Introduction
Research isn't an easy task by any means. However, with some practice and by breaking the steps down into manageable chunks. Work through the following steps for narrowing a topic and finding information.
Task
Avast ye, matey! In honor of International Talk Like a Pirate Day, invented in 1995 by John Baur and Mark Summers, we take a moment to reflect on some of history's most conniving pirates. Don't be a wayward minnow, now -- come walk the plank!
Process
Cal says...."Before you go to the library and start searching, you really should decide on your topic"
You should choose a topic that interests you, something you'd like to know more about. Often your professor will provide you with general (or very specific) topic guidelines/suggestions.
You could start with a very broad topic, for example: The Civil War . . .
. . . but you'd end up with too much information on this subject ~ enough to write several books!
The topic is too broad.
Narrowing Your Topic
Instead, think of some aspect of the general subject
of The Civil War that interests you, for example:
| A Famous Battle |
| People of the Civil War |
| Causes of the Civil War |
Let's say that you are interested in People of the Civil War.
Narrowing A Topic More
|
You could narrow the topic of Pirates even more by adding a sub-topic.
It is helpful to write out your topic as a sentence or a question. For example: |
Conducting a Search...
Cal says...."When I would go to the library looking for books & articles, I used to feel completely lost . . . until I understood some fundamentals about searching...
If you just google the term Civil War Soldiers, you get numerous texts to search through. You have a slide and time limit to consider. You need to focus your research on specific information.
You are wanting to anwer: Who were these soldiers before the war? What weapons were available to them? and What was daily life like in the camps?
Where to look for Information...
Cal says...."A library is huge and the internet even bigger... Where do I look and how do I tell the difference between a "good" source and "bad" source?"
|
Types of Sources Information can come from virtually anywhere. The type of information you need will change depending on the question you are trying to answer. |
 Magazines: Reader directed |
 Journals: Research directed |
 Books: Vary by topic and Fiction vs Nonfiction |
 Newspapers: Primary Sources; Current Information |
 Encyclopedias: Collection of general facts |
 The World Wide Web: Current Information; some factual, some made up |
Evaluating Sources...
Now that you know the wide range of sources available to you, how do you select the best one for your research?
If you need:
Background information, such as the history of the railroads or statistics on the number of children immunized against diseases in the United States
You might try:
Books Web
If you need:
Popular articles about new movies or social trends
You might try:
Magazines
If you need:
Current information about a speech yesterday by the head of Ford Motor Company
You might try:
Newspapers or Web
If you need:
Scholarly articles about the Chinese economy or the human genome
You might try:
JournalsQuality of SourcesMost of us begin with the internet, but don't discount the use of print materials and other primary sources. Use CARS to evaluate each source.
Summary of The CARS Checklist for Research Source Evaluation
|
Credibility |
trustworthy source, author’s credentials, evidence of quality control, known or respected authority, organizational support. Goal: an authoritative source, a source that supplies some good evidence that allows you to trust it. |
|
Accuracy |
up to date, factual, detailed, exact, comprehensive, audience and purpose reflect intentions of completeness and accuracy. Goal: a source that is correct today (not yesterday), a source that gives the whole truth. |
|
Reasonableness |
fair, balanced, objective, reasoned, no conflict of interest, absence of fallacies or slanted tone. Goal: a source that engages the subject thoughtfully and reasonably, concerned with the truth. |
|
Support |
listed sources, contact information, available corroboration, claims supported, documentation supplied. Goal: a source that provides convincing evidence for the claims made, a source you can triangulate (find at least two other sources that support it). |
Cal says...."Okay, I think I have this now. Let's put it into practice..."
Life in a Civil War Soldier’s Camp Assignment Sheet
The American Civil War is also known as The War Between the States or the War of
Rebellion. What do you know about the daily life of the Civil War soldier? Use your
own knowledge and the Gettysburg National Military Park, Camp Life: Civil War
Collections website (http://www.nps.gov/history/museum/exhibits/gettex/index.htm)
to complete the following steps.
Step 1 – On the Life in Camp Worksheet (http://www.readwritethink.org/
lesson_images/lesson68/worksheet.pdf), record a prediction about each of
the statements regarding the soldiers who fought in this war. Indicate your
current belief about the accuracy of the information in the True or False
column. Later, you will predict the location where you might expect to find information about
the statement on the website.
Step 2 – Survey the Introduction page of the Gettysburg National Military Park Camp Life: Civil War
Collections website. Imagine that each section is numbered consecutively as in a chapter book.
Consider its links to be a table of contents and answer the following questions on the bottom of your worksheet:
If the site were a book, how many chapters would it have? ______________
What would be the title of Chapter Three?
_____________________________________________________________
What would be the title of Chapter Five?
_____________________________________________________________
Step 3 – Read the ten statements on the Life in Camp Worksheet and determine
which “chapter” or section of the Gettysburg National Military Park, Camp
Life: Civil War Collections website is likely to provide information about
that topic. Write the name of that “chapter” in the chart’s column labeled
Chapter Title.
Step 4 – Navigate through the Gettysburg National Military Park, Camp Life: Civil
War Collections website to locate evidence that your predictions for the
Life in Camp Worksheet are correct. If your answer is not correct, mark the
correct answer in the Revisions of True or False column. Check also to see if
you chose the correct “chapter;” if not, mark the answer in the Revisions of
Chapter Title column. Finally, for any false statements, write a corrected version of that statement
below the chart.
Note: Are you wondering why some of the words in the statements are in boldface type? Using the Edit–Find feature to scan the webpage for the key words(s) from the statement can help you locate specifi c information. Go to the Edit menu, choose Find, and type in the word or phrase in boldface letters. Be certain to spell the word correctly or the search results will not be accurate.
Step 5 – On the second page of the Life in Camp Worksheet, the information is found in the caption of a photo. Use your predictions about the chapter title to help you fi nd the pictures. Study the photos and click on the photo you think holds the answer. This will enlarge the photo and display the caption containing important information. If your true/false answer is not correct, mark the correct answer in the Revisions of True or False column. Check also to see if you chose the correct “chapter;” if not, mark the answer in the Revisions of Chapter Title column. Finally, for any false statements, write a corrected version of that statement below the chart.
Sifting through the Information
For the next part of this webquest, you will be using the following link to the website Information Elimination!
Determining Irrelevant Information
Some of the information you collect when you do research, you will not use in your actual paper. Practice finding irrelevant information by completeing the practice sheet on Henry Longfellow Wadsworth.
Henry Longfellow Wadsworth sheet
Evaluation
You will be graded on your completion of the Life in Camp worksheet and Henry Wadsworth Longfellow passage with the topic sentence underlined and the irrelevant sentences circled.
Conclusion
Now, sum up what you have learned about research today on your index card.
1. What does narrowing a topic mean?
2. Using the topic of cars, narrow the topic 2 times.
3. Find a good source to support your first narrowed topic and explain why it is a good source.
4. Find a bad source for your topic and explain why it is a bad source.
5. Identify the irrelevant information in the following paragraph.
AMERICAN CIVIL WAR
America’s bloodiest clash, the sectional conflct of the Civil War (1861-65) pitted the Union against the Confederate States of America and resulted in the death of more than 620,000, with millions more injured. I've always been interested in studying this part of American history in school. From 1861 to 1865, the American union was broken as brother fought brother in a Civil War that remains a defining moment in our nation's history. Its causes and consequences, including the continuing struggle for civil rights for all Americans, reverberate to this day. From the battlefields to the homefront, the cost of the war was steep...its lessons eternal.