Citations & Copyright

Citations and giving credit

Miriam-Webster defines plagiarism as “the act of using another person’s words or ideas without giving credit to that person : the act of plagiarizing something”

Plagiarism is not something the academic world takes lightly. Whenever you use something that someone else did, said, or made it is very important to give them credit. When you do this it is referred to as citing your work, which is done both in text and at the end of your paper. Your English teacher wants you to use the MLA (Modern Language Association) style of citation and formatting for your coursework.

A very popular and easy to use resource for answers to your questions about citations see the Purdue OWL’s (Online Writing Lab) MLA Formatting and Style Guide or ask a librarian.

For more information, including a video explaining why citation is important, see your library’s guide to citing sources.

Copyright

Along with being careful not to plagiarize when working on your assignments, it is important to be familiar with copyright and how fair use rules work. This is especially true considering how easy it is to share things through social media.

Citing your sources properly protects you from plagiarism, but  it is the fair use rule that allows you to use things like YouTube videos in your classwork (“More Information on Fair Use”). It is recommended that you have an understanding of copyright law and how the rules of fair use can protect you.

Click here to visit a website that briefly explains copyright and has links to useful resources for preventing copyright infringement.

As always, please feel free to comment with any questions or things that you would like to have clarified.

 

Example of MLA style listing of references:

Works Cited

“More Information on Fair Use.” United States Copyright Office. Library of Congress, Nov. 2015. Web. 06 Dec. 2015.

  “Plagiarism.” Merriam-Webster.com. Merriam-Webster, n.d. Web. 06 Dec.                                      2015.

Selecting Sources

Not only are there multiple formats to consider when researching for an assignment, there are also different types of sources. These are primary, secondary, and tertiary. There may come a time when you are instructed to use sources of a certain type.

To help define what is meant by primary, secondary, and tertiary sources, check out this tutorial from the University of Notre Dame, Types of Sources.

How do you know if something is a credible source?

RADCAB is a great way to remember ways to evaluate sources

Source: Alex Harrington, TCC Librarian, Sept. 2015.

 

Cornell’s research guide for students offers an excellent resource for each step of the process. They also have a Digital Literacy FAQ that is quite helpful and informative.

 

Cornell University’s Source Evaluation Check List is another great resource to use when assessing potential sources for this class as well as your future assignments.

Articles and Databases

The TCC pays for a form of subscription access to many electronic versions of the magazines, encyclopedias, newspapers, and other items that aren’t kept in the catalog for whatever reason. These items won’t usually be found in the library catalog, but you can find them by searching the various databases found on the library website.

Some assignments will require that you use “scholarly journal” articles or peer reviewed articles; you can find these using the TCC databases. To learn more about the TCC databases see the resource guide.

For assignments and subjects related to your English and other humanities topics, Academic Search Complete and Gale Virtual Reference Library are good places to start. See this guide for links to these as well as a few other databases recommended for your English related research needs.

Your TCC library has also provided some video tutorials that will help with database searches. Take a few minutes to check them out, and feel free to comment or email me with any questions you may have.

 

Get to Know the Catalog

Source: Photo from Wikimedia Commons Public Domain

What exactly is a library catalog?

Back in the days before everything was online, the library had a card catalog that held a card with a detailed entry, including its physical location, on each item that was owned by the library. With the introduction of online content the catalog has evolved in an attempt to keep up with the times.

There are some things the library offers access to that aren’t found in the catalog though. These things are found in the databases, which can be read about here.

If you are in need of a book to borrow from the TCC collection, you can search the library’s catalog of holdings in a new tab by clicking here. If you are interested in seeing what both TCC and the public library might have you can search the Joint-Use catalog to see what both TCC and the public libraries have in their collections.

There are some video tutorials on using the catalog here.

To better understand how your library has things classified and organized, it helps to be familiar with the Library of Congress Classification. The TCC library offers information on Library of Congress (LOC) subjects here.

Getting Started

No matter what your assignment, you have to start somewhere and that is, usually, the topic. After you identify your topic, and possibly thesis statement, you will need to find sources to use to both learn more about the topic as well as create the supporting foundations for what you share in your assignment.

Here is an excellent short video that does a great job showing that Picking Your Topic IS Research. I highly recommend that you watch it before you get started.

Cornell University has a guide to online research that can take you step by step through the process. It even has information on citations and copyright that may prove useful for you.

If you are finding yourself having trouble picking a topic, Old Dominion University has a topic generator that may help.

After you have picked a topic, it is a good idea to do a little research to familiarize yourself with the subject before or during your thesis statement development.

Brainstorming for search terms is a good practice, especially when doing your initial research to familiarize yourself with the basics. Don’t forget to use the dictionary and thesaurus  to help you find additional ideas to use for your keyword searches.

Feel free to share any methods you personally found helpful in this stage, as well as any questions you may have, in the comments section below.

Introduction

How you can find your campus library if you want to visit?

The Tidewater Community College Virginia Beach Campus/City of Virginia Beach Joint-Use Library is located at the corner of Rosemont and Faculty Drive. Here is a map to help you find campus.

How about a virtual visit?

If you are not able to visit your local campus library you can check out their website at: http://web.tcc.edu/library/

If you need help from a librarian and cannot make it in to the library, TCC has made sure you have several ways to receive the assistance you need. This link takes you to a new page with options for connecting with a librarian for help Ask A Librarian: Home. This link offers a 24/7 live chat as well as a  messaging option for getting assistance from a librarian.

What’s in it for you, you ask?

You have access to the library’s catalog, which is kind of like an online store for what you can borrow form the library. There are also databases that contain many valuable resources for your online research. The entries you will find in this blog will help you to successfully navigate these resources as you work on your assignments this semester and beyond.

Comments with questions or other Information Literacy related discussion are welcome in the comments section. I will try to reply to questions within 48 hours during the week and by Monday if it is a weekend question.

 

 

Welcome

Welcome to the embedded Information Literacy portion of your English 100 course.

I am your librarian, Missi, and I will be helping you along your information literacy journey.

There will be blog entries to correspond with your coursework and assignments throughout the semester. The entries will contain both information as well as additional recommended available resources for you to use in your assignments and research.

I will be monitoring the comments regularly. This is where you can leave questions or feedback. I hope to see discussions similar to what we would see if we were together in a classroom. Let’s get to know each other and learn form one another this semester.

Most of the links used in the blog, especially for outside resources, will open in a new tab so that you don’t lose your place in the blog as you explore the resources.