Academic Research! Chem 20

Academic vs. Personal Research  Educational setting  Research is personal or casual  Sources of information are credible, vetted  Degree of credible resource use varies  Information is current  References and citations generally not needed  A list of references is submitted and sources are cited in context

Where do you go for info? O You’re exploring a research question like “How do I find reliable information?” or “How do I find a scientific or academic research article about a molecule?” O Where do you go for info? O Wikipedia? O Google? O How about

It all starts in the VLC! Links to all of these tools and databases are found in our RTHS Virtual Learning Commons. O Go to O Look under Our Services →Learning Commons → Resources

Online Reference Centre O Find excellent databases in Online Reference Centrewww.learnalberta.ca O At school you will not have to log in, but at home you will have to log in with the username: LA06 and password 4105 O In the VLC find the ORC in the Learn Alberta link under Resources

Online Reference Centre Several excellent databases are available to find scientific information Science in Context O Hint: Search for your molecule (e.g. acetone), scroll down for general information and scientific journal articles O Advanced Search will allow you to refine your search to a specific type of document and to limit the date of publication O Try terms like: peer reviewed journals O Currency of the information is important, especially for the journal article

Online Reference Centre Also try: O World Book Advanced O Canadian Reference Centre for journal articles

Citing your Sources O Whenever you use information or ideas from a source of any kind for a project or essay it’s essential that you give credit to the person/people who wrote it! O Avoid plagiarism by ALWAYS creating a list of references showing where the information was found. O Showing your references is a key element in being a digital citizen at Thirsk!

Tools for Referencing O There are two formats you will use for creating references at RTHS: APA and MLA O Your teacher will tell you which kind of format they want you to use in their class O The good news is that many resources include the citation information in them and you can copy and paste it right into your list. O There are also great tools to help you! Try Citation Machine BibMe or Noodle Tools, found in the VLCwww.citationmachine.net

Practice! O Using any of the databases or tools you’ve just seen, find the following information about a country that starts with the same letter as your last name, or find three facts from 3 resources on a topic you are currently studying. Choose 3 different sources. O Major exports of the country O Climate change in the country O Form of government O Use Notepad to record your notes and create a Reference for the sources using Citation Machine.