Dinan+7th+grade+Research

= **I. Online Databases** = ==‍ ‍A. Public Library of Cincinnati (you will need a public library card number & PIN...or you can use Mrs. Walker's. Check the back of the yellow bookmark) ==
 * ** Opposing Viewpoints in Context **
 * If you don't know what topic you want to choose, click on "Browse Topics" on the top toolbar, or look at topics within categories underneath the picture at the top of the screen.
 * Type your topic in the search box, and click on "Viewpoints" or "Featured 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, Magazines, 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." The citation will pop up and it should be in MLA format. Highlight and copy/paste the entire citation into your Word document titled Bibliography OR click on the EasyBib button on the right under "Export." If you are logged into EasyBib, the citation will show up in your list of sources.
 * **Global Issues in Context**
 * If you don't know what topic you want to choose, click on View All on the left side of the screen next to "Browse Issues and Topics," or use the interactive map to choose an area of the world to explore further.
 * Type your topic in the search box, and click on "Global Viewpoints" to get an idea about the issues within the topic.
 * 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: Reference, Statistics, News, Magazines, and Academic Journals, as well as Podcasts, Primary Sources, Websites, and Related Portals. There's even information on how to get involved if you want to try to help the situation!
 * Click on the titles of any articles that sounds most relevant and/or interesting 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." The citation will pop up and it should be in MLA format. Highlight and copy/paste the entire citation into your Word document titled Bibliography OR click on the EasyBib button on the right under "Export." If you are logged into EasyBib, the citation will show up in your list of sources.
 * **U.S. History in Context**
 * If you don't know what topic you want to choose, click on "Browse Topics" on the top toolbar, or look at topics within categories underneath the picture at the top of the screen.
 * There are categories on the left that have good information: References, Images, Primary Sources, Academic Journals, News, Magazines, Case Overview, Video, Audio, etc.
 * 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." The citation will pop up and it should be in MLA format. Highlight and copy/paste the entire citation into your Word document titled Bibliography OR click on the EasyBib button on the right under "Export." If you are logged into EasyBib, the citation will show up in your list of sources.
 * **Biography in Context**
 * **Only use this if you're researching a person.**
 * If you don't know which person you want to choose, look through the categories (African Americans, Artists, Musicians, etc.).
 * If you do know, type your person's name in the search box.
 * Read through the results carefully to make sure that you're getting the right person (for example, Jane Austen the author, not Jane Austen the CEO).
 * 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." The citation will pop up and it should be in MLA format. Highlight and copy/paste the entire citation into your Word document titled Bibliography OR click on the EasyBib button on the right under "Export." If you are logged into EasyBib, the citation will show up in your list of sources.

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

 * ** [|Points of View Reference Center] **
 * Limit your search terms to just a few key words (example: use "self-harm" instead of "people who cut themselves"). A database search box is different from using Google or other search engines.
 * If you have no idea about what topic you should choose, scroll through the "In the News" section or the "Browse by Category" section.
 * This database automatically sorts the results by relevance.
 * To find the citation for the articles, click on the yellow icon labeled "Cite" (5th from the top) on the right side of the article. Scroll down until you find the MLA format. Copy and paste it into your Word document titled Bibliography.
 * ** [|Student Research Center from EBSCO (Grades 6-8)] **
 * Type one or two words (3-words, maximum) in the search box (ie. "gun control"). **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 "MLA (Modern Language Assoc.)" from the drop-down menu. Click the "Print" button, then cancel out of the print screen. Highlight the entire citation under "Works Cited" and copy/paste it into your Word document titled Bibliography.
 * ** [|Science Reference Center] **
 * **Only use this if you're researching a scientific topic.**
 * Limit your search terms to just a few key words (example: "evolution"). A database search box is different from using Google or other search engines.
 * If you have no idea about what topic you should choose, scroll through the "Browse by Category" section, narrowing your topic as you click.
 * This database automatically sorts the results by relevance.
 * To find the citation for the articles, click on the yellow icon labeled "Cite" (5th from the top) on the right side of the article. Scroll down until you find the MLA format. Copy and paste it into your Word document titled Bibliography.

=‍ ‍II. Books =

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.

=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 **.

 * 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!‍ **

=‍ **‍**IV. Taking Notes & Creating an Outline =

A. Create an EasyBib account

 * Go to **EasyBibfrom 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 MLA 7 style.

B. Click on the Notebook link in your project to start taking notes/creating an outline.

 * View the EasyBib Notetaking Video
 * You don't HAVE to use the EasyBib Notebook feature, but it's an option. Other options include using Evernote, index cards (here's a helpful tutorial for using index cards) or a Word document.
 * Read the EasyBib Taking Notes Summary
 * Read the EasyBib Outline Summary
 * Read the EasyBib Writing Summary

=‍ ‍V. Deciding how to present your project. = == A. Check this site out for creative ideas if you want to do something other than PowerPoint. ==

= VI. Creating Your Bibliography =

A. Here is a sample Works Cited/Bibliography page: **@http://dianahacker.com/pdfs/hacker-daly-mla-wc.pdf**

 * Make sure you center the title Bibliography at the top of the page.
 * 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 in between your citations.

If you're citing 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."
 * If EasyBib recognizes the website, 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, especially website title/article title, author, and date of website publication.
 * Scroll to the bottom of the page and click "Create Citation." Copy & paste the created citation into your Bibliography page if you've already got one started.
 * If EasyBib does NOT recognize the website, you will need to fill in the boxes manually.
 * 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 Works Cited page if you've already got one started‍

If you're citing 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."
 * 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.
 * 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.
 * Scroll to the bottom of the page and click "Create Citation." Copy & paste the created citation into your Bibliography page if you've already got one started.
 * If EasyBib does NOT recognize the title, you will need to fill in the boxes manually.
 * 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: ©).
 * Scroll to the bottom of the page and click "Create Citation." Copy & paste the created citation into your Bibliography page if you've already got one started.

If you're citing 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.
 * 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)
 * Scroll to the bottom of the page and click "Create Citation." Copy & paste the created citation into your Bibliography page if you've already got one started.