Page 259 - Foundations of Learning, 4th Edition (Revised)

10 “Computers are useless. They can only give you answers.”
Pablo Picasso, Spanish artist

FINDING AND WORKING WITH SOURCES

Who, What, Where, Who, What, Where, When, WHY?
When, WHY?
As we discussed in Chapter 8, finding information in this information age is
Introducing not a challenge. Your quest as a college student is to make knowledge from
Lindsey information, without being overwhelmed by the sheer quantity of available
sources. You need to find quality sources for your purpose, often in a relatively
The Purpose of short amount of time. Before you start doing research, you might want to look
Research back at Chapter 3 to review note-taking strategies. As you locate sources, you will
need to capture both their main points and their complete bibliographic citations.
Top 10 Tips for
Researching Citations answer the Who, What, Where, and When questions: Who wrote
the article or is in charge or the web site? What is the source: a peer-reviewed
Primary and journal in electronic form, a book, or a government web site? Where exactly is
Secondary Sources the information from: the New York Times, or the JAMA (Journal of the American
Medical Association)? If the source is a book, where was it published? Finally,
Evaluating the Quality you need to know when this source was published: if it is a book, what is the
of Internet Sources publishing date? A journal: what is the volume date? An electronic source: when
was it published and when did you retrieve it?
Dissecting an
Internet Source The 5th “W,” the “Why” of research is your true motivation. You perform research
to answer a question, either one of your own or one posed by a teacher. As
Picasso humorously noted, computers only give answers. Real learning begins
with questions. Why are gas prices really rising? Why does your state have or not
have the death penalty? When we were children, one of our favorite questions
was “Why?” As a college student, and an active member of a democracy, the
main question remains the same: Why?

Academic Honesty Lindsey took a few years off between high school and
college. She did some traveling with friends and then
Documentation worked at a couple of odd jobs to pay the bills. It
wasn’t until Lindsey started her current job at The
LVP: Research Blue Cat Restaurant that something really clicked
for a Life Goal for her: she wants to be a chef, and maybe own her
own restaurant someday. The owner and chef at The
Activity 10.1 Blue Cat appreciate Lindsey’s enthusiasm and have
even allowed her to offer suggestions on menu
Academic Honesty items. Lindsey is excited to be enrolled in a culinary
program, but she’s a bit frustrated that she has to
Activity 10.2 take courses other than cooking.

Team Research Plan GLOSSARY citation documentation plagiarism primary source secondary source

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