The Research Process
This book has detailed information on things like:
Topic selection
Source selection and citation
Avoiding plagiarism
Note taking, paraphrasing and summarizing
Using quotations
Outlining
Writing and revision help
Presentations
… and more!
Evaluating information you find online:
When you are looking for information online don't take the information you are learning as fact.
Take a moment when you find new information and check to see if these claims are verified anywhere else. Open a new window or tab and perform a new search with information you have gathered. Can this information be validated by other sources?
When researching online ask yourself these questions:
Who wrote this? Why are they qualified to present information on this topic? Is this a personal page or does it belong to a larger organization?
Why would someone want this information available online?
What are the motives of the author, sponsor or the publisher of this information?
Are there signs of bias?
Is the information current?
Can the information (including quotations and statistics) be verified by other sources?
When in doubt look for a different website
Keep in mind that search terms matter. Each set of keywords will bring up a different set of search results, change your search if you need to
Keep an eye out for misleading websites like highly partisan news, clickbait and satire
A list of a few Non-partisan Fact Checking Sites