PROJECT RESEARCH September 3, 2008
Posted by Ms. Klemundt in Science Fair.add a comment
[I've edited this post and added some of the points I covered in my presentations. Hopefully, this will make it more useful.]
Background reading on your topic is crucial! You need to invest the time and read good articles, chapters of books, etc. even if you can’t cite them in your bibliography. Background reading will help you gain a solid understanding of the various aspects of your project and of the issues and questions surrounding your topic or experiment. It is also an important way to gather search terms and expand your search vocabulary. The better your understanding of terms and concepts, the better able you will be to modify your searches in order to gather the most and the best of the available materials.
When you search library catalogs you will probably not find whole books on your specific project. Therefore, you will have to broaden your search terms. For example, if you are studying the reactions of a specific acid, you might have to search for books about acids and bases and use the Table of Contents or index to find specific information about your acid.
Here are the links from the presentation on starting your Science Fair Project research. Some of these links are to Res subscription databases, so if you did not get a blue sheet with the usernames and passwords, stop by the library and pick one up.
Some databases to use:
- EBSCO Science Reference Center (http://search.epnet.com) Don’t forget to use the Advanced Search screen. Then you can set your Date of Publication range, choose a Publication Type (use Control-click to select more than one Publication Type to search), search only peer-reviewed journals, retrieve articles that are cover stories (for greater depth of content), and search within the entire text of the article in order to retrieve more sources.
- FirstSearch (http://firstsearch.oclc.org) Once you’re logged in, choose “List All Databases” to select the databases you wish to search. You can search up to 3 databases at a time. The best ones to start with are ArticleFirst, ECO, and WilsonSelectPlus. If you are doing something that relates to education or psychology, try ERIC. If are doing some related to health or medicine, chooose Medline. Again, use the Advanced Search screen to limit the dates of publication and to rank your results by date, with the most recent coming first in the list.
- Public Library of Science (http://www.plos.org) There are 7 online journals which are listed along the right side. Try searching more than one journal. All of the articles in all of the journals are peer-reviewed. This is pretty advanced stuff but if you persevere, you will be rewarded!
- Google Scholar (http://scholar.google.com) Use this as a discovery tool and remember to use the Advanced Search screen so you can limit by date. You will not find full text, but if you find good articles or chapters from books, we can try and get them for you through interlibrary loan. If the source of the article is JSTOR, you can go to a Chicago Public Library branch and access that database from there in order to find the article.
- FACTS.com Today’s Science (http://www.2facts.com) This is good for background reading and overviews.
- Readers’ Guide Full Text Select (http://vnweb.hwwilsonweb.com/hww/) This database is geared for the general reader so you will not find peer-reviewed articles, but you may still find useful articles.
- Current Issues : Health (http://vnweb.hwwilsonweb.com/hww/) This database is geared for students.
- And don’t forget the electronic databases available through your local public library.
If you find a citation to an article in any of these databases, but not the full text, print out the citation and bring it to the library and we will try and get it for you through interlibrary loan. Just remember to allow enough time for this. Don’t forget to look at the bibliographies at the end of articles, books, and websites. These lists can lead you to more good resources.
Citation/Bibliography Help:
- Oregon School Library Information System (http://www.oslis.org/resources/cm/apacitations) There is an online citation maker but see the caution below. Scroll down to “Citation Resources” along the right side for “APA Citation Examples.” This is an excellent resource to help you correctly format your citations. We have a copy in the library if you’d like to look at it.
- Publication Manual of the American Psychological Association (we have the latest print edition in the library)
- Online Writing Lab (OWL) at Purdue University, APA Formatting and Style Guide (http://owl.english.purdue.edu/owl/resource/560/01) In addition to help with formatting your bibliography, the OWL site has excellent help with learning how to cite a source within the text of your paper.
Always double-check any online citation maker, including MicroSoft Word. They don’t always format the citation correctly, especially if it deviates from the typical citation for that format. Bring your bibliography to the library (or even e-mail it to us) and we will be happy to look it over and make corrections. But, dear Procrastinators, please don’t bring it or e-mail it 10 minutes before you have to hand it in!
If you decide you want to try using a social bookmarking site to help you keep track of Science Fair websites, articles, and citations, here’s the home page for Delicious (http://delicious.com/). If you’re not sure or want some help putting this tool to work for you, stop by and see me.
Come see us to discuss your research and we will be happy to help. If you didn’t receive a presentation handout or you were absent or, heaven forfend, you lost yours, we have extras in the library.
FINDING A TOPIC August 27, 2008
Posted by Ms. Klemundt in Science Fair, Web Resources.add a comment
Here are the links from the library presentation on Finding A Topic for your Science Fair Project.
Some helpful Science Fair Guides:
- Today’s Science (http://www.2facts.com) Science Fair Guide and Doing Experiments sections; login and scroll down to “Curriculum Tools”
- Internet Public Library Science Fair Project Resource Guide (http://www.ipl.org/div/kidspace/projectguide)
- Librarians’ Internet Index (http://www.lii.org); search for “Science Fair” or “Science Project”
Use the books in the Res Library (on the red cart)) and books at your public library to look for possible topics. Browse the science magazines and also general interest magazines for more ideas. In a previous post I listed the web links for the Illinois Junior Academy of Science site and the California state science fair site. Reading abstracts of previous Science Fair winners may spark your imagination.
Use the Science Reference Center database to search for ideas and also to check if your possible topics are researchable. If you don’t have the username and password for this database or for Today’s Science, stop by the library and pick up a blue sheet.
And don’t forget to talk with your teacher! He or she is an invaluable resource in this whole process.
SCIENCE FAIR August 17, 2008
Posted by Ms. Klemundt in Science Fair.add a comment
Although you still have a few more days of vacation, those of you in Honors Science classes this year might want to start thinking about your Science Fair project. Here are some ideas about how to get started. In the coming weeks, we will be posting more helpful ideas here on the blog as well as working with you through your Science classes.
There are many books of ideas on Science Fair projects that have been published. While it’s true that a majority are written for upper elementary students, they might help you find some starting points. If you’re feeling motivated, you can go to your local public library this week and take a look at their collections. We will also be pulling a number of books from the Res Library collection this week so they’ll be ready for you to browse when you start school next week. Stop by the library to take a look at what’s available.
It’s a good idea to come up with a couple of topic options for yourself. Then do some background reading on each of the topics to help you determine what’s most interesting to you and what would be a valid Science Fair topic. Talk with your teachers early on in your project to make sure your idea is doable. A good source for background material is the EBSCO Science Reference Center, one of Res’ subscription databases. You will need the Res Username and Password from the blue sheets available in the Library in order to access this database. (If you happened to put your blue sheet from last year in your Res scrapbook — you do have a Res scrapbook, don’t you? — that username and password will still work. If you are a freshman, stop by the Res library on Thursday or Friday and we’ll be happy to give you the information.)
Two good websites for ideas are the Illinois Junior Academy of Science homepage (scroll down along the left-side menu and take a look at the Best in Category Abstracts) and the California State Science Fair Project Listings. For both sites, the “Senior” division is for high school students.
Although it is probably geared more for elementary school students, a good basic introduction to Science Fair is the Internet Public Library’s Science Fair Project Resource Guide. The “Tools and Research” tab takes you to a number of links to other helpful sites.
Hopefully these resources will get you started! We plan to offer some mini-lessons in the library on specific topics related to your Science Fair Project research, including using our subscription databases and creating a bibliography. Listen to daily Announcements or check this blog for topics and times. And always remember that Mrs. Roy, Mrs. Johann, and I are available to help you locate books, articles, and web resources for your Project. Don’t hesitate to stop by and talk things over.
