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Doing Research

Good researchers need a variety of sources to do the best job possible. Not all resources are appropriate for every task. That is why there are so many choices out there. The purpose of this web page is to provide some of the best for student use. Some sources are general and can be used in most cases. Other sources are VERY specific and can only be used when researching one particular topic. Please take time to make sure that you have chosen wisely.

General Resources

These sources have information on a variety of topics. If you're not quite sure where to begin looking for information, they are a good place to start. You can find them here.

Specialized Resources

Some reference sites are specifically created to give excellent information on just one topic. You may prefer to consult them BEFORE you do an Internet search with a search engine. You can find them here.

Search Engines

If you have tried all of the sources provided by your librarian and teacher and still can't find what you need, THEN you may use a search engine. A search engine is like a big telephone book. It will search through many web pages and tell you which ones appear to be about the topic you are searching for. Like a phone book that will give the number of a restaurant, it will NOT guarantee that you won't get food poisoning. Phone books ONLY tell you the locations and topics. That's what a search engine does, it only tells where to find the webpage.

It makes NO guarantees about the accuracy of the information. So part of your job HAS to be to evaluate the web site to determine whether it is done by a reliable source and has worthwhile information that is appropriate for your purposes.

Web Site Evaluation How do you evaluate a website? Well, you can use 5 basic rules to determine whether or not this is a site that would be appropriate for your needs.	Cool Sites for Research
Kid's Search Tools	Google This is one of the best search engines available, but they do not filter inappropriate content. Please make sure that an adult is with you when you use this source.

Citing Your Sources

Once you have all of the information you need to do your project, double check your organizer to make sure that you are doing EXACTLY what your teacher has asked for!

Have you given credit to your sources? If not, you will need to add a Bibliography. This is a list of all of the people, books and websites that gave you information that you used for your project. If you don't give them credit, then you are stealing someone's intellectual property.

John R. Downes Elementary School • 220 Casho Mill Road • Newark, DE 19711 • Tel. (302) 454-2133