7th Gr. Writing - Business Letter

Mission:

The mission of the CBA Markert Library program is to teach information literacy in collaboration with classroom teachers within the context of the content curriculum, inspire and develop a love of reading, and provide diverse materials and services to enable students to become life-long learners and effective users of information.

Big 6 Research Method

1.1. Define the problem

1.2 Identify the information requirements

Write a business letter to a company that expresses a complaint or compliment for a product or service.

Name and address of the business; name of person in charge/ person (looking for the right desk)

Product or experience:

Details of the product or service (example: order number, model number, name features of the product (expectations);
history of the company / how this company is performing compared to others;
have there been problems in the past;
has the company fixed it;
has the fix been easy;
how it was shipped/damaged;
other people’s opinions (reviews) , customers, critics, tests (government) Better Business Bureau); government sites

2.1 Determine kinds of sources

2.2 Prioritize sources

You can find information from:

Internet
Product literature/packaging/advertisements
Databases

3.1 Locate actual resources

3.2 Locate information

Databases: Newsbank, Gale and Proquest (newspapers and magazines)

Internet: Google for general searching, but remember that you will need to make sure the site is academically acceptable - make sure you can find the proper credentials. Find company website, commercials (print, internet, TV, radio), reviews, government sites.

Recommended sites:

Business letter format

(Remember that Wikipedia is NEVER academically acceptable because it cannot be credentialed.)

4.1 Engage (read, view, interview)

4.2 Extract (make notes)

Take notes electronically using Microsoft Word and save them to a flash drive or your network folder.

Citation generator

Be aware that websites from a database must be cited differently than just websites:

Website from a subscription service

Author last name, Author first name . "Web page title". Institution or organization of website. Database name. Date of access. URL.

Wallace, Susan. "God and War: Introduction
	and Index at Mostly Medieval - Exploring the Middle Ages". Nettrekker. .21 Sep 2009 <http://www.skell.org/explore/gnwintro.htm>.

MLA date format: day month year

Header: 21 September 2009

Citation example: 21 Sep 2009

5.1 Organize information

5.2 Present information

Example of a correct "Works Cited"

You are required to have a Works Cited page - make sure it is in correct format, with 1" margins, 12 point Times New Roman font, with resources in alphabetical order in hanging format.

Remember, your Works Cited page will be in MLA format although your paper will NOT. (See requirements above.)

Only ONE encyclopedia entry will be accepted.

6.1 Judge the product

6.2 Judge the process

What did you learn about writing a business letter?

What did you learn about research?