Library Resources for Students in the
Educational Talent Search Program (ETSP)
Summer 2008
Web page created by Librarian Maggie Cunningham for Instructor Johnika Nixon, July 2008.
Essential Steps in Doing Research
The Assignment
Time Management
Notetaking
Choosing & Developing a Topic
Researching a Topic & Evaluating Findings
Writing Your Paper
Cite (Give Credit) to the Work of Others
THE ASSIGNMENT
• Get a clear understanding of the goals and requirements of the assignment.
• Understand the requirements and goals of the assignment
• Unsure? Ask your instructor to clarify
• Be sure to review the assignment's guidelines to make sure you're on track.
TIME MANAGEMENT
• Starting 'day one' get organized and plan ahead.
• Researching and writing a good paper requires time, planning and creativity.
• Start early to avoid stress.
• Do not be surprised if your research takes unexpected twists & turns.
• Frustrated? Ask your instructor, T.A. or a librarian for help.
• And, get fortified! Eat before coming to the library.
NOTETAKING
• From the start, keep accurate notes of where you find information becuase later on it will be difficult to retrace your steps to find these details.
• Record the complete citation of the the book, article, web site or newspaper you're using to support your argument.
• Eventually you will need to accurately cite all sources in your Bibliography or List of References.
• Below is an example of a citation for a book using the APA format. Be aware that there are other citation styles. Ask your instructor which one to use.
Bagby, J.W. (2003). The cyberlaw handbook for e-commerce.
Mason, OH: Thompson/South-Western West.
CHOOSING AND DEVELOPING A TOPIC
•What information are you trying to find? What kind of resources do you need?
• Choose a topic that interests you. Don't choose one so recent or narrow (e.g. Salim Hamdan's trial) or one so broad (e.g. Iraq War) that the amount of information is overwhelming.
• If you not sure if your topic fits the assignment, ask your instructor.
RESEARCHING A TOPIC and EVALUATING FINDINGS
Do you need to find books, encyclopedias, dictionaries, government documents, maps, or videos or your topic? Search the Libraries' Catalog
Do you need to find scholarly journal articles, newspaper & magazine articles, and book reviews on your topic? Search an appropriate subject database in Research Port
• Research is an iterative process. Have you gathered the best resources?
• There is not one perfect book, journal article, encyclopedia entry or Web site that has all the information you need. Do not settle on the first few articles you find. Take the time to critically evaluate the relevance and quality of your findings as:
thorough research = good bibliography = a better grade on your paper
WRITING YOUR PAPER
• Use the Assignment Calculator! It is designed to help you structure and manage your projects by breaking the research process into discrete steps with deadlines. It links to online resources which can assist you in executing each step.
• Sample research paper using APA Citation Style.
• Sample research paper using MLA Citation Style.
• Check out Starting the Writing Process produced by Purdue University.
• Contact UM's Writing Center for help with all stages of the composing process.
• Using the Libraries Catalog, do a word/s anywhere search on "report writing" to find books on this subject. Here's a example of one found using this strategy:
Robson, Colin. How to do a research project : a guide for undergraduate students. Malden, MA: Blackwell Publishers, 2007.
CITE (Give Credit) TO THE WORK OF OTHERS
• Why is citing important? Citing other people's words and ideas indicates that you have conducted thorough background research on your topic and therefore are operating from an informed perspective. This increases your credibility.In addition, other people's ideas can be used to reinforce your arguments, or, if you disagree with them, can act as points to argue against.
• Ideas are intellectual property and there are serious repercussions if you fail to follow citing conventions. In the professional world, failure to cite other people's intellectual property ruins careers and reputations and can result in legal action. As students, committing plagiarism, which the University's Code of Academic Integrity defines as "intentionally or knowingly representing the words or ideas of another as one's own", may result in failure or expulsion.
