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BOOKSTORES
Amazon.com Barnes & Noble RJ Julia's of Madison LOCAL TOWN LIBRARIES Durham Public Levi E. Coe Library (Middlefield) Russell Library (Middletown) Wallingford Public Middletown Service Center (CT State Library) NEWSPAPERS The Town Times The Hartford Courant The Middletown Press The New Haven Register The New York Times The New York Times Learning Center ONLINE RESOURCES Create-A-Graph Create a graph using Excel in Office versions: 2003-04 Create a graph using Excel in Office versions: 2007-11 SIMPLE RESEARCH TIPS UPDATE "Netiquette" from Edutopia Website Validity UPDATE ICONN (from home you will need to enter your public library card number) Knightcite Citation Service OSLIS Citation Maker Picturing America (These are the pictures along the main corridor) The Gilder-Lehrman Institute The Library of Congress The National Constitution Center |
SIMPLE RESEARCH TIPS
Before you go to Google, DO the following: 1. Go to Strong's Online Catalog · Click the button above =) · Enter your username and password · Once Destiny Quest loads, type your topic in the Find box Work from the general to the specific. In other words, for a DECADES PAPER: instead of searching first for specific events, i.e. “Watergate,” first search for your decade, “the 1970s.” From those books use their Index to locate more specific topics. While the LMC might have books on specific topics, there will be many it does not. Use the general resources to determine what topics you want to focus on. Make a list, and we can see if other local libraries have them. 2. Click on: http://blogs.rsd13ct.org/stronglmc/ This is the LMC’s webpage. From here, check out the For Students drop down menu. I post sites I have vetted for validity that you should use on the Social Studies page. 3. Click on: http://iconn.org * Under More ICONN content, click on “Middle School” Try any of the databases. If you place the mouse over any of the database icons, it will tell you its content focus. * From home you'll need to enter your pubic library card no. to access the iConn database. 4. Get some background from an encyclopedia such as Wikipedia YES, you read that correctly! YES, there is nothing wrong with using an encyclopedia—online or otherwise—to START your research IF IT IS USED PROPERLY. ----------------------- CITING YOUR SOURCES! Whenever you use a source: printed, online, visual, audio, etc. for ANY project you must ALWAYS give credit to the person who authored the resource. It may be helpful to have an index card always handy to record the information you need from a source for your Works Cited page. As you research, write down: · Title (of book, website, or article)*** · Author or sponsor · Copyright date · Publisher · Place of Publication · Page(s) you took the information from · Website address (called the URL)*** · The date you viewed the article*** *** These are the minimum three required for citing from an online source. In RSD13 the preferred citation style is the one created by the Modern Language Association (MLA). It is currently in its 7th edition. I have copies in the LMC available for reference. There are two very popular on-line citation makers: OSLIS: http://cm.oslis.org/MLACitations/secondary/ KNIGHTCITE: http://www.calvin.edu/library/knightcite/ OSLIS is more user-friendly; KNIGHTCITE has features that make maintaining a Work Cited page effortless; HOWEVER, you have to register for an account to do this which is a bit involved. Detailed instructions for KNIGHTCITE are here. If you follow the directions carefully, it does work. =) Here is a PDF of these tips. Feel free to print a copy and create a bookmark out of it. |
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