Writing with Internet Sources

Transcription

1 Wriing wih Inerne Sources A Guide for Harvard Sudens Exposiory Wriing Program Harvard College 8 Presco Sree Cambridge, MA

2 ) W Checklis When USING any source, remember o: T Avoid plagiarism by clearly disinguishing beween your ideas and hose of your sources T Cie every source from which you draw a fac or idea ha is no common knowledge T Acknowledge your sources when paraphrasing or quoing T Place any language aken from a source beween quoaion marks When LOCATING elecronic sources, remember o: T Consul he assignmen o make sure you know wha kinds of sources are appropriae for he essay T Begin your research hrough he Harvard Libraries Poral T Cusomize your search for e-resources by modifying search language T Ask a reference librarian if you need help finding specific daabases When EVALUATING elecronic sources, wheher found hrough he Harvard Libraries Poral or hrough a popular web search engine, remember o: T Deermine he auhor s qualificaions T Deermine he purpose and scope of he source T Deermine he accuracy and reliabiliy of he source T Deermine he currency and coverage of he source When INCORPORATING elecronic sources ino your wriing, remember o: T Handle your sources carefully T Keep rack of source locaions and changes o online conen T Keep sources in correc conex in your noes T Prin, file, and label your sources T Keep your draf and your noes separae T Keep a source rail T Don' leave wriing papers unil he las minue, since deadline pressure makes i emping o borrow maerial from he Inerne Wriing wih Inerne Sources A Guide for Harvard Sudens Barbara Burg Susan Gilroy Karen Heah James Herron Tom Jehn Kaalin Orbán Jane Rosenzweig Susanna Ryan Nancy Sommers Sephen Suherland Bradley Zakarin 2 Inroducion 6 Using Sources Responsibly 16 Locaing Elecronic Sources 26 Evaluaing Elecronic Sources 38 Incorporaing Elecronic Sources ino Your Wriing 46 Ciing Elecronic Sources Wriing wih Inerne Sources 1

3 ) Inroducion This bookle provides an inroducion o he research opporuniies Ws offered by he echnological ool ha a Harvard undergraduae, you are invied ino a communiy has recenly ransformed informaion gahering and of working scholars: in your discussions and in your essays, A you have he opporuniy o conribue o dynamic debaes, sorage: he Inerne. and o ariculae your own poin of view. In order o do so, you need o go beyond wha you already know, and ofen beyond he sources in class. You need, ha is, o become a researcher: o learn how o invesigae and analyze a se of exs, conceps, or quesions. This bookle provides an inroducion o he research opporuniies offered by he echnological ool ha has recenly ransformed informaion gahering and sorage: he Inerne. The Inerne has markedly and beneficially affeced he manner in which academic research is done, making formerly hard-o-access maerials readily available. Harvard s own Open Collecions Program (hp://ocp.hul.harvard.edu), which gahers archival maerials from across he Harvard library and museum sysem, is bu one example. The program s firs projec, Women Working, caalogs housands of books, pamphles, phoographs, diaries, and oher hisorical exs abou he working lives of American women beween 1800 and 1930 over 500,000 digiized pages and images in all. A search of Women Working under he opic Scieniss brings up, for example, such rare maerials as leers by and abou Ruh Holden, a 1918 Radcliffe graduae and paleoboanis; and he 1900 journal of Williamina Paon Fleming, curaor of asronomical phoographs, which can be read page by page in her own handwriing. These maerials have 2 Wriing wih Inerne Sources Wriing wih Inerne Sources 3

4 Inroducion W previously been available only o scholars wih access o he Harvard library sysem, who spen monhs and even years combing hrough sacks and files o unearh hisorical daa relevan o heir research. Now hey are available o eachers, sudens, and scholars worldwide. The Inerne has likewise influenced he way in which scholars share heir discoveries: hrough podcasing, personal websies, and online academic journals, scholars have expanded he very definiion of audience and inellecual communiy. The sheer volume of online informaion (he number of posed files is currenly in he billions, and growing) and he ease wih which anyone can pos informaion on he Inerne inensify he researcher s dilemma of wha sources are worh reading and using, and which conversaions are worh enering. While a search engine like Google, for example, provides easy access o a seemingly endless supply of informaion, i can be difficul o assess which sources are credible and even whose ideas are being represened. If you were o search Google, for insance, on he developing concep of E-governmen (he use of echnology o aler or improve he relaionship beween ciizens and governmenal agencies), in 0.22 seconds you would find over 72,000,000 his, including biased documens, such as aricles wrien o advance paricular poliical agendas; personal blogs; even E-governmen sofware for sale. Bu E-governmen is a relaively new area of scholarly inquiry, and a similar search on HOLLIS he caalog of he Harvard Universiy Libraries yields jus 66 academic books on he subjec. Google provides speed and volume, bu wha do you do wih all hese various (and someimes suspicious) sources once you ve found hem? In navigaing he mass of maerials available on he Inerne, you need o evaluae carefully, disinguishing beween sources ha are useful and hose ha are quesionable or biased, and o assess which online maerials would be mos appropriae for your specific projec. The seemingly infinie universe of online informaion suggess he need for a sraegy such as limiing your iniial search o he large bu selecive group of elecronic resources online daabases and e-journals ha Harvard librarians have screened for reliabiliy and seriousness, and o which Harvard sudens have insananeous access. Wheher you are underaking a broad search hrough a popular search engine like Google, or searching hrough Harvard s e-resources, he Inerne has made i dramaically simpler o access and manipulae informaion. Wih only a few keysrokes you can access a vas array of exs and maerials. This presens a challenge, since he ease of accessibiliy makes i easier, in urn, o cu and pase ideas or language from websies ino your own wriing, and more difficul, a imes, o deermine auhorship. I is crucial ha you learn how o negoiae your relaionship o he inellecual propery of ohers, being vigilan no only in evaluaing elecronic sources, bu also in handling and incorporaing hem ino your own work. Maerials found on he Inerne are ofen misakenly assumed o be in he public domain: online informaion may appear o be democraic in is ease of accessibiliy, and websies can give he illusion of being owned by everyone because hey seem o be auhorless. Bu much online maerial is copyrighed; even if a websie has no immediaely idenifiable auhor, someone has creaed i and hus has righs o i. I s your responsibiliy o honesly acknowledge your sources, giving credi where i is due and making clear how ohers ideas have shaped your own insighs and argumens. The College has esablished a high sandard for he responsible use of all kinds of sources a sandard ha defines all of he assignmens you submi a Harvard. The following chapers cover he process of wriing wih sources found on he Inerne and will help you learn: ) How o ACKNOWLEDGE sources responsibly and avoid plagiarism; How o LOCATE he elecronic sources mos relevan for your research; How o EVALUATE wha kinds of elecronic sources are credible and appropriae for use in an academic essay; How o INCORPORATE elecronic sources ino your wriing responsibly; How o CITE elecronic sources, using one of he mos common formas (MLA, APA, or Chicago syle). Each secion provides fundamenal guidelines and principles; for quick reference, see he inside fron cover for a checklis of key sraegies. 4 Wriing wih Inerne Sources Wriing wih Inerne Sources 5

5 ) Using Sources Responsibly Academic wriing is bound by rules of ciaion and aribuion. In order o avoid plagiarism, scholars are careful o make disincions beween heir own words and ideas and hose of ohers. I s criical ha you give credi for ideas and language ha come from any ouside source, and ha you help your readers locae he sources you ve used in case hey wish o make reference o hem. This secion of Wriing wih Inerne Sources offers advice on using sources responsibly and avoiding plagiarism. Why do I need o acknowledge sources in my wriing? A cademic inquiry is an inherenly collaboraive enerprise. Any opic you wrie abou is likely o have been wrien abou by someone else before you, and your hinking on ha opic will be informed by he hinking of oher scholars. Far from deracing from he originaliy of your own work, ciing sources demonsraes your knowledge of, and engagemen wih, oher scholarship. Even he mos original work remains deeply indebed o he work of ohers. The collaboraive naure of academic inquiry implies ha you mus use he inellecual work of ohers ehically. In paricular, you are obliged no o misrepresen he ideas of oher people and o give proper credi o hose whose ideas you use in your own work. Coming up wih an original and worhy idea requires dedicaion, work, and alen ofen, in fac, years of raining, research, and reflecion and people who expend such work and alen deserve proper credi for heir labors. When you pass off he work of anoher wrier as your own, you deprive ha wrier of he credi he or she deserves and claim i for yourself. 6 Wriing wih Inerne Sources Wriing wih Inerne Sources 7

6 Using Sources Responsibily Avoiding Plagiarism A ll Harvard College sudens are expeced o undersand sandards of proper ciaion and o avoid plagiarism. Plagiarism is he incorporaion of facs, ideas, or specific language ino your wriing ha: (1) is no common knowledge ; (2) is/are drawn from anoher source; and, (3) is no properly cied. b Do I need o cie unpublished sources, such as course lecures or discussions? You need o cie all of he sources from which you draw facs, ideas, or language, including course lecures, discussions, and handous. b Wha is common knowledge? In order o decide wheher o cie a source, you need o make a judgmen abou wheher he informaion drawn from he source is common knowledge. If he informaion is common knowledge, here is no need o cie he source. If he informaion is no common knowledge, failure o cie couns as plagiarism since you are using he specific facs, ideas, or language of anoher wrier wihou giving ha wrier credi. I is no always easy o define wha does and does no coun as common knowledge, hough, since he borders of he caegory are fuzzy. Roughly speaking, facs, ideas, and language ha are generally known o an educaed reader, or o some subse of educaed readers, can be reckoned common knowledge. Facs, ideas, and language ha are he disinc and unique producs of ohers do no coun as common knowledge and mus be cied. In pracice, drawing he disincion can be ricky in cerain cases. If you are unsure abou wheher source maerial is common knowledge or no, i is always safes simply o cie he relevan source. Differen Sors of Common Knowledge Widely known facs are common knowledge Widely known scienific and hisorical facs such as he molecular srucure of waer (H 2 O), or ha Jefferson Davis was he presiden of he Confederacy generally coun as common knowledge. You can include such facs in your wriing wihou ciaion and wihou fear of commiing plagiarism. Oher facs ha coun as common knowledge for insance, ha Franz Boas, he disinguished American ehnologis, held he firs academic appoinmen in anhropology in he Unied Saes are widely known o some groups of people (professional anhropologiss) bu perhaps no o you. Neverheless, you would no have o cie he fac abou Boas, since i is common knowledge in he sense ha no paricular individual discovered his informaion (say, hrough archival research a Columbia Universiy, where Boas augh). Opinions or inerpreaions are usually no considered common knowledge, unless hey are very widely held Opinions or inerpreaions of facs generally do no coun as common knowledge. If you read in a source ha Franz Boas held he firs professorship in anhropology, bu ha his imporance in he field is much overraed, you would need o acknowledge he source of he idea regarding Boas overblown repuaion, since his judgmen is an opinion, and no a fac. Bu even some inerpreaions or opinions (raher han facs) have enered he realm of common knowledge and need no be cied. If you were o inroduce he claim ha culure provides a means by which humans adap o heir environmens, you would no need o cie a source for his claim, since i is almos universally held by anhropologiss. Bu, if you were unsure ha his was he consensus view among anhropologiss, you would be bes served simply o cie he source. On he whole, opinions or inerpreaions do no ener he realm of common knowledge as easily as hisorical or scienific facs. Verbaim language drawn from a source is rarely common knowledge, unless he formulaion is widely known You mus always provide a ciaion for quoaions you use in your wriing. The only excepions o his rule concern well-known quoaions ha have enered he realm of common knowledge. If you were o quoe Descares famous dicum, I hink, herefore I am, you would no need o provide a source since i is assumed ha any educaed reader would know he source of his quoaion. Oherwise, when using lesser-known quoaions, you mus always provide ciaions for hem in your wriing. 8 Wriing wih Inerne Sources Wriing wih Inerne Sources 9

7 Using Sources Responsibily Common Types of Plagiarism I nsances of plagiarism may be grouped ino wo broad ypes: wholesale plagiarism, in which a wrier claims a whole ex or major porions of ex as his or her own; and mosaic plagiarism, in which a wrier mixes his or her own ideas wih language, facs, or ideas drawn from anoher source wihou proper ciaion. b Concepual plagiarism Even if you do no reproduce any of he specific language of a source, you may sill be plagiarizing i. Concepual plagiarism refers o he incorporaion of facs or disincive ideas from a source wihou aribuion. Wholesale plagiarism Wha migh be called wholesale plagiarism occurs when a suden purchases a paper online and laer claims i as his or her own work, or urns in he work of a fellow suden as his or her own, or makes any similar aemp o pass off as one s own whole exs or porions of ex aken verbaim from oher sources. Mosaic plagiarism Mosaic plagiarism akes hree basic forms: verbaim plagiarism, concepual plagiarism, and srucural plagiarism. b Verbaim plagiarism Verbaim plagiarism incorporaes words or phrases aken direcly from a source wihou placing he verbaim porions beween quoaion marks. This ype of plagiarism emerges mos commonly when a wrier is summarizing anoher source. b Srucural plagiarism I is sill possible o plagiarize a source even if you avoid verbaim and concepual plagiarism. Language, ideas, and facs are no he only feaures of a source ha can be original and in need of ciaion. A source may, for insance, presen an original way of approaching a problem or issue, for which he auhor deserves credi. If a source suggess ha analyzing ciizens complains abou heir counry is a good way o undersand naionalisic senimen (Herzfeld 2004), hen a wrier who wans o apply his mehodological insigh (ha sudying complains abou x is a good way o undersand x) o a differen case should acknowledge he original source as his or her inspiraion for his general approach. Likewise, if a source has devised an experimenal design ha a wrier proposes o use o answer an alogeher differen research quesion, he wrier sill needs o give credi o he source for coming up wih he design. In some insances even he formal properies of a source ex such as is organizaion or rheorical properies should be cied if hey are sufficienly disincive and he wrier wishes o adop hem in his or her own work. Verbaim plagiarism ofen arises when a wrier aemps o paraphrase a source immediaely afer reading he source, or even wih he source ex open in fron of him or her. Wih he source s specific language fresh in mind or he source iself in view, bis of he verbaim language can easily make heir way ino a paraphrase. Wriers mus guard agains he possibiliy of a source s specific language making is way ino heir own work unless such language appears beween quoaion marks. Examples of verbaim plagiarism and concepual plagiarism, can be found on page Wriing wih Inerne Sources Wriing wih Inerne Sources 11

8 Using Sources Responsibily Consider he following pairing of an original source and a paraphrase of ha source as examples of verbaim and concepual plagiarism. Original Source: The ask of convering human life and deah ino commodiies is highly complex, creaing inescapable sources of srucural ambivalence in any enerprise ha deals commercially wih such sacred producs. Business demands profis for survival, ye profis alone remain a jusificaion oo base for an insiuion of is kind. I sugges ha one soluion, in he case of life insurance, was is sacralizaion : he ransformaion of he moneary evaluaion of deah ino a riual. Deah yielded o he capialis ehos bu no wihou compelling he laer o disguise is maerialis mission in spiriual garb. (Zelizer,1978, p.605) Example of verbaim plagiarism: Paraphrase: Sociologis Viviana Zelizer argues ha he life insurance indusry s ask of convering human life and deah ino commodiies was me wih srucural ambivalence A when such insurance was firs inroduced in he Unied Saes (Zelizer,1978, p.605). B The indusry viewed life insurance as a poenially profiable new marke, bu many Americans hough profis alone were a jusificaion oo base for a puing a price on human life. The indusry responded by ransforming he moneary evaluaion of deah ino a riual. By claiming ha he money paid for life insurance was sacred, he insurance indusry sough o disguise is maerialis mission in spiriual garb. C In his insance he wrier of he paraphrase has inerspersed phrases aken verbaim from he source ex (se off for you in red ialics a righ) wih his or her own language. Noe, for insance, he phrase srucural ambivalence A appearing in he firs senence of he paraphrase. The wrier migh have supposed ha he formulaion of he phrase srucural ambivalence would no be sufficienly disincive o meri quoaion; in his insance, however, he specific applicaion of he concep srucural ambivalence o he marke for life insurance is Zelizer s original conribuion, and mus be placed beween quoaion marks. Generally speaking, phrases of wo words or more ha are in any way disincive ough o be placed in quoaion marks. In many insances, even single words aken verbaim from a source should be placed in quoaion marks, if he applicaion of he word is unique. Noe also ha he paraphrase is plagiarized even hough he wrier does cie Zelizer s aricle a he end of he firs senence. B The ciaion of Zelizer in he firs senence does no remedy he absence of quoaion marks around he phrases aken verbaim from Zelizer s aricle, i merely indicaes ha he claim in he firs senence is Zelizer s; he wrier sill reproduces Zelizer s specific language wihou acknowledgmen. Furhermore, he absence of ciaion in senences 2-4 suggess ha he wrier is now providing his or her own inerpreaion of he hisory of life insurance, when in fac he or she is sill simply recapiulaing Zelizer s exposiion. Senences 2-4 hus plagiarize boh Zelizer s language and her ideas. (The laer is an insance of concepual plagiarism, described below.) C Example of concepual plagiarism: Paraphrase: Alhough i may be surprising o conemporary readers, he inroducion of life insurance in he 19h cenury was me wih public oucry. Many commenaors conended ha i was immoral o pu a price on human life, as life insurance policies seemed o do. The insurance indusry responded o such criicisms by markeing life insurance as a sacred service, hereby aemping o remove he sigma of mixing money wih maers of life and deah. In his case he wrier has carefully avoided using any of Zelizer s specific language, and hereby avoided verbaim plagiarism of he sor described above. Bu he wrier has neverheless incorporaed boh facs and disincive ideas drawn from Zelizer s ex wihou ciaion. In he firs senence of he paraphrase, he wrier noes ha he adven of life insurance in he nineeenh cenury was greeed wih public disapproval. Bu he fac ha people expressed heir concern abou life insurance when i debued is hardly common knowledge, and one may assume ha he wrier learned he informaion from Zelizer s aricle. He or she herefore needs o cie he source of his informaion. Furhermore, he claim ha he indusry began o rea life insurance as a sacred commodiy is Zelizer s original inerpreaion of he siuaion, and mus herefore be cied. 12 Wriing wih Inerne Sources Wriing wih Inerne Sources 13

9 Using Sources Responsibily The Harvard College policy on plagiarism b Wha penalies does he College impose on sudens who plagiarize? The College akes plagiarism very seriously. Sudens found o have commied plagiarism are ordinarily required o wihdraw from (leave) he College, usually for a period of wo erms or more. T he Harvard College Handbook for Sudens sipulaes he College s policy on Plagiarism and Collaboraion as follows: All homework assignmens, projecs, lab repors, papers, and examinaions submied o a course are expeced o be he suden s own work. Sudens should always ake grea care o disinguish heir own ideas and knowledge from informaion derived from sources. The erm sources includes no only primary and secondary maerial published in prin or on-line, bu also informaion and opinions gained direcly from oher people. b Where can I go for more specific guidance on using sources responsibly? Sudens seeking more general advice on he sandards for using sources responsibly in heir wriing should consul Wriing wih Sources, which is available for download a he websie of he Exposiory Wriing Program. The responsibiliy for learning he proper forms of ciaion lies wih he individual suden. Quoaions mus be placed properly wihin quoaion marks and mus be cied fully. In addiion, all paraphrased maerial mus be acknowledged compleely. Whenever ideas or facs are derived from a suden s reading and research or from a suden s own wriings, he sources mus be indicaed. Sudens who, for whaever reason, submi work eiher no heir own or wihou clear aribuion o is sources will be subjec o disciplinary acion, and ordinarily required o wihdraw from he College. (Handbook for Sudens 2006: 64) Noe ha he Handbook s language does no address inen; raher, i addresses he produc submied for review by an insrucor. Works Cied Faculy of Ars and Sciences, Harvard College. (2006). Handbook for Sudens Cambridge: Presiden and Fellows of Harvard College. Herzfeld, M. (2004). Culural Inimacy: Social Poeics in he Naion-Sae. New York: Rouledge. Zelizer, V. (1978). Human Values and he Marke: The Case of Life Insurance and Deah in 19h-Cenury America. American Journal of Sociology, 84, Wriing wih Inerne Sources Wriing wih Inerne Sources 15

10 À The Inerne provides access o an enormous variey Locaing Elecronic Sources of exs and maerials lierally billions of files. This mulipliciy of poenial sources is boh exciing and confounding: i can be difficul o deermine how bes o search and which maerials are credible and worh considering. Elecronic resources are he daabases, search engines, and sorage sies hrough which one locaes elecronic sources: any ex or maerial accessed hrough he Inerne (even if ha ex or maerial exiss in hard copy offline). Elecronic research is any research ha uses online daabases or websies. ) he Inerne provides access o an enormous variey of exs and maerials lierally billions of files. This mulipliciy T of poenial sources is boh exciing and confounding: i can be difficul o deermine how bes o search and which maerials are credible and worh considering. Harvard sudens, however, have limiless access o he Harvard Libraries already-veed collecion of elecronic resources. In addiion o he wealh of prin maerials housed in libraries across campus, Harvard libraries provide a world of digiized informaion: subjec daabases (PsycINFO, for example); full ex journals in all academic disciplines; hisorical sources (The Pennsylvania Gazee, ); e-books; saisics (Global Financial Daa); image daabases (ARTsor); audio recordings (Naxos Music Library); and more. These resources, chosen by librarians, ofen wih faculy inpu, are paid for by subscripion and are no freely available o hose ouside he Harvard communiy. Simply pu, broad Inerne searches canno compee wih searches hrough Harvard s carefully consruced sysem of e-resources. The Libraries acquire hese resources for he Harvard communiy because hey are recognized as essenial ools for scholarship, eaching, and learning. They have he Universiy s seal of approval for heir breadh, deph, and appropriaeness o inellecual work. I is your responsibiliy o know wha hese resources are, where o find hem, when o use hem, and how o search hem effecively. This secion of Wriing wih Inerne Sources offers a basic inroducion o some, bu by no means all, of Harvard s e-resources. 16 Wriing wih Inerne Sources Wriing wih Inerne Sources 17

11 Locaing Elecronic Sources Sar wih he Assignmen B efore beginning your research, i is worh hinking abou why you are looking for elecronic sources in paricular, and how you plan o use hose sources in your essay. The dozens of sources available will be of lile use if you canno organize hem for evenual analysis and ciaion. Firs, consul he essay assignmen iself and, if necessary, your insrucor making sure ha you re clear abou he goals of he assignmen and he role of sources wihin i. In he locaing sage of research and wriing, be aware of he difference beween working wih elecronic versus prin sources: downloading files and seing bookmarks is easier han making phoocopies and carrying books home from he library. Always sar wih a scale appropriae o he assignmen and hen expand ouward from here o mach your ineress. Ask yourself: How wide a ne should I cas, given he scope of he assignmen? (For example: shall I use jus one or wo ouside sources o supplemen or conexualize a reading of exs my insrucor has provided? Or is his a research essay, for which I need o compile an original bibliography of sources?) Are here required sources? Opional sources? Proscribed sources? How will my use of elecronic sources help mee he erms of he assignmen and develop my hesis and argumen? The HOLLIS caalog enables you o find informaion on upwards of 16,000,000 books, periodicals, CDs, videos, governmen documens and oher maerials owned by he 90+ libraries in he Harvard sysem. hp://lib.harvard.edu The E-Research menu bar widens he visa even furher. Approximaely 600 daabases are linked from he Find E-Resources ab. Full-ex access o roughly 22,000 individual periodical iles is available via he Find E-Journals opion. New elecronic resources are consanly added o Harvard s collecion. The answers o hese quesions will help you gauge which e-resources are appropriae for your projec. Begin Your Search a he Harvard Libraries Poral T he poin of origin for research projecs a Harvard should always be hp://lib.harvard.edu. Known as he Harvard Libraries Poral, his is he fron door o informaion of grea breadh and deph. Harvard s e-resources do no encompass he enire universe of knowledge (of course, neiher does he Inerne) bu heir reach is vas, as he above numbers sugges so sar your research exploraions a hp://lib.harvard.edu, and look elsewhere only if (or when) you ve ruly exhaused Harvard s elecronic and prin holdings. Your insrucor or a reference librarian can help you make ha deerminaion. 18 Wriing wih Inerne Sources Wriing wih Inerne Sources 19

12 Locaing Elecronic Sources Idenify he E-Resources Appropriae o Your Research W riing assignmens are inviaions o join a scholarly conversaion abou a paricular opic or se of ideas. To paricipae effecively, you need o discover who is already a par of he conversaion, where he conversaion is aking place, and wha vocabulary is being used. Though Google (and Google Scholar) migh provide random pieces of his conversaion, you mus find he daabases and e-journals where he mos serious, credible scholarly essays reflecing he discourse wihin a field (and around your opic) are sored. Forunaely, every academic discipline has a se of special online ools for jus his purpose, and you can idenify hem in one of several ways. You can also search by general discipline, and find all he relevan e-resources in Harvard s collecion by clicking on Psychology under he Subjec heading: If you wan o search by discipline, you can use he subjec screen o do so. All of Harvard s e-resources have been classified according o heir field of academic sudy. Subjecs can also be paired wih resource ypes (as hey are here). If, for example, you are doing research on new reamens for auism, you migh begin by searching for an e-resource ha conains aricles on psychology such as PsycINFO. To reach he sources you re looking for, you d ype PsycINFO ino he ile box, and browse under major resources in Harvard s holdings for oher relevan daabases o use: When you know he name of he e-resource you re looking for, ype is name in he ile box. The Quick jump o seleced major resources can also be a shorcu o some of he mos popular of Harvard s e-resources. Once you ve generaed a lis of possible e-resources o search, clicking on he will open up he E-Resource Deails. Scanning he descripion helps answer imporan quesions: Who produces his e-resource? Wha sor of informaion is his e-resource likely o conain? Wha journal iles are covered by his e-resource? Are journals covered in full or do only seleced aricles appear? How many years of published scholarship are included? How curren is he informaion found here? 20 Wriing wih Inerne Sources Wriing wih Inerne Sources 21

13 Locaing Elecronic Sources Cusomize Your Search H arvard s e-resources are as varied as he books on library shelves; when you move from one screen o anoher, you ll encouner differen color schemes, fon sizes, page layous, and designs. Even so, search screens in e-resources usually funcion in predicable ways including he informaion requesed of you, he researcher. Familiarizing yourself wih some of he mos common feaures will help you use e-resources wih greaer efficiency and proficiency. They are: b Two ypes of search screens: ( simple or basic and expanded or advanced ) While basic or quick search screens are ofen simple and sraighforward (on he order of Google), he advanced search screens of e-resources are ypically more powerful, since hey offer a hos of oher ways o conrol, sreamline, or precisely define a search. For example, you migh ge a fas and general sense of wha sources are available hrough he Illumina daabase by yping auism ino he quick search screen (see below); by adding erms o he advanced search screen, such as herapy, neurology, or psychiary, you d be able o make your search more specific. Frequenly Used Imerme Daabases Research The following e-resources are useful places o sar when searching general daabases hrough he Harvard poral: Academic Search Premier (ASP): a mulidisciplinary daabase ha includes ciaions, absracs, and ofen he full ex of aricles from scholarly journals, popular magazines, and seleced newspapers. Also a good resource for finding book reviews. JSTOR: a searchable digial archive of he ex of imporan scholarly journals in all fields. Alhough JSTOR coverage begins wih he firs issue of each journal, he mos recen years are ofen no available elecronically. Check wih a Reference Librarian o locae he mos recen issues of he journal iles in JSTOR. LexisNexis Academic: a daabase providing access o news, business, legal, and medical publicaions and informaion sources, including newspapers, newsleers, magazines, rade journals, wire services, and broadcas ranscrips. LexisNexis Academic also offers seleced inernaional resources in French, Ialian, and German. The legal componen of he daabase consiss of federal and sae judicial decisions, saues, law reviews, and oher legal commenary. Ciaion Indexes (a.k.a. he Web of Science): mulidisciplinary searchable daabases ha include ciaions and absracs of aricles in major scholarly journals in all areas of he ars and humaniies, social sciences, and sciences. b Two ypes of search language: (keyword [ naural language ] and conrolled vocabulary [usually referred o as subjecs, subjec headings, or descripors ]) Keywords are he erms you hink up o describe your opic or he informaion you need. Subjec erms come from a specialized vocabulary and are useful in linking iems ha are similar in emphasis, conen, or purpose. Subjec erms safeguard agains he vagaries of language; in HOLLIS (and oher e-resources), hey re wha ensure ha you ge o all he informaion on a given opic no jus he informaion ha happens o mach a paricular keyword. Though your keyword migh be auism, for example, your subjec erms migh include words like developmenal disabiliy or language herapy. 22 Wriing wih Inerne Sources Wriing wih Inerne Sources 23

14 Locaing Elecronic Sources b Truncaion or wildcard searching: By adding a symbol usually an aserisk (*) or a quesion mark (?) o a word sem you can pick up varian erms. So while he erm psychiary migh only yield sources ha conain ha precise erm, adding a quesion mark ( psychiary? ) can lead o sources ha conain varians such as psychiaric, psychiaris, ec. b Boolean logic: Google searching allows you o ener a sring of words ogeher wihou explici connecing erms (like and ) beween hem. Language herapy neurological disorder works fine on he web. Library e-resources, on he oher hand, almos always require ha you inser conjuncions beween erms: neurological disorder and language herapy or neurology and language and herapy, for example. When using Harvard s e-resources, ge in he habi of insering or beween words ha can be reaed as synonyms ( docors or physicians ). Many e-resources allow you o use no (or and no ) o exclude cerain informaion (e.g., docors no cardiologiss ). b Modified searching: You can modify, refine, or focus a search by adding addiional erms or soring search resuls differenly for example, soring resuls by relevance (as a percenage of a hi, such as 89%), dae of publicaion (o find he laes work, or he firs publicaion on a subjec or opic), or place of publicaion (how many aricles on he subjec appeared in he New England Journal of Medicine, e.g.). Frequenly Used Specialized Daabase Inerne Research Inerne research has is limiaions, and some of he mos valuable resources in a given field may no be available online. Harvard s librarians can help you deermine which resources, prin or elecronic, are mos useful for your essay and hey can always help you when you have a discipline-specific quesion, or a quesion abou research in a foreign language. For specialized assisance, consul he lis of Library Research Conacs by Subjec, Language, and Region a: hp://hcl.harvard.edu/research/conacs/index.hml Harvard College Library also provides research guides for differen disciplines, including ips on doing elecronic research by academic subjec. Go o: hp://hcl.harvard.edu/research/guides/subjec.hml b Special Harvard links: Harvard e-resources can help you deermine if a journal aricle is available online in full ex here a Harvard. Look for he link. When here is no online opion, will idenify he Harvard library or libraries ha have he journal in hard (prin) copy. If you choose o use Harvard s search engines and daabases, consul wih your insrucor and research librarians, who may have an informed perspecive on your subjec. Exra clicking and downloading can be done a your compuer, bu having a conversaion during office hours or sopping a a library reference desk may be more helpful in deermining how bes o locae he sources mos appropriae for your essay. 24 Wriing wih Inerne Sources Wriing wih Inerne Sources 25

15 ) Evaluaing Elecronic Sources Wheher you are using elecronic or prin sources, you will need o deermine wheher hey are reliable and appropriae for your assignmen. heher you are using elecronic or prin sources, you will need o deermine wheher hey are reliable and appropriae for W your assignmen. When you go o he library and find books or academic journals his process may seem fairly sraighforward: informaion abou he auhor and publisher is readily available beween he covers of a book, and when you find an aricle in an academic journal you can page hrough and see wha oher ypes of aricles i publishes. When you find a source hrough an elecronic daabase you need o use differen crieria o assess is usefulness, and his assessmen is even more imporan because i is frequenly difficul o deermine he auhorship and credibiliy of an elecronic source. This secion of Wriing wih Inerne Sources provides ips abou how o evaluae elecronic sources found in wo ways: firs, hrough a screened daabase (like one of he e-resources available via he Harvard Libraries Poral); second, hrough a popular search engine (like Google). 26 Wriing wih Inerne Sources Wriing wih Inerne Sources 27

16 Evaluaing Elecronic Sources Evaluaing Elecronic Sources wihin a Daabase W hen you do research using he wide variey of elecronic resources available hrough he Harvard Libraries Poral, you can be confiden ha hese e-resources have been seleced according o rigorous sandards. No all online resources are creaed equal, and for an e-resource o be acquired for he poral, Harvard librarians carefully evaluae wheher i is published by a repuable vendor, is updaed frequenly, and is relaively easy o navigae and search, and wheher he daabase conen is significanly valuable relaive o is cos. I s sill up o you, however, o deermine he appropriaeness of a given source for your specific essay. All sources prin and elecronic should be held o he same sandards. You need o deermine he qualificaions of he auhor, he purpose and scope of he source (ha is, in wha conex i s been wrien, and is breadh of informaion), and he currency and reliabiliy of he source. Alhough he quesions you ask o evaluae elecronic sources are very similar o hose you ask of prin sources, he way you find he answers can be quie differen. Ask yourself: b Who is he auhor of he source? Wha are he auhor s qualificaions? If you are going o rely on he experise offered by an auhor, i s always imporan o know ha auhor s credenials. Has he auhor published oher books on he subjec? Wha is he auhor s academic or insiuional affiliaion? When using an elecronic daabase o locae references o journal aricles, you should be easily able o idenify he auhor of a journal aricle in he ciaion record. Mos ofen he auhor s insiuional affiliaion will be lised on he ciaion as well. If here isn any informaion abou he auhor on he daabase, you can usually find i by looking a he journal aricle iself. For example, if you were wriing a paper abou Marfan syndrome for your Life Sciences 1b class, you migh urn up he following aricle from a search in he daabase Academic Search Premier (see below). By scrolling down o he caegory auhor affiliaions, you would learn ha boh auhors are affiliaed wih he medical school a Johns Hopkins Universiy. Click on he journal ile o find ou more abou his source (see box below). The absrac ells you wha he aricle is abou. This field ells you wih wha insiuion he auhors are affiliaed. 28 Wriing wih Inerne Sources Wriing wih Inerne Sources 29

17 Evaluaing Elecronic Sources b Wha is he purpose and scope of he source? Where was i originally published? Peer-Reviewed Journals Once you have locaed a source, consider is purpose and scope: for whom is he aricle or sie inended? In wha conex was he aricle wrien is he auhor engaging in a paricular scholarly conversaion, for example? Does he auhor cie oher major works on or daa abou he opic or is his a personal response o an issue or ex? If you waned o gain background informaion on his opic, would looking a his aricle be enough, or would you need o consul oher sources? Quesions like hese will help you deermine wheher and how o use a source. Many aricles are accompanied, eiher in he daabase lising or in he original journal appearance, by an absrac a shor summary of he aricle s main ideas. Reading he absrac, he aricle s inroducion, or boh, helps deermine wheher he aricle will be relevan o your projec. If you re no sure in which kind of publicaion your source originally appeared, click on he ile of he publicaion o find ou. For example, when you click on Lance, you will discover ha his is a medical journal, which suggess ha i is a reliable source. b How curren and reliable is he source? As wih prin sources, i s always imporan o deermine he reliabiliy of an elecronic source. Reliabiliy is linked o he qualiy of he publicaion in which a source appears, o he auhor s qualificaions, and o he currency of he research being offered (ha is, how recen and up-o-dae he informaion is). Always check o see if a journal aricle has been peer reviewed. Clicking on he journal ile ofen leads o a page ha includes informaion abou is ediorial procedure and he frequency of publicaion. Since Lance is peerreviewed and published 52 imes a year, is reliabiliy and currency make i a desirable source. When searching for journal aricles, i s bes o find aricles ha have been veed by scholars in he field. Ediors of refereed or peer-reviewed journals send prospecive manuscrips o scholars who specialize in he opics covered, and hese scholars criique he manuscrips wihou knowing he ideniy of he auhor. If an auhor has made claims ha are unsubsaniaed or considered problemaic by his or her peers, he manuscrip may no be published; if, on he oher hand, he manuscrip is deemed rigorous in is argumen, i will be published. The review process is meiculous and dispassionae (since he reviewers don know whose manuscrip hey re reading, hey can play favories). By conras, journals ha are no refereed publish manuscrips ha have been reviewed only by an edior or ediorial collecive, and hese manuscrips are no reviewed anonymously. In prin sources, informaion abou he ediorial process is usually available near he fron maer of he journal; in elecronic sources, clicking on he journal ile will usually lead o a page oulining he ediorial procedures. 30 Wriing wih Inerne Sources Wriing wih Inerne Sources 31

18 Evaluaing Elecronic Sources Evaluaing Elecronic Sources Found hrough Popular Web Search Engines A lhough you should always consider beginning your research by using e-resources available hrough he Harvard Libraries Poral, here may be imes when you will wan o use popular web search engines like Google. These search engines should be held o he same rigorous sandards used by Harvard s librarians when hey ve sources. Because web sources can be creaed by anyone and herefore are riskier in erms of heir credibiliy and auhoriy, hey should always be evaluaed according o he following crieria. Ask yourself he following quesions: If, for example, you performed a Google search on he opic of Marfan syndrome, he more han one million resuls would conain a mix of reliable and unreliable sources from a variey of commercial, non-profi, governmen, and educaional websies: b Who is he auhor of his sie? As wih any source, i s imporan o idenify he auhor of a websie and o become familiar wih he auhor s qualificaions. Be skepical of any web page ha does no idenify an auhor or invies you o conac an unnamed Webmaser. If you are o depend on his websie as a source of informaion, you need o deermine he auhor s credenials as well as he purpose and raionale for posing his websie. For example, a websie creaed o serve a paricular viewpoin, or o make a moneary profi, migh skew informaion for he auhor s own ends so consider, oo, he publishing body of he web page: he place or server on which he documen resides (or from which i originaes). If his informaion is no readily apparen, ry backing up several direcory levels (deleing from he righ side of he URL). Is he web documen linked o a federal agency (.gov), a non-profi sie (.org), an educaional insiuion (.edu), a business (.com)? For any sie you chose o use, you d need o ask yourself: is he organizaion a known, reliable, and suiable sie for he documen a research cener, for example, a college or universiy, a governmen office? When in doub, ry some web searches (by organizaion name), or consul oher online and prin ools (which a librarian can recommend). 32 Wriing wih Inerne Sources Wriing wih Inerne Sources 33

19 Evaluaing Elecronic Sources b How accurae and objecive is his sie? If you are going o cie informaion found on a websie, i s imporan o know wheher you can rus he accuracy of he facs (i.e., he hard daa) under discussion in a paricular documen. Firs, deermine if he facual informaion on a websie can be corroboraed elsewhere hrough a reference o or ciaion of a clearly reliable source, for example. A websie wih daa ha canno be confirmed should never be rused, no maer how perfec i migh seem for your purposes. Compare, for insance, he informaion provided on Wikipedia versus he Naional Marfan Foundaion websie. Wikipedia migh seem scholarly and educaional, since i describes iself as a free encyclopedia. Below is Wikipedia s enry for Marfan syndrome: I s also imporan o undersand he websie s poin of view or bias. How clear are is purposes? Does he language used on his sie sugges a specific ideology or social or poliical agenda? Advocacy for a paricular cause is no in iself a bad hing; when he slan of a sie is decepive or exreme, however, you should rejec i as a legiimae research resource. If adverising appears on a web page, ry o deermine he exen o which i may be influencing informaional conen: is i clear where he boundary is beween he adverising and informaional conen, for example? Does he daa seem manipulaed o serve he ads, or are he ads simply used o fund he sie? Sies ha have academic or educaional conen are ofen non-profi sies and generally follow cerain rules. Scholarship relies upon conex and usually builds on preceden, so ask yourself: Do you have he sense ha he auhor is posiioning himself or herself wihin an ongoing and serious discussion? Does he sie demonsrae knowledge of relaed research and does he auhor cie curren and reliable sources? If foonoes, bibliographies, and hyperex links are used, do hey add auhoriy, credibiliy, or deph o he argumen or only seem o do so? Alhough Wikipedia offers considerable coverage of opics and muliple hyperlinks o oher relevan maerial on he Web, users mus be exremely cauious in employing Wikipedia as a research ool. As is own disclaimer saes, informaion on Wikipedia is conribued by anyone who wans o pos maerial. Users may be reading informaion ha is oudaed or even, according o he sie s adminisraors, vandalized or alered by someone whose opinion does no correspond wih he sae of knowledge in he relevan fields. Some informaion on Wikipedia may well be accurae, bu because expers do no review he sie s enries, here is a considerable risk in relying on his source for your essays. 34 Wriing wih Inerne Sources Wriing wih Inerne Sources 35

20 Evaluaing Elecronic Sources A more reliable source may be, for example, he sie for he Naional Marfan Foundaion. Alhough he sie s auhors are careful no o represen heir sie as offering medical diagnoses, he source assembles aricles wih clearly indicaed auhorship and daes of publicaion. Furhermore, he sie clearly saes who ves is informaion for publicaion: b Wha is he currency and coverage? Finally, since informaion on he web is so easily posed, i s especially imporan o make sure ha he sources you consul are imely. Ask yourself: Is he creaion dae of he documen (or of is mos recen revision) unambiguously presen? Is he informaion up-o-dae or are he resources oudaed? Age is relaive on he web: cerain documens are imeless heir value is deermined compleely by heir place in he hisorical record, and a documen ha is hree or four years old can sill be imely in cerain disciplines. In fields where knowledge develops rapidly (e.g., he sciences) or daa is expeced o change (e.g., saisics), however, currency is more criical. As always, if you have quesions, ask your insrucor or a librarian, who may have a more comprehensive and informed perspecive on he currency of paricular scholarly conversaions and research rends. 36 Wriing wih Inerne Sources Wriing wih Inerne Sources 37

21 ) Incorporaing Elecronic Sources ino Your Wriing Working wih sources found on he Inerne requires he same rigorous sandards of academic honesy used wih prin sources. W orking wih sources found on he Inerne requires he same rigorous sandards of academic honesy used wih prin sources. When using any source, i s criical ha you give credi for boh ideas and language ha aren your own, and ha you help your readers locae he sources you ve used in case hey wish o make reference o hem. There are some paricular issues o which you ll need o aend when working wih elecronic sources, however, and his secion of Wriing wih Inerne Sources offers sraegies for how o incorporae elecronic sources responsibly ino your wriing. 38 Wriing wih Inerne Sources Wriing wih Inerne Sources 39

22 Incorporaing Elecronic Sourcesino Your Wriing Principles for Using Elecronic Sources W hile he Inerne offers new opporuniies for research, i also presens new challenges for scholars seeking o incorporae informaion found online ino heir wriing. When working wih elecronic sources, remember o: b Keep rack of source locaions b Respec auhors ownership over heir ideas Beware of he assumpion ha sources found on he Inerne belong o everyone simply because he Inerne is so prevalen and so inangible (i.e., no a ex ha one acually holds). All sources are auhored by someone, and prevalence is no he same hing as common knowledge. Much of he informaion on he Inerne is copyrighed and is hus he inellecual propery of hose who wroe or creaed i. Make sure you credi any source you use wheher you ve been influenced by he ideas of anoher wrier or are using specific language aken from a source. Common Knowledge Common knowledge is informaion sandard wihin a field of sudy, such as major hisorical facs or daes. Even if you have o look up he dae of he Norman Conques, for example (1066 A.D.), because ha informaion is easily found wihin a number of sources i couns as common knowledge. Inerpreaion of commonly known facs (an analysis of he effecs of he Norman Conques, e.g.) or specialized informaion (he number of horses in he Norman cavalry a he Bale of Hasings, e.g.) mus be cied if aken from a source. See Using Sources Responsibly, on page 6, for a more deailed explanaion of wha does and does no coun as common knowledge. Keep rack of each websie you visi by logging he web addresses (URLs) in a separae documen from he one you re wriing. To do so, bookmark he pages you re using, pu each one ino a file wih an accurae name, and hen expor hose files ino a folder ha you updae as you work. This is a sound research habi in general, bu is especially imporan if you use several compuers or if you share compuers. You (and your readers) need o know how o reurn o any websie ha you ve used. b Keep rack of ever-changing sources Because elecronic sources aren sable and web pages can be alered or deleed wihou noice, beware of direcing your readers o sources ha can be ever-changing. Check when he websie you re using was las updaed, and updae he URLs as you work and once again righ before you submi your essay. If an elecronic source disappears before you submi your work, you may need o drop ha source from your essay. b Keep sources in correc conex I s easier o ake informaion ou of conex when researching on he Inerne han when working wih prin maerials: you may see one web page as separae from an enire websie and use or inerpre ha page wihou fully undersanding or represening is conex. For example, a definiion of communism aken from a websie wih a paricular poliical agenda migh provide one ake on he meaning of he word bu if you neglec o menion he conex for ha definiion you migh use i as hough i s unbiased when i isn. Likewise, some Inerne searches will ake you o a URL ha s jus one web page wihin a larger websie: be sure o invesigae and ake noes on he conex of he informaion you re ciing. 40 Wriing wih Inerne Sources Wriing wih Inerne Sources 41