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.
General Research Databases
Gale in Context Opposing Viewpoints - Supports science, social studies, current events, and language arts; presents all sides of important issues, and empowers learners to develop information literacy and critical thinking skills. To login use the password: panther
Gale in Context Global Issues - Supports global awareness. Authoritative content empowers learners to critically analyze and understand the most important issues of the modern world. To login use the password: panther
EBSCO Points of View Reference Center - Resources that present multiple sides of an issue. Provides content to help assess/develop persuasive arguments and better understand controversial issues. Use your public library card number to login. If you don't have it, please email Ms. Otero: botero@smuhsd.org
EBSCO Explora - Curriculum-related, age appropriate, full-text content for high school students on broad scope of subjects. 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. If you don't have it, please email Ms. Otero: botero@smuhsd.org
Gale in Context Global Issues - Supports global awareness. Authoritative content empowers learners to critically analyze and understand the most important issues of the modern world. To login use the password: panther
EBSCO Points of View Reference Center - Resources that present multiple sides of an issue. Provides content to help assess/develop persuasive arguments and better understand controversial issues. Use your public library card number to login. If you don't have it, please email Ms. Otero: botero@smuhsd.org
EBSCO Explora - Curriculum-related, age appropriate, full-text content for high school students on broad scope of subjects. 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. If you don't have it, please email Ms. Otero: botero@smuhsd.org
Community College Research Databases and Help
OneSearch - Skyline College OneSearch enables users to find articles, books, and more all in one search. It's a "web-scale discovery" tool, similar to Google, only OneSearch is academic and includes Peninsula Library System (PLS) books, periodicals, databases, and more. NOTE: To gain access to many of the College databases now, you need to sign up for a SMCCCD Library OneSearch account. You can sign up HERE.
SCC Database List - This link provides a complete title list of the diverse databases offered by the community colleges. To gain access to many of these databases you will need to get a SMCCCD Library OneSearch account. You can sign up for one HERE.
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.
Ask a Librarian - For questions regarding these Skyline and Community College resources, you can chat with a librarian as a community member to get help during a live session to show how they search. During this process, students can select articles or chapters from ebooks of interest and they can email them to you directly.
SCC Database List - This link provides a complete title list of the diverse databases offered by the community colleges. To gain access to many of these databases you will need to get a SMCCCD Library OneSearch account. You can sign up for one HERE.
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.
Ask a Librarian - For questions regarding these Skyline and Community College resources, you can chat with a librarian as a community member to get help during a live session to show how they search. During this process, students can select articles or chapters from ebooks of interest and they can email them to you directly.
Other Helpful Resources
NYT Access - The New York Times is available to all high school students and teachers across the United States for free until September 2021.
PLS eBooks and Audiobooks - The Peninsula Public Library system provides access to eBooks and audiobooks for free using your public library card number. You can contact Ms. Otero if you don't have a public library card or access to your number.
BPL Databases - The Burlingame Public Library has a list of all the PLS databases, online newspapers, magazines and more with descriptions. You will need your public library card number to access them.
PLS eBooks and Audiobooks - The Peninsula Public Library system provides access to eBooks and audiobooks for free using your public library card number. You can contact Ms. Otero if you don't have a public library card or access to your number.
BPL Databases - The Burlingame Public Library has a list of all the PLS databases, online newspapers, magazines and more with descriptions. You will need your public library card number to access them.
Searching Strategies
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
BHS Online Book Catalog
Click the image below to search for books currently on the shelves in the BHS Library.
Click the image below to search for books currently on the shelves in the BHS Library.
For help finding relevant books on your topic, please fill out this Google Form and follow up with Ms. Otero.
Finding Credible Sources
Evaluating Websites
Keep in mind: reliable websites usually have a more professional look and feel than personal websites.
The URL of your results - The .com, .edu, .gov, .net, and .org all actually mean something and can help you to evaluate a website.
Other things to pay attention to:
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.
Keep in mind: reliable websites usually have a more professional look and feel than personal websites.
The URL of your results - The .com, .edu, .gov, .net, and .org all actually mean something and can help you to evaluate a website.
- Informational Resources are those which present factual info; 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 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.
Other things to pay attention to:
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
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OWL Purdue - A reliable source and guide for confirming all citation guidelines in both MLA and APA formats.
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Helpful Tip: Databases often provide source citations for you, so you can copy and paste them into your works cited pages. View the images below for examples of where to find citations in the databases.
Example of Gale database citation; found at the bottom of the source, and has the ability to export to Google Drive and more:
Example of EBSCO database citation; found on the right hand menu bar.