Visit my website - http://jnthweb.ca

Using the Online Computer for Academic Papers

A Web site offering good advice for writing an academic paper - http://owl.english.purdue.edu/handouts/general/gl_computer.html

Researching

Libraries are wonderful places -

but much researching can be done using the Web.

• Search Engines such as Google can be a starting point. Help is provided, - http://www.google.ca/advanced_search?hl=en - and there are strategies - http://searchenginewatch.com/facts/article.php/2156021
• Directories can be useful, especially for browsing - http://www.goshme.com/
• Google Scholar - http://scholar.google.com/ - will take you to academic sources
• And, if you are affiliated with an insitution that has linked with Google Scholar, you may be able to link to your institutions databases through Google Scholar Preferences - http://scholar.google.com/scholar/librarylinks.html
• Zotero - http://www.zotero.org/ - is a free downloadable open source research and citation tool created by the Center for History and New Media at George Mason University. with video tours and online tutorials to help get started.

Drafting

Some writers like to freewrite to generate ideas for their paper.

• http://ec.hku.hk/writing_turbocharger/planning/free-wri.htm

Many people start by mindmapping

• Mindmapping guidelines and free tools - http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mindmapping#Mind_map_guidelines

http://thinkature.com/

Many find creating a thesis statement helps them direct their researching -

• http://www.wisc.edu/writing/Handbook/thesis_def.html

Some go directly to outlining, and word processors make that easy

• http://office.microsoft.com/en-us/assistance/HP051879981033.aspx

And many just start writing their first draft.

All these approaches work sometimes for some people. When you start writing, depending on what you are writing and how often you've written in the same genre, or format, or for the same audience and/or purpose, you may have to make several attempts before you find which approach works for you this time.

Find the "thread" that works for you and start weaving your words together, creating your first draft.

Remember

• your first draft is not your last! Keep revising.

Revising Your Drafts

Some good advice - http://www.unc.edu/depts/wcweb/handouts/revision.html

The Importance of Proofreading - humour, with a point!

Citing Your Sources

About citing (and avoiding plagiarism) - http://library.duke.edu/research/citing/

About online content - http://www.yorku.ca/webclass/module2b.html

Download your bibliography in either the MLA, APA, Chicago, or Turabian formats and include it in your paper - http://www.bibme.org/

A free and easy site for automatically creating bibliographies - Easybib.com - http://www.easybib.com/