Research Assistant

The first time you use Research Assistant, you will need to copy the Research Assistant folder (located on Chs3 in the Public folder) to your personal folder on Chs3.

To Get Started

• Go to your folder on Chs3
• Click on the Research Assistant folder
• Double click on Resources to start the program

To Start a New Project

• Click on the Resources tab
• Select Mode on the menu bar and then Delete All
• Click the Delete button
• Start adding resources and information

To Open a Saved File

• Open Research Assistant

• Click on the Resources tab
• Select Mode on the menu bar and then Delete All

• Click the Delete button
• Click on the Information button
• Go to File, then Import/Export then Import Records
• Click the drop down arrow beside the Look in box and find the project file in your folder on Chs3
• Click on the file to open and then click the Open button
• Click Import
• You may encounter several other windows. Click OK to proceed through them.

To Add a New Resource

• Click on the Resources tab
• Click on Add a New Resource button
• Click in the radio button next to the type of resource you found
• Click Create at the bottom of the screen
• Enter the information on the screen. The requested information will vary, depending on which type of source you chose.
• You must have a Resource created before you take notes from that source
• You can move to the first record, previous record, next record and last record by pushing the yellow icons

To Take Notes from a Resource

• Click the Information icon
• Click the Choose Resource button
• Click on the resource in the drop down window that the information comes from
• Enter the topic in the Topic box. If you are collecting information for multiple paragraphs, you can enter the paragraph number to make the sort process easier. If you have already outlined your paragraph, you can assign a number based on each point (i.e. 4.2 = Fourth paragraph, point 2)
• Enter a keyword that describes your information in the Keyword box

To Copy and Paste Information

• Open your Internet page or other information you wish to copy

• Click and drag to highlight the information.
• Go to Edit and Copy (or Ctrl C).
• Click on Research Assistant on the Task Bar
• Click on the Paste Text button

To Copy and Paste Images or Movies from the Internet

• Click on Internet Explorer on the Task Bar
• Right click on the image you wish to copy
• Select Copy
• Click on Research Assistant on the Task Bar
• Click on the Paste Image button

To Import Images or Movies

• Click on the Import Image or Import Movie button
• Find the image or movie you wish to import and click the Open button

To Record Sounds (you must have a microphone to record sounds)

• Click the Record button in Research Assistant
• Click the Record button on the recording window
• Click Stop when you have finished
• Press to Play button in Research Assistant to hear your recording

To Add a Second Note Card

• Click the New button at the top of the screen
• Repeat the To Take Notes from a Resource for each note

To Sort Information

• Click on the Sort Information button
• Click the sort option you want:
• Order – Order in which the notes were taken
• Type – Kind of source (i.e. Web page, book)
• Date – Date the notes were taken
• Topic – Topic you entered
• Keyword – Keyword you entered
• You can manually sort the notes by placing a number in the yellow box to the left of each note
• Clicking the Hide Record button will hide that note but will not delete the information. To restore all the notes, click the Find All button at the top of the page

To View the Resource List

• Click the Resource tab
• Click on the Resource List button
• You can sort the list by clicking on the yellow headers Type, Title, Entry Title or Author

To Print a Bibliography / Works Cited

• Click the Bibliography tab
• Select the style of bibliography that you wish
• If you wish to hide some of the listings, click the Hide button beside the items you don’t want to appear
• Click the Print button at the top of the page

To Export a Bibliography to Word

• Click the Export button at the top of the page
• Select a location and name the file.
• To import into Word, go to Insert and then File
• Find the location of the file
• Click the drop down arrow beside the Files of Type box and select All Files
• Select your file and click Insert
• You may have to add spaces between resources and italicize the titles of your resources

To Save Your Information to Your Folder

• Go to File and Save a Copy as
• Click the drop down arrow beside Save in
• Find your folder on Chs3
• In the File Name box, put the name of your project
• Click Save
• Create a new file for each project so that your resources do not get mixed up

To Exit Research Assistant

• Be sure you have saved your file to your folder on Chs3
• Click the Exit button at the top of the screen

RLS

09/15/00