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Organizing and Synthesizing Sources. Sarah Morris UT Libraries Spring 2013. The Research Paper . How do you get from your initial assignment to your final paper? What steps do you take and what tasks do you do? . The Research Process. Organizing Sources.
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Organizing and Synthesizing Sources Sarah Morris UT Libraries Spring 2013
The Research Paper • How do you get from your initial assignment to your final paper? • What steps do you take and what tasks do you do?
Organizing Sources • Organizing your sources is a process called source synthesis • Source synthesis means that you organize your sources and put them together in your paper in order to make an argument.
How do you synthesize sources? • The Main Idea • Identifying the main ideas in your materials can help you organize your sources and use them effectively in your paper • What your source is saying • Identifying key points • Look for abstracts and subject terms • Pull it all together – take notes
Sample Research Topic • What effects do organic foods have on people’s nutrition and overall health? • Look for information on where organic food is sold
Taking Notes: Tips and Tricks • Look for Main Ideas • You can focus on article abstracts and subject terms in databases as starting points • Try to locate the article’s thesis statement • Linkresources together • Look for common themes to connect resources • Create “bins” of terms and ideas to organize your research into useful categories • Remember the paper topic! • Make sure your resources relate back to that topic
Tools and Resources • Evernote – storage and capture tool • https://evernote.com/ • Dropbox – cloud storage and sharing • https://www.dropbox.com/ • Bubble.us – mind mapping • https://bubbl.us/ • Mind42 – mind mapping • http://mind42.com/ • SquareLeaf – note taking • http://squareleaf.net/
Additional Resources • Course Guide: http://goo.gl/SPc35 • Ask a Librarian • http://www.lib.utexas.edu/ask • Undergraduate Writing Center • http://uwc.utexas.edu/