Ethnic Research
By: Linda Eastland
Ethnic Research Tips
How to gather relevant information from print (hard copy) or digital sources
- Ebsco Host (http://search.ebscohost.com)
- Explora (http://web.b.ebscohost.com)
- Midcontinent Library (http://www.mymcpl.org)
- Be carefull with google (www.google.com)
How to use search terms (keywords) effectively in finding information
- Find the words that best describe the topic or question you are searching
- If you have a really long question then write/type it out and pick out the most important words in the question.
- When looking at a hard copy research source then you need to read all of it but pick out the most important words that matches your questions.
- If your question was when did Barack Obama become president, you need to read the passage and pick out only the information that describes when Barack Obama became president. When you find something that says for example Barack Obama was born inn new jersey. You would not need to include that in your research because it does not have anything to do with when Barack Obama became president.
How to decide whether a website or resource is credible and accurate
- When determining whether a website or resource is credible or accurate is to look at the suffix of the address.
- The most credible websites will most likely have .org, .edu.
- If you see a lot of grammar mistakes on the website then it would be time to move on to the next website because if the website is accurate they would not have very many grammar mistakes.
- When you click on the website before you start reading look when the information was last updated. If the information was last updated in June of 2001 then the information might not still be accurate because things change.
- When you look at the website you have to look for the author of the information because if the author of the information name is Penguin Lover the information would probably not be accurate or credible.
- Also you have to look to see if the website is trying to sell you something not give you information. Like if there are too many ads on the website then they are not trying to give you information, they are most likely trying to sell you something.
The difference between quoting, paraphrasing, and summarizing
- Quoting means to "read or copy out of a group of words from a text or speech, typically with an indication that one is not the original speaker." Like what I did with the definition of quoting I copied and pasted the definition and put quotes around it and I am giving credit to google.com.
- Paraphrasing means to "express the meaning of (the writer or speaker or something written or spoken) using different words, especially to achieve greater clarity." (www.google.com)
- Summarizing means to give a brief statement of the main points of (something)." (www.google.com)
What plagiarism is and how to avoid it
-Plagiarism is the act of presenting words, ideas, images, sounds, or the creative expressions of others as your own.
- Ways to avoid plagiarism is to cite or credit your source, this is called attribution, which means giving an author credit for their work or ideas, write down the information in your own words.
What MLA citation is
-The Modern Language Association (MLA) establishes values for acknowledging sources used in a research paper.
- In-text citations means that the author's last name and the page number(s) from which the quotation or paraphrase is taken must appear in the text.
- A works cited page is a list of works that you referenced in the body of your paper, whereas a bibliography is a list of all sources you used in your research.