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Resources for Research and Writing
General Research and Writing Help
TILT ( Texas Information Literacy Tutorial) - This is a really useful overview of how to do library and web research. If you have a slow or dial-up connection, try TILT Lite. You can skip the Introduction, but Modules 1-3 are very helpful. If you’re not doing this for a class, you can use the “Guest” option.
A+ Research and Writing - The A+ Research and Writing is on a site called TeenSpace, but it’s a very useful guide for college students of all ages! Check out the research tips and the step-by-step guide to writing a paper.
Online Writing Lab (OWL at Purdue) - This site has everything you ever wanted to know about writing papers for class. Click on the Navigation links to see more options. The “Research and Citation” and “Grammar” sections are very helpful.
Successfully Completing Research Assignments
Plan Your Time - Assignment Calculator - Not sure where to start your research? Have a procrastination problem? Assignment calculators help you split up and manage your time when you’re researching and writing a paper. You enter in the day that your assignment is due, and the calculator will give you guidelines for researching and writing your paper.
Select and Focus Your Topic
Every class is different. Your instructor may have given you a very specific topic to work with or you could have free reign to make up your own topic from a very general area. In any case, figuring out exactly what you’re going to focus on can be a little tricky sometimes. The following links give you some guidelines on how to select and focus your topic.
This tutorial gives a very brief introduction about how to narrow a very general topic to a specific one:
http://www.nwmissouri.edu/library/courses/research/NARROWTOP.HTML
Modules 1-3 of this tutorial provide useful advice about picking a topic and starting a search:
http://researchtutor.sdsu.edu/
Write Working (Preliminary) Thesis
A thesis is a short statement that should capture the main idea or argument of your paper. This sounds pretty easy, but creating a clearly-written thesis takes some time and energy. A working thesis ( which can also be called a preliminary thesis) will help define where you want to go with your paper, and you can revise this thesis as you continue your research and writing. Some useful links for developing working and final thesis statements:
This tutorial offers tips on how to do preliminary research, make a concept map, and write a topic definition statement (which is like a pre-thesis statement).
http://www.libraries.psu.edu/instruction/infolit/andyou/mod1/mod1main.htm
This site includes information about thesis statements and an interactive exercise where you can analyze your own thesis statement:
http://writing2.richmond.edu/writing/wweb/thesis.html
Plan Your Research Strategy
Everyone chooses to research a little differently, but basically, an effective research strategy can be summed up in two main tasks:
- identify the terms on which to build your search—what to look for
- choose the right materials for your assignment (books, newspapers, journals, websites, etc.)
(adapted from University of Hawaii Library Skills Tutorial)
Identifying Terms on Which to Build Your Search
Modules 3-6 will help you learn how to identify terms to build an effective search.
http://researchtutor.sdsu.edu/
Choosing Appropriate Materials
There are many possible sources and materials you could use for your research; sometimes it’s hard to know what will work best! This useful tutorial gives examples of real research questions and matches them up with the best types of resources.
http://www.libraries.psu.edu/instruction/infolit/andyou/mod2/question.htm
Find, Review, and Evaluate Books
At WTC, you can find books two ways:
1. Locate books in the library with our online catalog
2. Access thousands of e-books through NetLibrary, one of our databases
Find, Review, and Evaluate Journal/Magazine/Newspaper Articles
Test your knowledge of the differences between journals, magazines, and newspapers with this game show style game! (You may need to wait a few moments for it to load).
http://www.nwmissouri.edu/library/courses/research/magjournalgame.html
Find, Review, and Evaluate Web Sites
This tutorial gives a crash course in finding and evaluating information on the Internet, as well as giving pointers about how to avoid plagiarism when working with online information. There are chances to practice what you’ve learned, too.
http://www.vts.intute.ac.uk/detective/goodbadugly.html
Revise & Rewrite
Concise checklist and revision strategies:
http://www.gmu.edu/departments/writingcenter/handouts/revise93.html
This site explains 12 common mistakes people make in essays and how to avoid them when you revise!
http://www.wisc.edu/writing/Handbook/CommonErrors.html
Warning signs of a rushed paper:
http://writing2.richmond.edu/writing/wweb/rushed.html
Put paper in final form
These tools and tutorials can help your citations and bibliography. However, to make sure that your citations are correct, it’s a good idea to check or refer to the style guide that your instructor is using. Style guides tell you how to format and your paper and references. There are several major style guides, each with different rules. Two of the most common ones are:
MLA Handbook for Writers of Research Papers, 2nd ed.
In LRC reference section call number: Ref LB 2369 G53 2003
and
Publication Manual of the American Psychological Association, 5th ed.
Free Online Citation Tools
Follow the directions on these sites for assistance with citing your sources. Remember that it’s always smart to double check the appropriate manual!
http://citationmachine.net/
http://www.noodletools.com/login.php
http://www.sourceaid.com/
On the SourceAid page, Citation Builder in the blue box is the free resource.
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