Research Guide

How to Do Research

The key to success in your research is an organized approach, following the rubric for your assignment and good time management. The Big 6 is a proven method for researching and writing used by K-12 schools.
http://www.big6.com/kids/7-12.htm

Finding Information on the Internet: A Tutorial from the UC Berkeley Teaching Library is one of the best overall guides to Internet research. It covers search tools, evaluating Web pages, citing styles, and more.

Steps for Effective Internet Research

PAUSD (ProQuest Platinum and World Book Online): passwords needed
PACL http://www.cityofpaloalto.org/depts/lib/resources_online.asp (You will need a Palo Alto library card).
Check the Curriculum Links on the Gunn Library page and Topic Links on the PAUSD Middle Schools Research Center.
Search in Google Directory http://directory.google.com , quality online resources organized by subject categories.
Evaluate any information you access on the open (nonsubscription) web, using an evaluation checklist such as the one developed by the Terman Library, which you can find at http://staff.pausd.org/~dbarnhart/note_sheets.html.
Use Wikipedia with care. Some teachers do not allow it, so be sure to ask. If you use it, you should cite it. It should not be your only source, and you should be able to verify all information in another reliable source. For more information, see Researching with Wikipedia and Wikipedia:FAQ/Schools.

Avoid Plagiarism

Plagiarism is the intentional or unintentional use of somebody else's words or ideas without citing them as a source.

Review these guides on best practices to avoid plagiarism:

the OWL guide
http://owl.english.purdue.edu/owl/resource/589/01/

the WPA guide
http://www.wpacouncil.org/node/9

Do Citations Correctly and Adhere to Your Instructor's Chosen Standards

An Overview - Citation Style Guide from UC Berkeley
http://www.lib.berkeley.edu/TeachingLib/Guides/Citations.html

EasyBib-Bibliography and Citations
http://www.easybib.com/

MLA Handbook: see librarian if you have a question on access
http://www.mlahandbook.org

MLA Style Tutorial from OWL at Purdue University
http://owl.english.purdue.edu/owl/resource/557/01/

APA Style Tutorial
http://owl.english.purdue.edu/owl/resource/560/01/

Citation Machine
http://citationmachine.net

Research and Documentation Online by Diana Hacker

Use Search Engines and Trusted Portals

Google http://www.google.com/

Google Directory http://directory.google.com

Google Books http://books.google.com/

Google News http://news.google.com/

Google images http://images.google.com/

Google News Archive Search http://news.google.com/archivesearch

AlltheWeb http://www.alltheweb.com/

Yahoo http://www.yahoo.com/

Librarians Index to the Internet http://lii.org/

Internet Public Library http://www.ipl.org/

Alta Vista http://www.altavista.com/

MetaSearch

Dogpile http://www.dogpile.com/

Metacrawler http://www.metacrawler.com/

Learn About Search Engines

http://searchenginewatch.com/

Evaluate Your Sources

Is the information that you are citing valid? Not everything on the Internet is accurate or current. Balance Internet sources of information with that from other sources, and question everything. Just because you found it in print doesn't mean it's true. A couple of good evaluation checklists are the Web Site Evaluation Form from from Terman's library and The Good, The Bad & The Ugly from New Mexico State University. Be sure to consult UC Berkeley's Evaluating Web Pages: Techniques to Apply & Questions to Ask. Also check out Snopes.com for interesting and authoritative debunking of urban legends.

Reference Sites for Homework Help

Answers.com Online dictionary and encyclopedia

dictionary.com Online Dictionary and Thesaurus

Wikipedia Free Collaborative Online encyclopedia (note-info from this source needs to be independently confirmed, and it is not always considered a reliable source that can be cited )