FINDING INFORMATION: AND HOW TO DEAL WITH IT

Dr Ayaz Afsar

AIM AND OBJECTIVES

To familiarise the students with methods of data collection and different systems of recording the information

Objectives:

demonstrate the skills of effective reading and note taking

present efficient techniques of storing & retrieving collected information

INTRODUCTION

Where is the information to be found?

What should be done with the information?

What use to be made of the information?

FINDING THE INFORMATION

Follow a systematic process

Do as complete and as accurate a job as possible , e.g. page numbers author’s name journal’s title

SOURCES OF INFORMATION

Library

Books Reports Periodicals Technical reports Academic theses

Bibliographic aids and indexes: indexes cataloguesSecondary resources:

books, journal articles, reports and research papers

LIBRARY CATALOGUES

Offered now on computer as well

Reference by author, title and subject

Possible to search other libraries worldwide through the internet

JOURNAL OF ABSTRACTS

Appear at regular intervals and commonly comprise catalogues of

the bibliographical details: journal title issue number date author/title of article

Index journals

Similar to journals of abstracts but do not contain summaries of articles

BIBLIOGRAPHIES

Lists of references on specific subjects

Published in response to demand or as the by-product of research

Can be found via the library catalogue

BIBLIOGRAPHIC DATABASE

Most books and many abstract and index journals are now available in bibliographic database form for key word searching

CD-ROM data bases are available and can be searched online

TASK

Go round a library in your town and familiarize yourself with the sources of information mentioned above. Find out where the sources of information are and how you can use them. You need to keep up to date with the latest facilities offered.

THE INTERNET

Thousands of pages being added every day, the www is the biggest source of information in the world. However, the content is of variable quality. Biggest challenge is to track down good quality material.

Easily waste hours trawling through rubbish in search of the goodies.

Not all information on the web is free.

TYPES OF SEARCH ENGINES

Free text altaVista, HotBot, infoseek, google

Index-based compilers Yahoo.com, Galaxy, Looksmart, Lycos, Netscape

Multi-search engines Dogpile, Metacrawler and Mamma

Intelligent agents Learn from your choices as you accept or reject the results they

offer.

EVALUATING WEB SOURCES

Is the website accurate?

What authority is it based on?

Is it biased?

How detailed is the information?

Is it out of date?

Have you cross-checked?

Have you tried pre-evaluated ‘Subject gateway’? Try BUBL Link (www.bubl.ac.uk/link/)

SEARCH TECHNIQUES

Be clear what you are looking for

Searches rely on single words or a combination of several

Learn and use standard key terms

Narrow your search by indicating place and time

Adding a* to words or parts of words automatically widens the search parameters in the form of wildcards

Boolean logic is a fancy word for using connecting words

DEALING WITH INFORMATION

Reading

To review the text

To use context clues and a dictionary to understand words

To identify and mark important ideas in a chapter

To recognize how authors organize and develop ideas

To identify new words and phrases that describe the methods or patterns of organizing and developing ideas

To apply comprehension skills to vocabulary and text material

READING TECHNIQUES

Skimming

Scanning

Reading to understand

Word–by-word reading

Reading for pleasure

STAGES OF READING

1. To gain quick impression of what the book is about, how the book is structured

2. Formulate the question that you anticipate will be answered in the book

3. Locate the parts of the book where your questions are dealt with. Then look for the answers or conclusions that the author has drawn

4. Record your data in note form

NOTE-TAKING

Use your own active vocabulary and not the author’s reasons for taking notes

Remember something

Keep a permanent record of something

Help in planning

Reorder material

Understand what you are learning

Concentrate

Show other people

NOTE-TAKING TECHNIQUES

Clarify your purpose

Write all notes on the same sized paper or cards

Set out your notes properly: make a full bibliographic record of the source of the notes

Use the title of the chapter or lecture to help you anticipate the main ideas of the text

Keep your own ideas, comments and criticism separate from those in the text

Sum up what you have written

COLLECTING AND ORDERING NOTES

Paper based

Needs no electronic equipment; write on sheets of paper or card and then order the sheets

Each card must include only one idea or one fact or one item or one question

Use A4 sheets or index cards and store them in boxes designed for the purpose under certain headings: key words, author names, publication titles, dates, subjects or aspects of the main subject

Facilitates shifting, comparing, grouping, and ordering

COMPUTER BASED FORMATS

Various database programs

Come with standard program packages such as Endnotes, ProCite and Citation

Devise your own using Word Processing package

Should be short and on a single topic

Should be thoroughly referenced

Should be stored under allotted headings

Advantages:

Easily retrieved, copied, revised and edited Do not need to rewrite

ESSENTIAL INFORMATION TO RECORD NOTES

The author (s) of the text—surname and first name The title of the book-including a subtitle. In case of journal the full

name of the journal If it is an article or paper in an edited book or journal, with different

authors for different chapters or papers, then the title of the relevant chapter or paper is also required

If it is a website, the URL (web address) The date of publication The place it was published The name of the publisher The page number or numbers where the information you have made

notes from appears Reference to where you found the information Might use material from lectures or conferences. In this case, give full

details including the speaker, title of talk, conference title, venue and date

CHECKLIST OF INFORMATION NEEDED FOR EACH REFERENCE

The author or authors

The date of publication

The title of the book, paper or article, or anything else

The place of publication and the publisher

If it is a paper in a journal or an article in a newspaper, the title of the journal, the volume and issue numbers, the page numbers of the paper or article

If it is a chapter in an edited book, the title of the edited book, the name of the editor, the page numbers of the chapter

CRITICAL READING SKILLS

The structure of the argument What evidence is given to support the conclusions? Is the evidence credible, i.e. does it come from reliable sources? Is the logic of the argument sound?

The assumptions upon which the writings and arguments are based All writing is rooted in theory and based on values, and must be

appraised in relation to these The wider context of the work

Intellectual work is carried out in a complex arena where power, politics, fashion, economics, competing orthodoxies and many other factors play influential role determining factors in the formulation of views and need to be exposed in order to understand the forces behind them

Comparison with other work ‘research writing is a contested terrain, within which alternative

views and positions may be taken up’ (Blaxter et al. 1996, p.106)