Writing papers in college can get to seem like a dangerous business. The web has made some information much more accessible, but at the same time it has raised all sorts of new questions about citation. Plagiarism, always an issue on college campuses, has come to the fore again. And the citation methods themselves have changed. This page has a collection of links of resources I've found useful when doing online research, sites that answer questions about how to cite in the Information Age, and resources on what plagiarism is and how to avoid it.
CSULB Library Electronic Resources
A good place to start when you're looking for articles on a topic is still your university library. Why? Because university libraries give you access to a number of databases that index scholarly articles. Scholarly articles have been subjected to a rigorous process of peer review, which means that their content, argumentation, and methodology has been approved by other experts in that field. (In other words, it's not usually a crazy half-baked theory that someone threw onto the web at 2 a.m.). Articles are usually more helpful than monograph books because they are shorter and more digestable in the time frame you usually have to complete a research paper and they are usually more recent information than what's found in books. Keep in mind that under the resources by subject section, the CSULB library has a whole section on women's studies resources.
The Internet Movie Database
Can't remember the names of the characters from that movie your crazy professor made you watch? Well, fear no more. The Internet Movie Database saves you a trip to your local video store for such references. The entries for most movies contain cast lists with both character and actor names. (Also a handy reference for looking up that guy who was in one movie but whose actor name you don't know.). Contains pretty thorough information on television apperances as well, although those are not as well indexed and easy to search for unless you know an actor's name. WARNING: not a substitute for seeing the films. The plot summaries here are woefully inadequate.
Powells Book Store
Got the name of a book in your head that doesn't appear in the university library catalog? A great place to look for full bibliographic information on such books are the online book stores. There are plenty of them out there, but Powells is an independent bookstore from Portland, Oregon that also has an excellent used book store which is great for digging up copies of used books that are no longer in print.
CSULB Plagiarism Policy
Lost your catalog and can't find your copy of the policy? Fret no more. Here's the online vesion of the CSULB policy on plagiarism. You might be surprised at some of the things that constitute plagiarism and can happen to you if you're caught doing it.
Purdue University's Online Writing Lab Handout on Plagiarism
University policies on plagiarism tend to be in legalistic language that clearly sets out definitions, but they don't often offer much practical help on how to avoid it. Purdue University's well respected Online Writing Lab has one of the best handouts I've ever seen in terms of giving practical advice on what is and isn't plagiarism and how to avoid it.
Diana Hacker's Guide to Online Citation
Those of you who've taken composition classes might recognize Diana Hacker's name. She writes very popular guides to grammar and style that are often used in comp classes. St. Martin's, her publisher, has made available online a guide to citation. If you have questions about how to cite, this is a great place to look for answers.
Duke University Library Citation Guide
Another guide to how to cite--this one from Duke University's librtary. Contains both information on citation and strategies for avoiding plagiarism.
Columbia University Online Citation Guide.
This guide specializes in how to cite online sources. It's not quite as user friendly as the other two, but it is incredibly thorough and gives complex answers to complex citation questions.