Marvin, a college student at Any University, sits down at his computer. He logs in to the 鈥淥nline Professor,鈥� an interactive advice site for students. After setting up a chat, he begins tapping the keys.
Marvin: Hi. I鈥檓 a student in the physician assistant program. The major paper for my health and environment class is due in five weeks, and I need some advice. The professor says the paper has to be 6鈥�8 pages, and I have to cite and document my sources.
O-Prof: Congratulations on getting started early! Tell me a bit about your assignment. What鈥檚 the purpose? Who鈥檚 it intended for?
Marvin: Well, the professor said it should talk about a health problem caused by water pollution and suggest ways to solve it. We鈥檝e read some articles, plus my professor gave us statistics on groundwater contamination in different areas.
O-Prof: What鈥檚 been most interesting so far?
Marvin: I鈥檓 amazed at how much water pollution there is. It seems like it would be healthier to drink bottled water, but the plastic bottles hurt the environment
O-Prof: Who else might be interested in this
Marvin: Lots of people are worried about bad water. I might even get questions about it from
my clients once I finish my program
O-Prof: OK. So what information do you need to make a good recommendation
Marvin thinks for a moment.
Marvin: I don鈥檛 know much about the health problems caused by contaminated drinking water. Whether the tap water is safe depends on where you live, I guess. The professors talked about arsenic poisoning in Bangladesh, but what about the water in the U.S.? For my paper, maybe I should focus on a particular location? I also need to find out more about what companies do to make sure bottled water is pure
O-Prof: Good! Now that you know what you need to learn, you can start looking for sources
Marvin: When my professors talk about sources, they usually mean books or articles about my
topic. Is that what you mean
O-Prof: Books and articles do make good sources, but you might think about sources more generally as 鈥渇orms of meaning you use to make new meaning.鈥� It鈥檚 like your bottled water. The water exists already in some location but is processed by the company before it goes to the consumer. Similarly, a source provides information and knowledge that you process to produce new meaning, which other people can then use to make their own meaning.
A bit confused, Marvin scratches his head.
Marvin: I thought I knew what a source was, but now I鈥檓 not so sure
O-Prof: Think about it. Sources of meaning are literally everywhere鈥攆or example, your own observations or experiences, the content of other people鈥檚 brains, visuals and graphics, experiment results, TV and radio broadcasts, and written texts. And, there are many ways to make new meaning from sources. You can give an oral presentation, design a web page, paint a picture, or, as in your case, write a paper
O-Prof: It depends on the meaning you want to make, which is why it鈥檚 so important to figure out the purpose of your paper and who will read it. You might think about using sources as walking, talking, cooking, and eating . These aren鈥檛 the only possible metaphors, but they do capture some important things about using sources
Marvin: Hey! I thought we were talking about writing
O-Prof: We are, but these metaphors can shed some light on writing with sources. Let鈥檚 start with the first one: walking . To use sources well, you first have to go where they are. What if you were writing
an article on student clubs for the school newspaper? Where would you go for information
Marvin: I鈥檇 probably walk down to the Student Activities office and get some brochures about student clubs. Then I鈥檇 attend a few club meetings and maybe interview the club leaders and some members about their club activities
O-Prof: OK, so you鈥檇 walk to where you could find relevant information for your article. That鈥檚 what I mean by walking . You have to get to the sources you need
Marvin: Wait a minute. For the article on student clubs, maybe I could save some walking. Maybe the list of clubs and the club descriptions are on the Student Activities web page. That鈥檇 save me a trip
O-Prof: Yes, the Internet has cut down on the amount of physical walking you need to do to find sources. Before the Internet, you had to either travel to a source鈥檚 physical location, or bring that source to your location. Think about your project on bottled water. To get information about the quality of a city鈥檚 tap water in the 1950s, you would have had to figure out who鈥檇 have that information, then call or write to request a copy or walk to wherever the information was stored. Today, if you type 鈥渓ocal water quality鈥� into Google, the Environmental Protection Agency page comes up as one of the first hits. Its home page links to water quality reports for local areas.
Marvin pauses for a second before responding, thinking he鈥檚 found a good short cut for his paper.
Marvin: So can I just use Google or Bing to find sources
O-Prof: Internet search engines can help you find sources, but they aren鈥檛 always the best route to getting to a good source. Try entering the search term 鈥渂ottled water quality鈥� into Google, without quotation marks around the term. How many hits do you get?
Marvin types it in.
Marvin: 5,760,000. That鈥檚 pretty much what I get whenever I do an Internet search. Too many results.
O-Prof: Which is one of the drawbacks of using only Internet search engines. The Internet
may have cut down on the physical walking needed to find good sources, but it鈥檚 made up for the time savings by pointing you to more places than you could possibly go! But there are some ways you can narrow your search to get fewer, more focused results
Marvin: Yeah, I know. Sometimes I add extra words in and it helps weed down the hits
O-Prof: By combining search terms with certain words or symbols, you can control what the search engine looks for. If you put more than one term into a Google search box, the search engine will only give you sites that include both terms, since it uses the Boolean operator AND as the default for its searches. If you put OR between two search terms, you鈥檒l end up getting even more results, because Google will look for all websites containing either of the terms. Using a minus sign in front of a term eliminates things you鈥檙e not interested in. It鈥檚 the Google equivalent of the Boolean operator NOT. Try entering bottled water quality health -teeth.
Marvin types in the words, remembering suddenly that he has to make an appointment
with the dentist.
Marvin: 329,000 hits
O-Prof: Still a lot. You can also put quotation marks around groups of words and the search engine will look only for sites that contain all of those words in the exact order you鈥檝e given. And you can combine this strategy with the other ways of limiting your search. Try 鈥渂ottled water quality鈥� (in quotation marks) health teeth
Marvin: Only 333. That鈥檚 more like it
O-Prof: Yes, but you don鈥檛 want to narrow it so far that you miss useful sources. You have to play around with your search terms to get to what you need. A bigger problem with Internet search engines, though, is that they won鈥檛 necessarily lead you to the sources considered most valuable for college writing.
Marvin: My professor said something about using peer-reviewed articles in scholarly journals.
O-Prof: Professors will often want you to use such sources. Articles in scholarly journals are written by experts; and if a journal鈥檚 peer-reviewed, its articles have been screened by other experts (the authors鈥� peers) before being published
Marvin : So that would make peer-reviewed articles pretty reliable
Where do I find them?
O-Prof: Google鈥檚 got a specialized search engine, Google Scholar, that will search for scholarly articles that might be useful (www. googlescholar.com). But often the best place is the college library鈥檚 bibliographic databases. A database is a collection of related data, usually electronic, set up for easy access to items in the collection. Library bibliographic databases contain articles from newspapers, magazines, scholarly journals, and other publications. They can be very large, but they鈥檙e a lot smaller than the whole Internet, and they generally contain reliable information. The Internet, on the other hand, contains both good and bad information.
Marvin looks down at his feet.
Marvin: Sounds sort of like looking for shoes. When I was buying my running shoes, I went to a specialty running shop instead of a regular shoe store. The specialty shop had all the brands I was looking for, and I didn鈥檛 have to weed through sandals and dress shoes. Is that kind of like a library鈥檚 bibliographic database
O-Prof: Exactly. But remember, a database search engine can only find what鈥檚 actually in the database. If you鈥檙e looking for information on drinking water, you won鈥檛 find much in a database full of art history publications. The library has some subject guides that can tell you the best databases to use for your topic
Marvin: What about books? I did check out the library catalog and found a couple of good books
on my topic
O-Prof: Yes, don鈥檛 forget about books. You generally have to walk physically to get information that鈥檚 only in print form, or have someone else bring it to you. Even though Google has now scanned many of the world鈥檚 books into its database, they won鈥檛 give you access to the entire book if the book is still under copyright
Marvin: So I鈥檓 back to real walking again
O-Prof: Yes. Don鈥檛 forget to ask for help when you鈥檙e looking around for sources. Reference librarians make very good guides; it鈥檚 their job to keep up on where various kinds of knowledge are located and help people find that knowledge. Professors also make good guides, but they鈥檙e most familiar with where to find knowledge in their own fields
Marvin: I could ask my health and environment professor for help, of course, and maybe my geology and chemistry professors. I鈥檓 guessing my music teacher would be less helpful
O-Prof: One last hint about finding sources. If you find an article or book that鈥檚 helpful for your paper, look at its reference list. There might be some useful sources listed there
Marvin: Thanks, Professor. I think I can do some good walking now. What about that talking metaphor
O-Prof: Before we move on, there鈥檚 an important aspect of walking with sources that you need to be aware of. In college writing, if you use a source in a paper, you鈥檙e expected to let the reader know exactly how to find that source as well. Providing this 鈥渟ource address鈥� information for your sources is known as documenting your sources
Marvin: What do you mean by a 鈥渟ource address鈥�?
O-Prof: It鈥檚 directions for finding the source. A mailing address tells you how to find a person: the house number, street, city, state, and zip code. To help your readers find your sources, it鈥檚 customary to give them the name of the author; the title of the book or article or website; and other information such as date, location of publication, publisher, even the database in which a source is located. Or, if it鈥檚 a website, you might give the name of the site and/or the date on which you accessed it. Source documentation can be complicated, because the necessary source address information differs for different types of sources (e.g., books vs. journal articles, electronic vs. print). Additionally, different disciplines (e.g., history, philosophy, psychology, literature, etc.) use different 鈥渁ddress鈥� formats. Eventually, you鈥檒l become familiar with the documentation conventions for your own academic major, but source documentation takes a lot of practice. In the meantime, your teachers and various writing handbooks can provide instructions on what information you鈥檒l need
Marvin: Do I really need to include all that information? A lot of times, the sources I use
are readings my teachers have as- signed, so they already know where to find them
O-Prof: Your teachers don鈥檛 always know where all your sources are from, and they also want you to get into the habit of source documentation. And what about your other readers? If they鈥檙e deeply interested in your topic, they may want to find more information than you鈥檝e included in your paper. Your source documentation allows them to find the original source. And there are other reasons for documenting sources. It can help readers understand your own position on a topic, because they can see which authors you agree with and which you don鈥檛. It also shows readers you鈥檝e taken time to investigate your topic and aren鈥檛 just writing off the top of your head. If readers see that your ideas are based on trustworthy sources, they鈥檙e more likely to trust what you say
Marvin: Like, if I used a university or government website on bottled water quality, they鈥檇 trust me more than if I just used a bottled water company website.
O-Prof: Yes. But to dig deeper into the question of trust, let鈥檚 move on to a second metaphor: talking . Although the metaphor of walking is useful for understanding how to find and document sources, it can give the impression that sources are separate, inert, and neutral things, waiting to be snatched up like gold nuggets and plugged into your writing. In reality, sources are parts of overlapping knowledge networks that connect meanings and the people that make and use them. Knowledge networks are always in flux, since people are always making new meaning. Let鈥檚 go back to your health and environment project. Refresh my memory. What kinds of questions do you need answers to before you can write your paper
Marvin: Well, I need to know if bottled water is truly healthier, like the beverage companies
claim. Or would I be just as well off drinking tap water
O-Prof: To answer this question, you鈥檒l want to find out who鈥檚 talking about these issues. As Kenneth Burke put it, you can think of sources as voices in
an ongoing conversation about the world:
Marvin: How do I figure that out?
O-Prof: It helps to know who the authors are. What they鈥檙e saying. Where, when, and to whom they鈥檙e saying it. And what their purposes are. Imagine the world as divided into many parlors like the one Kenneth Burke described. You鈥檇 want to go to the parlors where people who really know something are talking about the topics you鈥檙e interested in. Let鈥檚 go back to your initial Google search for a minute. Did any Wikipedia articles come up for bottled water?
Marvin: Yeah, and I took a quick look at one of them. But some of my professors say I shouldn鈥檛 use Wikipedia
O-Prof: That鈥檚 because the quality of information in Wikipedia varies. It鈥檚 monitored by volunteer writers and editors rather than experts, so you should double-check information you find in Wikipedia with other sources. But Wikipedia articles are often good places to get background info and good places to connect with more reliable sources. Did anything in the Wikipedia article seem useful for finding sources on bottled water?
Marvin clicks back to the Wikipedia site.
Marvin: It does mention that the National Resources Defense Council and the Drinking Water Research Foundation have done some studies on the health effects of bottled water (鈥淏ottled Water鈥�)
O-Prof: So, you could go to the websites for these organizations to find out more about the
studies. They might even have links to the full reports of these studies, as well
as other resources on your topic. Who else might have something to say about the healthfulness
of bottled and tap water
Marvin: Maybe doctors and other health professionals? But I don鈥檛 know any I could ask
O-Prof: You can look in the library鈥檚 subject guides or ask the librarian about databases for health professionals. The Cumulative Index to Nursing & Allied Health Literature (CINAHL) database is a good one. Are you logged in to the library? Can you try that one?
Marvin logs in, finds the database, and types in 鈥渂ottled water AND health.鈥�
Marvin: Here鈥檚 an article called 鈥淗ealth Risks and Benefits of Bottled Water.鈥� It鈥檚 in the journal Primary Care Clinical Office Practice (Napier and Kodner)
O-Prof: If that鈥檚 a peer-reviewed journal, it might be a good source for your paper.
Marvin: Here鈥檚 another one: 鈥淪ocio-Demographic Features and Fluoride Technologies Contributing to Higher Fluorosis Scores in Permanent Teeth of Canadian Children鈥� (Maupome et al.). That one sounds pretty technical.
O-Prof: And pretty narrow, too. When you start using sources written by experts, you move
beyond the huge porch of public discourse, where everyone talks about all questions on a general level, into some smaller conversational parlors,
where groups of specialists talk about more narrow questions in greater depth. You generally find more detailed and trustworthy knowledge in these smaller parlors. But sometimes the conversation may be too narrow for your needs and difficult to understand because it鈥檚 experts talking to experts.
Way ahead of the professor, Marvin鈥檚 already started reading about the health risks and benefits of bottled water.
Marvin: Here鈥檚 something confusing. The summary of this article on risks and benefits of bottled water says tap water is fine if you鈥檙e in a location where there鈥檚 good water. Then it says that you should use bottled water if the purity of your water source is in question. So which is better, tap or bottled
O-Prof: As you read more sources, you begin to realize there鈥檚 not always a simple answer to questions. As the CINAHL article points out, the answer depends on whether your tap water is pure enough to drink. Not everyone agrees on the answers, either. When you鈥檙e advising your future clients (or in this case, writing your paper), you鈥檒l need to 鈥渓isten鈥� to what different people who talk about the healthfulness of bottled and tap water have to say. Then you鈥檒l be equipped to make your own recommendation.
Marvin: Is that when I start writing?
O-Prof: You鈥檝e really been writing all along. Asking questions and gathering ideas from sources is all part of the process. As we think about the actual drafting, though, it鈥檚 helpful to move on to that third metaphor: cooking . When you cook with sources, you process them in new ways. Cooking, like writing, involves a lot
of decisions. For instance, you might decide to combine ingredients in a way that
keeps the full flavor and character of each ingredient.
Marvin: Kind of like chili cheese fries? I can taste the flavor of the chili, the cheese,
and the fries separately
O-Prof: Yes. But other food preparation processes can change the character of the various ingredients. You probably wouldn鈥檛 enjoy gobbling down a stick of butter, two raw eggs, a cup of flour, or a cup of sugar (well, maybe the sugar!). But if you mix these ingredients and expose them to a 375-degree temperature, chemical reactions transform them into something good to eat, like a cake.
Marvin reaches into his backpack and pulls out a snack.
Marvin: You鈥檙e making me hungry. But what do chili cheese fries and cakes have to do with writing
O-Prof: Sometimes, you might use verbatim quotations from your sources, as if you were throwing walnuts whole into a salad. The reader will definitely 鈥渢aste鈥� your original source. Other times, you might paraphrase ideas and combine them into an intricate argument. The flavor of the original source might be more subtle in the latter case, with only your source documentation indicating where your ideas came from. In some ways, the writing assignments your professors give you are like recipes. As an apprentice writing cook , you should analyze your assignments to determine what 鈥渋ngredients鈥� (sources) to use, what 鈥渃ooking processes鈥� to follow, and what the final 鈥渄ish鈥� (paper) should look like. Let鈥檚 try a few sample assignments. Here鈥檚 one:
Marvin thinks for a minute, while chewing and swallowing a mouthful of apple.
Marvin: Let鈥檚 see if I can break it down:
Ingredients:
everything we鈥檝e read about Freud鈥檚 theory
our class discussions about the theory
two articles of my choice taken from the list provided by the instructor
Processes: I have to read those two articles to see their criticisms of Freud鈥檚 theory. I can also review my notes from class, since we discussed various critiques. I have to think about what aspects of Freud鈥檚 theory explain human development well, and where the theory falls short鈥攍ike in class, we discussed how Freud鈥檚 theory reduces human development to sexuality alone.Product: The final essay needs to include both strengths and weaknesses of Freud鈥檚 theory. The professor didn鈥檛 specifically say this, but it鈥檚 also clear I need to incorporate some ideas from the two articles I read鈥攐therwise why would she have assigned those articles?
O-Prof: Good. How about this one?
Assignment 2: Business Plan (given in an entrepreneurship course)
As your major project for this course, your group will develop a business plan for
a student-run business that meets some need on this campus. Be sure to include all
aspects of a business plan. During the last few weeks of class, each group will present
the plan to the class, using appropriate visuals.
Marvin: I鈥檒l give it a try.
Ingredients: Hmm . . . It鈥檚 hard to tell the sources I鈥檒l need. Obviously, whatever the teacher teaches us about business plans in the course will be important鈥攈ope she goes into detail about this and provides examples. What if she doesn鈥檛? What sources could my group use? Our textbook has a chapter on business plans that will probably help, and maybe we can go to the library and look for books about writing business plans. Some sample business plans would be helpful鈥擨 wonder if the Center for Small Business Support on our cam- pus would have some?
Processes: Well, maybe we could have each member of the group look for sources about business plans and then meet together to discuss what we need to do, or talk online. Don鈥檛 know how we鈥檒l break down the writing鈥攎aybe we could divide up the various sections of the plan, or discuss each section together, then someone could write it up?
Product: It鈥檚 clear that we have to include all the information that business owners put in a business plan, and we鈥檒l have to follow the organization of a typical plan. But we can鈥檛 tell exactly what that organization should be until we鈥檝e done some research.
O-Prof: Here鈥檚 one last assignment to try out.
Assignment 3: Research Paper (given in a health and environment course)
Write a 6鈥�8-page paper in which you explain a health problem related to water pollution (e.g., arsenic poisoning, gastrointestinal illness, skin disease, etc.). Recommend a potential way or ways this health problem might be addressed. Be sure to cite and document the sources you use for your paper.
Marvin: Oho, trick question! That one sounds familiar.
Ingredients : No specific guidance here, except that sources have to relate to water pollution and health. I鈥檝e already decided I鈥檓 interested in how bottled water might help with health where there鈥檚 water pollution. I鈥檒l have to pick a health problem and find sources about how water pollution can cause that problem. Gastrointestinal illness sounds promising. I鈥檒l ask the reference librarian where I鈥檇 be likely to find good articles about water pollution, bottled water, and gastrointestinal illness.
Process: There鈥檚 not very specific information here about what process to use, but our conversation鈥檚 given me some ideas. I鈥檒l use scholarly articles to find the connection between water pollution and gastrointestinal problems, and whether bottled water could prevent those problems.
Product: Obviously, my paper will explain the connection between water and gastrointestinal health. It鈥檒l evaluate whether bottled water provides a good option in places where the water鈥檚 polluted, then give a recommendation about what people should do. The professor did say I should address any objections readers might raise鈥攆or instance, bottled water may turn out to be a good option, but it鈥檚 a lot more expensive than tap water. Finally, I鈥檒l need to provide in-text citations and document my sources in a reference list.
O-Prof: You鈥檙e on your way. Think for a minute about these three assignments. Did you notice that the 鈥渞ecipes鈥� varied in their specificity
Marvin: Yeah. The first assignment gave me very specific information about exactly what source 鈥渋ngredients鈥� to use. But in the second and third assignments, I had to figure it out on my own. And the processes varied, too. For the business plan, the groups will use sources to figure out how to organize the plan, but the actual content will be drawn from their own ideas for their business and any market research they do. But in the third assignment鈥攎y own assignment鈥擨鈥檒l have to use content from my sources to support my recommendation
O-Prof: Different professors provide different levels of specificity in their writing assignments. If you have trouble figuring out the 鈥渞ecipe,鈥� ask the professor for more information
Marvin: Sometimes it can be really frustrating not to have enough information. Last semester, I sat around being frustrated and put off doing an assignment as long as possible, then rushed to finish it. I didn鈥檛 do very well on the rough draft, but then I met with my professor and talked to him. Also, the class read each other鈥檚 papers. Getting feedback and looking at what other students had done gave me some new ideas for my final draft.
O-Prof: When it comes to 鈥渃ooking with sources,鈥� no one expects you to be an executive chef the first day you get to college. Over time, you鈥檒l become more expert at writing with sources, more able to choose and use sources on your own. You鈥檒l probably need less guidance for writing in your senior year than in your freshman year. Which brings me to the last metaphor for using sources
Marvin: Eating , right
O-Prof: Good memory. In fact, this last metaphor is about memory, which is how sources become a part of who you are. You鈥檝e probably heard the expression, 鈥測ou are what you eat.鈥� When you eat sources鈥攖hat is, think about things, experiment, read, write, talk to others鈥攜ou yourself change. What you learn stays with you.
Marvin: Not always. It鈥檚 hard for me to remember the things I learn in class until the final exam, not to mention after the class is over
O-Prof: Of course. We all forget a lot of the things we learn, especially those we seldom
or never use again; but what you learn and use over a long period of time will affect
you deeply and shape the way you see the world. Take a look at this quote from Mark
Twain in Life on the Mississippi , where the narrator鈥檚 talking about his apprenticeship as a steamboat pilot. When he first began his apprenticeship, the Mississippi River looked the same as any other river. But after he made many long trips up and down it, with the captain and others explaining things along the way, he began to see it in all its complexity.
The face of the water, in time, became a wonderful book鈥攁 book that was a dead language to the uneducated passenger, but which told its mind to me without reserve, delivering its most cherished secrets as clearly as if it uttered them with a voice. (77鈥�78)
Eventually, the narrator could identify each of the river鈥檚 bends, knew how its currents were running, and could estimate how deep it was just by looking at the surface. It was the same river, but he was a different man. Your bottled water project isn鈥檛 as involved as learning to pilot a steamship. But once you start reading your sources, your experience of bottled water will shift. It鈥檒l still be the same water you used to drink, but it won鈥檛 be the same you.
Marvin: I can sort of see that already. I鈥檝e learned a lot about anatomy and physiology in the physician assistant program. Now, when I see a soccer player, I think about how the shin guard is protecting her tibia, not her shin. If I see someone with yellowish eyeballs, I think about bilirubin levels. And I always read the health section of the newspaper first.
O-Prof: Right. And a journalism major, who takes courses on beat reporting and feature writing, thinks about what will make a good story. A geology major does field work, looks at maps, learns about geological history, and sees rocks everywhere. Over time, through much exposure to a field and practice in it, a person鈥檚 identity gradually becomes intertwined with his or her profession. Not entirely, of course. All of us are many things. A doctor may have an interest in calligraphy. A business manager might study poetry in her spare time. In both work and leisure activities, you鈥檒l keep on learning and making meaning from sources like other people, writing, books, websites, videos, articles, and your own experience. College is about learning how to make meaning. Learn how to walk (find the sources you need); talk (converse with source authors); cook (integrate sources to make new meaning); and eat (allow sources to change your life). You won鈥檛 ever finish using sources to make meaning鈥攏ot in your health and environment course, not while you鈥檙e in college, not even after you鈥檝e been working and living for a long time.
Marvin glances at his watch.
Marvin: Speaking of time, I should probably grab some dinner before the cafeteria closes.
Thanks, Professor, for all your help
O-Prof: Anytime. Good luck with your paper, and with the rest of your writing life.
