In an effort to align the research process, Magazine Schools has created a Research Policy for kindergarten through twelfth grade.  State Frameworks state that the students be aware of the school’s Acceptable Use Policy, Copyright Laws, Fair Use, and be able to name or cite where they obtain their information for reports, papers, and multi-media presentations.  This policy should also answer questions that parents, guardians, and students might have in regard to what will be expected of students while doing research for any class. 

 Definitions as stated in the Arkansas Library Media Frameworks:

 Acceptable Use Policy:  A written document approved by a school district and/or school board, outlining terms and conditions for student and staff use of school district technology, including Internet and e-mail.  (This policy is in the student handbook and has to be signed before students are allowed to use the computers at school.)

 Copyright Laws:  The exclusive legal rights granted by a government to the owner of intellectual property that protects the copyrighted material from unauthorized duplication, sale, or performance; a legal right to publish a work for a specific number of years.

 Fair Use:  A provision of the Copyright Law, Title 17, Section 107 of the U.S. Code, which allows others to make reasonable uses of copyrighted materials for educational purposes.

 Plagiarism:  To present the ideas or words of another as one’s own (Webster’s New Explorer Dictionary and Thesaurus)

 Sources students are expected to use before conducting an Internet search:

 Print:  Encyclopedias, books, newspapers, magazines, and pamphlets.  Students should always check first to see what is available within the encyclopedia and check to see if the media center has books and/or reference books available on their subject.  To obtain magazine or newspaper articles, students may use the EBSCO database.

Arkansas Traveler Database:  The Arkansas State Library makes available to our school several databases.  Our students (parents and teachers also) can obtain magazine, newspaper, and encyclopedia articles, and books for their research.   These databases are available at home to the students, parents, and teachers.

 Internet research:  After exhausting all databases for information, students may turn to Google Advanced Search.  Students must limit their domain searches to .edu (education websites), .gov (government websites), and .mil (military websites). A .org (organization) website may be used if necessary.  Most .com websites are NOT acceptable.  However, there are exceptions to this rule – http://www.history.com, http://www.nationalgeographic.com – both offer reliable information.  A .com website must be approved by the teacher or media specialist before being used in research.  In addition, the student might be required to fill out a form to be turned in to the teacher or media specialist about the website.

 To help eliminate plagiarism, students MUST turn in copies of all research.  This does include copies of pages of encyclopedias and books that students have used.  Students will be limited to the number of pages copied for their research.  (To ensure that students do not waste paper and print everything, teachers need to stress that the students read their information before printing.)  Number of pages copied or printed will correlate to the length of the research paper.  For example, if the paper is to be four to five pages typed, then students would be allowed to print and /or copy twelve pages of research.  Students may be charged a fee for exceeding their limit of free paper.  (Students will no longer cut and paste to ensure that they are getting all information necessary for their citations.)  Large envelopes will be made available for students to store their research within.

 The purpose of students turning in their research with their paper is to allow both teachers and parents to see whether or not students have put the information into their own words and cited the information correctly.  If they have not, students can be directed to correct what they need to without having to hunt and/or remember