SIRS Researcher Training Video
Watch this video to learn how to effectively and efficiently use the SIRS Researcher database.
If watching the above video is not your style, you can get a quick overview of how to use SIRS by reading this short document.
Bibliographical Style Reference Guides
This site which is part of Easy Bib provides reference material for APA and MLA style bibliographies. You will find links that explain how to create the major types of citations that you will use for your works cited lists. Included is a description of the source, the structure of formatting, and some helpful examples. If this is all just way too complicated to figure out, use one of the citation calculators below.
Citation Machine is an interactive Web tool designed to assist teachers and students in producing reference citations for crediting information from other people.
OSLIS Secondary Citation Maker
The folks at the Oregon School Library Information System have developed this handy MLA-based citation maker. Like the citation machine above, it allows you to generate entire bibliographies and then print or save them as you see fit.
EasyBib is an automatic bibliography composer. It formats, alphabetizes, and prepares your MLA works cited list for printing.
KnightCite is an online citation generator service provided by the Hekman Library of Calvin College. This service simplifies the often tedious task of compiling an accurate bibliography in the appropriate style by formatting the given data on a source into a reliable citation, eliminating the need to memorize minute details of style for multiple kinds of sources.
This aid includes examples of in text citations, reference page citations and paper formatting in MLA style. The aid is based off of the 7th ed. of the MLA Handbook for Writers of Research Papers published in 2009.
Back to School: 15 Essential Web Tools for Students
There are a number of web-based and social tools to help you get through the school year. From staying organized to improving study habits to making sure you reference your research sources properly, the web can help you be a better student. You won't be able to access this link at school, but it is worth trying at home!
Want to understand copyright law? Read this comic book. It is a fantastic approach for introducing copyright law.Doing Research: An Introduction to the Concepts of Online Searching
Click on the link to start the Flash tutorial which covers basics of Boolean "AND" searching as well as identifying keywords,synonyms, citations and "putting it all together." Game-like approach illustrates the concepts with minimum of text. This tutorial, designed for university students, is simple and quick and on a level appropriate for secondary students.
This comprehensive set of webpages details many aspects of the research process, including how to find information (both in print and on the web), evalutating the resources you find, and how to cite your work to avoid plagiarism and copyright violations.
Check out the handy guide to search smarter, take advantage of online resources, and cite the information you find and use.
Making the Grade - How to Succeed in School
Start the year off right. Check out this site that provides a lot of study tricks and resources to help you get your grades get on track and stay there!
Covers how to take notes, test taking tips, strategies for reading textbooks, time management, and much more.
How to use the Big6 system.
A fill-in-the-blanks worksheet to help you with the Big6 system.
Site that provides tech tips on using Windows, Word, Excel, PowerPoint, Internet.
Virtual Learning Resources Center Tech Tutorials
This site has links to just about every commonly used application available.
Learn how to use technology to increase your efficiency, expand communication, and put the world at your fingertips.
Provides online and print opportunities for young authors to publish nonfiction, fiction, essays and other forms of writing.
This site presents the contents of William Strunk Jr.’s Elements of Style, originally printed in 1918. It includes concise explanations with examples and non-examples. This text highlights commonly misused and misspelled words.
Students will learn to effectively evaluate the information that they find on the web in this flash tutorial.
This tutorial will help students generate effective search terms for internet or database searching.
This tutorial will help students learn some internet search tips and strategies.
"Throughout my formal education I spent many, many hours in public and school libraries. Libraries became courts of last resort, as it were. The current definitive answer to almost any question can be found within the four walls of most libraries." Arthur Ashe (1943-1993)
This page contains links to outside sources. The Davis Joint Unified School District is not responsible for any content housed/published on those sites.