The student news site of Hawthorne High School.

The Clarion

The student news site of Hawthorne High School.

The Clarion

The student news site of Hawthorne High School.

The Clarion

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Public Librarian Helps HHS Students

Kathie O’Dowd, Director of the Louis Bay II Library in Hawthorne, visited Hawthorne High School in an effort to help Mrs. DiGeronimo’s English III Honor students with their search for primary sources.

Theresa DiGeronimo, HHS English teacher, was grateful for O’Dowd’s visit and felt it was beneficial to students. “Finding primary sources is hard to do if you don’t know where to look,” DiGeronimo stated.  “I think Ms. O’Dowd did a great job of explaining exactly what primary sources are and how to find them.”

DiGeronimo hopes her students now have a better understanding about how to improve their searching habits.  “I would hope that my students have learned that there are many good sources for finding information that do not show up on a Google search,” DiGeronimo said.  “To do higher level research, students need to leave Google behind and I think Ms. O’Dowd helped make that clear.”

Steven Prieto, HHS English III Honor student, felt he benefited greatly from O’Dowd’s visit.  “Mrs. O’Dowd helped me realize how simple finding the right information can be with the right help,” Prieto stated.  “I learned that going straight to a primary source is not so difficult after all, and our librarians in town are willing and able to help us.”

O’Dowd began by explaining exactly what a primary source is.  It is a physical object from the time period a person is researching.  She continued to tell students how to differentiate between primary sources and secondary sources.  She said that if it’s a quote from the expert, it’s a primary source, but if it’s an interpretation of the quote then it is a secondary source.

O’Dowd advised students on how to begin their search for information. She said that students should use databases, magazines, newspapers, libraries, or the expert on the subject to get the best information. She also gave a list of useful websites for students such as www.ipl.org, www.archives.gov/index.html, and www.loc.gov.  She also helped students learn how to determine if a website is credible, saying to use a .org as opposed to a .com.

Perhaps her most helpful tips were those on searching on the computer. O’Dowd explained how to use quotation marks and synonyms in a subject search and how to narrow down the topic as much as possible. O’Dowd offered individual help at the library to students that continued to struggle.