"The horror of that moment," the King went on,
"I shall never, never forget!"
"You will though," the Queen said, "if you
don't make a memorandum of it."
- Through the Looking Glass
Search Records
To keep track of what databases and indexes you have searched, start to keep a SEARCH RECORD now. You will quickly forget what you have already consulted, and these records will make it easy to see what you haven't yet covered and may also be useful in discussions with your advisor or a librarian. The search record is a listing of what sources you searched.
For example:
Midcat
WorldCat
Bibliography of Asian Studies (BAS)
Art Index
*It is also a good idea to note the search terms you used with electronic databases, that way when you review your results with your advisor or a librarian, they can suggest other terms that might improve your results.
Taking Notes:
As you begin to read, use your search records to record a summary, paraphrase, and/or your reactions to the reading, or quotations.
Summary, Paraphrase, and/or Your Reaction
To summarize the whole item or only a part, use your own words to carefully convey the author's intent. Paraphrasing is restating the ideas or information of an author in your own words. It is a more detailed recording of information than in a summary. IMPORTANT: See the section below on plagiarism and paraphrasing. If you use your paraphrase or any ideas that are someone else's in your paper, you still need to cite the source!
example:
Homer, William. Alfred Stieglitz and the Photo-Secession. Boston: Little, Brown, 1983. summary: Prominent figures such as Stieglitz, Steichen, Kasebier are compared. Includes over 100 reproductions.
reaction: To what extent did Stieglitz influence Steichen's choice of subjects? Did Strand go west to escape control by Stieglitz?
Quotation
In quoting you must be sure to use the exact words, spelling and punctuation of the original and to enclose the passage in quotation marks. Be sure to make a note of the page location. A quotation has impact when the quoted person is important to your thesis and when the words have power.
example:
Homer, William. Alfred Stieglitz and the Photo-Secession. Homer, William. Alfred Stieglitz and the Photo-Secession. Boston: Little, Brown, 1983. Quotation "The struggle for true liberation of self and so of others had become more and more conscious within me and before I realized it I was editing magazines, arranging exhibitions demonstrations, discovering photographers and fighting for them, etc., etc." (Steiglitz, p.30).
Help With Writing:
Center for Teaching, Learning, and Research (CTLR)
Middlebury students can consult the CTLR in the Main Library for help. Staff & Peer Tutors are available to offer feedback on your writing. For more info, contact Kathy Skubikowski at ext. 5878.
There are also many online writing guides that may help you:
Online Writing Lab (Purdue University)
Useful for more specific questions concerning sentence construction, punctuation, parts of speech, etc.
University of Victoria's Hypertext Writer's Guide
Reviews important steps in the writing process.
The 'P' Word - PLAGIARISM
According to the Middlebury College Honor Code:
Plagiarism is a violation of intellectual honesty. Plagiarism is passing off another person's work as one's own. It is taking and presenting as one's own the ideas, research, writings, creations, or inventions of another. It makes no difference whether the source is a student or a professional in some field. For example, in written work, whenever as much as a sentence or key phrase is taken from the work of another without specific citation of the source, the issue of plagiarism arises.
Paraphrasing is the close restatement of another's idea using approximately the language of the original. Paraphrasing without acknowledgment of authorship is also plagiarism and is as serious a violation as an unacknowledged quotation.
- Academic Honesty Statement, Middlebury College Honor Code (emphasis added)
If you use other writers' ideas or quotations in your thesis, you will need to credit the author--in the text with a citation and in the bibliography. Please consult your Middlebury Handbook for a fuller discussion of this issue and the college policy.