Bibliography 10/31, Draft 11/05, Final 11/10
Process: Step 3
[From the Assignment] Compile
a working bibliography, with full bibliographic information, for at least 15 different
sources
Searching
Source Number and Variety: Your final bibliography must include a minimum
total of 10 different sources. These should include at least:
2 articles or
essays from electronic databases,
|
Conduct full-text searches in
appropriate databases; you'll need your 16-digit ICARD number Start Here:
http://www.lib.iup.edu/databases/databases.shtm |
| 2 articles or
essays from print periodicals, newspapers, or books; |
Print bibliographies and
electronic "indexes" give citations, i.e. information about the location of
resources; when you see a promising source, note the citation information and then search PILOT for IUP holdings. |
| 2 quality
(open)web sites; |
google.com, teoma.com,
altavista.com provide general searching; evaluate sites carefully and use a topic-specific
resource if you can find one. See "advanced search" options to focus
your searching.
Hint: Pay attention to the URLs or addresses of sites; if it ends in ".gov"
or ".edu," then you probably have found an institutional site and not that of a
hobbyist. |
| and 1
unconventional source (eg. published or personal interview, email or letter from a subject
authority, broadcast transcription). |
Some databases and open-web
sites may post transcripts of radio and television materials. Sites like www.npr.org and www.pbs.org
can be worth searching for documentaries. But you should also search for local or
regional "authorities" who might have time to respond to a polite email or phone
call from you. Here's an example of something I found with a quick PBS search--a source that will
likely lead me to others. |
At least half of the sources should be of a scholarly or professional
nature (as opposed to articles in general interest periodicals like Time or columns
in USA Today.)
A Two-Part Process: Selection and Documentation
- Evaluate sources in terms of their reliability; and then consider their applicability to
your argument;
- choose those preferred, then develop MLA Format citations for each, using the Hacker
handbook or MLA Handbook for Writers of Research Papers as a guide; documentation
help is also available at OWL
Once you have located about 15 sources, you need to evaluate them on two counts: 1)
their quality and reliability as sources; 2) their interest or relevance to your topic and
argument.