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How-to Research Guide
YOUR ASSIGNMENT:
Become an “expert” on one of the following social issues evident in the novel Speak by Laurie
Halse Anderson in preparation for teaching your peers the topic:
 Under-aged Drinking
 Rape
 Depression
 Self-Mutilation
 Sexual Harassment
 Cliques
 Bullying
PROCESS:
Use the library books and credible Internet sources to learn about the topic, taking copious notes
from a minimum of three different sources.
NB: Be sure to fill out all the applicable information about the source (author/editor,
publisher/organization, copyright/date updated, URL) as this information is necessary to
writing the bibliography page on the final persuasive research paper.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
STEP ONE—Determining the Credibility of Print Sources
Determining the credibility of a source is vital to both the accuracy and reliability of your
information. To help you evaluate your sources, check each for the following criteria:
RELIABLE—
POTENTIALLY UNRELIABLE—
 Costly in time and/or money to publish.
 Written by someone with credentials (a
 Free.
 Written by someone with a degree but who





degree) in the subject.
Published by a reputable organization.
Previously published author.
Author or research is cited by other experts
in the field.
Recently published.
Uses other research to back his/her
conclusions.





is presenting a personal opinion.
Published by a reputable organization.
First published work by the author.
Author is not referenced by other experts.
Site not recently updated.
Makes conclusions or comparisons without
supporting proof.
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A. Library Resources—All non-fiction texts from our school library are counted as credible
sources of information because these meet the most of the credibility requirements: They are
costly in time and money to publish, are written by experts in the field, are published by
reputable organizations/publishers, are often cited by other experts in the field, and because
your librarian chose them for inclusion in the library collection.
1. Follow the link below to explore the West High School’s library catalog and learn
more about the books that are relevant to your topic:
https://follett.pmsd.org/cataloging/servlet/presentadvancedsearchredi
rectorform.do?l2m=Library%20Search&tm=TopLevelCatalog
2. Write down the titles of three books that you want to examine on-site as possible
sources for research.
1. ______________________________________________________
2. ______________________________________________________
3. ______________________________________________________
STEP TWO— Determining the Credibility of Internet Sources
B. Internet Resources—The fact that published texts are often outdated makes it necessary for
you to also look at more recent research for an accurate understanding of your topic.
However, although the Internet has an enormous wealth of information, most of it is neither
credible nor relevant to your assignment because anyone can publish information on the
Internet. To ensure that you are choosing credible sources, you must evaluate the Internet
sources much more intently than you would a print source. Don’t believe everything you read
on the Internet until you have determined its validity!
1. Types of Websites—The Internet is filled with many different types of websites
including personal home pages, special interest, professional, news, and commercial
sites.
Personal
Special Interest
Professional
News
Commercial
Maintained by
individuals
Maintained by
non-profit
organizations or
activists with
special issues.
Biased toward the
group’s point of
view.
Maintained by
institutions or
organizations.
Can include
national,
international, or
personal news.
Any company,
reputable and
disreputable
Can include
research, reference
sources, fact
sheets. Credibility
is usually reliable
as are the sites
linked to the
source.
Anyone can
publish “news” on
the Internet.
Knowledge of the
source reputation
is the key to its
credibility.
Naturally biased
toward their
product, therefore
not a credible
source when
comparing
products.
Knowledge of the
source reputation
is the key to its
credibility.
Both individual
and professional
pages for posting
personal or
professional
information.
--adapted from article by Virginia Montecino (1998).
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2. URL Addresses—To help determine the type of website is as simple as deciphering the
URL’s Domain Name.
.edu
.gov
Education
Government
Other (.us, .ru,
.jp, .au, etc.)
Country
identifiers
.org
.com
.net
Organization
Commercial
Network
infrastructures
Both .edu and.gov sites, as are the country
Biased, but can
Biased, but can be credible if the
extensions, are credible because they are
be a source of
company is reputable and you
developed by non-profit educational institutions
credible data if
are aware of their product or
or sponsored by the government. However, check you are aware
company bias. Use with caution.
the .edu site to determine whether the site is
of the source’s
created by a student or professional.
special interest.
—Adapted from http://www.umaine.edu/center/envdata/reliable.html
NB: Personal pages are hosted by commercial providers or network infrastructures.
Therefore, to accurately gauge the credibility of the site, you must also look at the
address extensions that follow the Domain Name. If the address has a tilde (~) in the
URL, the site is a personal web page, and you must be wary of the information.
.
3. Author or Publisher—Knowing the web site’s author or publisher is a good indication
of the source credibility. Be wary of information when the author or company is unlisted.
4. Date of Publication /Update—Always check the site for either the copyright or the
revision dates. Naturally, the more current the date the more accurate your information.
Moreover, it is vital that you have the most recent information for topics that are the most
likely to change: science, medicine, technology, government, and/or the economy.
5. Contact information—A reliable site will usually (but not always) have a means of
contacting the author, either through email, phone number, or a mailing address. If you
have time, this can be used as a means of finding more information on your topic.
6. Author credentials—An author who is a credentialed expert in the subject is a reliable
source of information because he/she has extensive knowledge of and/or training in the
subject. One way to determine an author’s credibility is by checking reference books,
such as Who’s Who in America or Biography Indexes.
7. Organization—A site that has no author but lists the name of the organization can be
checked for both reputation and authority in the subject. One way to determine the
company’s reputation is to check a Business Reference for details on the organization.
8. Content—First, look at the information on the site and determine its purpose whether to
persuade, inform, or entertain the viewer. Knowing the purpose of the site is a first step to
knowing the reliability of its information. Next, check the information for accuracy and
depth. If the site is well-written and in-depth it is more likely to be a credible source.
Also, determine if the site completely covers the topic or focuses on only a small portion
of the necessary information. You should also check the information against 3-5 other
sites to ensure its accuracy.
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STEP THREE— Finding Credible Internet Sources
C. SEARCH ENGINES— Without a good search engine, you will get lost or wander off-track
in the maze of information on the Web. Therefore, having a reliable means of locating the
information you need is an imperative. The most popular engines are Google and Yahoo, but
any search engine will do the task of searching with relatively little effort. However, every
search engine has its own database of information from which it pulls suggested sites.
Because some engines are more detailed than others, it is important that you use several
search engines when researching the Internet to ensure a better, richer list of results.
1. Below are listed several possible search engines. Check three that you will use to
find information on your topic:
 Bing
 Google
 Yahoo
 Exalead
 Ask
 AltaVista
 AllTheWeb
 HotBot
2. Next, use these search engines to find possible sources for your research. First,
write down the URLs for three websites (one from each search engine) that you
want to examine further as possible sources for research.

Search Engine ____________________________________________
URL ____________________________________________________

Search Engine ____________________________________________
URL ____________________________________________________

Search Engine ____________________________________________
URL ____________________________________________________
3. As you look at the different web sites for your information, consider exploring the
links that are featured on the more reputable sites (government, library,
educational institutions, etc.).
STEP FOUR—Citing Your Sources
D. PLAGIARISM—Not giving credit to someone else’s ideas or words is plagiarizing and will
earn you a failing grade in the project. Always, even when you paraphrase the research (put it
in your own words), you MUST indicate the original source of that information. Citing the
source is as simple as using quotation marks around original quotes and parentheses after
both the paraphrase and the original quote. NB: We will review how to write these citations
when it is time to put your research into the persuasive paper.
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STEP FIVE—Digital Citizenship
There are certain responsibilities that come with the privilege of using technology. Among these
are the appropriateness of your behavior, respect for the tools, and a responsibility to use your
time wisely and efficiently.
E. Accountability— The use of technology is a privilege not a right. Your training in the use of
the school’s technology entitles you the use of the computer and the Internet. However, that
training also requires your teacher and/or the Technology Department the responsibility of
monitoring whether your behavior when using technology is both appropriate and acceptable.
Never put yourself or your teacher in a position where your use of technology will be taken
away because of your behavior or actions:

Stay on task and on appropriate Web sites. You know the assignment, so stay within
the parameters of the research task. If you aren’t sure whether you are on task, then
you either need to revisit the assignment page or talk with your teacher.

If your search lands you on an inappropriate site, do not call your peers’ attention to
the material. Instead, get off the site quickly and then notify your teacher of the
encounter.

Do not use the technology as a tool for hurting others. If your research requires you to
post to a discussion board, check with your teacher first and think about the
information you are posting. Be ethical and respectful in your searches and blogs.
Remember that if you have nothing nice to say, then say nothing. Moreover, stay
away from any site that offers gossip, hate, racist, or pornographic material. These are
decidedly biased, inappropriate, and non-reputable sources that have nothing of value
or relevance to offer.

Do not tolerate the inappropriate behavior of others. Report any form of abuse to your
teacher immediately. This includes what your peers are doing as well as any search
encounter of inappropriate behavior on a social networking site, chatroom, or blog.
Remember that doing nothing about the abuse is the same as being the instigator.
Think how you might feel if the abuse were directed toward you, and act
appropriately.
F. Time Management—The time allotted to this research is limited; therefore, do not waste
your time randomly searching the Internet or stopping on sites that have no credibility. Avoid
the obvious distractions of games or entertainment sites. Instead, use the computer time
wisely and effectively. Remember that you are the only one responsible for determining the
time spent on this research assignment. Use that time to your benefit.
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Bibliography
McDougal Littell. (1995-2008). Web research guide. Retrieved October 25, 2010 from,
http://www.classzone.com/books/research_guide/page_build.cfm?content=quality_sites&
state=none.
Montecino, V. (1998). Criteria to evaluate the credibility of www resources. Retrieved October
28, 2010 from, http://mason.gmu.edu/~montecin/web-eval-sites.htm.
Ribble, M. (2007-2010). Digital Citizenship: Using technology appropriately. Retrieved October
29, 2010 from, http://www.digitalcitizenship.net/Nine_Elements.html.
The University of Maine (2009). Discerning reliability of web site information and data.
Retrieved October 29, 2010 from, http://www.umaine.edu/center/envdata/reliable.html.