10th+Grade+History+Day+Project

When doing preliminary research, it's okay to use library encyclopedias and websites like Wikipedia in order to gain background information on your topic. You may NOT use a general encyclopedia as a source for your final project! Subject-specific encyclopedias are okay (ie. a World War II encyclopedia would be fine) because they give more in-depth information on your topic than general encyclopedias (such as World Book or Wikipedia) do.

=I. Online Databases=

(check the yellow bookmark for the username/password if using from home, or fill out this online form)

 * EBSCOhost
 * Click on the "Student Research Center gr. 9-12" button.
 * Type one or two words (3-words, maximum) in the search box (ie. bombing "Pearl Harbor"). **Use quotation marks around any words that you want to keep together.**
 * Make sure you choose "Relevance" in the drop down menu. You don't necessarily want the most recent articles, but you do want the most relevant articles on your topic.
 * Read the description and decide if any articles are worth reading in full detail. Click on HTML full text or PDF full text below the descriptions to read the articles.
 * To find the citation for the articles, click on "Print" at the top of the screen, then check the button next to "Citation Format," then choose "APA (American Psychological Assoc.)" from the drop-down menu. Click the "Print" button, then cancel out of the print screen. Highlight the entire citation under "References" and copy/paste it into your Word document titled Annotated Bibliography.

(you will need a public library card number & PIN...or you can use Mrs. Walker's. Check the back of the yellow bookmark)

 * U.S. History in Context
 * If you don't know what topic you want to choose, click on "Browse Topics" on the top toolbar and you'll get hundreds of ideas.
 * Once you've clicked on one of those topics or entered your own into the search box, you will see a box on the right titled "On This Page." Click on any of the categories (Featured Content, Reference, Primary Sources, News, Magazines, Academic Journals, Videos, Images, Audio, or Related Topics) and then click on "View All 26" (or whatever the number is) to see everything in that category.
 * Click on the title of the article that sounds most relevant and read through it.
 * To find the citation for the articles, click on "Citation Tools" on the right side of your page under the heading "Tools." Click on the button next to APA (American Psychological Association), choose "Download," then "Open." Highlight and copy/paste the entire citation into your Word document titled Annotated Bibliography.


 * Student Resources in Context
 * If you don't know what topic you want to choose, click on "Browse Topics" on the top toolbar and you'll get hundreds of ideas.
 * Once you've clicked on one of those topics or entered your own into the search box, you will see a box on the right titled "On This Page." Click on any of the categories (Featured Content, Reference, Primary Sources, News, Magazines, Academic Journals, Videos, Images, Audio, or Related Topics) and then click on "View All 26" (or whatever the number is) to see everything in that category.
 * Click on the title of the article that sounds most relevant and read through it.
 * To find the citation for the articles, click on "Citation Tools" on the right side of your page under the heading "Tools." Click on the button next to APA (American Psychological Association), choose "Download," then "Open." Highlight and copy/paste the entire citation into your Word document titled Annotated Bibliography.


 * Opposing Viewpoints in Context
 * Not all topics will be included in this database, but some of the more common ones might.
 * Type your topic in the search box, and click on "Viewpoints" in the column of links on the left.
 * Read through the essay(s) carefully to see if there's anything in there that would help you with this project.
 * There are other categories that may also have good information: Primary Sources, News, Academic Journals, Reference, Websites, Magazines, Videos, Images, Audio, and Related Topics.
 * Click on the titles of any articles that sounds most relevant and read through them.
 * To find the citation for the articles, click on "Citation Tools" on the right side of your page under the heading "Tools." Click on the button next to APA (American Psychological Association), choose "Download," then "Open." Highlight and copy/paste the entire citation into your Word document titled Annotated Bibliography.


 * Gale Virtual Reference Library
 * Searchable electronic reference books on many topics, including the arts, business, education, history, law, medicine, and science.
 * Click on the title of an article that sounds most relevant and read through it.
 * To find the citation for the articles, click on "Citation Tools" on the top toolbar, then click on the button next to APA 6th edition (American Psychological Association), then click on "Save" and then "Open." Highlight and copy/paste the entire citation into your Word document titled Annotated Bibliography.


 * Fold3 History & Genealogy Archives
 * Over 50 million pages of historical documents; census records from 1860 and 1930; documents relating to the Revolutionary War, Civil War, WWI, WWII, and U.S. Presidents; historical newspapers; naturalization documents; Matthew Brady Civil War photos; city directories; etc.
 * Ask Mrs. Walker for help creating your citation if you find anything of relevance in this database.


 * ProQuest Historical Newspapers: The Cincinnati Enquirer 1841-1922
 * Full-text articles from the backfile of The Cincinnati Enquirer. Please note: the year 1885 is incomplete due to damaged microfilm.
 * Ask Mrs. Walker for help creating your citation if you find anything of relevance in this database.

=II. Books= A. Use the online catalog to look for books on your topic in our library. If you want to see if Whitaker has any books on your topic, choose "Whitaker Elementary" from the drop-down menu next to "library" then ask Mrs. Walker to get those books for you. Make sure you know the title and preferably the author before asking.

B. Use the Cincinnati Public Library's online catalog to look for books on your topic. If you have your own public library card, you can order books to be delivered to your closest branch...or Mrs. Walker would be happy to pick them up for you (using your card number, though!) at her branch.

=III. Websites= A. Use the ABCs of website evaluation:
 * A = authority, accuracy (who is the author and what authority does he/she have to be writing anything on the subject? How accurate does it look? Are there typos or spelling mistakes?)
 * B = bias (is the author trying to convince you of something or persuade you to believe something, only giving one side of the story?)
 * C = currency (how recent is the information? Can we trust it to be accurate when information changes so quickly these days?)

B. Use EasyBib's Research tab to get an idea if certain websites are credible, maybe credible, or not credible. = = =**IV. Creating an Annotated Bibliography**= Here is a sample Annotated Bibliography in APA style: @http://library.csun.edu/docs/apannotbib.pdf
 * Beware: sometimes websites haven't been evaluated by EasyBib (or sometimes they go easy on sites like Wikipedia), so always use your powers of evaluation on any website that you find!**
 * Make sure you center the title "Annotated Bibliography" at the top of the page. Technically, it is supposed to say "References," but we're not being too picky here.
 * Make sure that your citations begin at the left margin. The first line of your citation will be normal, but every line after the first will need to be indented. To do this, you will need to press "enter" at the end of your first line, then press the indent button for each line after the first.
 * Make sure that your citations are in alphabetical order according to the first letter on the first line of each citation. See the example for details.
 * Make sure that you double space everything.
 * Make sure that your annotations are good! You should be including one or more of the following elements: **Summary** (what are the main arguments? what is the point of this book or article? what topics are covered? if someone asked what this article/book is about, what would you say?); **Assessment** (is it a useful source? how does it compare with other sources in your bibliography? is the information reliable? is this source biased or objective? what is the goal of this source?); **Reflection** (was this source helpful to you? how does it help you shape your argument? how can you use this source in your research project? has it changed how you think about your topic?)

EasyBib will create the citations for you.
 * Go to EasyBib**from a school computer** to create an account. Click on "Register" at the top right side of your screen. You'll need to give a first name, last name, email address, create a password (MAKE IT ONE THAT YOU WILL REMEMBER, LIKE YOUR STUDENT ID #), and confirm your password. Ignore the coupon code.
 * Once you're logged in, you can create a project. Give it a title and make sure that you choose APA style.
 * Click on Bibliography under your project name, or click on the Bibliography tab at the top of the page.

1. Websites
At the top of the search box, choose the Website tab. Paste the URL (web address) in the search box and click "cite this."

A. If EasyBib recognizes the website, it will fill in the boxes for you. B. If EasyBib does NOT recognize the website, you will need to fill in the boxes manually.
 * Double check each of the boxes to make sure they've entered the correct information. Change or add anything that needs to be changed or added.
 * If you want to add your annotation at this point, click "Add Annotation" at the bottom of the page.
 * Scroll to the bottom of the page and click "Create Citation." Copy & paste the created citation into your Annotated Bibliography page if you've already got one started.
 * If you want to add your annotation at a later date, you can go back to your EasyBib project page, click on Bibliography, then scroll down until you see the right one, and click the Edit button. At that point, click the "Add Annotation" button at the bottom of the page and type your annotation into the box.
 * Do your best to fill in all of the blanks, but ignore the ones you can't fill.
 * For author & date, look at the top and the bottom of the page to see if you can find that information. If there's not a specific date, you can use the date that's usually at the bottom of the page with a copyright symbol beside it. For example, if you see ©2006-2012, put 2012 in the year box for the date.
 * When finished, scroll to the bottom of the page and click "Create Citation." Copy & paste the created citation into your Annotated Bibliography page if you've already got one started
 * .If you want to add your annotation at a later date, you can go back to your EasyBib project page, click on Bibliography, then scroll down until you see the right one, and click the Edit button. At that point, click the "Add Annotation" button at the bottom of the page and type your annotation into the box.

2. Books
At the top of the search box, choose the Book tab. Type the title of the book in the search box and click "cite this."

A. If EasyBib recognizes the title, it will show a list of books and authors with publishers and publication dates. Look for the correct one. If you are not sure which book is yours, you can click on the title and it will show you a picture of the cover. That should help. Look carefully at publication dates because sometimes that is the only difference between 2 very similar books. B. If EasyBib does NOT recognize the title, you will need to fill in the boxes manually.
 * Once you have found the right one, click on "Select" and it will fill in the boxes for you.
 * Double check each of the boxes to make sure they've entered the correct information. Change or add anything that needs to be changed or added.
 * If you want to add your annotation at this point, click "Add Annotation" at the bottom of the page.
 * Scroll to the bottom of the page and click "Create Citation." Copy & paste the created citation into your Annotated Bibliography page if you've already got one started.
 * If you want to add your annotation at a later date, you can go back to your EasyBib project page, click on Bibliography, then scroll down until you see the right one, and click the Edit button. At that point, click the "Add Annotation" button at the bottom of the page and type your annotation into the box.
 * Do your best to fill in all of the blanks, but leave the ones you can't fill blank.
 * The publisher should be listed at the bottom of the title page. If not, it is listed on the back of the title page along with the publication date (look for the "c" with a circle around it: ©).
 * If you want to add your annotation at this point, click "Add Annotation" at the bottom of the page.
 * Scroll to the bottom of the page and click "Create Citation." Copy & paste the created citation into your Annotated Bibliography page if you've already got one started.
 * If you want to add your annotation at a later date, you can go back to your EasyBib project page, click on Bibliography, then scroll down until you see the right one, and click the Edit button. At that point, click the "Add Annotation" button at the bottom of the page and type your annotation into the box.

3. Online Databases (these should all be done for you somewhere on the page where you got the article, but if not, follow these instructions)
At the top of the search box, choose the Database tab. Warning: this will be the hardest citation to create. You will probably want to ask Mrs. Walker for help.

A. In the drop-down menu, choose what type of article you will be citing (ie. newspaper, magazine, journal, encyclopedia, etc.).
 * If you are not sure, choose "article published by a database."
 * Do your best to fill in all of the blanks.
 * Article Title = the title at the top of the article
 * Contributors = author or editor. Sometimes you cannot find an author/editor and that's okay. Leave it blank if that is the case.
 * Database = MAS Ultra - School Edition
 * Publisher/Service Provider = EBSCOhost
 * Electronically Published = the date that the article was written. It is usually close to the top of the page.
 * Date Accessed = today's date. Click on "Today" to fill in the blanks with today's date.
 * URL = the Persistent Link to this Record (Permalink)
 * If you are sure, choose whatever it is (newspaper, magazine, journal, encyclopedia, etc.)
 * Do your best to fill in all of the blanks.
 * Article Title = the title at the top of the article
 * Contributors = author or editor. Sometimes you cannot find an author/editor and that's okay. Leave it blank if that is the case.
 * Journal/Newspaper/Magazine/Encyclopedia Title = usually found near the top of the page where it says "Source."
 * City (optional)
 * Advanced Info (if you know the edition, section, and/or volume numbers)
 * Date Published = the date that the article was written. It is usually close to the top of the page.
 * Pages (start, end) = if you know the beginning page number and the end page number.
 * Database = MAS Ultra - School Edition
 * Publisher/Service Provider = EBSCOhost
 * Date Accessed = today's date. Click on "Today" to fill in the blanks with today's date.
 * URL = the Persistent Link to this Record (Permalink)
 * If you want to add your annotation at this point, click "Add Annotation" at the bottom of the page.
 * Scroll to the bottom of the page and click "Create Citation." Copy & paste the created citation into your Annotated Bibliography page if you've already got one started.
 * If you want to add your annotation at a later date, you can go back to your EasyBib project page, click on Bibliography, then scroll down until you see the right one, and click the Edit button. At that point, click the "Add Annotation" button at the bottom of the page and type your annotation into the box.

4. Images/Audio/Film-Online Video, etc.
At the top of the search box, choose the tab that reads "All 59 options." Choose whichever type of source you used. You can try typing the URL or title of the film/video in the search box to see if EasyBib recognizes the website and/or title. If not, you'll have to fill in the blanks. Ask Mrs. Walker if you need help. As always, if you do not know something (ie. Main performers), leave the box blank.