TOPIC 5 Synthesis

                                                      A Synthesis 

                                         Introduction 

 The main purpose of a synthesis essay is to make insightful connections. Those connections can show the relationship(s) between parts of a work or even between two or more works. It is your job to explain why those relationships are important.  In order to write a successful synthesis essay, you must gather research on your chosen topic, discover meaningful connections throughout your research, and develop a unique and interesting argument or perspective.

A synthesis is not a summary. A synthesis is an opportunity to create new knowledge out of already existing knowledge, i.e., other sources. You combine, “synthesize,” the information in your sources to develop an argument or a unique perspective on a topic. Your thesis statement becomes a one-sentence claim that presents your perspective and identifies the new knowledge that you will create.

Before you write your synthesis

1.       Narrow a broad or general topic to a specific topic:

In a short essay, completely covering a large topic is impossible, so picking a specific, focused topic is important. For example, the broad topic of global warming would need to be narrowed down to something more specific, like the effects of automobile exhaust on an ecosystem.

2.       Develop a working thesis statement:

A working thesis statement should include a rough idea of your topic and the important point you want to make about that topic.  Writing this statement at the top of a rough draft or outline and looking at it often can help you remain focused throughout the essay.  However, the thesis statement that you begin with is not set in stone.  If you find that your essay shifts topic slightly, you can change your thesis in later drafts so that it matches your new focus.

3.       Decide how you will use your sources:

After completing your research and gathering sources, you may have a large or overwhelming amount of information. However, the purpose of a synthesis essay is to use only the most important parts of your research, the information that will best support your claim. At this point, you must decide which sources, and/or which parts of those sources, you will use.

4.       Organize your research:

Now, decide the order in which you will present your evidence, the various arguments you will employ, and how you will convince your readers. 

   

     CONCLUSION:

synthesis is about organizing the pieces to create a beautiful mosaic, to create a meaning ,different with the sum of the shiny piece.

Topic 4 A.P.A citation

                                       The Basics of A.P.A Style

                                         INTRODUCTION:

A.P.A style was developed by social and behavioral scientists to standardize scientific writing.

A.P.A style is used for :

1-Term papers

2-research paper

3-empirical papers

4-literature review

This tutorial is designed for those who have no previous knowledge of APA Style. It shows users how to structure and format their work, recommends ways to reduce bias in language, identifies how to avoid charges of plagiarism, shows how to cite references in text, and provides selected reference examples.

 Down you will read some explanation that i found on google which will explain about the A.P.A

General format
General APA Guidelines
Major Paper Sections:
Abstract

Summary:

APA (American Psychological Association) style is most commonly used to cite sources within the social sciences. This resource, revised according to the 6^th edition, second printing of the APA manual, offers examples for the general format of APA research papers, in-text citations, endnotes/footnotes, and the reference page. For more information, please consult the Publication Manual of the American Psychological Association, (6^th ed., 2^nd printing).

Contributors:
Joshua M. Paiz, Elizabeth Angeli, Jodi Wagner, Elena Lawrick, Kristen Moore, Michael Anderson, Lars Soderlund, Allen Brizee, Russell Kec

Your essay should be typed, double-spaced on standard-sized paper (8.5" x 11") with 1" margins on all sides. You should use a clear font that is highly readable. APA recommends using 12 pt. Times New Roman font.

Include a page header (also known as the running ahead) at the top of every page. To create a page header/running head, insert page numbers flush right. Then type "TITLE OF YOUR PAPER" in the header flush left using all capital letters. The running ahead  is a shortened version of your paper's title and cannot exceed 50 characters including spacing and punctuation.

Your essay should include four major sections: the Title Page, Abstract, Main Body, and References.

Title Page:

The title page should contain the title of the paper, the author's name, and the institutional affiliation. Include the page header (described above) flush left with the page number flush right at the top of the page. Please note that on the title page, your page header/running head should look like this:

Running head: TITLE OF the PAPER

Pages after the title page should have a running head that looks like this:

TITLE OF the paper 

After consulting with publication specialists at the A.P.A, OWL staff learned that the A.P.A 6th edition, first printing sample papers have incorrect examples of Running heads on pages after the title page. This link will take you to the A.P.A site where you can find a complete list of all the errors in the APA's 6th edition style guide.

Type your title in upper and lowercase letters centered in the upper half of the page. APA recommends that your title be no more than 12 words in length and that it should not contain abbreviations or words that serve no purpose. Your title may take up one or two lines. All text on the title page, and throughout your paper, should be double-spaced.

Beneath the title, type the author's name: first name, middle initial(s), and last name. Do not use titles (Dr.) or degrees (PhD).

Beneath the author's name, type the institutional affiliation, which should indicate the location where the author(s) conducted the research.

APA Title Page

Begin a new page. Your abstract page should already include the page header (described above). On the first line of the abstract page, center the word “Abstract” (no bold, formatting, italics, underlining, or quotation marks).

Beginning with the next line, write a concise summary of the key points of your research. (Do not indent.) Your abstract should contain at least your research topic, research questions, participants, methods, results, data analysis, and conclusions. You may also include possible implications of your research and future work you see connected with your findings. Your abstract should be a single paragraph double-spaced. Your abstract should be between 150 and 250 words.

You may also want to list keywords from your paper in your abstract. To do this, indent as you would if you were starting a new paragraph, type Keywords: (italicized), and then list your keywords. Listing your keywords will help researchers find your work in databases.

A.P.A Abstract Page

see the A.P.A resource to see an example of an A.P.A paper.

Individual Resources

Contributors' names and the last edited date can be found in the orange boxes at the top of every page on the OWL.

Contributors' names (Last edited date). Title of resource. Retrieved from http://Web address for OWL resource

Angeli, E., Wagner, J., Lawrick, E., Moore, K., Anderson, M., Soderlund, L., & Brizee, A. (2010, May 5). General format. Retrieved from http://owl.english.purdue.edu/owl/resource/560/01/

Topic 3 search strategies and search tools (OPAC)

           INTRODUCTION:

         In this third week we have been learning about selecting keywords, that means when you are starting to formulate your first question it can be useful to brain storm words that are synonymous or related to the major concept of your topic as well narrower as broader term. try to create a hierarchy of concepts of your topic it will give you more flexibility when searching different types of data bases or catalogs.....

You now know some of the best resources to use for identifying, narrowing and focusing topics. Once you have a topic you need to select some terms, called "keywords," that you can use to search for information relating to your topic.
Look at the following examples of narrowed research topics with the keywords highlighted :
What has caused the implementation of salary caps in professional sport?
What effect did the assault weapons ban have on the crime rate?
What role should the courts play in right-to-die cases?
You need to select keywords due to the way most search interfaces work. The words you enter will be compared to the words in the records being searched. If you enter too many words you are likely to receive few, if any results.
For example:
 If you enter "What role should the courts play in the right-to-die cases," any articles returned will need to have many or all of those words somewhere in the record describing the article. In one of our larger databases, employing all of these words in the search does not retrieve any articles, but using the words "courts right-to-die" returns 435 articles.
     Library Services:
The O.P.A.C search form allows searching by any combination of author, title, subject/keyword, date or format. Items that do not indicate a holding location have not been barcoded, indicating that they may not be available. 

CONCLUSION : 


These subject headings are sometimes called index terms or descriptors.  The library has copies of the printed volume and the thesaurus is also available online, searchable from within the database.

topic 2 information resources -( Primary and secondary)

                      Primary and secondary sources


concerning this week we have learned a new lesson about Primary and secondary sources .we said that The materials, evidence, or data used in your research are known as sources. As foundations of your research, these sources of information are typically classified into two broad categories: primary and secondary. 

Discipline	Primary Source	Secondary Source
Archeology	farming tools	treatise on innovative analysis of Neolithic artifacts
Art	sketch book	conference proceedings on French Impressionists
History	Emancipation Proclamation (1863)	book on the anti-slavery struggle
Journalism	interview	biography of publisher Randolph Hearst
Law	legislative hearing	law review article on anti-terrorism legislation
Literature	novel	literary criticism on Desolation Angels
Music	score of an opera	biography of the composer Mozart
Political Science	public opinion poll	newspaper article on campaign finance reform
Rhetoric	speech	editorial comment on Martin Luther King's "I Have a Dream" speech
Sociology	voter registry	Ph.D. dissertation on Hispanic voting patterns

Primary source is material written or produced in the time period that you may be investigating.

Primary Sources

A primary source provides direct or firsthand evidence about an event, object, person or work of art. Characteristically, primary sources are contemporary to the events and people described and show minimal or no mediation between the document/artifact and its creator. As to the format, primary source materials can be written and non-written, the latter including sound, picture, and artifact. Examples of primary sources include:
      1- personal correspondence and diaries
      2- works of art and literature
      3-speeches and oral histories
      4-audio and video recordings
      5-photographs and posters
      6-newspaper ads and stories
      7- laws and legislative hearings
      8 census or demographic records
      9- plant and animal specimens

     10-coins and tools

Secondary Sources

A secondary source, in contrast, lacks the immediacy of a primary record. As materials produced sometime after an event happened, they contain information that has been interpreted, commented, analyzed or processed in such a way that it no longer conveys the freshness of the original. History textbooks, dictionaries, encyclopedias, interpretive journal articles, and book reviews are all examples of secondary sources. Secondary sources are often based on primary sources.
The chart below illustrates possible uses of primary and secondary sources by discipline:

CONCLUSION:
Primary sources enable the researcher to get as close as possible to what actually happened during an historical event or time period.

A primary source is an original object or document, first-hand information.
finally we knew the difference between hte primary and secondary source, we said a primary source is from the original source  and a secondary is no more fresh from the original such a history book, encyclopedia and a dictionary.

Topic1 information system model Big 6

              

              Introduction:

          

      In this week one of information literacy we have learnt many things, such as the introduction of the subject, the purpose and so on, but the most interesting important  we learnt about was about the Big 6. Before going deep in that subject we learnt about some model information literacy as the Alberta model, Pitts research model, seven pillars model, action learning model and the big 6.   

      

        the big six is a stage process to help any one solve problems or make decisions by using information. the big six  is a transformation process in which the learner needs to find, understand ,evaluate and use information in various forms to create for personal social and global purposes.( www.noodletools.com).

       Some key concepts:

1. The Big Six can be applied in any subject with students of all ages and across all grade levels.
2. The Big Six approach is adaptable and can be applied to any information problem.3. Technology integration is enhanced by the Big Six process.4. The Big Six process is "necessary and sufficient" for solving problems and completing information tasks.5. The Big Six is nonlinear.6. The Big Six is an information literacy TOOL, not an add-on!
The Big Six is used whenever a teacher requires students to do the following: 
1-The task definition:    Define the problem, identify the requirements that is called the task definition.
2-Seeking strategies :    Determine range sources, prioritize sources that is seeking strategies.
3-Location and access: locate sources collect info
4-Use of information: Engage,view, touch and extract information
5-Synthesis : it organize and present.
6-Evaluation :judge the product and the process evaluation.

listen to a lecture or watch a video

conduct an experiment

read from a textbook

complete a worksheet

make a project

take a test

select a topic and do homework.write a response, journal entry, essay, report, or story...pretty much anything we have students do involves information, and thus the Big Six!

                                                                                               
                                          
                    the information literacy process model :

   CONCLUSION:

In the end of my conclusion the big 6 a stage process to help any one solve problems or make decisions by using information and it can help people to solve many problems