1. It is fine for you to consult with Wikipedia for your term paper but you should be aware that the Wikipedia entries are open-source and are not checked and verified in the same manner as other reference materials. And sometimes the entries are confusing (have a look at "Macedonia," for example).

   It is also OK to start out your research by consulting reference works such as encyclopedias, dictionaries and lexica, glosaries, other general reference works, and the like, but this stage should only be a preliminary preparation for more focused and in-depth research work.

   For a college research paper you should also have a look at other references, either traditional materials from the library, or on-line materials from sources like JSTOR (search on JSTOR), or books and manuscripts On-Line. That is to say Wikipedia and the other reference-type sources listed should not be your only source of information. And you must add your own evaluations, comparisons, development, criticisms, critiques, and the like to any reference materials used. Simply cutting and pasting information from sources is not sufficient to satisfy the requirements of either a required or extra-credit research paper.

   
   
   
2. Try getting more information by looking at sites on the web:
   
   
   • Try surfing the web by searching with the search engines found by clicking on the Web "Search" button found on the upper righthand corner of the course WebPages. This will take you to the course Search Engines Page.
     
     
   • Hint: When you do a search on an item that has more than one word, like "stone tools," use the "Advanced Search" option and enter the words in the "exact phrase" box -- otherwise it will search out everything with "stone" and everything with "tools," and the list of "hits" could get quite large.
     
     
3. Also try getting more information from JSTORE, elelctronically stored journals, and look for other items from the UMD Library.
   
   
4. For your paper you should also use traditional library materials, and, where appropriate, interviews and videotapes.
   
   
5. On-line Resources which might be helpful include:
   
   
   1. JSTORE©
   2. LEXIS-NEXIS®
   3. Soc-Anth Search Engines and Reference Works
   4. UMD Library
   • Data Basis by Subject
   5. General Reference Works
   6. Books and Manuscripts On-Line
      
      
6. Due Friday of end of Week 13
   (Unexcused late Case Study papers will result in a loss of 2% of the final course grade.)
   
   

   try the UMD Library > Research Tools and Resources > Assignment Calculator <http://www.d.umn.edu/lib/assign/index.phtml> your term paper is due Friday, 08 December 2006 from today

   
   
   
7. Length: 10 - 12 well-written pages
   
   
   • including one title page (see sample title page) and
   • and at least one separate "Works Cited" (or "References") page (see sample)
   • that leaves 08-10 pages of text
     • with one-inch margins all around
     • with body type font 11 or 12
     • illustrations, tables, figures, diagrams . . . may be included, but must be properly placed and cited
       
       
8. Criteria for Grading College Writing
   
   
9. When you write anything you should consider audience, purpose, and your personal style. For your case studies, your audience should be your classmates in this class. (Do not write your college papers to the professor as audience.
   
   
10. Information about Handing in Your Paper
    
    
11. See the "Preparing the Final Draft" section of the Sociology-Anthropology Writing Guide to see the details of what your Case Study report should look like when you hand it in. Basically, it should look like the paper which follows.
    
    

[more information on an Introduction]

Put your paragraph(s) summarizing your paper here.

Put a transitional statement here.

Body [Give this section an interesting subtitle, something other than "Body"]

Describe and discuss your chosen topic(s) here. Use some form of organizational structure. The "Journalist's Questions," Who,What, When, Where, How and Why are often helpful. A time sequence is also useful.

Use the Paradigm Online Writing Assistant if you do not have much experience writing college papers.

Conclusions

Put your conclusions here.