Research (4th)

Researching for Information

Where can you find sources of information for schoolwork?

Media Center• Reference Books

– Encyclopedias– Non-fiction

Internet• Websites

– Search Engines– Destiny– Reference Sites– Fact Sites

Encyclopedias can give you factual information for just about any subject.

Encyclopedias usually come in sets, but they don’t have to.

Encyclopedias

Some encyclopedias are specialized and give you information about just one subject.

Encyclopedia Sets

These types of encyclopedias

contain information about a large number of subjects including

people, places, animals, and things.

Specialized Encyclopedias

REF 973 RUB

Use this referencebook to find out about

U.S. Presidents and their lives.

How to Use an Encyclopedia

Use the guidewords at the top of the page to locate the subject you are looking for.

Words are in alphabetical order like in a dictionary.

For Specialized Encyclopedias…

Use the table of contents to find what you are looking for and then turn to that page.

Other Useful Reference Books

Where can you find reference materials in the Media Center?

Remember, you cannot check out books from this

section. You can use these books while you are in the

Media Center, though.

Non-fiction books can provide great factual information in an entertaining way.

You can check these types of books out of the Media Center.

Non-fiction

Non-fiction

You can find non-fiction

books about the Revolutionary

War in the 900’s of the non-

fiction section.

The Internet has an abundant of information about many things.

Internet Resources

To narrow down your search for information, use a search engine.

Search EnginesA search engine is a special tool for web pages that will help you find information for projects that you might do at school or just to find information for fun.

Search Engines

You will want to use one that helps you find information easily and leads you to find information that you can understand.

It’s important to use more than one search engine because each one will bring up different results.

Kid-Friendly Search EnginesKid-friendly search engines are the best to use to search for some information for schoolwork.

Where else can you find information?

You can also search the Media Center’s online book catalog for books and websites that are related to what you are researching.

On-line Reference Sites

Encyclopedia Britannica Online

KidsKonnect.com Internet Public Library For Kids

Kids Port Reference Library Fact Monster

Can You Use It?

Once you find a site that has information you are looking for, you need to determine if the site is good to use or not.

This is called evaluating a website.

Evaluating WebsitesThere are several things to look at on a website to determine if you can use it forschoolwork.

• Author

• Audience

• Content

• Currency

Author• Is the author’s name clear?

• What makes the author an expert?

• What is the author’s educational background?

• Can you contact the author?

Audience

• Is the text easy to read?

• Can you understand the information it gives?

• Does it look interesting?

• Is it easy to move around the site? (this is called navigation)

Content• How is the spelling and grammar of the

website or web page?

• Is there useful information for students?

• Is the site trying to persuade you to think or believe a certain way?

• Is the site based on fact?

Currency

• Can you find the date the site was created?

• When was the site last updated?

• Do all of the links work?

Let’s Try ItLet’s look at a website and evaluate it using the four things we talked about.

You can refer to your research page for help.

Save the Pacific Northwest

Tree Octopus

Have you ever seen this symbol before?

You can see the © symbol on things you find in your classroom, in your home, at the store, or just about anywhere!

©

©

©

©

©

Do you know what this symbol means?

© means Copyright.

Copyright is a law that protects things people make by making it against the law for anyone else to copy that work or use it on their own without permission of the author.

Understanding Copyright protects things people make or ideas people come up with such as:

• words• photographs• paintings

• songs on the radio• designs on clothing• symbols of companies

What’s the difference between © and ™ and ®?

A © protects things that are written down or recorded with sound and/or video. It has to do with art and books.

A ™ has to do with a word, a name, a symbol or an invention that helps provide a good or a service. It is used so that others won’t confuse a word, name, symbol or device with words, names, symbols or devices that are almost exactly the same.

A ® is a registered trademark that cannot be copied. A ® is good for 10 years.

What if I need to use something that has a © for school?

You can use small amounts of text (words) and individual images (pictures) for your schoolwork, as long as you tell where you got them from.

How can I use ©ed information correctly?

If you want to use some information that you find for school work, you should first read the information and then retell the information in your own way.

Think of it like telling a friend about something you saw on tv or read in a book. You wouldn’t tell them word for word everything you saw or read. You would give them a summary of what you saw and read.

What if I find some information that is just perfect the way it is?

Can I copy it exactly as I see it or do I have to put it in my own words?

If you find some information that you want to use word for word you canquote the author by putting quotation marks around what you are using as long as you are using only a small portion, not the entire piece of information.

“ ”

How would that look?

Ferb, I know what we're going to do today!

(Phineas of Phineas and Ferb)

First copy what you want to say.Next, put quotation marks around it.Finally give credit to the author who said it by putting their name after the quote.

“ ”

What if I want to use a ©ed picture for schoolwork?

If you make a copy or print a copy of a picture from the Internet or a book, you should write somewhere near or on the picture where you got the picture.

Picture from Microsoft Clip Art Gallery

Picture from www.mypanda.com

What happens if I don’t tell where I got my information?

Copying someone else’s creative work for schoolwork without telling where you got it from is considered plagiarism.

It’s okay to use information from books and websites as long as you give credit to the person who wrote the information you use.

What is plagiarism?Plagiarism is a form of cheating similar to copying answers on a test.

Just like it is wrong to copy someone’s answers on a test, it’s just as wrong to take credit for someone else’s ideas at school, whether in words, or a picture, and no matter whether you copy the ideas exactly or change them a little.

How to Avoid PlagiarismAll you have to do is credit your sources.That means telling where you got the facts and ideas you use in a project or report.

This is called citing your sources.

For most school assignments, you will create a bibliography for the end of your project.

This is simply a list of the sources you used and information about those sources that you will give to your teacher.

Pictures used with permission by the author.

Here’s how to make a bibliography.

For books:

Baker, Lucy, The Secret Life of Bears, New York, Scholastic, Inc., 1990

For encyclopedias:

“Bears,” The World Book Encyclopedia, 1982, vol. 2, pages 25-36

For websites:

“Brown Bears” http://www.brownbears.com/about.htm

What are the © rules for using something besides for school?

The rules are different if you are not using the information for school. You can’t copy whatever you want to use however you want whenever you want.

If you want to use something someone else has made and it’s not for schoolwork, especially if you want to use it in something you sell, you must get the author’s permission to do so.

What does all this mean?

If you use somebody else’s work, whether it is for school or for fun, you should ALWAYS give the author credit for making it by telling who the author is and where you found it.

Wouldn’t you want others to do the same for you?

So get started researching!

The information contained in this PowerPoint orginally came from CyberSmart.

http://www.cybersmartcurriculum.org/home/

CyberSmart is now a part of Common Sense Media. You can find the free curriculum on Common Sense Media now.

http://www.commonsensemedia.org/

The clipart in this PowerPoint comes from Microsoft Clipart Gallery.

http://office.microsoft.com/en-us/clipart/default.aspx

References

References

“Copyright Kids” http://www.copyrightkids.org/,1/12/09

“Cyberethics for Kids” http://www.cybercrime.gov/rules/kidinternet.htm , 1/12/09

“CyberSmart” http://www.cybersmart.org/,1/12/09

“Copyright with Cyberbee” http://www.cyberbee.com/cb_copyright.swf , 1/12/09

References

http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3054/2651672786_36f5095ea7.jpg , 2/2/10

http://farm2.static.flickr.com/1189/545609749_06b89dd26d.jpg , 2/2/10

http://farm3.static.flickr.com/2106/3825436661_592c2859b1.jpg , 2/2/10

“Science Fair Central” http://school.discoveryeducation.com/sciencefaircentral/, 1/12/09

“Website Evaluation” http://www.marilynarnone.com/Website%20Investigator%20Tool.pdf, 1/12/09

References