How to find and use information

Extended essay workshopMay 16th and 18th 2007

Ásdís Hafstad, librarian

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First stepsAnalysing the topic

Deciding on the main aspects of your topic and planning your search.

Finding keywords Once you have worked out the main concepts of your topic, you need to look for alternative terms or keywords that describe each concept to use as search terms.

Menntaskólinn við Hamrahlíð Ásdís Hafstað

Finding information The library catalogue

www.gegnir.is Books Journals /magasin

Encyclopedias Britanica

Databasis www.hvar.is

The Internet

Menntaskólinn við Hamrahlíð Ásdís Hafstað

Evaluating Resources

Relevance Depth, level, geographical, time, primary/secondary

Currency When

Reliability Who is responsible

Accuracy Propaganda, marketing...

Menntaskólinn við Hamrahlíð Ásdís Hafstað

Referencing Referencing involves letting your reader know exactly where you found your

information. It is a standard method of acknowledging the sources of your information and others' ideas.

You must provide a reference for any information you ‘quote' (use the exact words), 'paraphrase' (use the idea in different words) 'summarise' (express the main points of)

When it is someone else's opinion, theory or information.

Readers can check your sources of information, to verify any quotations you

have used and to follow-up your 'cited' author's arguments.

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Referencing styles

There are many forms of referencing. http://library.curtin.edu.au/referencing/index.html

Chicago Author-Date referencing APA referencing (American Psychological Association) Harvard Referencing

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Direct quoting

In-text citation. Quotation marks placed around the quote and the

author's name and the year of publication and the relevant page number at the end of the citation.

‘The theory was first propounded in 1993’ (Comfort, 1997, p. 58)

Number citationThe citation source appears as a footer/footnote

‘The theory was first propounded in 1993’ 1

1(Comfort, 1997, p. 58) or 1Comfort, A. (1997). A good age. London: Mitchell Beazl

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Reference list The reference list at the end of your assignment

then gives the full details of all (the in-text citations and number citations.

The example below is in different styles. Comfort, A. (1997). A good age. London: Mitchell Beazl. (APA) Comfort, A. 1997. A good age. London: Mitchell Beazl. (Chicago)Comfort, A 1997, A good age, Mitchell Beazl, London. (Harvard)

Referencing styles follow strict rules of punctuation and indentation. Check with your teachers to determine which referencing style is preferred

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You need to cite Whenever you borrow words or ideas, you have to

acknowledge their source. Whenever you use quotes Whenever you pharaphrace Whenever you use an idea that someone else hase alredy

expressed Whenever you make specefic reference to the work of

another Whenever someone else´s work has been critical in

developing your own ideas

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Important Keep an accurate record of all the details of

every source you consult. the author, title of the book or journal article, title

of the journal, year of publication, page numbers, links, etc.

Acknowledge the source of the ideas that you have used or mentioned in your work. If you don't, you could be accused of plagiarism

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What is Plagiarism? Turning in someone else’s work as your own Copying words or ideas from someone else without giving

credit Failing to put a quotation in quotation marks Giving incorrect information about the source of a quotation changing words but copying the sentence structure of a

source without giving credit copying so many words or ideas from a source that it makes

up the majority of your work, whether you give credit or not (source: http://www.plagiarism.org/

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Copyright laws the expression of original ideas is considered

intellectual property, and is protected by copyright laws, just like original inventions. Almost all forms of expression fall under copyright protection as long as they are recorded in some media (such as a book or a computer file).

Menntaskólinn við Hamrahlíð Ásdís Hafstað

Referencing recources Referencing Resources. 2007.

http://library.curtin.edu.au/referencing/index.html/ (accessed May 13th 2007).