Sources
…for academic research
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Old Habits…
When you need to look something
up quickly, what do you usually
do?
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If you are like
most people,
your first
thought is
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Old habits…
Many students do “research” by using a
general search engine such as Google
or Yahoo.
I hope I find something useful!
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Old habits…
However, this type of search is a habit that
does not work well when doing college
research.
No Google??
What else is
there?
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What’s wrong with using
or
?
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Why not Google or Yahoo?
No selection process:
•Documents do not undergo
any selection process but
rather are placed
randomly.
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Why not Google or Yahoo?
No standards:
• Random organization.
• Often, commercial sites or
sites soliciting donations
dominate search results.
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Why not Google or Yahoo?
No validation:
• No one reviews sites for
accuracy.
• The internet is filled with
hoaxes, scams, parodies, and
hate speech disguised as “fact.”
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Besides Google, what
else should college
students avoid?
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Avoid Relying upon Wikipedia
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Wikipedia
To be fair, Wikipedia is good for personal
research or to find quick information
about something.
However, Wikipedia is not good for
academic research or for citing in
research papers.
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Q: If you wanted to learn about Old Dominion
University, which would provide the most
complete, accurate information?
Visiting the ODU website
yourself and reading the
information directly from
ODU.
Reading about ODU on
Wikipedia
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Use Original Sources
The original source is always
better than Wikipedia for academic writing.
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The information in Wikipedia is largely copied
and pasted from other sources.
Why settle for a
copy of a source
when you can
use the original
source?
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Wikipedia
Anyone can contribute to or edit
Wikipedia.
Sometimes, the information may be inaccurate
or incomplete.
Someone tried
a bit too hard!
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Which sounds better?
“I found my
information in the
New England Journal
of Medicine.”
or
“I found my
information on
Wikipedia.”
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Original is always better!
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However, Wikipedia can help you find
good, original sources!
Scroll down to the “Notes and
References” section
You can begin with Wikipedia, but
always move to original sources.
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Wikipedia
Wikipedia can be a great place to start,
but always use original sources in your
writing.
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Wikipedia
Use original
sources!
Wikipedia should
not appear in your
Works Cited or
anywhere else in
your essays.
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Where can college
students find reliable,
scholarly sources?
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Some Good News:
Your tuition dollars pay for access to
huge databases filled with accurate,
scholarly sources.
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Even Better News:
All of these wonderful sources are
right at your fingertips, accessible
from your home PC!
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Sources
It is important to know how to use the UofP
Databases for academic research.
Make sure you view the video about using the
University library.
.
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Final Notes…
Go to the Center for Writing Excellence
(CWE) to get information for the APA
format:
https://ecampus.phoenix.edu/secure/aa
pd/cwe/style.htm#Associates.
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Final Notes…
Free, friendly, & candid advice:
Want to impress your future
professors?
Mention enthusiastically how you have
so many ideas and sources from your
research that you’re trying to decide
which angle to take on the topic.
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Final Notes…
Free, friendly, & candid advice:
Want to irritate your future
professors?
Complain that you cannot find any
sources on your topic, despite the
huge databases of articles available
via the Keiser library (and most
college libraries).
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Review
When writing academic
research essays…
Avoid general searches such as Google or
Yahoo.
Do not use Wikipedia as a source.
Use database articles from the Keiser Library
online
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End of Presentation