SOURCES:
The Internet is a marvelous place, full of all kinds of information. Unfortunately, not all of the information we might find via a quick Google search is actually valid enough to use in a research paper.
Using the Internet to do Research: Anyone can publish online which means that you must be very selective when culling sources.
- DO NOT use Wikipedia
- Stay away from using blogs as sources–oftentimes there is no way to tell what a blog author’s credibility might be
- Remember, anyone can get a web page. But, .edu and .gov are pages that are reserved only for educational or governmental purposes. This makes those kinds of sites a bit more reliable.
- Use the library! There are tons of databases that you can search! When you use the library’s search engine, you will find much more valid and substantial articles than just using “Google.”
Writing About Images, or “Visual Rhetoric”:
Many of you are working with multiple visual texts (images and/or videos). Keep in mind that you will need to perform close readings of these works, much in the same way you perform close readings of written texts.
