As with almost any paper that is written, research must be done. There are certain steps that should be followed to make the entire process of researching and writing go smoothly. After solidifying a topic and hypothesis, I like to create an outline of the paper so that I know every subject that needs to be covered. Next, I gather as much reliable information on my topic as possible and read through it. All relevant information or data is compiled in a text file on a computer or on paper if no computer is accessible. One good point that I read in The Thompson Handbook was to cite the source as you’re compiling information. Many times I have just written down a couple notes and then moved on, requiring me to have to go back thru an entire document or find a website again to cite the source.
For the white paper project, my team and I will thoroughly discuss everything that needs to be researched and covered in our paper. From this discussion, we will split up the necessary areas of research between every person. Most of our research will come from the internet using search engines and Microsoft’s database. When gathering research from the internet, we will need to make sure that our sources are reliable and professional. The rest of our research will be conducted at the library where we will search through the library’s database for any useful documents and articles.
After we have completed the majority of our research, we will combine all of our notes, quotes, and paraphrases and review them. From these notes, we should be able to fill the outline of and create a rough draft for our paper. We will also begin compiling a works cited.
To end this reading response, I would just like to reaffirm my dislike of the TH. As per usual, I spent way too much time just looking around the page rather than reading it.
Compliation R13
I also use your method of having “All relevant information or data (is) compiled in a text file on a computer or on paper if no computer is accessible” especially for my specific situation where I only need to research one specific product. I think just having one document with the info you need is more than sufficient. Using several different mediums or different documents just tends to get me lost in all the mess and since most of us seem to be doing our research online it appears only natural to be using a computer to compile our data. There’s no sense in making extra work for ourselves so I’ll be taking this easy path.
Shane
solid
I agree with what you said about citing sources as you go. I have done research in the past and not cited the sources till the end and it can be a tiresome process. There is no downside to doing the citation right when you find the data, it only makes your life easier and the research process more efficient. You also make a good point about using credible sources from the interwebs, which is sometimes easier said than done. But, In your case, using the library and Microsoft’s website, there shouldn’t be any problem. Both are reliable sources for information and can easily be used for research.
Keeping Track of Sources
Throughout my college career I have found it more and more important to keep track of sources as I do my research. Back when I was a freshman in college, I remember having to go back to try and find where I found certain information. Sometimes I even had to omit information from my work because I was unable to find the source again and could not properly cite it. Luckily I have since learned from these mistakes and now use a method similar to the summarization method. As I find important sources, I write a brief summary or outline of key information that I found in the source. This not only has helped me organize my sources but it has also aided me in determining the main ideas of my topic.
Sources
I have also had problems in the past trying to keep track of what information came from where. Even though people are trying to get away from the use of note cards and try to use a more technical way of taking notes, I think that it is much easier to keep track of sources using note cards than any other style. All that needs to be done while taking notes using note cards is write down the source on a sheet of paper and mark it with a number. Then while taking notes from a specific source just write down the number that corresponds with that information on the top of the card. That way when it comes down to citing sources you have the pile of cards that you took notes on and you can match up the information with the source.
Annotated
Annotated bibliographies are super awesome for the reason you've pointed out. It saves a lot of work later which might be rather difficult to accomplish. Onenote may be useful, I haven't used it too much, but the people I know that do use it love it. Something to note about the library databases: you can access them online and search quite a few different databases for articles from scientific journals. They have most of them in pdf format somewhere. Also, a search in the library's main page catalog with the option for online material (or whatever it is) should yield results that are online copies of books, usually in pdf format as well. Depending on what your topic is you may not even need a library unless you need to reference things that were printed before computers became mainstream...or old newspapers/magazines on the microfilm.