Infoskills 4 - Stages of Research
| Starting Questions: A. Which Stage am I in? B. In which step, within that stage, am I? |
| Stage 1 | Stage 2 | Stage 3 | Stage 4 | |
| Preparing for Research | Accessing Resources | Processing Information | Transferring Learning | |
|
Define What exactly do I have to do? How long does it have to be? Timelines for assignment? Evaluation? | Locate Variety of resources, electronic and print? Do I need other libraries, interview, outside information? |
Analyze/Evaluate What note-taking methods suit my assignment? ELECTRONIC Note-taking SHEETS Distinctions between fact and opinion? Bias are you aware of it? Visit Wikipedia and find out more. |
Revise Did I meet all the assignment criteria? Did I have someone else edit my paper? |
|
|
Explore (Keep track of your exploration and search strategies on a Research Log) Electronic RESEARCH LOG sheet ELECTRONIC Note-making SHEETS Resources where? Types of resources best: Internet, books, periodicals, encyclopedia? CASS Library Links gateway Search Engines Choices Searching skills tutorials Google Advanced searches- Four NETS for Better Searching Dewey decimal system- Dewey Decimal Think Quest Keyword sources help develop background info: Dictionary, Thesaurus, Encyclopedia (at Bigchalk reference desk) Dewey Decimal system Dewey Decimal guide Library of Congress classification system Subject trees- ipl, nlc meta-search engines-Kartoo, Vivissimo book indexes | Select Other keywords and related subjects found? SEE YOUR RESEARCH LOG Best resources to use? Too easy, too hard, too long, too short? Evaluating resources Website evaluation criteria are met?: 10 C's- Content, Credibility, Critical thinking, Copyright, Citation, Continuity, Censorship, Connectivity, Comparability, Context. (OYO. p. 27) Evaluating webpages 5 criteria SCOAP tutorial SCOAPing 3 resources form Bibliographic information? Copyright permission? SEE copyright Matters p.16 for internet copying Do I have the resources I need? |
Test Does my information relate to my topic/working thesis? Do I need to adjust my focus? Am I looking for bias in my sources? Have I avoided plagiarism? |
Present APA UWO MLA or APA format? MLA & APA writing help Formatting MLA Quick Cite CASS library catalogue creates bibliographic entries for MLA and Chicago styles. Oral presentation? Poster presentation? slideshow on Developing a poster presentation Script on side of poster presentation above http://www.gmu.edu/departments /writingcenter/ppt/ppframe.htm Slideshow presentation? |
|
| Identify Key words for starting? Type of brainstorming, webbing? Exact topic? Graphic Organizers http://www.graphic.org/goindex.html http://www.ncrel.org/sdrs/areas /issues/students/learning/lr1grorg.htm |
Gather Did I reject some unsuitable resources? Bias are you aware of it? |
Sort How will I organize my notes into an outline? |
Reflect What new skills have I learned? What could I do better next time? |
|
| Relate My prior knowledge of this topic? Prior projects like this I've done? |
Collaborate What do I still need to know? Who should I ask? teacher? peer? teacher-librarian? Who else might have ideas? |
Synthesize How do I put all this information together? Do I have to submit a draft copy or my final product? Am I making connections between ideas? |
Transferring In what other subject areas can I apply these new skills? Can I add my to a portfolio? CV? |
|
| Research Process | Student skills |
Website Design |
|
| overview of research process Duke Libraries> Guide to Library Research excellent tutorials with alternate strategies |
|
How users read on the web and other articles on usability | |
|
|
|
practical considerations | |
| How to find resources efficiently: |
| Four NETS for Better Searching | Tutorial on using search engines, especially Google. |
| Dewey Decimal Think Quest | Tutorials develop understanding of subject words and keywords. Beginner to expert levels. |
 |
Stage
2: Accessing Resources (see
rubric)
Task:
Find an appropriate article
Locate a variety of resources (OYO
p.19)
Where
am I most likely to find articles using my topic or keywords? Magazines,
newspapers, subject databases, histories &chronicles, internet, Online
databases, Organizations, Periodicals, televisions programs, Video recordings,
yearbooks, Historical houses, Historical societies, Libraries, Museums- CBC
News in Review videos, online index of magazines we have in the backroom –
titles: National geographic, Canadian Geographic, MacLean’s, Discovery…
CASS
LIBRARY WEBSITE –starting point- gateway to all below
http://www.tvdsb.on.ca/cass/library/Librarylink.htm
·
NETS strategies >Using Search Engines for locating print and
electronic resources (OYO p.26)
·
Boolean or Advanced searches
let you determine the limits of your search so you will have fewer hits to sift
and sort through when looking for a suitable article
|
AND smallest |
NOT medium |
OR largest |
 | Kartoo- build a Boolean using “+” and “-“ |
|
http://www.kartoo.com/
is a meta-search engine that visually maps your searches and displays
keywords that relate to your search keyword. Keyword “mysterious” gets results here>
>http://www.mysteriousplaces.com/about.html |
·
Bigchalk - search- limit to magazines and newspapers –
|
>Just for Students >Bigchalk >Search |
Bigchalk offers full-text articles; you choose a particular magazine, newspaper, Canadian content. ID- research PW- bigchalk (case sensitive) |
Stage 3 Process
information
Analyze &
Evaluate
Test
Sort
Synthesize
|
http://www.library.cornell.edu/olinuris/ref/research/webeval.html this website provides you with a doorway to criteria for evaluating websites, choose the one that suits your purposes- Five criteria are enough (hint) Creating a graphic organizer to compare resources using the five criteria is a great idea- matrix organizer
|
||||||||||||||||||||||||
Note-taking- see Academic
Integrity
on CASS LIBRARY website- at bottom there is a template for formatting cut &
paste or written notes that includes space of bibliography notes and MLA
formatting- note the use of Q, S,P, CK and green ink for anti-plagiarism