referencing sources? (1 Viewer)

[jack white]

hey guys, i have started drafting bits of my PIP here and there and i am rather confident in what i have to say but i do not know how to reference sources to well. is there any help you past and present society and culture pippers can give me?

i am having trouble with referencing internet sources mainly. i am also unsure of how many sources to actually use in my PIP. should i heavily rely on 5-10 sources or should i just quote about 25-30 sources here and there.

i'm not freakin' out...i'd just like to know how some of you guys have done it so i can be more confident in what i have to do to get this PIP outta my life...

P.S. are book/textbook sources more reliable than internet sources?

questions, questions, questions...

 

[soulshine]

well. i dont know.












however, i would say that the more the merrier... remember you have to anotate your resources so when you do that you can talk about which ones were more useful than others.

 

[winicat]

hey guys, i have started drafting bits of my PIP here and there and i am rather confident in what i have to say but i do not know how to reference sources to well. is there any help you past and present society and culture pippers can give me?

my fine art course (uni) gave us a really good essay guide, focusing on sourcing and acknowledging stuff. ignoring the fine art twist, here's some points from it:

There is a "circle of sources" the inner circle is primary sources (catalogues, letters, documents), next is secondary sources (journal articles, stylistic analysis) and finally is tertiary sources (most internet sources, encycolpedia entries)

Most of the information you access from the internet using generic search engines such as Google will fall into the encyclopaedic category.

When you write any precise or contentious evidence in your essay you must add a full reference or citation that will accurately take the reader to your source so that they can check the veracity of your information or judge the quality of your source.

i am having trouble with referencing internet sources mainly. i am also unsure of how many sources to actually use in my PIP. should i heavily rely on 5-10 sources or should i just quote about 25-30 sources here and there.

don't quote so many things in your actual PIP. the point is it is your opinion that matters. if it is so important to quote so many articles in such a short space (ie length) then you are not getting the point of the exercise. just choose a few, no more then 2-3 for every 2000 words. give a quote, give your argument (for or against) and provide evidence to back this up. sure, it's important to utilise a lot of sources, but you don't have to refer to them all in your PIP, it's just a lot of wasted word count. if necessary, paraphrase and just add a footnote about where you got this idea from (eg. "These few sentences summarise the point of view put forward by...")

A note on websites: they are not generally considered as a "good" source. if you check the "last updated" section of many of them, they are fairly out of date. most people consider internet sites to be the most current secondary sources but in reality most are usually dated tertiary ones.

Finally: There are a lot of really good essay writing guides online that you can just Google for. Many of them not only show you how to structure your essay (which isn't entirly needed for your PIP but may be handy later on) but also provide guidelines for referncing, footnoting, anotating and just generally writing a "proper" bibliography. (this could be where you find out how to write your bibliographic details for websites)

If you need any more specific help, just PM me and I will try to give you any help I can.

 

[Survivor39]

i am having trouble with referencing internet sources mainly. i am also unsure of how many sources to actually use in my PIP. should i heavily rely on 5-10 sources or should i just quote about 25-30 sources here and there.

You can use as many resources as you feel comfortable. Roughly around 15 to 25 is enough.
Example to how to cite internet sites:
Winston, J 1999, A look at referencing, AAA Educational Services, viewed 20 October 2004, <http//www.aaa.edu.au/aaa.html>.

So you need Author, site date, name and place of sponsor of site, date of viewing, Internet address.

P.S. are book/textbook sources more reliable than internet sources?

Depends on where the internet resource comes from. A peer-reviewed journal available electronically is as valid as any other peer-reviewed journal published. But be careful, try to use websites ends with edu, or gov, as they are more valid.

 

[jack white]

Cool.

Thank you both so much, things are a lot clearer for me now. I have some of those essay/referencing guides but I wanted to hear some of the thoughts of other students.

Another question: I have one absolutely fantastic source, a thesis I obtained from the university of western sydney website. Would it be a bad idea to use this source more than others? It is not the most opinionated thesis as it is sociological in nature and it maintains objectivity throughout.

And another: should I cite this 270-page thesis as an internet source or as a published written source? (It is, in fact, a published written source available on the net). It was written for one guy's honours in 2001 (so it is not dated yet) and now it is available as an e-resource/book. How do I cite it and does its recent date make it more valid and useful?

Another freakin question (sorry): are interviews with experts on your chosen topic a great thing for the PIP? Would one make my research more valid?

SHUT ME UP PLEASE, I AM RAMBLING!!!!

 

[mishka]

don't forget this resource list has to be annotated - that means you have to do a paragraph on each source explaining what it was about, what you got out of it and how relevant it was to your topic etc.

for my PIP i used standard Harvard style referencing (look it up in Google if you're interested) and i divided the resources into things like books, journals, video productions, and other material.

 

[winicat]

Another question: I have one absolutely fantastic source, a thesis I obtained from the university of western sydney website. Would it be a bad idea to use this source more than others? It is not the most opinionated thesis as it is sociological in nature and it maintains objectivity throughout.

It would probably be best to try not to focus on one source more than others as it may appear that you are simply copying their ideas, etc. and not expanding your own research enough.

And another: should I cite this 270-page thesis as an internet source or as a published written source?

I think cite it as a written work (if you have the vailable info) but state somewhere that you accessed it online. this could be in the actual bibliographic details, annotation or in a footnote somewhere.

Another freakin question (sorry): are interviews with experts on your chosen topic a great thing for the PIP? Would one make my research more valid?

I'd use an expert, it would be great! But that doesn't mean it makes your research "more valid". An interview with your peers is just as valid as one with an expert, etc. Don't just interiew an expert expecting it to "get you more marks" -- that's not how it works. It's the analytical interpretation of the interview and integration of this into your work that really matters.

 

[pirotess4]

Thank you both so much, things are a lot clearer for me now. I have some of those essay/referencing guides but I wanted to hear some of the thoughts of other students.

Another freakin question (sorry): are interviews with experts on your chosen topic a great thing for the PIP? Would one make my research more valid?


SHUT ME UP PLEASE, I AM RAMBLING!!!!

What's the matter? I thought you were god ;-) God doesn't need help!!


Interviews with EXPERTS ON YOUR CHOSEN TOPIC!!! gee that doesn't sound good at all!! Are you kidding it's GREAT!! Stop being s paranoid!! You have a GOOD PIP and a GREAT INTERVIEW lined up!! You're already 10 times ahead of the rest of your class! Take a breather and feel proud for all your hard work Jackie!! Take the time to relax with a macca's coffee and sit at ur McCafe and realise your acheivements!! Muahahhahaha.........I'll shut you up soon enough, I'll shut you up with my fist contacting your face if you don't stop rambling about how much work you've bloody done!!

Nah, i'm not THAT cruel

But seriously....

YOU'VE DONE WELL!! STOP STRESSING!!

 

[white_spazzy]

pirotess you dont have to abuse jackie online u can do that at school...
and jackie dont worry ur doing really well although i hate to break pirotess's bubble but i dont think ur 10 times ahead of us! lol

 

[pirotess4]

hehehehe

I wasn't abusing, just merely trying to lift Jackie's spirits in a mean way ;-)

 

[jack white]

i was not adressing you pirotess. i was simply asking for some constructive assistance off winicat, a sophisticated and very helpful ex-pipper that you could really learn from...bye bye.

(i can't believe i am writing this as i sit right next to you in this library.)

thanks winicat for you answers.

as for pirotess, .........................

 

[pirotess4]

Well then Jackie

(Why don't i just tell u this im sitting right next to you!)

I was just trying to lift your spirits, remind me not to be so nice to you next time



Don't worry I won't tell you that your pip is good anymore or anything as it obvious seems to stur you. All that effort of being nice to you doesn't pay off so I'll just stop it since you dont appreciate it. Just remember you're the one who said my pip (AND WHITE SPAZZYS) was shit on the internet and I'm still being nice to you!! Muahahahahhaahhaa!! *gives Jackie (whos sitting right next to me!) an evil glare*

 

[Smitie]

Jack White

Well isn't that name a big Cop out! Haven't been watching School of Rock or listening to Tenatios Deed have you???
Bet you your real names something like brian or bredon or Curtis

 

[winicat]

i was not adressing you pirotess. i was simply asking for some constructive assistance off winicat, a sophisticated and very helpful ex-pipper that you could really learn from...bye bye.

me? sophisticated? *slurps ber from can, burps loudly and scratches belly* thanks, compliments will get you every where

 

[white_spazzy]

lol jackie how sweet you made someone feel good.....if only they knew you!! lmao

DONT TELL PIROTESS WHO SMITIE IS!!!

 

[winicat]

i didn't say anything about amking me feel better! i just said that compliments will get you everywhere!!!

 

[Survivor39]

hey! the private message option is use for personal chit-chat, not on here. Thank you.

 

[pirotess4]

Yeah! Learn to use private messenging hehe....i should 2!