Research Writing 101:Citing your information

Columbia High SchoolMr. Knowles’ Class

2010

“diligent and systematic inquiry or investigation into a subject in order to discover or revise facts, theories, applications” (dictionary.com)

Learning new information, and finding new ways to express your ideas, about a certain topic

What is research?

Things that you “refer” to Books, articles, web pages, and other

sources of information They’re the places you get your information You list them on your Works Cited page

What are references?

Links between information in your paper and references on your Works Cited list

Clues to more information for your reader Demonstration that you are considering

more than one viewpoint Demonstration that you are not “making it

up”

What are citations?

Citations appear in your writing They’re entered in code The code identifies a reference The reference could be examined for more

information

How citations & references work together

1. Create your list of Works Cited2. Find any references that do not have

unique first words, or multiple authors3. Unique references are easy:

(first word page number) or (first word) if online(Jones 34) or (Jones)

4. Non-unique references are almost as easy:(first word, first unique word page number) or (first

word first unique word) if online(Jones, Inventors 34) or (Jones, “Automobile”)

Creating your citations

What does it look like?

Notice citation punctuation. Where does it go?

Notice hanging indent format. Why does it help?

The earliest elevators to appear in history were ingenious machines, dating back as far as the Roman Empire or earlier. The famous Roman Coliseum used a system of elevators to raise wild animals to the main floor during the gladiator contests (HowStuffWorks). It wasn’t until much later, during the Industrial Revolution, that steam powered elevators were used (Fosberg 121). One of the reasons that most elevators were used for cargo or freight, as opposed to humans, was that the danger of a falling elevator with human passengers was always present. That problem was solved and sensationally publicized by Elisha Otis in 1852. His safety brake kept an elevator car from falling even if the ropes pulling it upward broke, a feature he showed off to amazed crowds at the World’s Fair in New York City in 1854 (Ament). In the years that followed, Otis’ company’s business prospered, and refinements on his original design allowed elevators to move at greater speeds and work in taller and taller buildings (“History”, Big).

Works CitedAment, Phil. “Elevator History – Invention of the

Elevator.” The Great Idea Finder. Web. May 12, 2010. http://www.ideafinder.com/history/inventions/elevator.htm

Drain, Sharon Cramer. “The Otis Bulletin.” The Elevator Museum. http://www.theelevatormuseum.org/ind2.php Web. May 17, 2010.

Fosberg, Philip L. Technology and You: The Second Industrial Revolution. New York: Putnam and Sons, 2005

“History of Elevators.” Big Site of Amazing Facts. Web. May 13, 2010. <http://www.bigsiteofamazingfacts.com/history-of-elevators

“History of Elevators.” History Monster . Web. May 13, 2010. <http://www.historymonster.com/elevators>

HowStuffWorks. “What the Ancients Knew: The Coliseum’s Elevators.” HowStuffWorks.com. Web. http://videos.howstuffworks.com/science-channel/29116-what-the-ancients-knew-the-coliseums-elevators-video.htm. May 17, 2010.

What will the citations look like?

Which references will need page numbers?

Which references will need more than one word?

Cotterell, Arthur, ed. The Encyclopedia of Ancient Civilizations. New York: Mayflower Books, 1980.

Hadas, Moses. Imperial Rome. New York: Time, Inc. 1965.

Hadas, Moses. Roman Emperors and the Roman World. New York: Random House, 1972.

Quennell, Marjorie and C.H.B. Quennell. Everday Life in Roman and Anglo-Saxon Times. New York: G.P. Putnam’s Sons, 1959.

Readers’ Digest. Everyday Life Through the Ages. New York: Readers’ Digest, 1992.

Simons, Gerald. Barbarian Europe. New York: Time-Life Books, 1968.

“Slavery.” Britannica Online. Web. http://britannica.com/articles/slavery/ March 4, 2009.

“Slavery in the Ancient World.” Roman World. Web. http://romanworld.com/slaves/ March 13, 2009.

Swisher, Clarice. The Ancient Near East. San Diego, California: Lucent Books, 1995.

How do they work?

Notice citation punctuation. Where does it go?

What source does info about steam powered elevators come from?

The earliest elevators to appear in history were ingenious machines, dating back as far as the Roman Empire or earlier. The famous Roman Coliseum used a system of elevators to raise wild animals to the main floor during the gladiator contests (HowStuffWorks). It wasn’t until much later, during the Industrial Revolution, that steam powered elevators were used (Fosberg 121). One of the reasons that most elevators were used for cargo or freight, as opposed to humans, was that the danger of a falling elevator with human passengers was always present. That problem was solved and sensationally publicized by Elisha Otis in 1852. His safety brake kept an elevator car from falling even if the ropes pulling it upward broke, a feature he showed off to amazed crowds at the World’s Fair in New York City in 1854 (Ament). In the years that followed, Otis’ company’s business prospered, and refinements on his original design allowed elevators to move at greater speeds and work in taller and taller buildings (“History”, Big).

Citations appear at the END of information from that reference

Any researched information BEFORE the citation is assumed to come from there…

Until the next citation