World History
Finding and Evaluating Open Web Sources (updated 10-2019)
Information literacy topics:
Determining best sources
Searching strategies for information
Evaluating sources
Using technology tools
Objective: To learn to find relevant and reliable open web research sources, to evaluate these sources for reliability, and to use appropriate technology tools.
1.Go to activity guide online at:
Amity website→High School→AHS Library Information Center
Find Online Stuff→By Subject→History→Class Projects →(your teacher) →Finding and Evaluating Open Web Sources
2. Individual Analysis:
2.a. Consider a web source. Imagine you are looking for information that discusses the influence that the French Revolution has had on the rest of the world from the end of the 18th century to the present.
OR
Health and hygiene in the 19th century (if “Legacies” site does not work)
2.b. Respond to this statement. You have 3 minutes:
“This web resource has been judged to offer credible information that is appropriate for academic research. Find at least 3 reasons to show that this is true.”
3. Discussion: Share reasons why this website is appropriate for research (why the information here can be trusted).
4. Presentation/discussion: Brainstorm and list various search terms from a topic sentence.
“The core concept of the French Revolution--the understanding that the masses have the same right to share society’s wealth as the privileged few--is the legacy that has informed every subsequent movement for independence or democracy anywhere in the world.”
Think of key words or common expressions specific to the topic
Think of synonyms:
Think of the most important terms:
Think of terms that might sometimes be too limiting:
Use “...” for phrases, ANDs, ORs, and parenthesis to structure search
Sample search: French Revolution, effects, history,
5. Practice: Search for a reliable research site, identifying the following information on this FORM. The source does NOT have to be reliable; all that matters is evaluating it thoroughly.
Sample Search Results: Unverifiable Source
The French Revolution, by Richard Geib
While this essay is eye-catching, and well-written, the problem here is that it is hard to find out much about the author. Tracing the root URL, you see that this is a website for a history teacher named Rich Geib. While he may be a wonderful and rigorous historian, we know nothing about his qualifications to write about history with an acceptable level of balance and rigor, nor can we even guess about what his potential biases might be. This might be a great website to learn more about the topic, but it is basically a hobby site, and as such, is not appropriate for academic research.
This presentation done on the Prezi platform is typical of sites that CANNOT be used for research. If you read the text, you will realize that it is full of the errors in grammar and and misuse of vocabulary too often seen in student work. This site is most likely a student’s class project, and as such is completely inappropriate as a serious source.
For more information, see the attached Lesson Plan below.
Introduction to Citations, References, and Note-taking with NoodleTools (updated RFM 3-2022)
Information literacy topics:
-Taking notes
-Organizing source citations
-References
-Using technology tools
Objective: To understand and define the concept of a research “citation”, and to use a web citation generator (NoodleTools) to create citations and bibliographic references, and organize notes.
1: Find the activities for this class, follow links from Amity Library (Google Search).
Part A: Understanding and Creating Citations
2. Discussion: “What is a citation? Can you give a DEFINITION?”
3. Presentation:
Option 1: View the video, “NoodleTools Tutorial Introduction”.
Option 2: Instead of the video, class discussion using Google presentation.
4. Discussion: Look at the citation below: “What kind of source is it?”
Mead, Karen. "Reign of Terror." World at War: Understanding Conflict and
Society. https://worldatwar-abc--clio-com.
5. Open NoodleTools.
- Sign into Google Drive or Gmail with your @amityschools.org
- Find the “waffle” in the upper right, click on the NoodleTools little figure.
.
- Under “My Profile” UPDATE your account to the High School, and make sure your first and last names are complete.
6. Create a project to begin citations.
6.a. Click on “New Project”.
6.b. Enter a “Project Title”.
6.c. Choose “Chicago/Turabian” style (lNoodleTools is 17th edition).
“Advanced” citation level for full functionality.
6.d. Click “Submit.”
6.e. Click “Sources” to cite your research sources
7. Create a citation for a database article.
7.a. Go to article “Reign of Terror” from the ABC-Clio database World at War.
7.b. In NoodleTools “Sources”, click on “New Source”.
7.c. Answer the question “Where is it?”. (“Database”.)
7.d. Answer the question “WHAT is it?”. (“Original Content in Database” because the citation shows it was written for this database.)
7.e. Start filling in as much information as you can, copying from the article, and adjusting the text as needed. Notice the pop-up hints.
7.f. Click “Submit”.
- Did you notice what information WASN’T available?
- Did you use the HOME page URL since the article URL was so long and complicated?
Mead, Karen. "Reign of Terror." World at War: Understanding Conflict and
Society. https://worldatwar-abc--clio-com.
8. Create a citation for a database article.
8.a. Go to this article titled: “The Fall of Robespierre”, from the EBSCO publishing company’s database History Resource Center.
8.b. Back in NoodleTools, click on “New Source”.
8.c. Answer the question “Where is it?”. Once again choose “Database”.
8.d. Answer the question “WHAT is it?”. Choose “Magazine” because this is an article in a magazine called “History Today”.
8.e. Start filling in as much information as you can, copying from the article:
-DOI (Direct Object Identifier): there is none listed
-URL: find the "permalink" on the right, because it does not change. But better to just use the simplified “domain.”
-Name of database: find it
-Database accession number: find it
-Author: find it
-Article title: find it
-Pages: find it
-Name of magazine: find it
-Volume: find it
-Issue: find it
-Publication date: find it
8.f. Click “Submit”.
8.g. Compare your finished citation to the citation below.
Jones, Colin. "The Fall of Robespierre." History Today, August 2015, 39-44.
https://web.s.ebscohost.com.
9. Create a citation from a web source.
9.a. Go to this article entitled “Women and the Revolution”, from the website:
Liberty, Equality, Fraternity: Exploring the French Revolution, a joint project of the Roy Rosenzweig Center for History and New Media (George Mason University) and American Social History Project (City University of New York)
9.b. Back in NoodleTools, click on “New Source”.
9.c. Answer the question “Where is it?”. Once again choose “Website”.
9.d. Answer the question “WHAT is it?”. Choose “Web page” because this online article is really a page in the larger web site.
9.e. Start filling in as much information as you can, copying from the article:
-URL: find it
-Date of publication: find it; if none, leave it blank.
-Most recent date of access: today
-Contributors: if none with article, look for site authors, editors, web page producers (bottom of main page, or “About”)
-Web Page or document/article title: Find the article title
-Name of the website: It is the title of the whole web site.
-Publisher of the site: Find it (bottom of main page, or “About”). This is tricky, and open to interpretation.
9.f. Click “Submit”.
9.g. Compare your finished citation to the citation below.
Robertson, Stephen, ed. "Women and the Revolution." Liberty, Equality,
Fraternity: Exploring the French Revolution. Accessed March 28, 2022.
https://revolution.chnm.org/exhibits/show/liberty--equality--fraternity/
women-and-the-revolution.
Citing your sources within your paper
ChicagoStyle (updated 10-2018)
As of the 2016-17 Amity's History Department has decided to use Chicago Notes and Bibliography Style (footnotes) as its citation style.
Citing Chicago Style - Amity Librarians’ Quick Guide
Resource developed by Amity librarians with the most commonly used sources and how to accurately cite them. Includes bibliography format as well as how to cite in footnotes.
Citing Chicago Style - Purdue OWL
Very practical and reliable guide published by renowned Purdue University's Online Writing Lab (OWL). Chicago includes two basic documentation systems: notes-bibliography style (or simply bibliography style) and author-date style (sometimes called reference list style). Here are the basic differences:
-Notes-bibliography style (required style for History at Amity):
The basics of the note-bibliography style are as follows: Whenever you need to cite a source, a superscript number is placed in the text at the end of the sentence or part of the sentence that contains the paraphrase or quote taken from your source.
The same number corresponding to that reference is placed, normal-sized, in the footnote area at the bottom of the page or the end of the section (your teacher’s choice).
The first time a source is used in a document the entire bibliography form is used in the footnote, but the footnote format is slightly different. The second time the citation is used in the footnote it is shortened even more (see rules). When the same source is used twice or more in a row, you write “ibid” (which means “the same”), and change page number if needed.
A full bibliography at the end of the paper includes all complete source citations sources with their complete citation forms, in alphabetic order.
outdated: update pending 3-2022
Part B: Creating and Organizing Notes in NoodleTools
1. Create a new note in NoodleTools.
1.a. If you are in “Sources”, click on the “Notecards” tab.
If you are on the “Projects” page, click on your practice project to get to the “Dashboard” tab. Once there, click on the “Notecards” tab.
1.b. Click “+New” to create a new note.
1.c. Write a “Title” that represents the basic idea of your note.
1.d. Choose one of your source citations from the dropdown menu.
1.e. Cut and paste a “Direct quotation”, a “paraphrase or summary”, or an original “My idea”.
1.f. Take the time to create a well-written note NOW, that could get slotted right in your paper.
1.g. Be sure to add a “Tag” which should represent the specific topic or theme of the note. Be specific, because you will use tags to group similar notes together. Tags with more than one word should be in quotes.
1.h. Click “Save and Close”.
1.i. Create a second note in the same way for the same article, or another article. You need two notes for the next step. You may find that one note obscures the other on the desktop; just drag it off.
2. Group notes together by common topics/themes.
2.a. Drag one note on top of the other, and release it to create a “Pile” (terrible name).
2.b. Name your “Pile” . A “Pile” name can be a category/theme/topic that both notes address. We are pretending that the two notes deal with the same specific topic.
2.c. Click OK.
2.d. Create two more new notes, and make a new “Pile”.
3. Convert notes to outlines.
3.a. Click the “Add+” button to create a few headings. You can change the name of topics by double-clicking, and rearrange the hierarchy by dragging and dropping.
3.b. Now DRAG one of your piles, or loose notes, right on top of any outline heading on the right until the heading is highlighted, and DROP it there. It will now appear as a note in that heading of the outline. You can rearrange the notes in the outline by dragging and dropping.
4. Export or print notes.
4.a. On the Notecard desktop, click “Print” to export your saved notes.
4.b. Notice the export options. Choose one, and practice downloading exported notes. Note that choosing Google requires signing into your Google account.
8. Cite your sources within your paper. How? See notes below.
Class Notes
What is a citation?
A citation is all the information you need to tell where an idea or quotation came from, and to be able to find that source again.
“What kind of information is included in a citation?”
Citations can include the following information, and more...
author
title
place of publication
publisher (and more about where it can be found)
date of publication
medium (type of publication)
date you found it (electronic resources)
web address (URL) IF your teacher requires it.
Note: the medium (type) of publication may be: Print, Web, File, Film, CD-ROM, DVD, etc. and more, depending on the kind of information
Cite your sources within your paper.
How do you cite the article in the body of your paper?
Chicago includes two basic documentation systems: notes-bibliography style (or simply bibliography style) and author-date style (sometimes called reference list style). We are using the notes-bibliography style.
The basics of the note-bibliography style are as follows: Whenever you need to cite a source, a superscript number is placed in the text at the end of the sentence or part of the sentence. A normal-sized number corresponding to that reference is placed at the end of the page or the end of the section (your teacher’s choice). The first time a source is used at the bottom of the page, the entire citation form is used. The second time it is used at the bottom it is shortened (see rules). When the same source is used twice or more in a row, you write “ibid” (which means “the same”), and change page number if needed. The bibliography at the end includes all sources with their complete citation forms, in alphabetic order.
Look at this Chicago (notes and bibliography style) sample paper.
You will need to follow the instructions and examples from a reliable source, like the writing experts at Purdue University’s CHICAGO style pages.
b. Recommended Newer Works:
Google Search "Amity Library".
Wait for instructions.
