Documentation

1. Documentation Bridget draxler, cac, 2012

2. Supporting Materials • Supporting materials provide your research with: • CLARITY • VIVIDNESS • CREDIBILITY • Types of supporting materials include: • EXAMPLES • NARRATION • COMPARISON • CONTRAST • STATISTICS • TESTIMONY Froemling, Grice, and Skinner, pp. 268-73

3. Finding Resources Find a resource guide on databases for your discipline, search on the HewesLibrary website: http://library.monmouthcollege.edu/guides Find books on in the Hewes Library catalog, the iShare catalog, or WorldCat: http://library.monmouthcollege.edu/content.php?pid=236774&sid=1965467 Search on Google Scholar: http://scholar.google.com/ Ask your professor or a reference librarian about where to find relevant sources.

4. Keyword Searches • Refine your keyword search with these tips: • Put quotation marks around phrases • Use NOT, AND, and OR to mark relationships between terms • Use an asterisk [*] to substitute for letters that may vary • Use parenthesis to group concepts • Use an Advanced Search option, where you can sometimes limit your search to refereed or peer-reviewed journals Hacker and Sommers, pp. 449, 68

5. Primary Research • If appropriate, conduct field research: • Interviewing • Surveying opinion • Visiting and observing • Contacting organizations Hacker and Sommers, pp. 460-62

6. Evaluating Resources Is the evidence quoted in context? Is the source of the evidence an expert? Is the source of the evidence unbiased? Is the evidence relevant to the point being made? Is the evidence specific? Is the evidence sufficient to prove the point? Is the evidence timely? Froemling, Grice, and Skinner, pp. 274-76

7. Evaluating Web Resources • Does the site include references or documentation? • Does the site list authors, directors, or editors? Is it refereed? • Look at the URL: • Is the site commercial (.com, .net), educational (.edu), nonprofit (.org), or governmental (.gov)? • Does the URL have a tilde [~] in it, signaling authorship by an unaffiliated individual? • Does advertising appear on the site? • Does a commercial entity sponsor the site? • Does the site include a date when it was last updated? • Are all the links on the site live? • Is the information up-to-date? • Does the site provide in-depth coverage? • Does the site provide information that is unavailable elsewhere? • Who is the intended audience for this site? • Does the site suit your needs? Kirszner and Mandell, pp. 231-37

8. Using Sources in a Paper Summary Paraphrase Direct Quotation

9. Summary A summary gives the main idea of a passage. Use summary when: you want to give readers a general sense of a resource’s position or an issue. When summarizing, use your own words, not the author’s. Always include in-text citation. Kirszner and Mandell, pp. 250-51

10. Paraphrase A paraphrase presents the source’s ideas in detail, including main ideas, key points, and examples. Use paraphrase when: you want readers to understand a source’s specific position. When paraphrasing, use your own words, not the author’s. Your style and structure should be different. Always include in-text citation. Kirszner and Mandell, pp. 251-53

11. Direct Quotation A direct quotations repeats the author’s exact words, identifying them with quotation marks. Use direct quotation when: the source’s words are distinct/memorable, direct/concise, or authoritative/credible. Avoid quoting out of context, which can distort the source’s meaning. Always include in-text citation. Kirszner and Mandell, pp. 254-55

12. Avoid Plagiarism Take good notes, or organize your resources with a program like Zotero. Consult the plagiarism guide in the Bedford Handbook, pp. 486-87. Visit the Writing Center or ask your professor for help. When in doubt, cite.

13. Integrating Sources into your Argument Identifying Tags Synthesizing Sources

14. Identifying Tags Begin with an identifying tag that introduces the quotation • Vary your verbs to signal the type of argument • notes, acknowledges, proposes, suggests, believes, observes, explains, comments, warns, reports, points out, predicts, implies, concludes • Identify the author’s authority Dr. X Pert, Professor of Everything at University College, observes that “kids are smarter these days about using identifying tags” (Pert 15). Kirszner and Mandell, pp. 259-60

15. Synthesizing Sources After each quotation, include a synthesis that combines the source material with your own ideas to support an original conclusion • Identify similarities and differences between the source and your argument • also, alike, similarly; however, in contrast • Explain how the source supports your argument, or refute a claim that opposes your own Pert’s argument applies to Monmouth College where, as I have argued, students have improved their documentation skills. Kirszner and Mandell, pp. 261-62

16. In-text citation & Works Cited page For each source you quote, you will include an in-text citation: paranthetical information at the end of the sentence with the author’s name, the page referenced, and/or the year the source was published. You will also include a Works Cited page that includes more detailed information, including the publisher, place of publication, full title, etc. Whatever citation style you use, you’ll always need both in-text citation and a works cited page.

17. Citation Styles MLA: Bedford Handbook, pp. 491-620 APA: Bedford Handbook, pp. 621-684 Chicago: Bedford Handbook, pp. 685-726 http://owl.english.purdue.edu/

18. Works Cited Froemling, Kristen K., George L. Grice, and John F. Skinner. Communication: The Handbook. Boston: Allyn & Bacon, 2011. Laurie G. Kirszner and Stephen R. Mandell. Practical Argument: A Text and Anthology. Boston and New York: Bedford/St. Martin’s, 2011. Hacker, Diana and Nancy Sommers. The Bedford Handbook. Eighth edition. Boston and New York: Bedford/St. Martin’s, 2010.