National History Day: Citing Sources

Why is it important that we do research and support our thesis? I like the way a fellow librarian expressed it:

A research paper attempts to give objective analysis of information. Certainly, the position you take in your thesis statement should be yours, but you want to persuade the reader that your argument is based on sound, logical reasoning, not personal feelings, convictions or biases. This is why you will cite scholars, both those who support your position and those who do not. In the case of those who do not, you will point out why their arguments are flawed. Try, therefore, to avoid subjective and second person pronouns such as I, me, my, we, us, ours, you, yours, and emotive verbs such as feel. Avoid making empty comments such as, “In my opinion.” It is assumed that the statements you write reflect your opinion. (Sandy Dow, BBNS Research Style Guide)

Here's how you can use it:

• Note-taking and outlining: NoodleTools notecards are specifically designed to make connections, record and develop original ideas, articulate arguments, and avoid accidental plagiarism. The Notecard Tabletop contains organizational features like tagging, labeling and piling that support logical and inspired writing.
• Annotated bibliography: Students can create an accurate annotated bibliography in MLA or Chicago/Turabian style, grouped into primary and secondary sources according to National History Day requirements. They can choose from a broad range of source options, including legal citations based on The Bluebook. Pop-up help and dynamic citation templates are embedded at points of need. The student's polished bibliography can be exported to Google Drive or any word processor.
• Source evaluation: Research shows that all students find source identification and evaluation to be especially challenging aspects of the research process. "Show Me" online teaching modules guide students in identifying source types, including primary sources, and in assessing the relevance and credibility of information.
• Group collaboration: For an exhibition, performance, documentary or website project, student teams can work simultaneously on the group's notecards and citations and view each other's changes in real time.
• Differentiated levels: Students have an option to select either the Junior or Advanced/Senior level of NoodleTools based on their self-assessed proficiency and their National History Day division. Each level includes appropriate help for identifying, evaluating and citing sources. Should Junior-level students find that they are using advanced source types, they can seamlessly move up to the Advanced level.

If you don't have an account yet, see Ms Reardon

Did you know? Noodle Tools has a downloadable app! All you have to do is scan the ISBN of the book you're using, and it automatically uploads the information into your Noodle Tools bibliography!

Books

Lastname, Firstname. Title of Book. Place of publication: Publisher, Year of publication.

Examples:

Book with one author:

Faulkner, William. Absalom, Absalom!. New York: Vintage Books, 1990.

Books with an author and editor

Tylor, Edward B. Researches into the Early Development of Mankind and the Development of Civilization, Edited by Paul Bohannan. Chicago: University of Chicago Press, 1964.

Journals and Magazines

Journal

MacDonald, Susan Peck. “The Erasure of Language.” College Composition and Communication 58, no. 4 (2007): 585-625.

Electronic Journals

Bent, Henry E. "Professionalization of the Ph.D. Degree.” College Composition and Communication 58, no. 4 (2007): 0-145. Accessed December 5, 2008. http://www.jstor.org/stable/1978286.

Web Sources

Lastname, Firstname. “Title of Web Page.” Publishing Organization or Name of Website in Italics. Publication date and/or access date if available. URL.

Examples: Copyright ©1995-2015 by The Writing Lab & The OWL at Purdue and Purdue University. All rights reserved.