Student Links

Here are several good links for students in my courses to consult. Among them are some good sites to check for properly citing Internet sources in papers and how to evaluate web based information for use in research papers.

Critical Thinking | Citing Electronic Sources

Evaluating Web Sites

	Here is a pretty interesting site which gives some criteria for evaluating web sites for use in research. It is posted by the Reference Librarians at Widener University in Chester, PA. This would be a good site for students to check out.
	Bruce Leland from Western Illinois University has a nice succinct page about evaluating web sites as well as a page called Research on the Web: How Reliable is it? that is very good.
	Craig Branham of St. Louis University's Department of English has a site that is a good resource for evaluating web sites as well.
	The Cornell University Library has a page Evaluating Web Sites: Criteria and Tools that gives some useful information about using web sites for academic purposes.

Critical Thinking & Writing

One of the most difficult ideas for students to grasp is the evaluation of arguments presented by various sources. This is particularly true when deal with ethical ideas -- seemingly one opinion is as good as another. This is simply not the case. Here are a couple web site from University Philosophy Departments that will help you to begin to critically evaluate and assess arguments presented by various authors in print and on the web.

	The Philosophy Department at Oregon State University has this site on Writing Philosophy Papers: A Student Guide. Of particular note for our purposes is the page called Analyzing Arguments.
	Another excellent resource on argument analysis is by Dr. Charles Ess of Drury University entitled Approaches to Critical Thinking. He has hyper-linked various terms used by logicians in analyzing arguments. Return to top

Citing Web Based Sources

Students might also want to check out The Everyday Writer Online for answers to questions about writing style, grammar and other writing tips. This text is being phased in as the official style guide for the Core Program. A companion to this site is Online a site that will help students will find the way to properly cite web based resources in APA, MLA and CBE styles.

Here is a site that provides information about research and documentation online from Bedford/St. Martin's Press There are resources for various disciplines as well as information for citing sources and bibliography format.

Here is another site from Columbia University Press for citing Internet sources. (This site also has information for APA, MLA and CBE.)

Citing Electronic Databases

	Of special note is the section on citing electronic databases such as those that are accessed though the Saint Joseph's College PALNI site.
	The Library at College of Saint Benedict/St. John's University also has a site with various links to citing electronic sources.

Links to Various Style Guides

Chicago Style

MLA Style

APA Style courtesy of the Ohio State University Libraries

CSE (Council of Science Editors) again from the Ohio State University Libraries

Turabian

Purdue OWL listing of style guides for various disciplines

Other

Easy Bib -- an online resource for composing a bibliography in MLA format. (The APA format requires a paid subscription). Worth a try.

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Page updated 02/13/2012 by
T. McFarland, C.PP.S., Professor of Religion
Saint Joseph's College
Questions or comments to timm@saintjoe.edu