Writing the Research Paper

The HHS Library Media Center is your go-to place for getting that research done--quickly, efficiently, and correctly.

Set up an appointment with Mrs. DiGeronimo in the library for personalized help.

Take a look at these resources when in doubt:

HHS Research Paper Style Manual: click here

MLA Style Guide: click here

MLA FAQs

Purdue OWL MLA Online Writing Lab: click here

Sample MLA format paper: click here

Citing an online video: If you take information from a video, you must cite it and include the citation on your Works Cited page. Here's how. 

HHS Plagiarism Policy: Read through the policy carefully. It is your responsibility to know the consequences of copying work without giving proper credit. 

Academic Databases: 

HHS Subscription Gale in Context  Click here  (Ask your teacher or Ms. DiGeronimo for the password.)

HHS Subscription Gale Opposing Viewpoints  Click here  (Ask your teacher or Ms. DiGeronimo for the password.)  

NJ State Library  click here (You will need a public library card)

Google Advanced Guide to Internet Research: click here

Copyright and Fair Use (The body of work on this site is freely available for legal use, sharing, repurposing, and remixing. Through the use of CC licenses, millions of people around the world have made their photos, videos, writing, music, and other creative content available for any member of the public to use.) click here 

A FEW QUICK SEARCH TIPS

Ctrl-F: After following a link to a document retrieved with a search engine, it is sometimes not immediately apparent why the document has been retrieved. This may be because the words for which you searched appear near the bottom of the document. A quick method of finding the relevant words is to type Ctrl-F to search for the text in the current document.

Add a + sign: If you have more than one term, use a + sign before the term to indicate it must be present on the page. 

Variety: Run your search on different search engines and compare the results. Don’t think all search engines are the same.

 Right truncation of URLs: Often, a search will retrieve links to many documents at one site. Rather than clicking on each URL in succession to find the desired document, truncate the URL at the point at which it appears most likely to represent the document you are seeking and type this URL in the Location box of your web browser.

 Use Quotations: When your search includes a phrase, use quotation marks. (eg. “endangered species” “civil war”)

 Guessing URLs: Basic knowledge of the way in which URLs are constructed will help you to guess the correct URL for a given website. For example, most large American companies will have registered a domain name in the format www.company_name.com (eg. Microsoft – www.microsoft.com); American universities are almost always in the .edu domain (eg. University of Texas – www.utexas.edu); and Australian universities follow the format www.university_name.au (eg. Charles Sturt University – www.csu.edu.ca)

 Use Specialized Search Engines: Don’t assume the large, general search engines are always the best. Consider a specialized index such as FindLaw, a database on legal code and case law, http://www.findlaw.com. 

 Double Meanings: Beware of terms with double meaning. “Chicks” can pull up graphics of woman scantily dressed in sexy black leather outfits in addition to chicken hatching, “Spiders” can be computer programs used by search engines or eight-legged variety.

 Wildcards: Some search engines allow the use of “wildcard” characters in search statements. Wildcards are useful for retrieving variant spellings (eg. Color, colour) and words with a common root (eg. Psychology, psychological, psychologist, psychologists, etc.). Wildcard characters vary from one search engine to another, the most common ones being *, #, and ?. Some search engines permit only right truncation (eg. psycholog*), while others also support middle truncation (eg. colo*r).

(Using the INTERNET to Enhance Your Library Program – Pam Berger)