Research

Research Tools

• Online Databases can help you find newspaper and journal articles.
• Online Encyclopedias are a good place to being exploring your topic.
• Pathfinders are class and project-specific lists of resources that can help you with your research.
• Search the Library for books and more.

Research Tips for Finding Good Sources

• Evaluating Sources: Credibility & Bias (from the James E. Walker Library)
• CRAAP Test
• BEAM Method
• 10 Questions for Fake News Detection
• Evaluating a News Article
• Fake News Checklist
• Media Bias Chart and the reasoning behind the chart

Citations

Why is citing your sources important? 

Citing your sources protects you from breaking copyright laws and plagiarizing.  Copyright laws protect people's intellectual work (meaning music, books, and so on).  Consider how you would feel if you worked really hard to write a paper, create a work of art, or write a song and then someone stole your work and never credited you for it--that's what you are doing to someone else if you don't cite your sources.

Citation Guides/Tools

• Purdue OWL is a well-known guide to creating citations for all kinds of sources.  Click on APA Style or MLA Style depending on what citation style your teacher asked for, and then select your source type from the list on the left hand side of the page.  Tip: Ask your librarian for help if you don't know what type of source you have.
• Easy Bib will create citations for you if you look up the title of a book or article, or enter the URL for a website.  HOWEVER, you should always double check if it created the citation correctly.

Need writing help?

The library team is happy to proofread papers, and we have tutors in the library after school several days a week.  Please email us to ask about scheduling a time to come and chat at rmarz@bostonpublicschools.org