Last week I didn't have time to post here because I was absorbed in meeting a deadline for the Legal writing and research class I'm taking this semester. That work served as inspiration for this publication.
Highlight and save
I have often heard from my students and now some of my classmates that they have difficulty keeping track of their research in a way that allows them to include citations as they write. The solution is not only to bookmark sources, but also to highlight passages you want to save for future use. In my pre-internet high school days, we were taught to do this on index cards. Today we can do this with free tools like Google Keep and OneNote.
Google Keep and OneNote let you highlight passages on web pages and PDF files to save them along with the source of the passages you highlight. You can also write a short note to yourself explaining why you saved that passage and how it will fit into the document you are writing or the presentation you are preparing.
With the Google Keep or OneNote browser extensions installed, you can highlight a passage of text and then right-click on it to save it to your Keep or OneNote account. The passage and the URL where it was found will be saved. But before you close the Keep or OneNote tab, add a note to remember why you saved that passage and how it will fit into your writing or presentation.
This video Includes a demonstration of how to use Google Keep for bookmarking purposes.
Format citations
A couple of weeks ago I lost a point on an assignment of mine. Legal writing and research class by accidentally italicizing a comma in the source quote I wrote. Outside of law school, I have never seen that level of formatting precision required of students. That said, it's important for students to get into the habit of writing quotes that provide a little more detail than “I found it on this website.”
Both Google Docs and Word include citation formatting tools for students. In general, they are quite good at helping students format citations. This video will guide you through using the citation tool in Google Docs and this video demonstrates the Word equivalent. At the high school level and beyond, I would have students double-check the accuracy of the formatting that automated citation tools provide. During years Purdue OWL has been the go-to resource I recommend to students for guidance on APA and MLA formatting.
For more ideas, tools and guidance to help students with online research assignments, pick up a copy of Teaching search strategies to history students or sign up for 25 Search Strategies Students Should Know.
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