After one has made some decisions about topic choice, gathered basic facts and contextual events, explored possible paths of discussion, and filtered out the wheat from the shaft, it is time to start putting words to paper. Everyone has their own process to begin their writing. I use a writing process that is explained by Purdue University's Online Writing Lab and UC Berkeley's Student Learning Center.
You must use citations when:
When in doubt, cite it!
Always give credit for others thoughts and writings. "Think of quotation marks as a hug, keeping someone else’s words safe in what you’re writing." Sarah Grassin Tucson.com
The joy of finding footnotes and bibliographic entries that lead to the perfect original source can only happen when scholars carefully track their sources and generate citations in an appropriate style. Neglecting to track your sources as you move through the research process will cost you HOURS of precious time.
Try this excellent tool: (click the image below)
Noodletools will not only help you create your footnotes and bibliography, it also will help you stay organized. When you create a project, you have the ability to record, link, and track your sources, attach notecards, make an outline, export a bibliography, and copy/paste footnotes into your paper. You also may share your project with your teacher and/or classmates.
For history assignments, you should use Chicago Style bibliography and footnotes, and choose the "advanced" option to get the most types of citation forms.
If you are planning on working in the sciences and doing research throughout your career, I recommend you start using Mendeley as a bibliographic control software. An account created today can be carried with you once you graduate from Andover. It is one of the 'chosen' software programs for scientific information control. Just image a scenario where you have dozens of pdf articles and you can search these while you are writing your paper! See the science liaison at the OWHL for more details.
Using Mendeley allows quick access to your research as you find, analyze, review, use, cite, and store your research findings. Mendeley is a very sophisticated software that integrates with the Internet and Microsoft Word. An account created in Mendeley can be accessed from ANY device if your primary device is lost, stolen, or breaks. The Mendeley community, primarily a scientific cohort, also shares materials within the community and supports each other when questions arise. This community is a great foundation for early budding scientists. For those who have completed their HSS 300 paper without Mendeley, welcome to the new way of doing research.
Below I have placed two images of Mendeley. The left one is the 'desktop client' and the right one is the 'web access client'. Once an account is created, these two work environments are continuously synchronized with one another so that your research is always up-to-date and available! If you have any questions about this software, see the science library liaison in the OWHL.
