Research Help for Students

START HERE!

At Wellington Secondary, we have a variety of resources to help you succeed in your learning. Whether it’s a research paper, an inquiry project, an essay, or any other type of assignment for school, the Learning Commons is a great place to start!

Before you begin make sure you know the following:

• What is the learning intention of your assignment? (Why are you doing it? what will you have learned at the end?).

• What is the criteria, requirements or details of your assignment? (What are you suppose to do?)

• What is the timeline of your assignment? (How long do you have? When is the due date?)

• How will you be assessed? (Is there a rubric? Grading criteria? Self/peer assessment? Other info?)

• *If you are unable to answer the above questions, you need to clarify with your teacher before you proceed in your research.

Websites of interest:

Access Novelist Plus Book Review Site

The Indian Act - Full Document PDF

Other Helpful Research Information:

Why not just Google it?

You can absolutely use Google in your research, but you need to be aware that the internet is loaded with many irrelevant, unreliable or untrustworthy websites. Always use the C.R.A.A.P test when using the general websites on the internet:

C - CURRENT Is the website content current? Check the date.

R - RELEVANT Does it have the information I need or want?

A - AUTHOR Does the author have credentials? E.g. A university degree.

A - ACCURATE Check your information with other credible sources.

p - PURPOSE Think about why it was written. To persuade? Entertain? Inform? What is the point of view? Is there a bias?

Still not sure? Ask your Teacher Librarian or Classroom Teacher for help.

More information on How to Search Google the Academic Way.

Resources for Reference & Citation

Once you find credible information, an important part of the research process is to make note of where you found this information. This is called giving credit, and is important for several reasons including:

1. Showing your teacher/reader that you have done the research process properly.

2. Being a responsible learner by giving credit to other people’s ideas and work.

3. Avoiding plagiarism (calling other people’s work your own).

4. Allowing your teacher/reader to accurately track your sources by way of a Works Cited/Bibliography/ Reference List.

There are many different resources available to you to help you learn how to cite research properly. The links and documents below highlight specific topics to do with reference and citation.

1. MLA Rules for Students *

2. APA Rules for Students*

3. Formatting the first page of your paper - click link then scroll down.

4. How to Write a Works Cited Page

5. How to create a Hanging Indent in Google Docs (editing your Works Cited Page)

6. What are in-text citations? How do you use them?

7. How to Write a Annotated Bibliography*

8. Purdue OWL - Excellent website for reference and citation as well as general writing support.

9. MLA Style Centre - Everything you ever wanted to know about MLA style citation.

10. University of Victoria MLA Style Guide

11. The Writing Centre at VIU

*Shared with permission from New Westminster Secondary School Library. Original documents here .

In-Text Citations:

• In-Text Citations: The Basics

• More Information on In-Text Citations

Citation Generators for Students

1. Be sure that you are familiar with general citing rules before relying on citation generators.

2. Some of our databases with allow you to export directly from a toolbar (email/bookmark/save to Google Drive, etc). See example picture from EBSCO) of this below

3. Always cross check to make your citations have been formatted correctly.

   • Easy Bib

   • Citation Machine

   • Cite This For Me

Links to begin your research is below. Please read through the following information before you begin.

Wellington has a variety of online learning resources for students. Our online databases and encyclopedias are a great place to start your research.

• What is an encyclopedia? Encyclopedias provide a wide array of general and/or board knowledge on a variety of topics. Works are collected by writers employed by the encyclopedia. Suitable for junior grades, those new to online research, or as a starting point for students beginning their research.

• What is a database? Databases provide more in-depth information in the form of scholarly articles and periodicals, academic journals, primary sources, etc. Works are collected by a variety of authors who are experts in their field (scientists, doctors, historians, etc) . Suitable for senior grades and/or students wanting specific, detailed information.

****Usernames and passwords are required for some of these resources. Please ask your teacher, or see Ms. Stewart in the Learning Commons. You can also select “Contact Us” from the menu of this website, and Learning Commons Staff will do their best to return your email promptly.

Note Taking & Additional Research Help

Note taking is a very important part of the research process. Note taking allows you to put your research in your own words which in turn allows your brain to more thoroughly process what you are learning. Note taking should be brief and to the point - main ideas only. Note taking is also a good way of showing your teachers that you have done the research process properly and have not plagiarized. See more information below.

• More detailed information on note taking

• Note taking template for students

• How to Write a Research Essay 
  

Research Help for Students

START HERE!

At Wellington Secondary, we have a variety of resources to help you succeed in your learning. Whether it’s a research paper, an inquiry project, an essay, or any other type of assignment for school, the Learning Commons is a great place to start!

Before you begin make sure you know the following:

• What is the learning intention of your assignment? (Why are you doing it? what will you have learned at the end?).

• What is the criteria, requirements or details of your assignment? (What are you suppose to do?)

• What is the timeline of your assignment? (How long do you have? When is the due date?)

• How will you be assessed? (Is there a rubric? Grading criteria? Self/peer assessment? Other info?)

• *If you are unable to answer the above questions, you need to clarify with your teacher before you proceed in your research.

Websites of interest:

Access Novelist Plus Book Review Site

The Indian Act - Full Document PDF

Other Helpful Research Information:

Why not just Google it?

You can absolutely use Google in your research, but you need to be aware that the internet is loaded with many irrelevant, unreliable or untrustworthy websites. Always use the C.R.A.A.P test when using the general websites on the internet:

C - CURRENT Is the website content current? Check the date.

R - RELEVANT Does it have the information I need or want?

A - AUTHOR Does the author have credentials? E.g. A university degree.

A - ACCURATE Check your information with other credible sources.

p - PURPOSE Think about why it was written. To persuade? Entertain? Inform? What is the point of view? Is there a bias?

Still not sure? Ask your Teacher Librarian or Classroom Teacher for help.

More information on How to Search Google the Academic Way.

Resources for Reference & Citation

Once you find credible information, an important part of the research process is to make note of where you found this information. This is called giving credit, and is important for several reasons including:

1. Showing your teacher/reader that you have done the research process properly.

2. Being a responsible learner by giving credit to other people’s ideas and work.

3. Avoiding plagiarism (calling other people’s work your own).

4. Allowing your teacher/reader to accurately track your sources by way of a Works Cited/Bibliography/ Reference List.

There are many different resources available to you to help you learn how to cite research properly. The links and documents below highlight specific topics to do with reference and citation.

1. MLA Rules for Students *

2. APA Rules for Students*

3. Formatting the first page of your paper - click link then scroll down.

4. How to Write a Works Cited Page

5. How to create a Hanging Indent in Google Docs (editing your Works Cited Page)

6. What are in-text citations? How do you use them?

7. How to Write a Annotated Bibliography*

8. Purdue OWL - Excellent website for reference and citation as well as general writing support.

9. MLA Style Centre - Everything you ever wanted to know about MLA style citation.

10. University of Victoria MLA Style Guide

11. The Writing Centre at VIU

*Shared with permission from New Westminster Secondary School Library. Original documents here .

In-Text Citations:

• In-Text Citations: The Basics

• More Information on In-Text Citations

Citation Generators for Students

1. Be sure that you are familiar with general citing rules before relying on citation generators.

2. Some of our databases with allow you to export directly from a toolbar (email/bookmark/save to Google Drive, etc). See example picture from EBSCO) of this below

3. Always cross check to make your citations have been formatted correctly.

   • Easy Bib

   • Citation Machine

   • Cite This For Me

Links to begin your research is below. Please read through the following information before you begin.

Wellington has a variety of online learning resources for students. Our online databases and encyclopedias are a great place to start your research.

• What is an encyclopedia? Encyclopedias provide a wide array of general and/or board knowledge on a variety of topics. Works are collected by writers employed by the encyclopedia. Suitable for junior grades, those new to online research, or as a starting point for students beginning their research.

• What is a database? Databases provide more in-depth information in the form of scholarly articles and periodicals, academic journals, primary sources, etc. Works are collected by a variety of authors who are experts in their field (scientists, doctors, historians, etc) . Suitable for senior grades and/or students wanting specific, detailed information.

****Usernames and passwords are required for some of these resources. Please ask your teacher, or see Ms. Stewart in the Learning Commons. You can also select “Contact Us” from the menu of this website, and Learning Commons Staff will do their best to return your email promptly.

Note Taking & Additional Research Help

Note taking is a very important part of the research process. Note taking allows you to put your research in your own words which in turn allows your brain to more thoroughly process what you are learning. Note taking should be brief and to the point - main ideas only. Note taking is also a good way of showing your teachers that you have done the research process properly and have not plagiarized. See more information below.

• More detailed information on note taking

• Note taking template for students

• How to Write a Research Essay