Writing 121

Instructor: Charlie Sieracki, csierack@pcc.edu
Librarian: Robin Shapiro
Term: Spring, 2009

Writing about a process, for better or worse

Begin with an article: mine is from the New York Times, April 10 2009, and is titled Free-Range Trichinosis

Process: switching from conventional to free-range livestock management.

Building your knowledge base

 

Think about the topic

What does free-range mean?

What advantages or disadvantages would I expect?

What other methods of livestock management are used?

Write down related ideas; see if they connect together in logical ways.

Definitions and related terms

American Heritage Dictionary

  1. Search | free-range

 

Kartoo visual search engine: tag cloud and annotations

  1. Search | free-range pork
  2. Search | pork production
 
Background, context, related concepts
  • World Book Encyclopedia : Click on the right: Databases by Title
  • Search | livestock production
  • Search | free-range

Wikipedia

Search | free range

Search | intensive pig farming

  • Check "History" and "Discussion" tabs
  • Ask: Does this pass the "sniff test" for reliability?

 

 

From concept to research topic

  1. What is important or interesting about the concept to you?
  2. What aspects of the concept do you want to focus on?

 

Into the flow of information

 
Articles published in magazines and newspapers:
  • EBSCOhost: click on several databases at once. Click on the right: Databases by Title
  • New York Times: national (U.S.) news
  • LexisNexis Academic Universe: Newspapers, magazines, and broadcast transcripts from many countries.
 
Positional Essays:

Opposing Viewpoints books: PCC Library Catalog

  • Keyword Search | agriculture

Opposing Viewpoints viewpoint essays: Click on right, Databases by Topic

 
Connections between sources:
  • Authors of articles in online encyclopedias = possible articles in databases
  • Affiliation of authors = websites? For example, organizations, political parties, associations
  • "Selective" lists of websites in Opposing Viewpoints and CQ Researcher articles
  • 'Studies' mentioned in magazine articles = research reports

 

Capture citations: options

  • Send MLA-formatted citation along with the article's full text
  • Copy/Paste citation given at the end of the article
  • Export citation to RefWorks for formal bibliography

 

Evaluation

  • "Validity" of sources= Identifiable authorship; edited and published; objective (or research based)
  • "Relevance" = context; scope; perspective. That is, is this source right for what you need?
  • "Purpose" = What does the author want you to do?

This page was created for a specific class. Visit Research to see all library-created subject guides and research tools.

 

Related:
Class Pages, Subject Guides A to Z