Research Guide for Mama Day Analysis Essay - Internet Resources
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Prepared by Elinor Appel Class Assignment (Word doc.) Academic Research at NSCC - online tutorial
Edisto Island, South Carolina. Licensed under Creative Commons by jasonrowland.org. |
A Word About Plagiarism
Last-minute Internet research is largely to blame for the increase in "cut and paste" plagiarism reported by instructors. How do they know? Instructors can easily check online if they think you have plagiarized. The best way to avoid plagiarism is to:
- Start your research early (good research takes time)
- Maintain a list of all the resources you look at , even ones you aren't sure you will need
- Know when, and how, to quote and cite your sources
Still unsure about when and how to cite? Start with this 10-minute tutorial from Vaughan Memorial Library
Internet Research
When searching the open Web, caveat lector -- reader beware! It's easy to find material but often hard to find the right material for your research.
Search tips
- Search your multi-word phrases in quotes: "mama day"; "formalist criticism"; "gloria naylor" etc.
- Try GoogleScholar - but don't be surprised if you can't find the full text (for full-text articles, search NSCC's periodical databases)
- Limit your search to websites published by educators by adding site:edu to your search string
- Remove terms from your search results with a minus sign: paris -hilton
And a word about Wikipedia ...
More and more searches in Google end in Wikipedia. It's convenient, simple, easy to use, and at the top of many search-results lists. Unfortunately, Wikipedia is not an authoritative resource at this time. Wikipedia's anonymous editors have been proved to be biased, and entries can be wrong. Reading Wikipedia is not doing college-level research. While it's an acceptable place to begin your research, don't stop there!
Evaluation tips
When you find a possible Internet resource, consider the ABC's of evaluation:
- Author - who published the page or website? Is s/he an authority or expert? How can you tell?
- Bias - what is the author's stance? Why did s/her post this information? Is this resource appropriate for a college paper?
- Currency - is the page or site updated regularly? Or was the page posted with little thought and no maintenance?
Critical approaches to literary analysis
- LitGloss - brief definitions from Bedford/St Martin's publisher; use the alphabetized index at the top to find your terms
Evaluating and using online sources
- Avoiding plagiarism (SCCC)
- Essentials of Google Search - tips for searching Google more effectively
- Internet Detective - an online tutorial covering Web research skills ("Sure, you use the Internet all the time, but you need to wise up to the web when you use it for your university or college work.” )
Wikipedia
- Braindead obituarists hoaxed by wikipedia (The Register, UK online publication, Oct. 3, 2007)
- History Department Bans Using Wikipedia as a Research Source (NYT, Feb. 1,2007)
- "I'm Flattered, Wikipedia, But Seriously, I Don't Know What I'm Talking About" (The Stranger, August 21, 2007)
- "Student's program sends pr chaos in wiki scandal" (Maltastar.com, August 16, 2007)
You have searched the Internet and found references to some fabulous articles -- but where's the full text? It's in the periodical databases. Periodical databases contain full-text articles from are part of the "invisible web": they are pages you cannot access directly.
Refer to Finding Articles for tips on how to search a periodical database using keywords and topics. Though you do need to "talk to the database" using Boolean logic or other search symbols, start simple by combining two terms with an AND search.
- and – for combining concepts/keywords, will narrow the search: character and "mama day"
- or – when you are using related terms, will broaden the search: myth or archetype
- “ ” – when you are using a phrase: “mama day” (but only if you are searching in a basic search mode, otherwise this isn't necessary)
- * – when the terms have related stems: myth* for myth, myths, mythology, mythological
A good periodical database to begin your research is:
- ProQuest Direct - a general periodical database with a range of articles (news to scholarly)
Then explore these:
- Academic Search Premier - another general database with a range of articles (news to scholarly)
- eLibrary - includes images, transcripts and more
- EthnicNewswatch - a Proquest collection of ethnic, minority, and native press (includes scholarly articles)
- JSTOR - excellent, scholarly articles including in-depth literary criticism (articles are PDFs)
A reference database useful for your research is:
- Literature Resource Center - use this resource for background information on Gloria Naylor or for examples of literary criticism:
- select advanced search
- select critical essay from document type
- select Contemporary Literary Criticism - Select as your database
- enter your terms as full-text or keyword searches if you are searching for elements of language, tone, etc.
- to remove critical essays about Shakespeare (may or may not be a good idea) select the NOT Boolean and type in Shakespeare
Use these guidelines for citing your Internet sources:
- How do I Document Sources from the Web on my Works Cited List? (MLA.org)
- MLA handout (PDF)
- Works Cited - Electronic Sources (Owl at Purdue)
A citation generator:
-
Knightcite (Calvin College) - online form to help you create citations
Need further help? Let me know!
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