Library Research Guide  

To get started, when you click on NoodleTools the link will take you to the Online Resources.  Login using your Bishop's username and password.  Click on Create a personal ID. You will be asked for school authentication. This is on the Online Resources page.

Choose student, then log in using your Bishop's username and password to make it easier.  If you want to use the shortcut, type in a nick name and the last 4 digits of your phone number. From now on when you click on NoodleTools you'll be able log right in.

Organization is the key to writing a research paper.  

Start with a question.  

FInd appropriate sources, including books and TBS online resources, starting with the Reference section of the library.

Move from the general to the specific as you learn more about your topic.

Create a project in NoodleTools.

Create a bibliography and add notecards.

Organize the notecards, and create an outline.

Write first draft in GoogleDrive.

For MLA7 use parenthetical citations; for Chicago use footnotes.

Understanding the Assignment

Setting Up a Timeline

Choosing a Topic

Resources: from general to specific to narrow focus

Notetaking Tips

From The OWL at Purdue:

When Do We Give Credit?

The key to avoiding plagiarism is to make sure you give credit where it is due. This may be credit for something somebody said, wrote, emailed, drew, or implied. Many professional organizations, including the Modern Language Association and the American Psychological Association, have lengthy guidelines for citing sources. However, students are often so busy trying to learn the rules of MLA format and style or APA format and style that they sometimes forget exactly what needs to be credited. Here, then, is a brief list of what needs to be credited or documented:

• Words or ideas presented in a magazine, book, newspaper, song, TV program, movie, Web page, computer program, letter, advertisement, or any other medium
• Information you gain through interviewing or conversing with another person, face to face, over the phone, or in writing
• When you copy the exact words or a unique phrase
• When you reprint any diagrams, illustrations, charts, pictures, or other visual materials
• When you reuse or repost any electronically-available media, including images, audio, video, or other media

Bottom line, document any words, ideas, or other productions that originate somewhere outside of you.

There are, of course, certain things that do not need documentation or credit, including:

• Writing your own lived experiences, your own observations and insights, your own thoughts, and your own conclusions about a subject
• When you are writing up your own results obtained through lab or field experiments
• When you use your own artwork, digital photographs, video, audio, etc.
• When you are using "common knowledge," things like folklore, common sense observations, myths, urban legends, and historical events (but not historical documents)
• When you are using generally-accepted facts, e.g., pollution is bad for the environment, including facts that are accepted within particular discourse communities, e.g., in the field of composition studies, "writing is a process" is a generally-accepted fact.

Deciding if Something is "Common Knowledge"

Generally speaking, you can regard something as common knowledge if you find the same information undocumented in at least five credible sources. Additionally, it might be common knowledge if you think the information you're presenting is something your readers will already know, or something that a person could easily find in general reference sources. But when in doubt, cite; if the citation turns out to be unnecessary, your teacher or editor will tell you.