ELA Independent Reading
Find a Book in the Amity HS Library
Do you want to find a book in the Amity High School Library for a research project, or just to read for fun? Before you come in to browse our shelves, watch this video on how to search the library catalog,
How to Find a Book in the Library Catalog: 
Next, get your book.
eBooks and audioBooks:
Currently digital books are available from two sources starting at the library database page:
Get Book Recommendations
How to Find Book Recommendations Online:
YALSA Booklists: compiled by the American Association of School Libraries.
School Library Journal: Check under the tabs for Awards and Books to search
RJ Julia Independent Book Sellers: Staff recommendations for teens
Common Sense Media Teen Booklists: There are several different broad categories.
GoodReads Teen Booklists: A great little summary, plus tons of reader reviews.
Barnes and Noble for Teens: Take a look at the “Teens” list to see what’s hot.
You can always just Google “lists of books for teens”.
Create an Annotated Bibliography
An annotated bibliography is a list of sources, arranged like a works cited/bibliography, in which each source has explanatory text after it. Look at this sample from OWL Purdue.
1. First, create your citation in Noodletools.
2. Next, write an annotation:
Example: Using the article titled: "Male Engagement in Deconstructing Institutional Violence in Kenya",article from citation about Power, write an annotation, addressing the following criteria.
Include:
- Summary: A summary includes an overview explaining what it is about.
- Assessment: An assessment should be your judgment on the reliability of the source’s author/organization (credentials, expertise, trustworthy, etc.).
Example: Phil Erick Otieno, who attended the University of Nairobi, is Executive Director of a non-profit organization in Kenya, though it is impossible to verify his credentials, so we rely on the journal having vetting him. The IDS Bulletin presents itself as a peer-reviewed journal, though it is not listed as such in Ulrich Web, a subscription service that vets academic journals. Its publisher, the Institute of Development Studies, is based at the University of Sussex, which helps lends it academic weight.
-Reflection: A reflection should discuss in what way is the source relevant and how the source can be used to cite evidence that supports your essential question.
In total, an annotation is about 6-8 sentences.
Sample annotation:
Phil Erick Otieno, who attended the University of Nairobi, is Executive Director of a non-profit organization in Kenya, though it is impossible to verify his credentials, so we rely on the journal having vetting him. The IDS Bulletin presents itself as a peer-reviewed journal, though it is not listed as such in Ulrich Web, a subscription service that vets academic journals. The publisher, the Institute of Development Studies, is based at the University of Sussex, which helps lends it academic weight. The article discusses how male privilege exists in most societies, noting that the power associated with it is encouraged and rewarded by society. The author concludes that violence is a means of maintaining the power that men enjoy. This article is pertinent to my research as it demonstrates an understanding of power as a tool to attain and maintain privilege can be related to (the book’s) depiction of power, especially in the way that the (character)...
3. When you have finished all of your citations/annotations, go to "Print/Export" and select "Export to Google docs". This is what you should submit to your teacher as this has formatted everything in MLA format.
Evaluation Criteria
Who created it? Is this person (or organization) a qualified, reputable, expert? Is she authoritative (reliable)?
What is the information like? Is it accurate, giving complete coverage, well-written, well-organized? Does it cite its sources? Are those sources reliable?
Where is the information from? Where is the site stored? Remember that just having a page stored in a university does not mean the university backs your information.
Why was the information or site created? Was the goal to present information objectively in a balanced way? If it aims to convince, does it address different points of view? Do the presenters have an identifiable political, ideological, or commercial goal that might slant their information?
When was it created? Is it current? (sometimes currency/recent is not important)
Conclusion: reliable for your purpose? YES/NO?
Where do I find this information:
Who -- Look in and follow-up people and organizations in:
About / Contact / “byline” (credits) / bottom of page / sidebars /
What -- Read and analyze content information in:
Titles / Text / Citations and References
Where -- Look in and follow-up on site and organization information in:
About / Contact / URL / Domain name
Why -- Look in and follow-up on author, site, and organization information in:
Text
About (look especially at related organizations, find members, boards, and especially FUNDERS)
When -- Look in:
How to use Library Databases
Search our library catalogs from Destiny Quest to find all our printed books, magazines and journals, textbooks, encyclopedias, music CDs, movies (DVD and VHS).
School Product Database Sites:
ABC Clio : All 6 Databases
*comprehensive electronic library of historical reference materials. Log in to save your research.SIRS,
*mix of periodicals. Enter your email to save your searches.View all of the online subscription based resources available through the library.
Discuss features of the online research tools and allow for individual searching.
Make sure to correctly cite your sources within your paper.
You will need to follow the instructions and examples from a reliable source, like the writing experts at Purdue University’s OWL CHICAGO style pages.