Mrs. Stewart's - 6th Grade Innovations Research
Stop 1: Encyclopedias - Overview
It is often useful to begin a research project by looking for a short general overview of your topic. Encyclopedias are a great place to find general overviews on a wide variety of topics. Britannica School and World Book Online are both great options! You access the online encyclopedias through LCPS Go in the Library Resources folder.
Search Words
Once you have a general idea of what your topic is, it is often helpful to come up with a list of possible search words. These search words will be helpful whether you are using the IPAC to search for a book, using our online databases to search for articles, or the internet to search for websites. For example, if you are researching innovations in sports equipment, you may want to focus on a specific type of equipment like "football helmet" and "safety".
Use your Word Associations page of your research packet to get ideas for search words!
Stop 2: Nonfiction Books
The IPAC (Follett Destiny) is a great place to start when looking for print resources. Remember to do a Subject search in the IPAC for your topic. Remember that you want only nonfiction books, and you can tell that by the call number. If the call number starts with a number or the letter "B", it's a nonfiction book. To access our MackinVIA e-books, use your student ID number and the same password you use for everything else at school.
You can also browse the shelves by Dewey Decimal number based on your subject area.
Architecture - Call numbers that may be helpful: 720s
Transportation - Call numbers that may be helpful: 620s
Music - Call numbers that may be helpful: 780s, Mackin VIA e-books
Photography - Call numbers that may be helpful: 770s
Medicine - Call numbers that may be helpful: 610, Mackin VIA e-books
Media - Call numbers that may be helpful: 600s, Mackin VIA e-books
Meteorology- Call numbers that may be helpful: 550s
Fun and Games - Call numbers that may be helpful: 790s, 005, Biographies, Mackin VIA e-books
Environmental Science - Call numbers that may be helpful: 363, 590s, Mackin VIA e-books
Household - Call numbers that may be helpful: 600s
Food - Call numbers that may be helpful: 330s, 640s, Mackin VIA e-books
Fashion - Call numbers that may be helpful: 391, Mackin VIA e-books
Sports - Call numbers that may be helpful: 790s, Mackin VIA e-books
Stop 3: Library Databases
We have many subscription databases for you to choose from. You can access the school's databases through LCPS GO both here and at home. To find most of the databases once you are logged in to LCPS GO, find the "Library Resources" folder. Newsela should be available at the top level of LCPS GO.
Here are just some examples of databases you may find useful:
Britannica School is one of our online encyclopedias and is good for general information on a wide variety of topics.
Newsela can help you find articles about many topics at your just right reading level.
Select Explora Middle Schools or Science Reference Center.
Depending on your topic, you may click on a specific one, such as Gale in Context: Science and Gale in Context: Middle School is good one for most topics.
Websites with Career information:
Bureau of Labor and Statistics: Career Exploration (don't find what you are looking for on this page, check out the full Occupational Outlook Handbook below)
GALE Onefile Vocations & Careers Collections (click on Careers & Technology on the left side from the main Gale (FWS) database page from LCPS GO)
Stop 4: Internet
Remember the tips for strategic searching that Tim and Moby discussed in the "Internet Search" BrainPop video.
Use multiple, specific, descriptive keywords for narrower results.
If at first you don’t succeed, try synonyms.
Place quotation marks around specific words or specific phrases you’re looking for.
Add a minus sign before a word to show that you don’t want that one included.
These tips can also help you when searching our online subscription databases.
Don't forget that when using information from the internet, it's always important to evaluate your source to determine whether it's the right kind of source to use for your assignment. You can use the 5 W's. The 5 W's are:
Who: Who made the website? Are they an expert?
What: What information is on the website? Is it the information you need? What is the purpose of the website? Are they trying to sell you something? Persuade you to agree with a point of view? Educate and inform you?
When: When was the website made or updated?
Where: Do you know where the information on the website came from? Did it come from reliable or trustworthy sources?
Why: Why should you use this website? Is it better than another website on the same topic? Is it easier to understand than another website?
For another way to think about evaluating online sources, you can watch the BrainPOP video called "Online Sources". If it asks you to login, click on BrainPOP through LCPS Go, and then click the link again after you are logged in through LCPS Go.
Citations
In order to avoid plagiarism, you must always cite your sources! Check out the library's citation information page for more information and tools that can help you create your citations.