Information Literacy - Module 2
- 1. MODULE 2
- 2. identify the types and range of information sources needed define a search strategy choose appropriate information sources for the research assignment execute search evaluate results
- 3. PRIMARY INFORMATION SOURCES Personal correspondence (including emails) Diaries Manuscripts Works of art and literature Speeches Oral histories Interviews Company Annual Reports and Records Newspaper ads and stories Census or demographic records Specimens (Plant, animal, etc) Laws and legislative hearings Audio and video recordings Photographs and posters A primary source provides direct or firsthand evidence about an event, object, person or work of art. They are generally real time and may be written and/or non-written. Examples include:
- 4. SECONDARY INFORMATION SOURCES A secondary source contains information that has been interpreted, commented upon and/or analyzed. Examples include: Text books, Handbooks, Directories Book Reviews Encyclopedias Serial articles (journals, newspapers) Theses Technical Reports Patents Standards Conference proceedings Government Documents Maps, Plans, Charts CDs, DVDs Websites Television and radio
- 5. Scholarly sources are written by scholars in an academic or professional field and geared toward the researcher, scholar or professional: Textbooks Peer-reviewed journals in all disciplines Popular sources cover current events or diverse topics of popular interest: Magazines such as Newsweek Blogs such as Caribbean Week Trade materials are written and published by professional and/or commercial organizations and contain practical articles and product information Aviation Week and Space Technology (magazine) T &T Chamber of Industry and Commerce (website)
- 6. Books, journals and multimedia resources at the Campus Libraries - Online Catalogue (OPAC), http://www.mainlib.uwi.tt Scholarly journals articles, conference papers, e-books, theses, patents, standards – Online Databases, http://www.mainlib.uwi.tt Internet – search engines, blogs, wikis, Google Scholar, Google Books, Google Code Search
- 8. Once you have completed planning your search strategy, you are ready to proceed to actually searching the electronic databases, OPAC and Internet
- 9. Step One: Research Question Formulate your research topic into a focused research question. Be as concise and specific as possible. Example Discuss the student enrollment challenges faced by tertiary level institutions in the English speaking Caribbean? Step Two: Identify Search Concepts Concepts are different elements which make up your research question: Enrollment challenges Tertiary level institutions English speaking Caribbean
- 10. Step Three: Brainstorm synonyms or related keywords Concept A Concept B Concept C Enrollment challenges Tertiary level institutions English speaking Caribbean SYNONYMS Admission Universities West Indies Colleges Caribbean Region
- 11. Strategies to retrieve relevant information which discuss your research question specifically. Phrase Searches Keywords Boolean Operators Truncation
- 12. Using complete phrases return better results than using isolated words Uses quotation marks Can be used on two or more search terms. For example: ‘ English Speaking Caribbean’
- 13. Admission Universities West Indies Colleges Caribbean Region
- 14. Boolean searching allows keywords to be connected by using AND, OR, NOT Universities AND Colleges AND Caribbean region– the results of your search will include all terms. Universities OR Colleges AND Caribbean region – the results of your search will include the term Caribbean Region and either University or College Universities NOT Colleges AND Caribbean region – the results of your search will exclude term Colleges
- 15. If you use truncation (or wildcards) on a search term, your search results will contain documents including variations of that term. For example: Universit* will retrieve, University, Universities. Note that the truncation symbol will vary depending on where you search. The most common symbols are the asterisk (*) and question mark (?).
- 16. Results should be examined using criteria such as: Authority – is the author an expert in this area Credibility - is the source objective or biased Relevance – is it pertinent to the research being conducted Timeliness – is it current or dated Accuracy – is the information correct and can you find cited references