Research Papers Simplified - Laramie County Community College

to the University of Wyoming Library, or to all other libraries in Wyoming.
You can request books at another library by visiti ng LCCC’s library website
with your library card information or by contacting the other library directly.
As you can see, the Pathfinder guide is both comprehensive and easy to use
for virtually any research paper topic. Using this process, along with so me
guidance from a reference librarian, you will find the very best sources for
your research paper.
Evaluating Your Sources
All sources are not created equal, so it’s important to scrutinize your sources
carefully, and use only the best information in your research papers. I have
located two excellent websites that discuss the criteria you should use when
evaluating potential sources. The first website, ―How to Evaluate the
Information Sources You Find,‖ is from the ―Collections, Reference,
Instruction, and Outreach (CRIO) Department at the Cornell University
Library, located in Ithaca, New York, USA,‖ and it provides you with some
tips for evaluating general research sources:
General Research Evaluation
The next website, ―Evaluating Web Pages: Techniques to Apply and Questions
to Ask,‖ is from the University of California, Berkeley, and it focuses on
scrutinizing web pages:
Web Page Evaluation
Taking Careful Notes
You’ve located and evaluated your sources, and you now have a stack of
excellent information in front of you, parts of which will be blended into
your research paper. Your next task is to take careful notes from these
sources. The key word is ―careful‖ because you need to incorporate the
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