." Narrow the possibilities to no more than three citations or references.
Trace one or all of these in the library until you are satisified that you have located a satisfactory source--one that better helps you understand the original source's use, timing, or purpose. Copy as much of the new, traced source as you need.
Repeat the process.
Guidelines
After finding and connecting at least 2 sources to your original, write a report of your activity. Include in that report the following elements:
| Summaries of original and two trace sources. |
| Complete bibliographic documentation for each source. |
| Report on how the three sources are interrelated. |
| Reflections on the process of tracing sources. |
Suggestions
You are likely to run into some difficulty tracking down sources used in any article because of their rarity or scarcity. To increase your changes of successfully acquiring trace sources, begin with several possibilities in each article, begin early, and use a variety of research databases. If you are having difficulty tracing sources, please inquire at the reference desk or see me.
Surf the internet to find three web sites which directly
relate to your issue. Surf each
site in detail. Make sure you
distinguish between a website and a web page.
You need to search for websites; that is, sites that have many links on
them about your issue. Choose your
websites carefully. Try to find a
good cross section of advocacy sites. For
example, if you are researching motorcycle helmet laws, find one site that
argues for helmet laws, one site that argues against helmet laws, and one site
which offers a more neutral position about helmet laws.
Use the following criteria to help you distinguish between
a valuable, and not-so valuable, website.
| Are there people’s names associated with this website? |
| Are there many links you can view on this website? |
| Are there many different types of information on this website? (for example, articles, interviews, links to other sites, biographies of people, etc.) |
| Are the webpages more text-based or visually-based, or a good balance of both? |
| Is there plenty of information to help you learn more about this issue? |
Write a two to three page report which provides a full MLA citation on a separate page at the end of the report. Write an introduction that mentions all three sites. The body of your report should discuss each website in one to two full paragraphs each. The conclusion should tie all three websites together, with your issue as the central unifying idea.
Search the major internet search engines to help you: www.google.com, www.altavista.com, www.yahoo.com, www.dogpile.com and many, many other search engines as you so need. In addition, make sure you apply Boolean search methods while typing in your information in each search engine. If you can be more specific, then you may find superior websites. you can be, then the better might be the websites you find.