Evaluating and Documenting Sources

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Evaluating and Documenting Sources
Thesis Workshop SEP 2006

• Tri A Budiono
• School of Computer Science

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Agenda

• Finding Sources
• Evaluating Sources
• Documenting Sources with APA style

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• Finding Sources

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Sources to Include in the Thesis

• Binus International is developing a policy
  regarding basic requirements of writing in the
  courses, including thesis
• The writing requirement for the thesis are
• At least 15.000 words
• At least 10 books and 25 articles

The large volume of scientific literature being
produced can be daunting at first. However, a
number of resources are available to help you
find what is relevant to your research, and most
of the resources are searchable online.
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Researchers and library resources

• Researchers use library resources to
• keep up with current thinking in the field so
  they can recognize a question worth asking
• review what is known about a given phenomenon so
  they can place new knowledge in context
• locate specific information they need to
  successfully carry out an experiment or project

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Finding Sources in Computer Science1

• Database and Indexes
• ACM Digital Library. New York Association for
  Computing Machinery, 1947.
• Applied Science and Technology Index. New York
  Wilson, 1983.
• EI Engineering Village 2. Hoboken Elsevier
  Engineering Information, 2000.
• Web Resources
• ACM Portal The Guide to Computing Literature
• http//portal.acm.org/guide.cfm
• FOLDOC Free Online Dictionary of Computing
• http//wombat.doc.ic.ac.uk/foldoc/index.html
• Virtual Computer Library
• http//www.utexas.edu/computer/vcl
• WWW Virtual Library Computing and Computer
  Science
• http//vlib.org/Computing
• EEVL The Internet Guide to Engineering,
  Mathematics, and Computing
• http//www.eevl.ac.uk

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Finding Sources in Computer Science2

• Reference Books
• Encyclopedia of Computers and Computer History.
  Ed. Raúl Rojas. 2 vols. Chicago Fitzroy
  Dearborn, 2001.
• Encyclopedia of Computer Science. Ed. Anthony
  Ralston, Edwin D. Reilly, and David Hemmendinger.
  4th ed. London Nature, 2000.

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• Evaluating Sources

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Source Credibility

• Evaluating The Reliability of a Source
• Not every source is suitable for use in a formal
  research paper, and the ultimate guide of what is
  appropriate and what is not is your supervisor.
• Excellent research requires thought and care in
  choosing the best or most appropriate sources.
• You should test items on your working
  bibliography against the following standards
• Balance, objectivity
• Authoritativeness
• Timeliness, Currency
• Originality

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Authoritativeness

• Authoritativeness
• Some publications carry more authority because
  they contain articles written only by seasoned
  scholars and researchers.
• Can you learn something about the authors
  reputations?
• Do other scholars cite them?

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Balance, objectivity

• Balance, objectivity
• Almost all publications have some type of bias or
  perspective - political, religious, or cultural.
• An American business magazine inevitably will
  have a certain perspective on Japanese business
  practices.
• A feminist magazine such as MS. will have a
  definite perspective on the right-to-life
  movement.
• Open source supporters will undermine Microsoft
  products

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Timeliness, Currency

• Timeliness, Currency
• This standard refers to having the most
  up-to-date information. Obviously, if you are
  researching J2EE Frameworks, you want the most
  current information possible.
• For some research topics, you will want to
  balance the newest information with older
  information.

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Originality

• Originality
• Original sources are primary sources - ones
  written or published closest in time to an event,
  or containing the actual text of a speech, the
  transcript of a news conference, etc. The Gang of
  Four is the primary sources of Design Pattern
• Secondary sources analyze, and offer commentary
  on, primary sources. An book on understanding OO
  paradigm such Budd OOP analyse and discuss the
  design pattern is secondary sources.
• Whenever possible, use primary sources so that
  you can avoid the inherent biases of secondary
  sources.

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Assessing online Sources Credibility

• Online sources can be used, however you will
  still need to assess their credibility.
• The following criteria for assessing online
  sources will help you to determine whether
  electronic sources are both professional and
  appropriate for your thesis.

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Assessing online Sources Credibility

• Authorship - who is the author and what are his
  credentials?
• Publishing Body - the pb is the server on which
  the file is stored. The server cannot guarantee
  reliability of the information that is posted.
• Objectivity/Knowledge - seek out other sources to
  see if the author has considered enough
  alternative views. Is there evidence to support
  the claims being made? Is the tone professional?
• Accuracy or Verifiability - Hypertext is helpful
  in this area. For example, an author quoting
  statistics from another Internet source will
  often include a direct link to that source.
• Currency - this refers to the history of
  publication and any revisions. When was the site
  last updated? Is the information still relevant?

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• Style Manuals

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Four Commonly-used Style Manuals
Style Manual Discipline Published Manual
MLA English and the humanities MLA Handbook for Writers of Research Papers, 6th ed. (New York MLA, 2003).
APA Psychology and the social sciences Publication Manual of the American Psychological Association, 5th ed. (Washington APA, 2001).
Chicago history and some humanitiesH The Chicago Manual of Style, 15th ed. (Chicago U of Chicago P, 2003).
CSE Biology and other sciences Scientific Style and Format The CBE Manual for Authors, Editors, and Publishers (6th ed., 1994),

• MLA Modern Language Association
• APA APA STYLE THE SOCIAL SCIENCES
• CSE Council of Science Editors

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List of Style Manuals1

• BIOLOGY (SEE CSE.)
• Council of Biology Editors. Scientific Style and
  Format TheCBE Manual for Authors, Editors, and
  Publishers. 6th ed.New York Cambridge UP, 1994.
• BUSINESS
• American Management Association. The AMA Style
  Guide forBusiness Writing. New York AMACOM,
  1996.
• CHEMISTRY
• Dodd, Janet S., ed. The ACS Style Guide A Manual
  forAuthors and Editors. 2nd ed. Washington
  Amer. ChemicalSoc., 1997.
• ENGINEERING
• Institute of Electrical and Electronics
  Engineers. IEEEStandards Style Manual. Rev. ed.
  New York IEEE, 2005lthttp//standards.ieee.org/gu
  ides/style/2005Style.pdfgt
• ENGLISH AND THE HUMANITIES (SEE MLA.)
• Gibaldi, Joseph. MLA Handbook for Writers of
  ResearchPapers. 6th ed. New York Mod. Lang.
  Assn., 2003.

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List of Style Manuals2

• GEOLOGY
• Bates, Robert L., Rex Buchanan, and Marla
  Adkins-Heljeson,eds. Geowriting A Guide to
  Writing, Editing, and Printingin Earth Science.
  5th ed. Alexandria Amer. GeologicalInst., 1995.
• GOVERNMENT DOCUMENTS
• Garner, Diane L. The Complete Guide to Citing
  GovernmentInformation Resources A Manual for
  Social Science andBusiness Research. 3rd ed.
  Bethesda CongressionalInformation Service,
  2002.
• United States Government Printing Office. Style
  Manual.Washington GPO, 2000.
• HISTORY (SEE CHICAGO.)
• The Chicago Manual of Style. 15th ed. Chicago U
  of ChicagoP, 2003.
• JOURNALISM
• Goldstein, Norm, ed. Associated Press Stylebook
  and Briefingon Media Law. Rev. ed. New York
  Associated Press,2005.

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List of Style Manuals3

• LAW
• Harvard Law Review et al. The Bluebook A Uniform
  System ofCitation. 17th ed. Cambridge Harvard
  Law Rev. Assn.,2000.
• LINGUISTICS
• Linguistic Society of America. LSA Style Sheet.
  Publishedannually in the December issue of the
  LSA Bulletin.
• MATHEMATICS
• American Mathematical Society. The AMS Author
  HandbookGeneral Instructions for Preparing
  Manuscripts. Rev. ed.Providence AMS, 1996.
• MEDICINE
• Iverson, Cheryl, et al. American Medical
  Association Manual ofStyle A Guide for Authors
  and Editors. 9th ed. BaltimoreWilliams, 1998.
• MUSIC
• Holoman, D. Kern, ed. Writing about Music A
  Style Sheetfrom the Editors of 19th-Century
  Music. Berkeley U ofCalifornia P, 1988.

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List of Style Manuals4

• PHYSICS
• American Institute of Physics. Style Manual
  Instructions toAuthors and Volume Editors for
  the Preparation of AIPBook Manuscripts. 5th ed.
  New York AIP, 1995.
• POLITICAL SCIENCE
• American Political Science Association. Style
  Manual forPolitical Science. Rev. ed.
  Washington APSA, 2001.
• PSYCHOLOGY AND OTHER SOCIAL SCIENCES (SEE APA.)
• American Psychological Association. Publication
  Manual of theAmerican Psychological Association.
  5th ed. Washington APA, 2001.
• SCIENCE AND TECHNICAL WRITING
• American National Standards Institute. American
  NationalStandard for the Preparation of
  Scientific Papers forWritten or Oral
  Presentation. New York ANSI, 1979.
• Microsoft Corporation. Microsoft Manual of Style
  for TechnicalPublications. 3rd ed. Redmond
  Microsoft, 2004.
• Rubens, Philip, ed. Science and Technical
  Writing A Manualof Style. 2nd ed. New York
  Routledge, 2001.
• SOCIAL WORK
• National Association of Social Workers. Writing
  for the NASW Press Information for Authors
  lthttp//naswpress.org/resources/tools/01-write/gu
  idelines_toc.htmgt.

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• Documenting Sources Using APA Format

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Why Use APA Format?

• Allows readers to cross-reference your sources
  easily
• Provides consistent format within a discipline
• Gives you credibility as a writer
• Protects yourself from plagiarism

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Cross-Referencing Your Sources

• Cross-referencing allows readers to locate the
  publication information of source material.
• This is of great value for researchers who may
  want to locate your sources for their own
  research projects.

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Using a Consistent Format

• Using a consistent format helps your reader
  understand your arguments and the sources theyre
  built on.
• It also helps you keep track of your sources as
  you build arguments.

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Establishing Credibility

• The proper use of APA style shows the credibility
  of writers such writers show accountability to
  their source material.

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Avoiding Plagiarism

• Proper citation of your sources in APA style can
  help you avoid plagiarism, which is a serious
  offense. It may result in anything from failure
  of the assignment to expulsion from school.

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Where Do I Find APA Format?

• Publication Manual of the American Psychological
  Association, 5th ed.
• www.apastyle.org
• Composition textbooks
• English Services Manager John Honeyben

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APA Style Two Main Concerns

• Reference Page
• Parenthetical Citations

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Reference Page

• A list of every source that you make reference to
  in your essay.
• Provides the information necessary for a reader
  to locate and retrieve any sources cited in your
  essay.
• Each retrievable source cited in the essay must
  appear on the reference page, and vice versa.

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A Sample Reference Page
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Reference Page

• Most citations should contain the following basic
  information
• Authors name
• Title of work
• Publication information

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References Some Examples

• BookShay, J. (1994). Achilles in Vietnam
  Combat trauma and the undoing of character.
  New York Touchstone.
• Article in a MagazineKlein, J. (1998, October
  5). Dizzy days. The New Yorker, 40-45.

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References Some Examples

• Web pagePoland, D. (1998, October 26). The hot
  button. Roughcut. Retrieved October 28, 1998
  from http//www.roughcut.com

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References Some Examples

• A newspaper articleTommasini, A. (1998, October
  27). Master teachers whose artistry glows in
  private. New York Times, p. B2.
• A source with no known authorCigarette sales
  fall 30 as California tax rises. (1999,
  September 14). New York Times, p. A17.

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Reference Page

• What other types of sources might you need to
  list on your reference page?
• Study the basics of APA citation format. When
  something odd comes up, dont guess. Look it up!

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Parenthetical Citations

• When quoting any words that are not your own
• Quoting means to repeat another source word for
  word, using quotation marks

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Parenthetical Citations

• When summarizing facts and ideas from a source
• Summarizing means to take ideas from a large
  passage of another source and condense them,
  using your own words
• When paraphrasing a source
• Paraphrasing means to use the ideas from another
  source but change the phrasing into your own words

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Keys to Parenthetical Citations

• Readability
• Keep references brief
• Give only information needed to identify the
  source on your reference page
• Do not repeat unnecessary information

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Handling Quotes in Your Text

• Authors last name, publication year, and page
  number(s) of quote must appear in the text
• Caruth (1996) states that a traumatic response
  frequently entails a delayed, uncontrolled
  repetitive appearance of hallucinations and other
  intrusive phenomena (p.11).
• A traumatic response frequently entails a
  delayed, uncontrolled repetitive appearance of
  hallucinations and other intrusive phenomena
  (Caruth, 1996, p.11).

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Handling Parenthetical Citations

• Sometimes additional information is necessary . .
  .
• More than one author with the same last name
• (H. James, 1878) (W. James, 1880)
• Two or more works in the same parentheses
• (Caruth, 1996 Fussell, 1975 Showalter, 1997)
• Work with six or more authors
• (Smith et al, 1998)
• Specific part of a source
• (Jones, 1995, chap. 2)

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Handling Parenthetical Citations

• If the source has no known author, then use an
  abbreviated version of the title
• Full Title California Cigarette Tax Deters
  Smokers
• Citation (California, 1999)

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Handling Parenthetical Citations

• A reference to a personal communication
• Source email message from C. Everett Koop
• Citation (C. E. Koop, personal communication,
  May 16, 1998)
• A general reference to a web siteSource Purdue
  University web site
• Citation (http//www.purdue.edu)

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Handling Parenthetical Citations

• Recently, the history of warfare has been
  significantly revised by Higonnet et al (1987),
  Marcus (1989), and Raitt and Tate (1997) to
  include womens personal and cultural responses
  to battle and its resultant traumatic effects.
  Feminist researchers now concur that It is no
  longer true to claim that women's responses to
  the war have been ignored (Raitt Tate, p. 2).
  Though these studies focus solely on women's
  experiences, they err by collectively
  perpetuating the masculine-centered impressions
  originating in Fussell (1975) and Bergonzi
  (1996).
• However, Tylee (1990) further criticizes
  Fussell, arguing that his study treated memory
  and culture as if they belonged to a sphere
  beyond the existence of individuals or the
  control of institutions (p. 6).

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Handling Quotes in Your Text

• There are many different combinations and
  variations within APA citation format.
• If you run into something unusual, look it up!

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• Exercises
• Credible sources?
• Style used?
• Consistent use of style?

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Conclusion

• Only credible sources that can be used in the
  thesis
• Be consistent on one style manual