Using an encyclopedia as a source-Now that I've done my paper, I heard that you cant use them!?

Question

ok, so I'm finishing up my first ever ap assignment (summer work) and in the begining, I had no background info on our topic for our paper. So I went to wikipedia, got some basic info, and verified all of the info with other non-encyclopedia sources. However, I have recently found out that you're not supposed to use encyclopedias as sources...so what do I do? There were some spasific terms that I used in my paper that I found on wikipedia, such as the social contract. I re-verified the info with other sources, however, I would think that the teacher would have enough common sense to figure out that I'm not going to google "social contract" right off the bat; in other words, I had to go to a general source first....aka, wikipedia.

So, does this mean that I have to come up with some genius website that isn't an encyclopedia yet still mentions all of the important stuff in one article, or do I list my encyclopedia sources, and after each one, list sites that verify the info?

Thanks

Reply: wow...this is going to be fun. So I take it that my best bet, considering that I don't have the cash to go and buy a bunch of books, or the time/money for a library membership, is to search for "primary" sources, as in, documents that were made by the persons who I am talking about, or around the time of the event?
-Grreeaaattttt *yawn* I'll be working on this sucker for the next 10 hours or so, and its only worth 10 points!

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thanks though, I appreciate your perspectives.

Answer 1

encyclopedia are a useful referene source however websites are not.... websites can be written by anyone... for any reasons and they don't even need to actually need to know anything about the facts... so do not use websites as references..

instead use researched papers...
books on the topic by academic researchers
and check with your teacher exactly what they want for references

Answer 2

You might have the wrong idea about what research is.
Research does not extend to encyclopedias, because their sources are disputable, and sometimes a type of compilation of several different sources. A true, bona fide encyclopedia will list resources at the end of a given article to assist you in accessing the original sources, which you would then consult and verify for your paper.

Reference footnotes, end notes, and bibliographical notes all have a set form that most encyclopedic references cannot comply with. This is why libraries will be with us for a long time to come.

A word about the net. The information from the net comes from hundreds of thousands of undocumented sources. Any piece of true, factual information on the web is usually followed by a ton of misinformation.
When I was in College, we were told to 'hit the books'. There is no such thing as 'hit the computer'. Book references are the final word in all research.
Would you want your surgeon to be consulting Wikipedia or Surgery for Dummies in order to remove your appendix? B.

Answer 3

In order to do a research paper (without plagiarizing) you need to find multiple sources. An encyclopedia is a good starting point for research and wikapedia should be cited as a website if you use any factual information, quotes, or ideas from that source in your paper.

You should use the encyclopedia to find aspects of the topic that you want to research further. You want to be careful about using the internet for research as most of what is on the internet is unreliable. Depending upon the subject, you will probably find your best sources through a library periodical database (the reference librarian can show you how to do this). Articles from professional or scholarly journals are considered the most reliable periodicals so try those first.

I your assignment is to present facts than you can simply present the facts in your own words and back it up with information from your various sources. If however, you are writing a paper that requires you to analyze different opinions or to form your own opinion on the topic then you have more work to do.

Once you have a few good sources, you need to consider the varying opinions on the topic(s) you are researching in light of the factual information you have found. Based upon that analysis, you will present your own ideas in your paper and back up your opinion by citing your research sources. Quote only when you have to. It is better to rewrite what the author of the source says in your own words. The general rule is to quote only when the author of the source article phrases the idea in a more understandable way than you can.

You also want to make sure that you are citing everything correctly, so if you don't have one than it is probably a good idea to pick up an MLA style manual.

Answer 4

Many teachers HATE when students use the internet for information. But since Public Libraries (where they want you to go) are generally few, far-between, underfunded and understocked, your teachers are just going to have to live with it. Their problem may be because many students just copy word for word from web sites and do no actual work. If you really want them to not throw out your paper, use as many different sites and books as references as possible, and try to have about the same number of book references as web site references. They feel better when you use material sources and not just virtual ones.