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

Information Research Skills

Getting better results for research projects

St Maurice’s School Library Resource Centre

2011 - 2012


"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


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


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


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.


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!


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.


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.


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


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?


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.


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


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


All Hail ?

GOOGLE isn’t the only search engine available. Other search engines may give slightly different results.

Why not try a few?


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


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.


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


Boolean Searching

AND NOT

OR


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.


Did you know most Search Engines have an Advanced search page?

Helps narrow your search even further


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.


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.


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


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.


REMEMBER

AVOID PLAGARISM

Always acknowledge other peoples’ work

Make reference to your sources

Create a bibliography!


Good Luck!!

Remember if you are stuck, ask the Librarian.

Documents

St Maurice's LRC 2011/12 Information Research Skills Getting better results for research projects St Maurice’s School Library Resource Centre 2011 - 2012