MUSL 1111: Music, Identity, and Diversity

Why citing your sources is important: 

1. It leads other readers to your sources. 

2. Gives credit to person(s) whose ideas you are borrowing or referencing.

3. Avoid plagiarism and copyright. 

Use Chicago Manual of Style Online (linked below) to help format your citations. 

Zotero is a free citation management software that helps generate citations and annotate. If you need help, ask the music librarian. 

• https://researchguides.library.vanderbilt.edu/citation-management/zotero 

Need help annotating your citations? 

• summare the material 
• state the thesis the author is arguing 
• consider how the source this helpful to your research
• where can you use this source in your paper (to support _____)
• elaborate on areas related to your topic
• how does this add knowledge to what you will write? 

Exercises from book They Say, I Say

• Author argues ______, and I agree/disagree because _______. 
• Author argument that _________ is supported by new research showing that _________. 
• These conclusions, which author discusses in ______, add weight to the argument that _____________.
• Chapter 2 explores ___________, while chapter 3 examines ____________. 
• My argument will do more to prove or make claim to ____________.

Graff, Gerald, and Cathy Birkenstein. “They Say / I Say” : The Moves That Matter in Academic Writing. Fifth edition. New York: W.W. Norton & Company, Inc., 2021.

Evaluate your findings: 

• Author and source credibility
• Relevance: when was it written? What is the purpose?
• Accuracy: check the sources. what sources are included?
• What bias does the information have?
• Who is the audience?
• What is the tone?
• Will this be useful for my argument (y/n)? Am I missing information that may be helpful to my research?
• Who are the leading authors with authority on this topic?