st maurice's lrc 2011/12 information research skills getting better results for research...
TRANSCRIPT
St Maurice's LRC 2011/12
Information Research Skills
Getting better results for research projects
St Maurice’s School Library Resource Centre
2011 - 2012
St Maurice's LRC 2011/12
"Knowledge is of two kinds. We know a subject ourselves, or we know where
we can find information upon it."
Samuel Johnson (Boswell's Life of Johnson) http://www.samueljohnson.com/twokinds.html
St Maurice's LRC 2011/12
Research: Where do I start?
It is rare to start a school research project on a subject you know nothing about.
Always think about your existing
knowledge. Brainstorm an idea
St Maurice's LRC 2011/12
K-W-L Chart
A K-W-L Chart is a good way to help organise your knowledge of a subject.
What I KNOW What I WANT to
know What I’ve LEARNED
What I KNOW What I WANT to know
What I’ve LEARNED
St Maurice's LRC 2011/12
Focus on the RELEVANT information.
Some topics can have vast amounts of information, others very little.
Think carefully about what you Need to know and what you Want to know.
Always ask is this information relevant to my topic/subject ?
Information can be related but not relevant to your particular search.
St Maurice's LRC 2011/12
Before you begin – Remember…
Always take notes– any information you think you might need to use should be noted. Quotations should be “identified” Paraphrasing – using your own wording Summarising – condensing several sentences of information into one.
You MUST have a bibliography so take a note of the sources you use as you go along!
Organise your notes and information in a way you can understand and makes sense when you have to write up your essay. Post it notes, mind maps, diagrams etc
Make sure you UNDERSTAND what you are reading or using!
St Maurice's LRC 2011/12
Useful General Search tips
Keywords Specific search terms will help focus your research. They are the most important and relevant words related
to your search question. Often generated by the questions you want to answer on
your topic.Think of synonyms!
Look at the Contents / Index / Glossary of a book or resource when you start.
The Index of a book is perfect place to scan for keywords.
St Maurice's LRC 2011/12
Skimming and Scanning
Useful to help locate relevant information in a resource.
Skimming – Used to find out if any information on your topic appears in the resources you are using. Also useful to get the general idea of a resource or piece of information.
Read the title, introduction, first paragraph, start of paragraphs, pictures, headings etc. Do any of your keywords appear there?
Scanning – Used when you what to find specific information you know is in your resource ie when looking for a specific name, date or place.
Locate page from index. Use the keywords, think of how the information may be phrased. Skip sections of text which aren’t relevant.
St Maurice's LRC 2011/12
NEVER use just ONE Source
Always try and use a variety of resources
Always try and ensure you’ve used at least 3 or more sources when possible
St Maurice's LRC 2011/12
Think C-A-R
C – Completeness – does the information relate to your search?
A – Accuracy – is the information reliable/correct?
R – Relevance – it may be interesting but is it relevant to your search?
St Maurice's LRC 2011/12
Bias
This can be difficult to avoid in some topics
Ask yourself – is the page sponsored?
Is it one sided? What is it NOT telling you?
Consider your own bias – are you presenting a balanced view.
St Maurice's LRC 2011/12
Who – who wrote it?
What – what is it actually referring to?
Where – Where did you find the information what is its intended audience?
Why – why has it been written?
When – When was it written/created – is it up to date enough for you search?
Remember the 5 W’s can be useful to help you evaluate a source
St Maurice's LRC 2011/12
The Internet: How deep do you search?
http://quod.lib.umich.edu/cgi/t/text/text-idx?c=jep;view=text;rgn=main;idno=3336451.0007.104
St Maurice's LRC 2011/12
All Hail ?
GOOGLE isn’t the only search engine available. Other search engines may give slightly different results.
Why not try a few?
St Maurice's LRC 2011/12
Internet Search Techniques
Use Multiple Keywords if possible
Using quotations marks for phrases you want to search will help focus your results. ie “Wall Street Crash” “Second World War”
Search using your keywords rather than typing in sentences. Don’t worry about including words such as “the”, “a” etc
St Maurice's LRC 2011/12
Read the brief description of the website, Does it appear relevant and useful?
Is it a sponsored page More than 10 returns – try using the other returns – not just the first
10!
Web addresses can tell you a lot before you even click on the link. Generally British based websites will end in ‘uk’ .gov – government website eg www.scotland.gov.uk .com or .co.uk - commercial sites eg www.amazon.co.uk .ac.uk / .edu /.sch.uk – academic websites such as schools or
universities.
St Maurice's LRC 2011/12
Advanced Searching
Think about what search terms will help focus your search
Using Multiple Keywords where possibleUse Boolean Operators to help narrow
your search.Try using the advanced search features
on websites
St Maurice's LRC 2011/12
Boolean Searching
AND NOT
OR
St Maurice's LRC 2011/12
Boolean Searching?
AND or ‘+’ Narrows search to return pages with only the two or more keywords you used.
OR before words should ensure pages returned will include any of the search term
NOT ‘-‘ before words should return pages with the keywords you want but not the keywords you want to exclude.
St Maurice's LRC 2011/12
Did you know most Search Engines have an Advanced search page?
Helps narrow your search even further
St Maurice's LRC 2011/12
Bibliographies
An essential part of any research project. They let people know where you found
your information. There are a variety of ways you can
reference the sources you used to create a bibliography.
If you are not sure, the library catalogue can show you how.
St Maurice's LRC 2011/12
Creating a bibliography
(Harvard Style) Books – Author, date, title, publisher Magazines / Newspapers – Author, date, ‘title of
article’, title of magazine or paper, page number Encyclopedia – Article author (if given) date ‘title of
article’, title of encyclopedia, volume no., publisher, Website – Author, ‘title of article’ (if relevant) title of
webpage, copyright or update date, publisher of webpage (if given), date of the last time you looked at it, url.
St Maurice's LRC 2011/12
Examples Firth, Lisa. 2009, The animal rights debate, Independence.
CILIP (21 June 2007) Ethical Principals for Library and Information Professionals London: Chartered Institute of Library and Information Professionals, Retrieved 19th November 2007 from http://www.cilip.org.uk/policyadvocacy/ethics/prinicpals.htm
Joint, N (2007) Newly qualified librarians and their professional associations Library Review, Vol 56, No9, 766-772
Brown, R.B & McCartney S (2000) Professionalism definitions in ‘managing’ health services in N Marlin (ed) Professionalism, Boundaries and the workplace (pp178 – 194) London: Routledge
St Maurice's LRC 2011/12
Organising your bibliographic resources
Pulver, Beth A. 2009, Understanding the Importance of Information, Information Literacy Skills, HEINEMAN. (p35)This book is currently available in the LRC should you want to find out more.
St Maurice's LRC 2011/12
REMEMBER
AVOID PLAGARISM
Always acknowledge other peoples’ work
Make reference to your sources
Create a bibliography!
St Maurice's LRC 2011/12
Good Luck!!
Remember if you are stuck, ask the Librarian.