10 Pieces of Advice to Freshman about Research

1. Google is your best friend.
2. Academic Search Complete is your second best friend.
3. Don’t plagiarize, but if you do do it well.
4. If you get sources make sure its from reliable people.
5. Field searching, its pretty good.
6. “Ands” and “Ors” are very important
7. When you dont know if you should cite something, cite it anyway
8. Journals will normally be the best type of source you can get
9. Use controlled vocabulary.
10. If you want to use an old essay, it better be damn good.

1) If you are searching for a term, make sure you use quotation marks. If not, the search engine will give you results for both words separately.

2) Make sure to use the Boolean search terms correctly (and, or, not).

3) Always find background information before coming up with a research question.

4) Wikipedia should not be looked down upon, you may use it in order to find the background reasearch.

5) Plagiarism is very big and you must always make sure to cite properly and give just credit to the author.

6) Make sure to look over the authority of the author to make sure that they have some knowledge in the field they are writing about.

7) It is important to identify how you will use certain sources. This can be done through the BEAM model (Background, Exhibit, Argument, Method).

8) The Baruch Bearcat Search allows you to search multiple databases at the same time in order to find information.

9) There are many private databases but there are also numerous public databases, like WolframAlpha, that is open for everyone without monthly fees.

10) Scholarly journal articles should be peer reviewed. A hint to know whether an article is peer reviewed or not is its length; 5 pages or more and it is probably peer reviewed.

In light of today’s class discussion about whether or not it was right for a student to submit a previously written paper in another class, I thought I’d note that Baruch’s academic honesty policy forbids this practice:

Cheating is the attempted or unauthorized use of materials, information, notes, study aids, devices or communication during an academic exercise. Examples include:

• Copying from another student during an examination or allowing another to copy your work.
• Unauthorized collaborating on a take home assignment or examination.
• Using unauthorized notes during a closed book examination.
• Taking an examination for another student.
• Asking or allowing another student to take an examination for you.
• Changing a corrected exam and returning it for more credit.
• Submitting substantial portions of the same paper to two classes without consulting the second instructor.
• Preparing answers or writing notes in a blue book (exam booklet) before an examination.
• Allowing others to research and write assigned papers including the use of commercial term paper services.

Read the full academic honesty policy here.

Baruch College. “Academic Honesty.” Baruch College. Baruch College, 2002. Web. 6 Dec. 2010.

Here is how I did the MLA citations for the classroom activity yesterday:

1. This book by Lawrence Lessig

Lessig, Lawrence. Free Culture: How Big Media Uses Technology and the Law to Lock Down Culture and Control Creativity. New York: Penguin Press, 2004. Print.

2. This article from a database

Yardi, Sarita, and Danah Boyd. “Dynamic Debates: An Analysis of Group Polarization Over Time on Twitter.” Bulletin of Science, Technology & Society 30.5 (2010): 316-327. Academic Search Complete. EBSCO. Web. 30 Nov. 2010.

3. This article from an open access journal

Boyd, Danah M. and Nicole B. Ellison. “Social Network Sites: Definition, History, and Scholarship.” Journal of Computer Mediated Communication 13.1 (2007): n. pag. Web. 30 Nov. 2010.

4. This video on YouTube

NewYorkPublicLibrary. The New York World’s Fair, 1939-40 – Treasures of The New York Public Library. 1 Oct. 2008. YouTube. Web. 30 Nov. 2010.

5. This page from the Facebook website

Facebook. “Facebook’s Privacy Policy.” Facebook. Facebook, 5 Oct. 2010. Web. 30 Nov. 2010.

6. This newspaper article

Sisario, Ben. “U.S. Shuts Down Web Sites in Piracy Crackdown.” New York Times. New York Times, 26 Nov. 2010. Web. 30 Nov. 2010.

1. Lessig, Lawrence. Free culture : how big media uses technology and the law to lock down culture and control creativity. New York : Penguin Press, 2004. Print.
2. Yardi, Sarita, and Danah Boyd. “Dynamic Debates: An Analysis of Group Polarization Over Time on Twitter.” Bulletin of Science, Technology & Society 30.5 (2010): 316-327. Academic Search Complete. EBSCO. Web. 29 Nov. 2010.
3. Boyd, D.M., and N.B. Ellison. “Social network sites: Definition, history, and scholarship.” Journal of Computer-Mediated Communication 13.1 (2007): Article 11. Web. Accessed Nov. 29, 2010
4. “The New York World’s Fair, 1939-40 – Treasures of The New York Public Library”. YouTube.com. 01 October 2008. NewYorkPublicLibrary. Accessed Nov. 29, 2010                <http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TUAHKy3QlLc>
5. Facebook, “Facebook’s Priacvy Policy.” Facebook. 5 Oct. 2010. Web. Accessed 29 Nov. 2010. < http://www.facebook.com/policy.php>

Lessig, Lawrence. Free Culture: How Big Media Uses Technology and the Law to Lock Down Culture and Control Creativity. New York: Penguin Press, 2004. Print.

Yardi, Sarita, and Danah Boyd. “Dynamic Debates: An Analysis of Group Polarization Over Time on Twitter.” Bulletin of Science, Technology & Society 30.5 (2010): 316-327. Academic Search Complete. EBSCO. Web. 29 Nov. 2010.

Boyd, Danah M., and Nicole B. Ellison. “Social Network Sites: Definition, History, and Scholarship.” Journal of Computer-Mediated Communication 13.1 (2007). Web. 29 Nov. 2010.

The New York World’s Fair, 1939-40 – Treasures of The New York Public Library. 01 October 2008. Youtube. Web. 29 November 2010.

Facebook. “Facebook’s Privacy Policy.” Facebook.com. October 5, 2010.  Facebook. 29 November 2010. <http://www.facebook.com/policy.php>.

Sisario, Ben. “U.S. Shuts Down Web Sites in Piracy Crackdown.” The New York Times. 26 November 2010. Web. 29 November 2010.

Lessig, Lawrence. Free Culture: How Big Media Uses Technology and the Law to Lock Down Culture and Control Creativity. New York: Penguin Press, 2004. Print.

Yardi, Sarita, and Danah Boyd. “Dynamic Debates: An Analysis of Group Polarization Over Time on Twitter.” Bulletin of Science, Technology & Society 30.5 (2010): 316-327. Academic Search Complete. EBSCO. Web. 29 Nov. 2010.

Boyd, Danah M., and Nicole B. Ellison. “Social Network Sites: Definition, History, and Scholarship.” Journal of Computer-Mediated Communication (2007). Web. 29 Nov. 2010.

 Treasures of The New York Public Library “The New York World’s Fair, 1939-40 – Treasures of The New York Public Library” video. 1 Oct,2008. Youtube. 29 Nov, 2010.

Facebook. “Facebook privacy policy” Facebook.com 5. Oct 2010 Web.

1. Lessig, Lawrence. Free Culture: How Big Media Uses Technology and the Law to Lock Down Culture and Control Creativity. New York: Penguin Press, 2004. Print.

2. Yardi, Sarita, and Danah Boyd. “Dynamic Debates: An Analysis of Group Polarization Over Time on Twitter.” Bulletin of Science, Technology & Society 30.5 (2010): 316-327. Academic Search Complete. EBSCO. Web. 29 Nov. 2010.

3. Boyd, Danah , and Nicole B. Ellison. “Social Network Sites: Definition, History, and Scholarship.” Journal of Computer-Mediated Communication. 13.1 (2007): 210-230. Print.

4. The New York World’s Fair, 1939-40 – Treasures of The New York Public Library. 5 October 2008. YouTube. Web. 29 November 2010.

5.

6. Sisario, Ben. “U.S. Shuts Down Web Sites in Piracy Crackdown.” The New York Times 26 Nov. 2010. Web. 29 Nov. 2010.

(more…)

Lessig, Lawrence. Free Culture: How Big Media Uses Technology and the Law to Lock Down Culture and Control Creativity. New York: Penguin Press, 2004. Print.

Yardi, Sarita, and Danah Boyd. “Dynamic Debates: An Analysis of Group Polarization Over Time on Twitter.” Bulletin of Science, Technology & Society. 30.5 (2010): 316-327. Academic Search Complete. Web. 29 Nov. 2010.

Boyd, Danah. M., Nicole B. Ellison. “Social Network Sites: Definition, History, and Scholarship.” Journal of Computer-Mediated Communication, 13(1), article 11. Web. 29 Nov. 2010.

NewYorkPublicLibrary. The New York World’s Fair, 1939-40 – Treasures of the New York Public Library. Narr. NewYorkPublicLibrary. YouTube.com, 2008. Web. 29 Nov. 2010.

Facebook.com. “Facebook’s Privacy Policy.” Facebook.com. Ed. Facebook.com. Facebook.com, 5 Oct. 2010. Web. 29 Nov. 2010.

Sisario, Ben. “U.S. Shuts Down Web Sites in Piracy Crackdown.” New York Times. 26 Nov. 2010. Web. 29 Nov. 2010.

Lessig, Lawrence. Free Culture: How Big Media Uses Technology and the Law to Lock Down Culture and Control Creativity. New York: Penguin Press, 2004. Print.

Yardi, Sarita, and Danah Boyd. “Dynamic Debates: An Analysis of Group Polarization Over Time on Twitter.” Bulletin of Science, Technology & Society 30.5 (2010): 316-327. Academic Search Complete. EBSCO. Web. 29 Nov. 2010.

 Boyd, Danah , and Nicole B. Ellison. “Social Network Sites: Definition, History, and Scholarship.” Journal of Computer-Mediated Communication. 13.1 (2007): 210-230. Print.

NewYorkPublicLibrary. The New York World’s Fair, 1939-40 – Treasures of the New York Public Library. 1 Oct. 2008. Youtube. Web. 29 Nov. 2010.

Facebook. “Facebook’s Privacy Policy.” Facebook.com. Facebook. 5 Oct. 2010. Web. 29 Nov. 2010.

Sisario, Ben. “U.S. Shuts down Web Sites in Piracy Crackdown.” The New York Times 26 Nov. 2010: B2. Web. 29 Nov. 2010.