Research Process Skills
Worth: 30% of Course Grade:
I.     Working Bibliography
II.    Search Strategies & Skills
III.   Research Notes & Notetaking System
IV.   Key Sources Summary and Evaluation
V.    Conference Interview with Cora

I. Working Bibliography, using your chosen documentation system

Your Working bibliography is a complete list of all usable sources consulted in your research effort.  You should begin your Working Bibliography now, including usable sources located and consulted so far, then add to it regularly as you find and consult additional sources during your research over the next few weeks.

Two methods of compiling your Working Bibliography are recommended:

For each source in your Working Bibliography, record the following:

1.      Complete bibliographical information formatted correctly for your chosen documentation system.  See WRPAC: e.g., for MLA – Appendix A; for APA – Appendix C; for Chicago Author-Date: Appendix D

NOTE: Handout on Citing Electronic Sources (forthcoming)

2.      Search Strategy used to locate the source (how/where you found it) & Tracking information to help you relocate the source if necessary (e.g., Library & LOC call number, key search term & search engine or periodical database used in search, telephone/email contact, etc.)

3.      Brief, Informal Annotations on the following:

1. Summary notes on source contents & major ideas most pertinent to your research topic to remind you quickly what was in each source later on. 

(Some researchers develop codes keyed to the Working Bibliography to use as short hand ways to identify sources in research notes.  Others have developed color or shorthand codes keyed to a list of research questions or subtopics: encoded Working Bibliography cards and research notes are easier to sort and organize later.)

2. Evaluative notes on any major strengths and/or weaknesses of the source to guide you in determining which of your sources are most reliable as you weigh information and alternative perspectives
3. Source comparison/contrast notes—for example: “cf. Miller” (cf. means see also/compare this source to) or “vs. Miller & Johnson” or “= Johnson”-- to help you organize and synthesize related ideas in sources, and to help you generate your own ideas and conclusions about those ideas and sources. 

II.  Search Strategies & Skills Inventory

III. Research Notes & Notetaking System

Ø      READ WRPAC SECTION 4: “Reading Critically and Taking Notes.”

Ø      Read WRPAC Section 6.A: “If You Don’t Use and Acknowledge Your Sources Properly, You May End Up Plagiarizing.”

Ø      Review WRPAC Section 1 emphasis on being an active critical thinker and researcher, NOT a “passive sponge” (Hubbuch 3).

Ø      Review WRPAC Section 2: “Step 1: The Researcher’s Notebook” for Hubbuch’s advice on what to take notes on.

A.     Keep all your Research Notes—no matter what form they are in (including highlighted copies of journal articles, messy handwritten notes, whatever)!  You will be expected to present the physical evidence of your Research Notes in future conference interviews.  (Don’t throw anything away until the term is over and the final draft of the Critical Research Paper is finished!)  You will also use your Research Notes to demonstrate to Cora how your Notetaking System works.

B.  Develop a sound Notetaking System & be prepared to Describe how it works.

As I mentioned in class, you are free to devise a notetaking system that seems to work best for you.  However, there are certain essential goals that any responsible and effective notetaking system must accomplish.  Develop and/or adjust your research notetaking system with these goals in mind.  Later in the term, you will be asked to present your research notes, describe your notetaking system, and explain how it allows you to accomplish these four key goals:

Goal 1: Develop and follow an efficient, accurate, secure notetaking routine.  You’ll save yourself time and headaches later by doing it right the first time so that all important information is recorded carefully, correctly, accurately every time for every source, and in such a way that you can’t lose, misplace, or forget your research work.  (By the way, your routine should begin with making a complete entry (or reference card) for your Working Bibliography, using your chosen documentation system correctly, for each source consulted or reviewed.)  Don’t assume you’ll have the time to backtrack and redo it “right” later on.  Remember, too, that hasty and/or sloppy notetaking often results in plagiarism, and as your sources and notes pile up, relying only or too much on your memory will become increasingly inadequate.

Goal 2: Avoid plagiarism and give credit where credit is due, by:

1. Keeping an accurate record of which source your research notes come from (developing a code or shorthand identifier keyed to your Working Bibliography is recommended);
2. Distinguishing direct quotation (use “ ”) from paraphrase and summary;
3. Noting page numbers for both quotations and paraphrases (vs. summary);

  READ WRPAC Section 6.B.4: “Using Direct Quotations Properly”

4. Quoting exactly—and noting accurately when you leave out material from the original by using ellipses marks (…), or when you add material (for clarification, etc.) not in the original by setting off with brackets [ ] ;
5. Recording accurately that the author is quoting or citing from another source or author.

Goal 3: Be an Active Critical Reader and Notetaker by recording your own ideas, critical thinking, and responses to your sources, as they occur to you.  Your notetaking system should encourage and enable you to take notes on your own ideas as you read and take notes on your sources’ ideas.  Don’t assume you’ll remember that great idea later if you don’t write it down now!  As you do so, be sure your notetaking system enables you to distinguish/keep separate your own words and ideas from those of your sources, and thus avoid plagiarism. See also 2.d above:  use brackets [ ] if you are integrating notes on your ideas right into research notes on your sources.  Note new leads on additional sources.  Stop every once in a while to review and respond to what you’ve got so far: analyze, synthesize, compare/contrast what you’ve learned and what you’re thinking—and record your ideas!  Note comparisons and contrasts among ideas of sources that treat the same topics.  Revisit your Research Proposal questions and assumptions to refocus yourself; and to add, check off, revise, speculate, etc.  Review, especially, your Leading Research Question and Working Hypothesis--develop, refine, and revise as needed.

IV.  Key Sources Summary & Evaluation

V.  Conference Interview with Cora

Over Weeks #4 - #7, Cora will schedule informal checks of the research process skills assignments described above and consult with you on your research work in progress.  Then sometime during Weeks #8 - #10, you will make an appointment for a required conference interview with Cora to present and discuss I, II, III, and IV described above, so that Cora can make a final assessment and award your grade for Research Process Skills (worth 30% of your over all course grade in WR 123).