Seniors – your literature review is due on Monday, March 15.  Remember to include a title page, bibliography in MLA format, and, if applicable, a revised project proposal when you submit your literature review.  Please refer to the Literature Review Handout for details.

Please make note of the upcoming deadlines for Senior Project Seminar:

• By February 26 – Meeting with Karyn
• March 1-2-3: Bibliography with at least 10 sources (due in class)
• March 15 – Literature Review paper (remember that this is not a research paper – see handout for details)

Here is the Senior Project Research handout with more detailed information about each of these assignments.

Here are two helpful links for how to do a bibliography in MLA format.  Sample bibliographies are available on both sites.

• http://www.dianahacker.com/resdoc/p04_c08_s5.html
• http://owl.english.purdue.edu/owl/resource/747/12/

More information on Literature Review coming next week!

Step 3: Compiling the Bibliography

Using your resource list (Step 1), find at least 10 specific sources that will form the basis of your literature review or research paper.  You will be expected to read all 10 sources and take notes.  If you are familiar with NoodleTools, you are encouraged to use it to compile your bibliography.  Otherwise, you must create a Word document that lists all sources. Whether you use NoodleTools or Word, you must use correct MLA format for all citations.  Your bibliography must include the following types of sources:

• At least 2 articles from academic, professional, or trade publications
• At least 1 website from a leading organization or association
• At least 1 other website
• At least 1 post or series of posts from a blog or forum
• At least 1 book (non-reference)
• At least 1 non-textual source (video, podcast, television broadcast, etc.)
• Experiential research (interview, observation, shadowing, etc.)

The balance of number/type of sources may differ a bit depending on topic.  See Julia or Karyn if you have questions.

Þ Complete bibliography due March 1-2-3 (depending on section).

Literature Review deadline changed to March 15!

Today in class, you received the assignment sheet for the Research and Literature Review.  It is also attached here.  Senior Project Research

If you were instructed to revise your proposal, please submit the new version and/or schedule a meeting with Julia to discuss your changes and additions.  If you need help finding an internship or other experiential component, please see Julia or Ruth.

Assignment due Feb. 22-23-24: Generate 3-5 focused research questions to guide your process. Many of you came up with good questions in your proposals so reread for ideas.  By next week’s class, you must also schedule and attend a research meeting with Karyn. This can happen during a study, lunch, or afterschool.  Please come to the meeting prepared with your list of sources and questions; meetings will take 10-15 minutes.

Week 5 (Feb 8-9-10): Finding Sources

In class (with Karyn Silverman, HS Librarian):

• Where do professionals in your field go for information?
• What are the leading publications and resources for those who specialize in this field?

Here are the categories of relevant sources (see this handout from Karyn for more detailed instructions)

1. Ask a professional
2. Search for academic journals, professional/trade publications – use databases
3. Search for websites from a leading association/guild/group – use directories
4. Search for blogs – Use Google or Technorati
5. Search for books – use LREI, NYPL catalogs, Google book search, etc.

Assignment due Feb. 17: Identify at least 5 leading publications/resources in your chosen field of focus. Try to find a variety of sources that cover both historical information and current activity in the field.  DO NOT include generic websites from unattributed sources (e.g. Wikipedia) or sources written for a general/lay audience (Time, New York Times, etc.).

Proposals have been reviewed by the Senior Project Committee and will receive a designation of Approved, Rewrite, or Approve with Revisions.  Check Moodle for feedback and/or  speak to Julia this week about what to do next.  REVISED PROPOSALS ARE DUE WEDNESDAY, 2/17.

Note – on Wednesday, February 17 all three sections will meet together in the library/Tech Center.  Please do not go to your study/free.

We have a number of databases accessible on the Charlton Library homepage

For remote access, a password is required.  Please see your LREI email for a message from Karyn with these passwords.

Seniors: Some helpful resources for you! [from Karyn Silverman, HS Librarian]

• Content, Authority, Relevance, Purpose, and Design (CARPeD)

• Content: Is the site current? Comprehensive? How is this information better or different than the info you have seen elsewhere? (Make sure there is more available than an encyclopedia would have.) Are there typos or other clear errors in the content?
• Authority and credibility: who is responsible for the site (author or agency), and what are the qualifications of that author or agency?
• Relevance: Is the information pertinent to your research? (Even great information is useless if it is irrelevant for your purposes)
• Bias or purpose: Can you tell what is fact and what is opinion?
• Design: Is it well designed, easy to read and navigate? Are the links live or dead? Are citations or references provided?

• Some tips on evaluating blogs (which do not get evaluated exactly like websites) can be found here:
  • http://21cif.com/rkitp/assessment/v1n5/valenza1.5_blogeval.html
  • With blog evaluation, authorship, audience, and context are crucial and bias should be recognized but is expected.

• A few links with additional details about evaluating sites and including a checklist you may print and use:

• From UC Berkeley, a checklist that helps break down authorship and authority: http://www.lib.berkeley.edu/TeachingLib/Guides/Internet/Evaluate.html
• Cornell’s very impressive breakdown for evaluation: http://www.library.cornell.edu/olinuris/ref/research/webeval.html
• PDF checklist, from Kathy Schrock’s Guide for Educators: http://school.discoveryeducation.com/schrockguide/pdf/evalhigh.pdf

This week, please revise and expand your Detailed Proposal, according to the instructions posted here. SP Proposal Instructions

All proposals are due Monday, February 1 by 8:30 AM, regardless of which section you are in.  Please submit your proposal via Moodle, following the directions below.

1. Go to Moodle page on your browswer. http://moodle.lrei.org/course/view.php?id=12
2. Log in.  Your username is the first 7 letters of your last name, followed by enough letters of your first name to make the username total 7 letters, e.g. heatonj or sharpjo.  If you are currently in a class that uses a Moodle account, use your existing password.  If you are not using moodle this year, your password is “student.” (This includes students who used moodle last year.)
3. Go to Senior Project course.  Upload your proposal.  Please make sure that your proposal has your last name in the document title, e.g. “Heaton_Proposal.doc” so that we know whose is whose.  Please upload only your own proposal.

Here is a link to the proposal instructions.  OR you can click here to download the document. SP Proposal Instructions.

Hello Seniors.  Your first major assignment is to write a detailed proposal for your project. Please click on the following link for more information.

SP Proposal Instructions

Please take careful note of these due dates:

• The first draft is due at the start of class on January 25/26/27, depending on your section.
• The complete proposal is due February 1, 8:30 AM, via email (jheaton@lrei.org).

If you miss the deadlines, you will be on your way to failing the Senior Project Seminar and, as a result, your participation in Senior Project will be in jeopardy.  Some of you have not yet turned in your “Why Senior Project” proposal.  Please do so immediately if you would like to receive partial credit for this assignment.