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Writing Paper
Information Power/Doing
the Right Thing*
THE FIRST RIGHT THING) Start your research with the right attitude. Even if you
would rather be anywhere else but the library, make the best of the situation. You will
make things easier for yourself. Take pride in yourself, try to excel, and don't settle
for doing just enough to get by. When you come into the library, don't allow yourself to
become distracted; keep yourself focused on the job you have to do.
THE SECOND RIGHT THING) Come to the library prepared. Bring a pen or pencil, note cards or a notebook, and your student ID number if you wish to check out books. You will need dimes, if you plan on using the microform photocopiers. If you plan on printing articles or Web pages, you will need a debit card which may be purchased in the library. Make sure you have the assignment sheet the professor handed out in class and your notes that explain them.
THE THIRD RIGHT THING) Keep an open mind. When you
approach research, neither come with your mind made up looking only for someone who agrees
with you, nor come empty headed willing to accept as fact whatever you read. Be skeptical.
Don't trust what you read; corroborate facts, challenge opinions. But be willing to be
wrong. If someone challenges your opinions, test the new idea and try to learn from it.
Critical thinking may be the greatest skill you can learn in college. It is integral to
research in the library.
THE FOURTH RIGHT THING) Be honest. Do your own work. Plagiarism is academic
dishonesty and can mean failure in a course and suspension from college. Plagiarism is
passing off someone else's work as your own. It can mean lifting someone else's words or
even paraphrasing them slightly without giving credit to the original author or authors.
Academic dishonesty also includes handing in a paper that someone else wrote or turning in
the same assignment for different classes without first getting permission from the
instructors to do so. It includes using a single source for ideas and claiming it to be
research.
*Author: John Henderson, Ithaca College Library
http://www.ithaca.edu/library/course/doright.html
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