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BIOL/GEOG 150 - Smullen: Session Introduction & Assignment

This guide can help you:

Form an approach to initiating an assignment.

 
Identify the use of information sources based on the type of information (i.e. books for background)

 

Use keywords from a research question or statement to search.

Distinguish differences between popular and scholarly articles.


Explore topics for your paper or project. What motivates you?

Explore the library's information resources.

Start to gather information for an assignment.
 
Properly cite the information resources you decide to use for your assignment.  

Assignment Basics

For this assignment, you need to choose some piece of environmental policy enacted by the United States government.  You may choose a policy that was discussed in class or is listed in the textbook (Chapter 2) but you are expected to use library resources contained within this guide to use as outside sources/resources to complete the assignment.  
 
 
Assignment:  summarize & present on the policy that was enacted — give a brief history of how it came to be, and discuss the impact of this policy on your life.  
 
 
Sources:  you must have a minimum of two references, and they need to be cited in either MLA or APA format.  Do not use personal websites (someone's personal blog, etc.) - instead use professional websites, preferably government agency ones that end in .gov.
 

Information Requirements

  • What information requirements do you have?
    • At least 2 sources from outside the textbook.

 

  • Internet sources? If so, what kinds are acceptable?
    • Yes, internet sources are okay.  A basic reliability check is highly recommended, though, and no personal websites are allowed.

 

  • Books? Print? Electronic? Reference Collection?
    • All of the above sources are acceptable.

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  • Articles? Newspapers? Scholarly or non-scholarly?
    • Again, at least 2 sources are required - they do not have to be scholarly, but scholarly sources are great, so don't avoid them! 

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  • What citation style can you use?
    • For this presentation, you are required to use MLA or APA format when citing things.  

RefWorks

ProQuest RefWorks

RefWorks is a "next-generation" citation management tool that can help researchers cite sources in all of styles most commonly used at SU like APA, MLA, Chicago, Turabian, ACS, AMA, and thousands of others. With this tool, researchers can gather, organize, read, annotate, and cite their research sources. Plus, RefWorks creates an online collaboration space that enables groups of researchers to work together from any location.

Learn all about RefWorks: Video Tutorial Library      Guide to RefWorks