Begin your project by making sure you completely understand the parameters of the assignment.
Prompt: Based on your reading and research, write an essay that argues whether or not social media has had a positive or negative effect on society.
You may choose to take a specific side, pro or con, and argue for that position, or you may take a more balanced approach and discuss both sides. Whichever you choose, however, you will want to narrow your scope to only 2-3 main points.
You may not know a lot about your topic, so it is okay to start by asking a few basic questions to launch the research process.
Look up your topic in reference books, CQ Researcher, and Issues & Controversies. Getting some basic background information on your topic may help you answer some of those initial questions, as well as give you ideas on how to expand your list of questions.
Why search here? Use this database when you want to find comprehensive, unbiased reporting and analysis to get background information on issues in the news.
What's included: Overview reports of topics related to health, social trends, criminal justice, international affairs, education, the environment, technology, and the economy in America.
Why search here? This is a great database to use when you want to explore different viewpoints on controversial or hot-button issues.
What's included: It includes pro/con articles, court cases, primary sources, videos, media, editorials, and news on more than 800 hot topics in business, politics, government, education, and popular culture. Use the search or browse topics by subject or A to Z.
Don't be afraid to pose questions to which you have no idea of the answer. That is what the research process is all about...finding answers.
As you begin to answer your questions expect your list to change. You may add new questions, expand existing questions, and discard questions. This refining process is a natural part of the research process.
Using the right words when you search can help you find more and better resources.
Why search here? Search 29 databases at the same time that cover almost any topic you need to research at MJC. This is a good resource to use when you want to delve deeper into your subject.
What's included: EBSCO databases include articles previously published in academic journals, magazines, newspapers, books, and other media outlets.
Why search here? When you want to find broad coverage on almost any topic you need to research at MJC, use Gale databases to search over 35 databases simultaneously.
What's included: Gale databases include articles previously published in journals, magazines, newspapers, books, and other media outlets.
In-text citations are brief references within your paper that:
Show your reader you’ve used an outside source, and
Point them to the matching entry in your Works Cited list.
They may also indicate the exact location in the source (e.g., a page number).
In-text citations can appear directly in your sentence, in parentheses, or as a combination of both. You must cite all direct quotations, paraphrases, and summaries.
An in-text citation begins with the first piece of information from the Works Cited entry: usually the author’s last name or, if no author is listed, the title of the work.
With author: (Jones 14)
With no author: ("Global Warming" 129)
If page numbers are available, they must be included. (Check the PDF version of database articles to find them.)
Before punctuation: Most parenthetical references go before the period.
Example: Magnesium can be effective in treating PMS (Haggerty 42).
Block quotes: Direct quotes longer than 4 lines are indented ½ inch, quotation marks removed, and the citation goes after the punctuation.
Example:
A preliminary study presented recently at the American College of Cardiology annual meeting found that getting enough sleep was associated with greater protection of death from all causes. If magnesium does work to help someone get a little shuteye, that may be because it is acting on certain receptors on the surface of brain cells to quiet down brain cell activity. The nutrient acts on the benzodiazepine receptor, which is the same receptor used by Valium-type drugs and the sleep medication Ambien. (Gurubhagavatula 546)
Author already named: If the author’s name appears in your sentence, do not repeat it in parentheses.
Example: Haggerty notes magnesium is effective at relieving PMS (42).
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From Smartphones to Social Media
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Teen Mental Health in an Online World
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Ten Arguments for Deleting Your Social Media Accounts Right Now
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Who’s Raising the Kids? : Big Tech, Big Business, and the Lives of Children
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Mixed Feelings : Exploring the Emotional Impact of Our Digital Habits
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Social Media in the 21st Century
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Each entry in your Works Cited list is built from a set of elements common to most sources—things like the author, title, and publication date. MLA calls these the core elements, and they must appear in a specific order (top to bottom in this list):
Not every source will include every element. If one isn’t present (for example, no “other contributors”), simply skip it and move on to the next element.
Use the links below to see examples.
If you don’t find what you need, check out Ask the MLA on the MLA’s official site.
Getting help has never been easier. Your MJC librarians are here to help.
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