1. Helping you to produce your History Added Value Unit
S4 Information Skills
This is a unit where you have to do the research yourself
Helping you to produce your History Added Value Unit

2. We will look at
Plagiarism
References
Bibliographies
Internet Searches

3. Plagiarism
What is it?
Why to avoid it
How to avoid it

4. What is Plagiarism Copying someone else’s essay or work
Using portions of books or websites without acknowledging the source.
Converting someone else’s work into your own words but not giving them the credit for the ideas.
There is a difference between common knowledge and

5. Why not plagiarise? It’s wrong. You are not being honest.
You’ll fail your unit if you don’t give references for where you found the information you use.

6. How to avoid plagiarism
Keep a note of all the websites or books you look at for your work (even if you don’t end up using them).
If you quote an author, put the exact words in inverted commas , eg Smith says ‘…………….’
Cite your sources
Definition of ‘cite’
Common knowledge

7. References You put these in the text of your work.
They will refer to the books or internet pages you also put in your bibliography
If you use the exact words, put them in quotation marks (eg see p25-6 of ‘The Great War’
If you use your own words you still need to let the reader know that the opinions or information came from someone else (eg p37)

8. References State the author’s name with the date in brackets
For example
Coles (1993) suggests underlining or typing in italics the name of the book.
If making a quotation put in the page number so that your source can be checked. ‘…it allows you to go back quickly to your original source if you need to.’ (Coles, 1993 p.69)

9. Bibliographies
Bibliography – list of the sources used in the preparation of your work
Each time you consult a new source make a note of
Author’s name and initials
Date of publication
Title of source underlined or in italics
Publisher’s name
(also take a note of where you got the book in case you have to refer to it again)
The page numbers.

10. Books In the bibliography:
Author/Editor. (Year) Title. Edition. Place of publication: Publisher.
Sanders, V. (2007) The USA and Vietnam rd ed. London: Hodder Education
In the text:
According to Sanders (2007, p. 47), Eisenhower only “inherited a limited involvement” in Vietnam.
Where will you find the information?

11. Journal/Newspaper Articles
In the bibliography:
Author (Year). Article Title. Journal title. Volume (issue). Pagination.
Nicolson, A & Croft, P. (2011). The King James Bible. BBC History Magazine. 12 (3). pp 40-44
In the text:
Nicolson & Croft (2011) point out that King James had political reasons for commissioning the publication of the Bible in English.

12. Web resources In the bibliography:
Author. (Year of last update). Title of internet site. Available at: URL. (Accessed: Date of access)
Oxfam. (2011). Ivory Coast Crisis. Available at: (Accessed 10th October 2011).
In the text:
Oxfam (2011) estimates that, as of October this year 300,000 people were still displaced from their homes...

13. Internet searches Who created the page or site?
What can you find out about them
.ac.uk or .edu
Blogs
Wikipedia
Why did they create the site
To promote a certain view – bias?
When was it written – is it up to date?

14. First glance - know your URLs
Some (fairly) reliable URLS:
.ac.uk; .gov; .nhs; .edu
Treat with care:
.org; .com; .co.uk
Treat with suspicion:
No recognisable ending (.htm)
Who has written it for a start? Generally, people who do not put their names to something shouldn’t be trusted. If you cannot find an author, dump it. Look at the organisation as well. The BBC is good, universities are good, many educational organisations produce excellent websites. It helps to check the site’s aims. Is somebody trying to convince you of something? Sell you something? Maybe the information is a little biased? What does that mean by the way? Can you check the information? How up to date is the information on the website? By now you can make more than an educated guess whether this site is right for you.

15. Resources used
Coles, M. (1993) Learning matters. Carlisle, Carel Press
School Librarians Network blog: Sort it! Study Skills for Sixth Formers (Acessed 6th June 2013)