Website analysis

MyTopicProposalMilitaryMedicine.docx

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My Topic Proposal: Dorothea Dix and the Reform of Military Medicine During the Civil War

Derek Hill

UMGC

HIST 156 6381 History of the United States to 1865 (2255)

May 14, 2025

For my research, I intend to find out how military medical treatment was influenced by Dorothea Dix during the American Civil War. What is most appealing to me concerning this topic is how Dix’s position as the Superintendent of Army Nurses challenged the established gender norms and enhanced the treatment of the wounded soldiers. Being passionate about social justice and public service, I admire the fact that Dix was able to push for better, humane care in hospitals and in mental health centers. My working thesis is: Dorothea Dix, through her contribution to the civil war, revolutionized military medical practices and set a good base for women to engage in public services and later undertake healthcare and gender reforms. This topic provides me with the chance to examine medicine, gender, and civil service in interaction in the Founding Era of America, which correlates with my general academic interest.

AssignmentExpectations.docx

Assignment Expectations: As part of your Research Project, the second assignment requirement expects students to complete a Website Evaluation of TWO websites that are acceptable for college-level academic research and contain information related to their research topic. For this assignment, students will use a search engine of their choice (e.g., Google or Bing) to find appropriate websites related to their topics. After selecting, reviewing and analyzing your two websites, students should write a 250-word analysis for each website. Keep reading to find out more about where to find websites for this assignment and what your analysis should include.

Transcript

Welcome to this Information and Library Services Tutorial on evaluating Web sites. In this tutorial, you will learn how to determine whether a Web site contains trustworthy information that is appropriate for college level research.

Many Web sites contain trustworthy information that is appropriate to use in college-level research. But because no one regulates information placed on the Web, there are also Web sites that you would not want to use in a research paper: Web sites, for example, with out-of-date, inaccurate or biased information.

Here are some questions you can ask that will help you critically evaluate information you find on the Web:

· Who is the author of the Web site?

· Does the Web site present information that is biased, one-sided?

· Does the Web site present accurate information?

· Is the Web site current enough for your research topic?

This tutorial will explore those questions in more detail.

When evaluating a Web site, ask yourself, who has written the Web site content? Are the author’s credentials given? Think about the author’s expertise and credibility. Knowing who wrote the content can help you determine the Web site’s trustworthiness.

You may find an author whose credentials are not given on the Web site. When that happens, use Google or another search engine to see if you can find information on the author elsewhere on the Web.

Frequently, an organization can be considered the author of a Web site. For example, the author of a Web site might be a business, a professional association or a government agency. You can usually find a link on an organization’s Web site that provides information about the organization—its activities, mission, leadership and so on. Learning about the organization can help you judge the credibility of the information on the organization’s Web site.

When evaluating a Web site, also ask yourself, does the Web site present information that is objective and neutral as possible, or is the Web site presenting biased, one-sided information? Depending on your research project, it may be appropriate for you to use biased information.

For example, if you are presenting both sides of an argument in a pro/con essay about the chemical industry and environmental groups, you could cite information from a chemical industry association and from environmental activists. But you need to be aware of possible bias in a Web site and use—or not use—that Web site accordingly.

When evaluating a Web site, you should also ask, is the information on the Web site accurate? Compare the information on the Web site with knowledge you have gained from other sources in the course of your research, to see if the Web site contains errors. For example, you might compare the information in a Web site with scholarly articles you have read in library databases, with reference books and so on. Also, does the Web site give sources for the information it presents, sources you can look up and verify?

Timeliness is another important factor, especially if you are researching a subject in which knowledge can change rapidly, like health and medicine, business or technology. Does the Web site date its information? If so, is the information is current enough for the topic you are researching?

You can find trustworthy, useful information on all types of Web sites: commercial Web sites, organization, government, education Web sites and so on. But no matter what kind of Web site you are using, you must critically evaluate the information it contains.

At our library Web site, you can find more information on evaluating Web resources. And, if you have any questions about your research, please contact us via Ask a Librarian.

Assignment Directions: After selecting, reading and analyzing your websites, please make sure each analysis follows the format below and includes the following information.

· First, before you get started, please note what you should not do for this assignment. Please do not use the following types of sites:

· UMGC library databases (in other words, do not use any resources found in the library database like Jstor. You will use the library for these resources for later projects)

· Do not use Wikipedia or any other wiki site (in fact, refrain from using these sites for any part of the research project)

· Do not use any encyclopedia websites (i.e. Britannica.org. These sites are wonderful for general knowledge, but not for the requirements of this research project)

· Do not use any sites that require a subscription (also, do not use any of these sites for the requirements of this research paper.)

· Okay, now on to what your Website Analysis should include:

· Format: Each Website Analysis should be typed in a word document, with 1-inch margins, double spaced, and include no less than 250 words.

· Bibliography: At the top of each Website Analysis, students should provide a complete bibliographic entry. This complete bibliographic entry should include a formal citation, including the URL and your date of access. You should note that the required style for this class is Chicago Humanities Style (not the author/date variant). The Effective Writing Center created a short overview on using Chicago Humanities Style called “Brief Guide to Citing Sources in Chicago.” It includes a list of sources formatted in this style. The examples labeled N=footnote/endnote format and those labeled B=bibliographic entry. A copy of this guide is located in the Writing Resources section of Course Resources under Content of this LEO class site.

· Analysis and Content: Each Website Analysis should include a detailed summary of the main points of the article – in your own words. Ultimately, this should be written within the first two paragraphs of your analysis and include:

· Describe the content and purpose of the website

· Determine the author, accuracy of information presented and website’s currency.

· Explain in detail how and why you determined the site is acceptable for use in an academic research paper

· Each website analysis should explain how the content pertains to your research

· Explain how the site relates to your research topic or what you found on the site that relates to your topic

· It is important that students share more than a simple sentence in this analysis. I would like to see a paragraph dedicated to this portion of the assignment.

Brief_Primer_to_Citing_Sources_in_Chicago_Humanities_Style.pdf

A Brief Primer to Citing Sources in Chicago Humanities Style

Whenever you use a source in a paper, you must refer to it twice: once as a note and once in your bibliography. With the Chicago style, you have the option to use either footnotes or endnotes.

Citation for a Direct Quote Whenever you use an author's exact words (direct quotation), you must provide a citation to the source quoted at that exact point in your text.

How to Cite a Direct Quote

Original Text (from Rachel Adele, Women in the Media, 1999) "Lung cancer is the leading cause of cancer-related deaths for men and women, but the media have made it seem that breast cancer is what women should most fear."

Direct Quote as Used in Your Paper Women have been misled, writes media critic Rachel Adele: "Lung

cancer is the leading cause of cancer-related deaths for men and women, but the media have made it seem that breast cancer is what women should most fear." 1

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Note (Footnote or Endnote) 1. Rachel Adele, Women in the Media: The Power of Mainstream

Stereotypes in American Pop Culture (Chicago: University of Chicago Press, 1999), 28.

Subsequent References 2. Adele, 31.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Bibliography Adele, Rachel. Women in the Media: The Power of Mainstream Stereotypes in

American Pop Culture. Chicago: University of Chicago Press, 1999.

Please Note:

1. A signal phrase such as Women have been misled, writes media critic Rachel Adele: is required to integrate the quote into the flow of your writing. Quotations must be attached to one of your sentences with either a comma or a colon.

2. The superscript number at the end of the quotation refers to a footnote at the bottom of the page or an endnote at the end of your paper. Check with your instructor as to whether you should use footnotes or endnotes.

3. The sentence period goes in front of the final quotation marks in American schools.

Citation for a Paraphrase Whenever you use information from a source, even though you do not quote the source, you still must provide a citation to the source at that exact point in your text.

How to Cite a Paraphrase

Original Text (from Rachel Adele, Women in the Media, 1999) "Lung cancer is the leading cause of cancer-related deaths for men and women, but the media have made it seem that breast cancer is what women should most fear."

Your Phrasing (some key words repeated) Although lung cancer kills more women than any other type of

cancer, the media have nonetheless led women to believe that breast cancer deaths are more common. 1

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Note (Footnote or Endnote) 1. Rachel Adele, Women in the Media: The Power of Mainstream

Stereotypes in American Pop Culture (Chicago: University of Chicago Press, 1999), 28.

Subsequent References 2. Adele, 31.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Bibliography Adele, Rachel. Women in the Media: The Power of Mainstream Stereotypes in

American Pop Culture. Chicago: University of Chicago Press, 1999.

Please Note:

1. In a paraphrase, it is usually necessary to repeat some key words from the original source. 2. Although a successful paraphrase may repeat key words, it is distinguished from the

original source by your unique phrasing or structure. 3. The superscript number at the end goes after the sentence period.

"But My Source is Not a Book." Not a Problem. The note and bibliography citations above are for a book used as a source. Increasingly, today's research papers include a variety of electronic sources. Not a problem. The same principle applies: Whenever you use a source in a paper, regardless of the type of source it is, you must refer to it twice: once as a note and once in your bibliography.

What Goes in a Citation? The Chicago Manual of Style Online The Chicago Manual of Style (15th edition) lists over 100 different types of print and electronic sources, each of which has a unique citation format. To help you deal with the many different formats, there is the free Chicago-Style's Citation Quick Guide, a web resource maintained by the Chicago Style organization. However, the Chicago-Style's Citation Quick Guide is limited to about 20 basic source types. The site does offer a 30-day free trial to the complete online version of the Chicago Manual of Style (15th edition).

Academic & Commercial Web Sites You can find many excellent university and college web sites that provide model Chicago-style formats for a wide range of source types you will encounter. Always be sure to check the month/year of the most recent update since the Chicago Style guidelines are added to and revised on a frequent basis. One of the most comprehensive listings of Chicago-style formats and manuscript guidelines can be found at Michael Harvey's The Nuts and Bolts of College Writing.

Citation Machines Currently there is one free citation machine, KnightCite, which promises to format sources for Chicago-style bibilography entries. Use of citation machines in school is controversial. A tool such as KnightCite requires you to correctly identify source types and should be not used as a substitute for your own knowledge of formatting guidelines. If you use the KnightCite citation machine, be sure to check its output for accuracy against the model formats in the Chicago Manual of Style (15th edition) or a web site such as Michael Harvey's The Nuts and Bolts of College Writing .

In the End No single web site, citation machine or handbook contains a model format for every type of source you may find. Therefore it is important to keep in mind the basic components for any citation so that you can make informed choices about the source information you provide. The basic rule: More information is better than less. The goal of any citation is to help the reader evaluate the source and possibly to retrieve it, if he or she wishes. Whether it is a note or a bibliography entry, your citations should contain the following basic elements in approximately this order:

http://www.chicagomanualofstyle.org/tools_citationguide.html

http://www.chicagomanualofstyle.org/access/trial.epl

http://www.nutsandboltsguide.com/chicago.html

http://webapps.calvin.edu/knightcite/index.php

http://www.chicagomanualofstyle.org/

http://www.nutsandboltsguide.com/chicago.html

Author (or editor, translator, compiler in place of author) Title of work Title of Periodical or web site Volume/issue Pages Place of publication Publisher Retrieval information Access date

Blue = all sources Purple = periodicals and web sites Green = periodicals Brown = books Red = digital sources

If you are using a source that does not provide a piece of information for one of the slots, simply skip to the next. For example, if you are citing an article that does not list an author, your citation should begin with the title of the article.

Sample Citations The following citations are based on the models provided in the Chicago-Style's Citation Quick Guide. For each source a note citation (N)and bibliography citation (B) are provided.