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Guide to Researching San Francisco: Citing sources

This guide offers some ideas on where to find information on San Francisco. Some of them are general research tips, but many are specific to San Francisco.

When to cite a source

 

You must cite all works that have contributed to your knowledge, understanding, and analysis of your research topic. You must cite any work that you:

  • Summarize: Any arguments or information that you synopsize 
  • Paraphrase: Any text that you rewrite in your own words
  • Quote: Any text that you include in quotation marks must be cited and footnoted

Below are examples of various types of citations in Chicago style, which is used in History 1. You are welcome to write them by hand or to use Noodletools to walk you through the process. Noodletools is a reliable way to make sure that all of the necessary information is included. If you need help logging into Noodletools ask one of the librarians.

Noodletools will help you with the footnote format as well as the format needed for your bibliography.

For s refresher on Citations and Noodletools, look at Module 8 - Citations and bibliographies on the Library Research Canvas page.

Photo credit: Reeding Lessons

Creating an annotated bibliography

Why is citing your sources important?

  • It gives credit to the people who did the original work.
  • You avoid plagiarism.
  • It can lend credibility to your arguments.
  • It can help your readers find the source themselves.

What is plagiarism?

Plagiarism is when you steal someone else's words or ideas and pass them off as your own.

You can avoid plagiarism by citing your sources, which lets your reader know that the words or ideas are borrowed from someone else, and gives them a way of finding the original source.

How do you create citations?

Remember to record the following pieces of information from your sources so you will have them when it's time to create your citations.

  • Author
  • Title (both article and book/journal where applicable)
  • Date of publication (or date you viewed it on a website)
  • Publisher (for books)
  • Place of publication (for books)
  • Volume number (if applicable) and page numbers.
  • Web address (if applicable)

Your teachers would like you to use Chicago style citations in your research paper. This means there will be footnotes in the body of your paper and a bibliography listing sources at the end of your paper.

You have already created a Noodletools account and you can use that to help you create your citations. Ask Hayley or Nicole if you need assistance.

Footnotes

Citation tips

Use Noodletools to cite all your sources. Here are some tips for different types of sources:

  • If your source is one of many collected together in a book (as is often the case with primary sources), use the 'Anthology/Collection' citation - you will cite both your source and the book it is published in.
  • If you use a source from a database, such as Gale eBooks don't forget that you need to cite the database too - do this by clicking on the 'Database' tab when you create your citation.
  • If you are using a website, such as Library of Congress, you will cite both the specific webpage you are using and the website.

Example: primary source

Primary source - Samuel Bryan

Bryan, Samuel. "Samuel Bryan Analyzes Increases in Mexican Immigration, 1912."
     In Major Problems in the History of North American Borderlands, edited by
     Pekka Hamalainen and Benjamin H. Johnson, 386-88. Boston: Wadsworth Cengage
     Learning, 2012. Excerpt from "Mexican Immigrants in the United States."
     Survey 20 (September 1912).

 

Example: reference book citation

Migration: To the United States, 1876-1940

Valadez, Martin. "Migration: To the United States, 1876-1940." In M-Z, edited by
     Michael S. Werner, 890-92. Vol. II of Encyclopedia of Mexico: History,
     Society and Culture. Chicago: Fitzroy Dearborn, 1997.

Example: book citation

Secondary source - Cardoso book  

Cardoso, Lawrence A. Mexican Emigration to the United States 1897-1931:
     Socio-Economic Patterns. Tucson, AZ: The University of Arizona Press, 1980.

Example: journal citation

Secondary source - Gonzalez and Fernandez journal article  

Gonzalez, Gilbert G., and Raul Fernandez. "Empire and the Origins of
     Twentieth-Century Migration from Mexico to the United States." Pacific
     Historical Review 71, no. 1 (February 2002): 19-57. Accessed November 4,
     2014. Proquest.

Example: website citation

Secondary source - Library of Congress website

Library of Congress. "Immigration...Mexican." Library of Congress. Accessed
     November 4, 2014. http://www.loc.gov/teachers/classroommaterials/
     presentationsandactivities/presentations/immigration/alt/mexican.html.