CHD Assignments Playbook

Before beginning your research process,make sure you understand the parameters your instructor has set out for this assignment. Read the assignment instructions more than once.

Some of the parameters for this assignment are:

• 6-8 pages
• Topic related to special education and/or exceptional children
• Topic must be pre-approved by the instructor
• Minimum of 5 professional references -- professional means the information was written by and for professionals -- you should not use information that is geared to the general public
• At least one reference must be non-Internet based: this means the source cannot be found via a search engine
• Wikipedia may not be used
• APA or MLA format (note that APA is an easier format and it is the appropriate format for education and psychology)

Background information

Before you can write about a topic, you need to learn about it.  This is done by reading background information about a topic to understand the basics of that topic.  Background information can be found in topic overviews, and sometimes in books.

To find topic overviews, go to the library's home page and search in the START HERE section by typing your topic into the search box, then clicking Search. To read an article from the results list, click the title.

Topic narrowing

Broad topics are very difficult to research because they include a multitude of sub-topics. Once you have picked a broad topic, make it research-ready by narrowing and focusing it. Narrowing a topic means making it more specific.

Focusing a topic generates terms that can be used in research databases to obtain relevant sources.

Why use books? Books often contain background information and are written at a level that is easy to understand.  You do not have to use the entire book -- look for chapters or even passages that may help your research.

To find books, go to the library's home page and search under FIND BOOKS.  Use a subject search for more targeted results.

Use the EBSCO portal to access over 30 databases and millions of articles.  For more targeted results, use a subject search.

EBSCO allows you to refine your results.  After you get your results list, check the left hand side of the screen, where you can continue to refine your results using different limiters.

This assignment requires that you have professional sources.  These are sources that are written by professionals and also targeted to professionals. This means that you can't use the Web the way you normally do, as most of the sources you find will be inappropriate for the level of research required for this assignment.

[1] Be choosy when selecting Web sources

• Use only sources that are written by professionals (doctor, psychologist, PhD, RN, etc.) and geared toward professional or academic audiences. 
• Discard anything that is geared to the general public or that lacks an author (exception: government materials such as materials from the CDC and other government agencies).

[2] Filter your results by using special search patterns.  The following searches work with Google or Bing.

• Search a specific domain:

[term] site:.gov

Example:  autism site:gov

• Search a specific site:

[term] site: cdc.gov

Example: migraine site: cdc.gov

• Incorporate sources into your essay -- don't just drop quotes
• Demonstrate you understand what you just quoted -- explain why it matters. What is the significance?
• Incorporating is mashing -- combine your ideas with the research into a cohesive, seamless product
• Cite the sources that provided the information

Citing sources is a two-part process --  sources must be cited in the body of the essay (using in-text and/or parenthetical citations) and at the end of the essay (References or Works Cited lists).

Citing is not hard -- all it takes is some practice.  The librarians can help you develop your citing skills -- just ask for help.

This assignment allows you to use MLA style or APA style for citing.  Learn how to cite using the library's citation playbooks:

APA style

MLA style

Notes: 

• the APA style is the appropriate style for education and for psychology.  APA is also a lot easier and more straightforward than MLA.
• citation generators (including the one in Word)  generate erroneous citations, and it takes longer to fix them than it does to create citations from scratch.  The library does not provide support for citation generators.

• For help finding resources, use the information in the library's playbooks. Librarians can help you understand the playbooks, but they cannot conduct research for you.
• For help with formatting citations, please consult the library's citation styles playbooks. Please note the librarians cannot help you with citation generators or with any citation guide other than the library's. 
• For help with composition issues (such as spelling, grammar, flow, etc.), please visit the Writing Center.
• If you have questions, please email the  librarians at reference@pvcc.edu, visit the library and speak with a librarian, or connect via chat. If your section has an embedded librarian, contact that specific librarian.