Transcript Slide 1

LIR 10: Week 2
Thesis Questions,
Citing, Evaluating and Annotating Sources
Class Announcements
Reader: check next week!
No class 2/19
Classroom food/drink rules
This Week’s Class:
From Topics to Thesis
Statements/Research Questions
 Citing Sources
Evaluating information
Creating annotations for the final project
From “Topic” to Thesis
Statement
Research Topics
Topic selection:
Specific topic = ease of research
Focused
Eliminate off-topic sources
Even topics selected by instructors can be
“tweaked” for easier research
Good Research Topics
Two (or more) elements
Thesis = Topic + Specific Assertion
Good Research Topics
Thesis = Topic + Specific Assertion
Reading students + effect of
reading dog program
Clash + influence on music
Google + privacy & China policy
Steroids + Congressional hearings
Is a thesis statement or
research question required?
Ask your instructor!
(Can be helpful even if not required.)
Creating Thesis and Topic Statements or
Research Questions
Thesis statement:
 One or two sentence
statement articulating
purpose
 Defines, topic and
may indicate point of
view
Research Question:
 All of the above,
plus…
 Articulates research
topic in question form
Strong thesis/topic questions
Justifies discussion
One idea, direction for research
Specific
Roadmap for research and writing
Strong thesis statements?
Needs Improvement
New and Improved!
 “Hansel and Gretel” by  The Brothers Grimm
the Brothers Grimm is
sought to improve
one of the greatest
health education for
classic fairy tales.
their public through
fairy tales. “Hansel
and Gretel” reflects
their growing concern
over the highcarbohydrate diets
common in late 19th
century Germany.
Strong research questions?
Needs Improvement
New and Improved!
 Does “Hansel and
Gretel” reflect the
health concerns of the
Brothers Grimm?
 Given the Brothers
Grimm commitment
to health education
through fairy tales,
how does “Hansel
and Gretel”
demonstrate their
concern with the
high carbohydrate
diet of Germans in
the late 19th
century?
If your Thesis Question Can be
answered by a simple “yes or
“no”…
Keep working!
An effective thesis statement
or research question…
creates keywords for searching
Material in Reader…
(Excellent site for more information)
http://owl.english.purdue.edu/workshops/hypertext/ResearchW/thesis.html
Thesis Statement/Research
Question… Homework for
Next Week
Citations: Path to Sources
Citation styles: what the heck?
MLA vs. APA
APA
http://www.santarosa.edu/library/guides/apa.pdf
 http://www.santarosa.edu/library/guides/apa-databases.pdf
Avoiding plagiarism by citing
correctly
Avoid Plagiarism!
Using someone else's ideas without giving
credit
Representing someone else’s ideas as your
own
…either on purpose or through carelessness
What Content Should Be Credited?
Information, ideas
Paragraphs or sentences
Distinct phrases
Statistics, research, artwork, etc.
Who Should Be Credited?
Published writers of books, articles
Internet sources
Another student at SRJC or elsewhere
Keeping track of sources: notecards
 Author(s)
 Title of article (periodicals)
 Title of book, periodical or website
 Date of publication
 Place of publication (books)
 URL (websites)
MLA Format Handouts
online versions
General sources:
http://www.santarosa.edu/library/guides/mla.pdf
Electronic sources
http://www.santarosa.edu/library/guides/mladatabases.pdf
Citation Elements: Basic Bibliographic
Information (refer to this chart while we continue)
Books
Periodical
Internet
Author(s)
Author(s)
Author(s)
“Article title” (if
needed)
“Article title”
“Page title”
Book title
Periodical title
Website title
Place of Publication:
Publisher
Publisher/
Organization
Date
Date of periodical Date created or updated
Page numbers (if
needed)
Vol.issue:page
number
Date accessed
<URL>
Author’s Name
Person/persons responsible for source
Last name first (except for additional
authors)
Don’t include credentials (not on notes)
Electronic sources: may not be
available
Use handout or MLA Handbook for
exceptions
Author Examples
Nope:
Filkins, Jean, M.S.L.I.S.
Yep:
Filkins, Jean.
Filkins, Jean and Kitty,
Hello.
Filkins, Jean and Hello
Kitty.
“Article Title” (in quotes)
Name of:
Encyclopedia article
Essay
Book chapter, section
Newspaper, magazine article
Web page, part of a web site
 If using the whole book or website or
alphabetical entry, article title is unnecessary
Article Title Examples
Nope:
"This Is Where I
Belong"-Identity,
Social Class, and
the Nostalgic
Englishness of Ray
Davies and the
Kinks
Yep:
"This Is Where I Belong:
Identity, Social Class,
and the Nostalgic
Englishness of Ray
Davies and the
Kinks.”
Title of Resource (underlined)
 Title of:
Book, Anthology, Encyclopedia
Journal
Newspaper
Website
 Edition (if needed)
 Number of volumes (if needed)
Title of Resource Examples
Nope:
“The Journal of Popular
Culture”
Yep:
Journal of Popular
Culture
Publication Information
Place of Publication (books)
City, sometimes state
“Major” cities don’t need state added
If adding state, use postal code
Publisher’s name (simply!)
Publisher Examples
Nope:
Hello Kitty Publishers,
Inc. Santa Rosa.
Yep:
Santa Rosa, CA: Hello
Kitty.
Date of Publication
 Book
Year
If many, use most
recent
 Magazine
Date: day month year
 Journal
Volume.Issue (year)
 Newspaper
Include edition
 Website
Last date updated
 Online source
Date accessed
Where do you find all that
stuff?
The book’s cover?
Nope!
Where do you find this stuff?
Book title page:
Author
Publisher
Place of publication
Title page verso (back of title page)
Date of publication
The title page!
Title of the book
Subtitle of the book
Authors of the book
Publisher of the book
Place of publication
The verso (back of the title page)…
Date of publication
CIP data, ignore!
For Periodicals
Publication
Information
Title
Authors
For Online Periodicals
Publication
Information
Title
Authors
Works Cited Format Notes
Alphabetize by first item
Usually Author’s last name
Double space
Hanging Indent
Indent 5 spaces after first line
Can be set on in Word
Works Cited Format Notes
Item not available? Leave blank
Sentence punctuation
Period after each section!
Dates = day month, year
Remove hyperlinks! (See example)
When you understand the
pattern…
It’s not such a mystery!
The pattern:
Author
Title
Publication information
Basic Book Citation Model (see Reader)
Author’s name (Last name, First name). “Article Title (if
needed).” Book Title. Ed. Editor’s name (first name
first, if needed). Place of publication: Publisher, Date.
first-last (page numbers, if needed).
Reference Resource Model (See Reader)
Author (last name first). “Article Title.”
Encyclopedia or Resource Title,
Ed. First name, last name if needed.
Place of publication: Publisher,
date. First-last (page numbers not
needed if alphabetical).
In-class Exercise
Crazy Mixed-Up Citations
Groups of 3-4
Use mixed-up examples
Create well-ordered citations
Present to class!
Example
Mixed-Up
1991
Cynthia Heimel
 Grove Press
New York
If You Can’t Live
Without Me, Why
Aren’t You Dead
Yet?
Correct
Heimel, Cynthia. If
You Can’t Live
Without Me, Why
Aren’t You Dead
Yet? New York:
Grove, 1991.
Group 1 Presentation: Book
Are We Having
Fun Yet?
Dutton
New York
Bill Griffith
1985
Griffith, Bill.
Are We Having
Fun Yet?
New York:
Dutton,
1985
Group 2 Website
 <http://hiyakitty.com>
November 2,
2006
Hello Kitty
Central
Sanrio, Inc.
Hello Kitty Central.
2 Nov. 2006
Sanrio, Inc.
31 Jan. 2007
 <http://hiyakitty.com>.
Group 3: Magazine Article
 Mama Mia: Please
Get This Song Out of
My Head
 James Kellaris
 Psychology Today
 December 12, 2003
 Pages 18-22
• Kellaris, James
 “Mama Mia: Please
Get This Song Out of
My Head.”
 Psychology Today
• 12 Dec. 2003:
• 18-23.
Group 4: Journal Article
 WHEN DOES HUMOR
ENHANCE OR INHIBIT
AD RESPONSES?
 James Kellaris
 Thomas Cline
 Moses Altsheck
 Journal of Advertising
Research
 Fall
2003.Vol.32, Iss. 3; pg. 3
1, 15 pgs
Group 5 Encyclopedia Article
 Encyclopaedia of Film
 Oxford University
Press
 2003
 Alfred Hitchcock
 Leslie Halliwell
(editor)
 London
 “Alfred Hitchcock.”
 ed. Leslie Halliwell.
 Encyclopaedia of Film
 London:
 Oxford University
Press,
 2003.
Evaluating Sources
Why bother?
Knowledgeable perspective
Discern between reliable &
questionable information
Hone in on useful information
Internet environment
Evaluating Sources… the Basics
Let’s recap:
Primary or secondary resource?
Popular or scholarly? (new!)
Objective or Subjective?
Primary
Or Secondary?
Primary Sources Review
First-hand accounts or direct sources
“the horses mouth”
Lecture notes note!
“Pack on My Back”
Example of a Primary Source
“I jumped out of bed and pulled on my pants.
Everybody in the house was trying to save as
much as possible.
“I tied my clothes in a sheet. With my clothes
under my arm and my pack on my back, I left the
house with the rest of the family. Everybody was
running north. People were carrying all kinds of
crazy things. A woman was carrying a pot of
soup, which was spilling all over her dress.”
Citing Electronic Primary Sources
Citation example in Reader
How to Cite Electronic Primary Sources from the Library of
Congress
http://memory.loc.gov/learn/start/cite/index.html
Use the general MLA format for non-electronic sources:
http://www.santarosa.edu/library/guides/mla.pdf
Secondary sources… Review
Interpretations or reviews of research
Represents majority of sources
Example of a Secondary Source: History
of the Great Chicago Fire
Upward of 500 families were fleeing from the
seeming wrath to come. The streets were
almost impassable…
Example of a Secondary Source: History
of the Great Chicago Fire
Then the fire reached over the street, and
while that terrible southwestern wind
howled onward… Then it got into the
lumber yards and into the railroad shops,
and the round houses were soon wrapped
ill its dead embrace.
Citation examples in class Reader
Popular
Or Scholarly?
Popular Sources
Intended for general audiences, not experts
Scholarly Resources
Audience with background in the field
In-depth treatment of specific aspect of topic
Popular vs. Scholarly
Colino, Stacey. “Six Surprising Reasons
You're Not Losing
Weight.” Redbook Jan 2005: 44-46
Abstract: Colino explores six reasons
of weight gain despite best efforts
to lose it. Among others,
researchers from Deakin
University in Australia found that
people who watched between one
and two-and-a-half hours of TV
per day were 93 percent more
likely to be overweight than those
who watched less than an hour
per day.
Dunstan, D., Salmon, J., Owen, N., Armstrong, T. et al.
“Physical Activity and Television Viewing in Relation
to Risk of Undiagnosed Abnormal Glucose
Metabolism in Adults.” Diabetes
Care. 27.11 (2004): 2603-10
Abstract: Dunstan et. all seek to
assess the associations of
physical activity time and
television time with risk of
"undiagnosed" abnormal glucose
metabolism in Australian adults.
Their findings suggest a protective
effect of physical activity and a
deleterious effect of television time
on the risk of abnormal glucose
metabolism in adults. Population
strategies to reduce risk of
abnormal glucose metabolism
should focus on reducing
sedentary behaviors and
increasing physical activity.
Scholarly sources…
appropriate for college papers!
Objective
Or Subjective?
Objective Information Review
Factual, undistorted by emotion or
personal bias
Subjective Information Review
Conclusions based on personal opinions,
background
Evaluating Sources
The Next Level
Criteria for Evaluating All Sources:
START (The Fab Five)
Scope/Coverage
Treatment/Reliability
Authority
Relevancy
Timeliness/Currency
Strategies for Evaluating
Scope/Coverage:
What’s it all about… what’s covered?
Table of contents
Index
Intended audience?
Broad overview of topic or specific
subtopic?
Graphics, tables, statistical information?
Chapters (books), sections (articles),
pages (website)
Scope/Coverage Example:
Whitby Museum James Cook Web Site
•Excellent site for Cook’s early days
•Coverage does not include his famous voyages
Strategies for Evaluating:
Treatment/Reliability
A toughie!
Sources cited?
Complete bibliography?
Statistics, references cited?
Information valid and well-researched or
questionable, unsupported by evidence?
“An Expert”?
Demand more from your sources!
Another example, from the same
questionable source…
Expert identified!
Brisbane College of Zoological Studies
Dr.George McDevlin
Unfortunately, neither one seems to exist
Evaluating: Authority
Author’s background:
Expert in his/her field?
Specific credentials, degrees in the subject?
Training, education, experience in field?
Other works by author in field?
Publisher a known publishing house,
university press, professional
organization?
Strategies for Evaluating: Authority
Where to find information about an author:
Periodicals
At end or beginning of article text
Contributor’s page
Click on author’s name in online database
Books
Book jacket, introduction or notes
Check online databases
Online search
Website
“About Us” information
Check linking pages: Alexa
Evaluating Authority
Example, for a source about Seasonal
Affective Disorder:
Joe Schmo has a PhD. in Environmental Psychology
from Really Big University. His research in the area of
S.A.D. began in 1982. His published works include
the books Rain, Rain Go Away and Stormy Weather.
He is currently an instructor at Small But
Prestigious University and provides commentary on
the Weather Channel.
Authority Example
FactCheck.org - Annenberg Political Fact Check
•Unusually detailed “About Us” section
•Includes information about site, funding, staff
Strategies for Evaluating: Relevancy
Answers your questions?
Fills your information need?
Right kind of source for project?
Parameters of your project
If not, pick another source
Strategies for Evaluating:
Timeliness/Currency
Age of information?
Up-to-date for topic?
New discoveries, or related events taken place?
Does it matter?
Topic changing quickly or fairly stable, requiring
more background information?
Science, health, politics vs. humanities
Timeliness/Currency Example
http://www.bartleby.com/107/pages/page1292.html
Interesting source, but not appropriate for current information!
In-Class Worksheet
Evaluating an Information Source
Evaluation Exercise
Names:
 Groups of 3-4:
Include your names!
 Review source,
complete worksheet
Name of your source:
Type of Source (circle one):
 Book or Periodical
 If book, Circulating or Reference
 Primary or Secondary
 Subject or Objective or Contains Both
Authority/Reliability
Information about the source:
 Academic / University Press?
 Organization / Intuitional Press?
 Commercial publisher?
Information in the source:
 Information about the author’s background?
 Information about the author’s experience in the field?
 Information about the author’s affiliation (professional, educational)?
 Is there a Bibliography (book) or list of sources used (article)?
Comprehensiveness
 Does the source offer a broad overview or a topic, or concern a specific subsection?
 Is it a summary of other work or present new research?
Currency
 What is the date of publication?
 Can you tell when the research was done?
 Is there statistical data? What is the date of the statistical source?
Relevancy
 When would you use this source? (You may circle more than one kind of project)
Speech
Debate
Research Assignment
Argumentative Essay Short Paper
Homework for Next Week
Evaluating Sources
Evaluating Sources:
Establishing Points of View
Points of View
Very difficult to eliminate from human
communication
Points of View
Examples:
Bias
Spin
Intent of Source
Commercial?
Persuasion?
Doesn’t necessarily mean
information is faulty
Not “quid pro quo”
Rather, a factor or indicator
Bias: From Both Sides
Reader/Viewer/Listener:
 Preference or
inclination inhibiting
impartial judgment
 Partiality preventing
objective consideration
of issue
Information source:
 Author’s opinion or
point of view that may
influence the
presentation or content
of information source
…easier to spot when you disagree!
Spin
From pbs.org:
“The particular interpretation or emphasis
applied to information… to enhance the
public image of, or to minimize political
damage to, a politician.”
Applies to organizations, groups
Generally used to sway public opinion
Uses “selective” evidence/facts to support
How to Evaluate Information
Validity
For fun and profit
Evaluating for Information Validity:
Facts: check multiple sources
Data: check source, methodology
Research results
Read methodology carefully
Examine data
Graphics
Photographs?
Tables, charts, etc.
Check the Research:
From: Gender and the Internet by Hiroshi
Ono and Madeline Zavodny
Social Science Quarterly, March 2003.
Check the Research:
“Objective: This article examines whether
there are differences in men's and
women's use of the Internet and whether
any such gender gaps have changed in
recent years.”
Methods: We use data from several
surveys during the period 1997-2001 to
show trends in Internet usage…
What would you check next?
Check the Research
“We use several data sets [from] different
points in time during… 1997-2001.”
“Multiple data sets… give a more complete
picture of Internet usage patterns; each
survey asks slightly different questions
about Internet activities.”
Identifies surveys
Check the Research, cont.
 “Results: Women were significantly less likely
than men to use the Internet at all in the mid1990s, but this gender gap in being online
disappeared by 2000. However, once online,
women remain less frequent and less intense
users of the Internet.”
Concepts unclear? Check definition and
measurement method
Though it takes time…
this kind of detective work
provides details for your annotations
Annotations:
They Make Life Worth Living
General Guidelines for Annotations
In your Reader and online…
http://online.santarosa.edu/homepage/jfilkins/annotations.html
What is an Annotated Bibliography?
List of citations to books, articles and
documents (e.g. sources)
Followed by brief (200-250 words) descriptive
and evaluative paragraph: the annotation
Informs reader of the relevance, accuracy,
and quality of sources cited
Annotations vs. Abstracts
Abstracts:
Annotations:
 Purely descriptive
summaries often
found at the
beginning of scholarly
journal articles or in
periodical indexes
 Descriptive and
critical
Expose the author's
point of view, authority
Evaluate reliability,
timeliness of
information
Relevance to your
research
Before Writing Your Annotation
 Locate books,
periodicals,
documents
 Sources should
support all aspects of
your topic
 Examine and review,
choose works that
provide a variety of
perspectives on your
topic
Before Writing Your Annotation
Books:
Not necessary to read in entirety
Read or use scanning technique
Periodical and Internet sources:
 Must be read completely
No newspaper articles or book reviews
Cite each book, article or document using
MLA style
Now you’re ready to write your
annotation!
Writing Annotations
A ten step program
Annotation Workshop
Don’t write a review!
1. Using separate piece of
paper, write down 5
criteria:





Scope/Coverage
Treatment/Reliability
Authority
Relevancy
Timeliness/Currency
Annotation Workshop: No Reviews!
2. Leave space below each
of the criteria
3. As you read source, jot
down impressions under
each heading
4. Do more research if
necessary (especially
regarding authority)
5. Read source again,
develop your ideas
Annotation Workshop: No Reviews!
6. Start writing your annotation:
7. Make each criteria is
covered completely
8. Proofread for errors
9. Double check citation format
10. Check the final project
format for spacing, indents,
etc.
Homework for Next Week
 Library tour
 Thesis Statement/ Research Question
Worksheet
 Evaluating Information Sources sheet