Olympic High Research
Picking a Topic
This video shows how to turn a topic into a good research question
The "Accessing Online Library Resources" link shows how access library databases through ClassLink at Olympic High School.
Often when picking a topic it can be helpful to look at lists of topics in the databases. Great places to start would be the "Hot Topics" on CQ Researcher or the start page of EBSCO's Points of View database.
Finding Information
The first video linked explains the difference between library research databases and the free internet.
Online Information Databases are found in ClassLink. Remember you will need to access most databases through ClassLink.
These two videos continue to focus on finding information.
The first one focuses on how to brainstorm search terms.
The second focuses on strategies to combine terms for effective searching.
Choosing/Evaluating Sources
The first two videos are a little long (13 min or so) but go in depth about selecting sources ("Deciding Who to Trust") and evaluating evidence.
If you are short on time, watch the 2 minute Western Libraries Video on the CRAAP Test to evaluate your sources. CRAAP is an acronym for Currency, Relevance, Authority, Accuracy, and Purpose.
What is Plagiarism?
This video explains five different types of Plagiarism.
Citing your Sources using MLA citations
It can feel like "extra" work to cite all your sources, but it is important. Academic writing needs to be based on reliable sources.
The first video explains why and when to cite.
The second video explains MLA citations. You won't have to write citations without help. We use Noodletools to keep track of sources and create proper citations under the MLA style. You can find NoodleTools on ClassLink.
Check out the "More Noodletools" page for additional videos.
Thanks to Steve Trunkey, CKHS Teacher-Librarian, for the inspiration.