ANN ARBOR—The right tackle can lead to a touchdown and an A+ on a research paper. By using the Internet Public Library’s new reference tool for teachers and students, “A+ Research and Writing for High School and College Students,” tackling a research paper can become a game-winning play resulting in a high score.

While much information is available on-line about writing, the Internet Public Library (IPL) is one of only a few resources that teaches the research process and gives high school and college students strategies for finding information in the library and on the Web in preparation for writing an academic paper. A generous “links” section points to articles and other sites on the Internet that can help with the research and writing process. These links are categorized by subject and annotated with short descriptions.

Topics range from “Quick Tips for the Panic-Stricken” to identifying “feelings” such as those experienced while struggling to identify a topic. That’s the stage, the A+ site notes, where “you may have your darkest hour in the whole process, feeling threatened by the choice of a focus—what if you pick the ‘wrong’ one? Try to tolerate these feelings,” the site advises. “Once you choose a focus, you should start to feel some optimism and confidence. You may even have an ‘Aha!’ experience, but don’t worry if you don’t—there’s not an ‘Aha!’ in every A+ paper.”

Because this is a large resource, author Kathryn L. Schwartz of Flushing, Mich., a student in the Master’s of Information and Library Studies program at the University of Michigan, has made it available for downloading in Adobe Acrobat format. The guide can be printed out as a 53-page reference book for home or educational use. It is freely available to be copied for non-commercial purposes.

This reference tool for teachers and students can be found at http://www.ipl.org/teen/aplus/.

The Internet Public Library is partially supported by a grant from the Andrew W. Mellon Foundation and began as a graduate student project in 1995. It is now staffed by professional librarians with assistance from students and volunteer librarians from around the Internet. The library maintains a collection of network-based ready reference works, responds to reference queries, creates resources for children and young adults, evaluates and categorizes resources on the Internet, and provides space for exhibitions. The IPL can be accessed at http://www.ipl.org/.

Related Links:

• A+ Research and Writing for High School and College Students
• Internet Public Library
• Andrew W. Mellon Foundation