Main Lesson Support | Footnoting |
Bibliography
General Sources
- Your local library allows you to use their databases for magazines, etc., online. For instance, there is the Finkelstein Library.
- For student research you can find many of these databases on our own website.
- The Internet Public Library links to many collections of source materials.
Thomson Gale - Virtual Library
Click
here to access the database. Enter password empirelink on the log-in page.
Access to the Thomson Gale databases is provided by NOVEL, a statewide virtual library provided free to the public by the New York State Library. It is currently a project funded through the Library Services and Technology Act (LSTA) grant to the New York State Library by the Federal Institute of Museum and Library Services (IMLS).
Available resources include:
- Custom Newspapers
- New York State Newspapers
- Health and Wellness Resource Center and Alternative Health Module
- Business and Company Resource Center
- Junior Edition - K12
- Health Reference Center Academic
- The Twayne Authors Series - Twayne World, English, and US Authors
- Informe
- National Newspaper Index
- Gale Virtual Reference Library
- Business and Company ASAP
EBSCO Host Research Databases
Click
here to access the database. Enter user ID and password gmwaldorf on the log-in page.
Access to the EBSCO Host Research Databases is provided by NOVEL, a statewide virtual library provided free to the public by the New York State Library. It is currently a project funded through the Library Services and Technology Act (LSTA) grant to the New York State Library by the Federal Institute of Museum and Library Services (IMLS).
Available resources include:
- MasterFile Select
- Searchasaurus (Primary Search)
- Primary Search (Without the Searchasaurus Interface)
- Topic Search
- Animals
- General Science Collection
- Funk & Wagnall's New World Encyclopedia
- Kids' Search Interface
How to Research Using the Internet
- Great new idea: go to Google Labs
and try out one of their experimental search approaches. The top one
allows you to search for something in such a way that it appears either
as a timeline or a map. Very useful!
- Most important is to
plan how you are going to save what you find. One good way is to open a
Word document and then copy into it those articles you plan to use. But
make sure
that you include all the information: url (web address), date accessed,
date of issue of a magazine article, etc. Another way is to copy and
paste the url's into an email to yourself. If you do this, make sure to
check it to see that the address actually works for you.
- Remember
to use the "Advanced Search" function of the popular search engines
(Google, Altavista, Ask, Yahoo, MSN, etc.) You sometimes have to begin
a search before the "Advanced Search" option shows up. "Advanced
Search" helps you do what you could otherwise do by using Boolean
operators, which you can learn about here.
- And excellent guide to the use of Google's search tools is found here.
- Some
quick tips: 1. Remember, if you are searching for a whole phrase, to
put it within quotation marks. 2. An ~ tells Google to look for
synonyms, as in: ~magazines China. 3. If you don't know one word in a
phrase, use an asterisk, as in: William * Harrison. 4. Use OR in
capitals if you want to allow for more than one possibility, as in: Car
OR auto rentals. 5. Find a quick definition like this, define:synapsis
. 6. Get a range of numbers with two periods, 234..238. (..25 would
mean numbers less than 25.)
- Try "Clustering." Meta-search engines, including Clusty and Dogpile
are useful not only because they draw from a variety of other search
engines, but also because they give you a list of possible related
topics with which to continue your search (the search engine Ask also does this.) You should also try Copernic, which requires a free downland, and Surfwax, both of which will give you quite a different kind of results from the others.
- You should also consult subject directories to help you zoom in on important aspects of your topic. Google Directory is an example. This site from UC Berkeley can point you to some other good ones.
- Using Wikipedia.
Yes, this is a remarkable compendium of knowledge put together by
thousands of well meaning people. And, yes, the information may change
frequently and may be simply incorrect. If you use it, you must
back up the information from another source. Frequently you can find it
by clicking on the reference provided. If not, don't use it or do your
own search to find corroboration. How do
you best use Wikipedia? 1. Look at the list of references and the list
of external links at the bottom. 2. Click on the Discussion tab to see
what people are saying. Often the discussion--and arguments--can be as
illuminating as the article itself.
- You can get a fine tutorial on using the Internet from a site offered by UC Berkeley. They even offer handouts and Powerpoint presentations to make things clearer to you.
- It is essential that you demonstrate to the best of your ability just how credible
your source is. Your paper will be seriously weakened if there is not a
good indication that each source comes from a reliable place. It may
come from an advocacy group of some kind. That is fine, but you need to
make this clear in the footnote. How do you determine if it is a reliable source? Here is
a page that can help you learn how to do this. We will go over this in
class together, using some good examples, but it will be important for
you to refer to this webpage from time to time. And remember, just
using Wikipedia without corroborating the information is a sure way to
bring down your paper's evaluation.
- And, finally, when you get stuck and need help, you can always email your teacher.
United States History
Sources for Latin America and Africa:
Some other people and organizations of interest:
For your study of Latin America and Africa there are many development organizations and NGOs which can provide you with information on the people and culture of your countries. Among them are the following:
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Main Lesson Support
Sources for Ancient China and the East
Chinese Arts and Crafts
China the Beautiful
About China
China: An Inner Realm
Chinese Medicine
Chinese Culture
Calligraphy
Chinese Music
Chinese Gardens
Japanese Gardens
Asian Architecture
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Footnoting
It is essential that you footnote often and
accurately; this includes not only quotations but all other information
you have found. Each time you get to the end of the quotation you will
place a number, writing it slightly above the line. (Word processors
will do this for you automatically.) You can either put the sources at
the bottom of the page or at the end of the paper.
Every fact that is not "common knowledge" must be footnoted. If you
use a phrase or portion of a sentence, it must stand within quotation
marks. Be careful that you do not take a passage and simply change a
few of the words. To protect yourself from inadvertent plagiarism you
should put aside your source and write it totally in your own colorful
style.
Finally, it is essential that you footnote often. If a page goes by
without a footnote, it implies either that you have discovered every
fact and idea on your own or that you have constructed the entire page
from one source, which is not very creative. Lengthy gaps between
footnotes are not acceptable.
For tenth through twelfth grades the following format is used for footnotes:
you should give the author's name (first, last) followed by the page
number, if there is one. If there is no author, give the title of the
article or the page.
Examples:
- Willa Cather, pp. 2-4.
- "Gun Control: The Forgotten Issue," p. 13.
- Interview with Frank Backly.
- "Guatemala Culture"
- David Lippman.
- Mark Jackson, p. 89.
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Bibliography
The bibliography follows alphabetical order,
with last name first. Pay careful attention to the examples, since the
include the types of information which you must show with every source,
along with the formatting which you must use. Use a separate page for
your bibliography.
- Backly, Frank, police officer. Interview. Nyack, NY, August 7, 1999.
- Cather, Willa. O Pioneers. Chicago, 1979.
- "Guatemala Culture." The Lonely Planet Worldguide website, accessed November 18, 2005. http://www.lonelyplanet.com/destinations/central_america/guatemala/culture.htm
- "Gun Control: The Forgotten Issue." Bergen Record, April 7, 1998.
- Jackson, Mark. "A New Idea." Newsweek, September 8, 2002.
- Lippman, David, "World War II Plus 55," a journalist's account
of the adventures of the U.S.S. Washington during World War II,
accessed July 19, 2006, http://www.usswashington.com/dl_index.htm.
Remember the following:
- Do not number entries in your bibliography
- Alphabetize them according to the first letter of the entry.
- Underline each book or magazine but use quotation marks for the title of an article.
- For webpages, make sure you describe the website as fully as you can to show that it is a good, credible source.
- If you find a magazine or newspaper article online, don't show
the website but just give the date and magazine in which the article is
found.
Additional information on bibliography:
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