How to find and use reliable Internet sources

How to find and use reliable Internet sources…

Zika Virus: Finding Solutions in Brazil

Credible Sources

Reliable Source Checklist Credibility of source: q Why was this site created? Is there any bias? q Who is responsible for this site? What are their credentials? q Does the author document his/her own sources?

Relevance of source: q Can you understand what is being said? q Is the site user-friendly? Do the links work? q Does it give a date the information was created or last updated? What is the URL ending? . com (Commercial websites). org (Non-profit websites). edu (Academic websites). gov (Government websites)

Appropriate Websites

Country Information CIA World Factbook www. odci. gov/CIA/publications/factbook BBC News Country Profiles http: //news. bbc. co. uk/2/hi/country_profiles/default. s tm Infoplease Countries of the World www. infoplease. com/countries. html

United Nations Information United Nations Home Page www. un. org Millenium Development Goals www. un. org/millenniumgoals/ MDG Country Statistics mdgs. un. org/unsd/mdg/Default. aspx International Monetary Fund www. imf. org/external/index. htm

Good Sources University presses (Harvard, Cambridge) Major publishing houses (Penguin, Random House) Well-known organizations (United Nations, government websites) Well-known newspapers (New York Times) Well-known media sources (BBC, CNN) Magazines Online journals (JSTOR)

Bad Sources Wikipedia Personal blogs Non-credible newspapers, magazines, editorials *** Think about “bias”

Tips on Plagiarism

Official Definition To plagiarize (verb): to use the words or ideas of another person as if they were your own words or ideas to steal and pass off (the ideas or words of another) as one's own : use (another's production) without crediting the source to commit literary theft : present as new and original an idea or product derived from an existing source

What Does Plagiarism Look Like? Copying someone’s work Citing a source improperly Failure to cite a source Creation of false sources Turning in another person’s work as your own

How to Avoid Plagiarism ① SUMMARIZE You must reference the original source Your summary should be shorter than the text you are summarizing You must use your own words, usually with a very limited use of quotations

How to Avoid Plagiarism ② PARAPHRASE You must reference the original source The text you produce may be shorter or longer than the original text You must use your own words

How to Avoid Plagiarism ③ QUOTE You must reference the original source The text produced is the exact length of the original text quoted (unless ellipses are used) You must use the original author’s exact words and you must put quotation marks around them You must include the page number of the source from which you borrowed the author’s original language

Practice Article on the UN’s response to the spreading Zika virus: http: //www. un. org/apps/news/story. asp? News. ID=55175 #. V_I 3 ep. N 97 wc ① Read the article. ② Summarize and paraphrase what you find most interesting. ③ Find two other credible, relevant Internet sources that discuss the Zika virus.