Media Center

Success Steps to Researching

1. Get Started
   Understand the assignment & its due dates
   Relate prior experience and interests
2. Choose a Topic
   Read about an overview of various topics
   What resources do we have available?
   Does the topic fit?
3. Form a Focus
   Explore your topic
4. Think of your search term, or Keywords
   Words or phrases that should appear in the information you're searching for
   The more keywords you can brainstorm, the better your search
   Multiple keywords can be used in a search
5. Use Boolean operators - AND, OR, NOT
   AND = search for all the keywords together
   OR = search for either of your keywords
   NOT = search for your keywords, but eliminate those that follow NOT
6. Narrow or broaden your focus as needed
   Gather Information
   Formulate a question to guide your research. What are you looking for?
   Find articles, books, newspapers, etc.
   May need to refine your focus
   Organize your notes
   Think about a thesis
7. Prepare to Write
   Finalize your thesis
   Weed out information that doesn't fit
   Research for any holes
   If you're stuck, use the Writing a Research Paper Template
8. Write the Paper
   Prepare Outline (see "Sample Outline")
   Write rough draft
   Cite your sources – don't Plagiarize
   Have others read it
   Revise & PROOFREAD

MLA Format for Research Papers

• Bib Me
• Easy Bib
• Citation Machine
• MLA Formatting & Style Guide - The OWL at Purdue

• Center for Academic Integrity
• Learn About Plagiarism & Academic Dishonesty Flash Game - University of Sydney
• Plagiarism.org
• Students Guide to Preventing & Avoiding Plagiarism

Which Search Engine Should I Choose?

To determine which search engine to use, check out Noodle Tools!

Below is a list of the commonly used search engines:

Copyright Resources

• Click Here to determine if an item is copyrighted
• Copyright & Fair Use Guidelines from Stanford University
• Copyright Lesson Plans
• Information on Copyright in the Classroom from the University of Maryland University College

Professional Organizations

• Michigan Education Association
• National Education Association
• National Council of Teachers of English
• National Council of Teachers of Mathematics
• National Science Teachers Association

Additional Resources

• Atomic Learning
• Discovery Education - streaming (*log in with your Google Account!)
• Teacher Tube