BHS senior expert project

  If you need help finding a book or any other resources to supplement your project along the way, please don't hesitate to contact Ms. Otero or stop by the library with questions.  
SUPERSEARCH* - Skyline College SuperSearch enables users to find articles, books, and more all in one search. It's a "web-scale discovery" tool, similar to Google, only SuperSearch is academic and includes Peninsula Library System (PLS) books, periodicals, databases, and more. 
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*Use your public library card number to login. If you don't have it, please see Ms. Otero in the library or email at: botero@smuhsd.org

RESEARCH GUIDES - Skyline College Library research guides that provide links to databases, websites, articles, and more resources geared towards specific topics. Browse to find one related to your chosen topic and narrow reliable sources.
  • Gale Opposing Viewpoints in Context - Various sides of latest social issues. Search this database to find  informed, differing views presented for each side of an issue written by credible journalists and authors.*

  • Gale Student Resources in Context - Broad scope of subjects, variety of sources. Search this database to find a wide range of articles from academic journals, popular magazines, newspapers, and reference sources.*

*Use your public library card number to login.

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  • SCC Database List - This link provides a complete title list of the diverse databases offered by the community colleges.​
Google Tips
  • Use quote marks (“ ”) around search phrases, e.g., “fast food”
  • Use OR between words for the same concept, e.g., children OR teens OR "young people" OR adolescents
  • Use "country codes" by entering "site:countrycode" to produce international search results rather than solely U.S. based results, e.g. site:ir to find articles from Iran 
  • Use "site:ac.countrycode" to produce international search results from credible sites such as higher institutions similar to including ".edu" in a search, e.g. site:ac.ir
  • Limit searches to sites from a specific web domain (e.g., .edu, .gov )
  • Limit searches to a specific website, e.g., site:nytimes.com will limit a search to the NY Times website
  • Limit by time period by clicking on 'Search Tools' at the top of the results page and the 'Any Time' pull-down menu

EVALUATING WEBSITES
The look and feel of the website - Reliable websites usually have a more professional look and feel than personal Web sites.

The URL of your results - The .com, .edu, .gov, .net, and .org all actually mean something and can help you to evaluate the website!
  • Informational Resources are those which present factual information. These are usually sponsored by educational institutions or governmental agencies. (These resources often include .edu or .gov.) 
  • Advocacy Resources are those sponsored by an organization that may try to sell ideas or influence public opinion. (These resources may include .org within the URL.) 
  • Business or Marketing Resources are those sponsored by a commercial entity that is trying to sell products. These pages are often very biased, but can provide useful information. (You will usually find .com within the URL of these resources.) 
  • News Resources are those which provide extremely current information on hot topics. Most of the time news sources are not as credible as academic journals, and newspapers range in credibility from paper to paper. (The URL will usually include .com.) 
  • Personal Web Pages/Resources are sites such as social media sites: blogs, Twitter pages, Facebook, etc. These sources can be helpful to determine what people are saying on a topic and what discussions are taking place. Exercise great caution if trying to incorporate these sources directly into an academic paper. Very rarely, if ever, will they hold any weight in the scholarly community.

Are there advertisements on the site? - Advertisements can indicate that the information may be less reliable.

Check the links on the page - Broken or incorrect links can mean that no one is taking care of the site and that other information on it may be out-of-date or unreliable.

Check when the page was last updated - Dates when pages were last updated are valuable clues to its currency and accuracy.
CITING SOURCES GUIDE
OWL Purdue - A reliable source for confirming all citiation guidelines in both MLA and APA formats.