Review assignment details.
Discuss strategies for developing a research topic
Discuss credibility and authority of information.
Learn to distinguish between scholarly and non-scholarly sources
Practice information evaluation skills.
Learn to search for LibrarySearch and Google Scholar for relevant and credible sources.
Learn to generate draft MLA citations using MRU's "Cite It" tool
Review how to get research and citation help after today
Compile an annotated bibliography of relevant research sources with a one-paragraph annotation of each entry in your bibliography. The annotation is a brief summary of the resource that accurately communicates the gist of the workand gives relevant details about it to people doing work on the chosen research topic.
Topics: Your topic should be relevant to the class, in which we research and discuss how online writing and communications, their contexts and genres, function and represent the people who do the writing and those who read it.
Library use is required ... Gather research from academic journal articles using the library’s databases (e.g. Alberta Research Portal, JSTOR, MLA, Academic Search Complete, Project Muse etc.).
Requirements:
1. A 250-word preface outlining your chosen subject or topic of research
2. A minimum of five (5) works cited, with annotations of ~150 words
3. Each work cited must be a different type of resource; for instance, a single authored book, a multi-authored book, a single-authored research paper, a multi-authored research paper, a website, a chapter from an anthology, a multimedia source, etc.
4. Bibliographic entries cited above the annotations in MLA style, in alphabetic order (see
sample entry below)
5. MLA style document formatting throughout.
Red Deer Polytechnic offers some great advice on writing annotated bibliographies and provides an example in MLA Style
Your assignment asks you to discuss something related to the course - so how online writing and communications, their contexts and genres, function and represent the people who do the writing and those who read it.
Examples:
What makes a website distinct from a social media site?
Why do companies post quarterly and annual reports online?
How has journalism changed in the transition from print to digital circulation?
Tips for Finding a Topic
Note. From "On the Internet, nobody knows you're a dog" [Cartoon], by P. Steiner, 1993, Wikimedia (https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/en/f/f8/Internet_dog.jpg).
It is good to find lots of search results, but, in order to use information skilfully, you need to know how to evaluate that information to determine whether a specific resource is appropriate to use in a specific use case (i.e. for a specific assignment). Keep in mind that the more reliable and authoritative your sources are, the more reliable and authoritative your own arguments and assignment will be.
You can use the RADAR method to evaluate information:
Does this source fit my topic?
How relevant is the information to my topic? Look for things that are directly related, rather than sort of related.
What is this source's intended audience? Is that intended audience appropriate for this assignment?
Is/are the creator(s) of this source clearly identified or known to us? Be cautious about information with an unknow author or creator.
How important is it in this particlular to trust the source's creator(s)?
If it is important, why should we trust the source's creator(s)?
Is the source's creator credentialed or an expert in their field?
What is the publication date of the? Is one provided?
Is this source too old? Scientific and medical topics may require very recent research, while older information may be still be relevant to other topics, so consider your topic carefully.
Do this source's facts "check out"? Do other sources align with it?
Does the source have references or citations of its own?
For what purpose do you think this source was this source created?
Was this source made to sell a product or service, to inform/educate, to entertain, to inflame, etc?
Be cautious about sources that seem designed to trigger an emotional response, or sources that seem biased.
A scholarly publication contains articles written by academic experts in a particular field. The primary audience of these articles is other experts.
Many of these publications are also referred to as peer-reviewed, academic, or refereed. They all mean essentially the same thing and refer to the editorial and publication process in which scholars in the same field review the research and findings before the article is published.
|
|
Scholarly / Peer-Reviewed |
|
|
Author |
|
|
|
Review Process |
|
|
|
Audience / |
|
|
|
Content |
|
|
|
Sources |
|
|
| Publisher / host |
|
|
|
Examples |
|
|
What are the author’s credentials? Was it written by an expert?
Was it published in a journal (is there a DOI?)? (If you are not sure if a source is a journal article, you can enter the title of the publication into Ulrichs Web to check.)
Does it include an abstract (short summary of the article) at the beginning? Scholarly articles often do.
Does it includes a reference list of sources that have been cited? Scholarly sources will have lengthy reference lists.
How long is it? Scholarly articles are generally 10-12 pages minimum, and are longer than popular or news articles.
Does it have a "Received" and "Accepted" date on it?
Is it an actual article? Sometimes other types of content are included in scholarly publications, such as editorials/opinion pieces and book reviews. Make sure you are looking at an actual article.
Skim the following resources available through the links provided, keeping in mind the characteristics of scholarliness and credibility that we have discussed in class. Refer to the information provided in this guide about what is a scholarly/academic source. Keep in mind that something can be credible without being scholarly.
You will not have time to read all of the sources - skim quickly and try looking for visual cues.
When searching for academic or scholarly information:
Good search: "social media" online privacy canad*
Poor search: do social media platforms protect online privacy for Canadians
Use the MRU LibrarySearch tool - the search box on the library homepage - to find information in all formats (books, journal articles, videos, magazines) simultaneously.
LibrarySearch Tips:
When viewing an item record, scroll down to the Get it (for hardcopy/physical items) or Access options (for electronic items) section to get access to the item.
Some items may not be available, however, you can request unavailable items using what is called interlibrary loan.
Use intitle: to limit your search to search terms only appearing in the title of a resource
intitle:"climate change"
Use filetype: to specify the type of file you would like to retrieve in your results
filetype:pdf
Use site: to limit your search to specific web domains:
site:.edu
site:.gc.ca
Use source: to limit your search to results from a specific publication:
source:Global Challenges
source:Canadian Journal of Communications
Combine the above operators to power search
intitle:"climate change" source:global environmental change
Use the "cite" feature in most search tools to get you started with most resources (you will need to review and correct the citation).
Cite Sources: Learn the correct way to cite sources by using these guides, tutorials, and videos.
MRU Guide to MLA Style for Academic Work - This is the go-to resource for MLA citation at MRU - read it!
Academic Success Workshops: MLA: An Introduction workshops are 75 minutes long and are offered both in-person and online. Registration is required.
Appointments: Personalized online or in-person 30-minute appointments with a Learning Strategist at Student Learning Services located on the 2nd floor of the Riddell Library & Learning Centre.
Use the Service Desk on the 1st floor of the RLLC for assistance as well as the library chat feature on the library website for quick citation questions.
Ask Alice!
