Last week, I attended a presentation in the library that highlighted what makes a source credible, and where to find them. In today's day and age, there are thousands of articles on various sites, and it can be difficult to distinguish fact from fiction. Considering I will need several credible sources for my research essay, this presentation was beneficial to my writing outline and my overall understanding of sourcing information.
When analyzing a source, it's very important to take into consideration possible bias. For example, bias is very prevalent in the news media. Understanding that bias has the power to portray information in a way that can deceive must be noted. Adding on, when looking for credible information, citing a study can be more effective to your argument, ensuring that you can identify possible bias, and the study's relevance to your topic. Studies that are over 10 years old should be reexamined as it could potentially be outdated. Also, being able to differentiate a site based on the end of their URL is vital. A ".gov" site comes from the US government, whereas a ".edu" site comes from an educational institution. This shouldn't be overlooked when it comes to researching. If I ever need a source that's not available from the North Central Library (Research | North Central College), I am able to request additional sources, which is a cool feature.
Once I acquire a good, reliable source I want to include in my research, the final step I need to do is cite it. Luckily, I was provided with a "cheat sheet" for citing sources in MLA, APA, or Chicago style format which is attached below. I hope that my enhanced understanding of research methods will strengthen my writing skills.
It was quite nice that we got to spend the entire class period on creditable sources. We didn't really had to focus on the rational argument and I got something out of the presentation. I knew the majority of the stuff said but learned about the library resources that NCC offered.
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