Transcript Information Research Skills

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
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Research: Where do I start?
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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
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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 KNOW
 What I WANT to
know
 What I’ve LEARNED
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What I WANT to
know
What I’ve
LEARNED
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.
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Before you begin – Remember…

Always take notes– any information you think you might need to use
should be noted.
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Quotations should be “identified”
Paraphrasing – using your own wording
Summarising – condensing several sentences of information into one.
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You MUST have a bibliography so take a note of the sources you
use as you go along!
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Organise your notes and information in a way you can understand
and makes sense when you have to write up your essay.
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Post it notes, mind maps, diagrams etc
Make sure you UNDERSTAND what you are reading or using!
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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.
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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.
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Locate page from index.
Use the keywords, think of how the information may be phrased.
Skip sections of text which aren’t relevant.
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NEVER use just ONE Source
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Always try and use a variety of resources
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Always try and ensure you’ve used at
least 3 or more sources when possible
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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?
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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.
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Remember the 5 W’s can be useful to help you
evaluate a source
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?
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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
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All Hail
?
GOOGLE isn’t the only search engine
available. Other search engines may give
slightly different results.
Why not try a few?
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Internet Search Techniques
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Use Multiple Keywords if possible
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Using quotations marks for phrases you want
to search will help focus your results. ie “Wall
Street Crash” “Second World War”
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Search using your keywords rather than typing
in sentences. Don’t worry about including
words such as “the”, “a” etc
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Read the brief description of the website, Does it appear relevant
and useful?
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Is it a sponsored page
More than 10 returns – try using the other returns – not just the first
10!
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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.
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Advanced Searching
Think about what search terms will help
focus your search
 Using Multiple Keywords where possible
 Use Boolean Operators to help narrow
your search.
 Try using the advanced search features
on websites
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Boolean Searching
NOT
AND
OR
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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.
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Did you know most Search Engines have an Advanced
search page?
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Helps narrow your search even further
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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.
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Creating a bibliography
(Harvard Style)
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Books – Author, date, title, publisher
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Magazines / Newspapers – Author, date, ‘title of
article’, title of magazine or paper, page number
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Encyclopedia
– Article author (if given) date ‘title of
article’, title of encyclopedia, volume no., publisher,
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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.
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Examples
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Firth, Lisa. 2009, The animal rights debate, Independence.
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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
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Joint, N (2007) Newly qualified librarians and their professional
associations Library Review, Vol 56, No9, 766-772
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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
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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.
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REMEMBER
AVOID PLAGARISM
Always acknowledge other peoples’ work
Make reference to your sources
Create a bibliography!
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Good Luck!!
Remember if you are stuck, ask the
Librarian.
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