What’s the Problem?Define, Locate, Analyze, Synthesize, and Evaluate Your Research Problem

Maine South High School Library Resource CenterMaine Township High School District #207

Park Ridge, IllinoisRose Retrum and Naomi Mellendorf, Librarians

What’s Your Strategy?

What do we know?

What do we need to know?

What’s our Plan?

Maine South High School Library Resource Center

What is Information?Sources When to Use Them What to Watch Out For

Books•Nonfiction Narrative

• Memoirs/Biographies• Researched Opinions• Visual Collections

•Encyclopedias• General/Subject Specific• Special Audience

•Textbooks•Fiction

--Story of a person, not just the facts--Researched thesis of an expert--Art collections; “coffee-table” books--Factual material, broad--Introduction to a topic--Seek a lower or higher reading level

--Memories are not always reliable--Gaps in the expert’s logic or research

--Too broad, not enough depth--Check the date for currency

Databases•Articles and Documents•Primary Sources•Researched Opinions•Fact Collections: Encyclopedias•Images, Videos, Artwork•News

--Overview and/or in-depth treatment of a topic; well-written and edited--An original experience--More than facts: an argued thesis--Basic facts--Current and specialized historical collections; varies with the database

--Databases are not free collections of information; therefore, you must have passwords when using them off-campus.

Websites•Articles and Documents•Primary Sources•Opinions•Fact Collections: Encyclopedias•Images, Videos, Artwork•News

--Overview of a topic; --Availability of primary source--Basic image needs--Breaking news--Popular culture topics--Some specialized collections of documents, images

--Quality of writing may vary dramatically--In-depth treatment of a topic or expansive treatment of an original thesis is often difficult to locate--Authority, Reliability, Accuracy, Currency, Objectivity—can be very difficult to determine--Limitations of specialized collections

Maine South High School Library Resource Center

Improve Your Search:Tip #1: Review Your Keywords

Find Synonyms• Example: handicapped or disabled

Use Complete Labels• NRA or National Rifle Association

Avoid slang or casual language• 24/7 rule vs. zero tolerance policy

Find terms that are broader, narrower, or relatedMaine South High School Library Resource Center

Improve Your Search:Tip #2: Search String

Use “Quotes” for exact phrase AND or + to require all search terms NOT to exclude a search term Combine terms -- Boolean

“Steroids” and “Football” not “Baseball” Natural language Subject Headings vs. Keywords

Maine South High School Library Resource Center

Improve Your Search:Tip #3: Define Domains and File Types

Domains .edu - a college/university .gov - a government site .org - an organization .com – a business

Definitions Define ethnocentrism

File types PDF - Adobe document xls - Excel document ppt - PowerPoint document doc - Word document

Maine South High School Library Resource Center

Improve Your Search:Tip #4: Try Different Resources

Databases Books (Online Catalog) “Invisible” Web

Infomine IPL (Internet Public Library) and LII

(Librarians’ Internet Index) Google Scholar Google Books WebPath Express (through Online Catalog)

Other: Audio, Video, Podcasts, Blogs, Wikis, etc.

Maine South High School Library Resource Center

Authority and Reliability: Who, Where, and Why?

Who is responsible for the information?

Where? School, business, personal, government or professional source?

Why? Inform, instruct, persuade, entertain, or sell?

Maine South High School Library Resource Center

Accuracy

Spelling or grammar mistakes?

Clear writing, edited and fact-checked?

Is the visual information clearly labeled, easy to read, and informative?

Maine South High School Library Resource Center

Objectivity: a Virtual Soapbox?

Is the information objective or subjective, fact or opinion?

Does it reflect bias? How?

Is a balance of perspectives represented?

Maine South High School Library Resource Center

Currency: Timeliness

How current are the sources, copyright dates, and links (websites)?

Does the currency of information matter with the particular topic?

Maine South High School Library Resource Center

Relevancy and Coverage

Is the information useful to your research?

Is the information too broad or too narrow to answer your question or solve your problem?

Maine South High School Library Resource Center

Stop, Look, and Listen

Stop before you put your final project together

Look at your information

Listen to each other

Maine South High School Library Resource Center

Did I Say That?

Pitfalls of Plagiarism• Intentional – buying a

paper, copying an entire paper, hiring someone to write a paper for you.

• Unintentional – ignoring direct quotes, following another’s sentence too closely, placing citations in the wrong place, and not giving credit for another’s original idea

Preventing Plagiarism

• Take notes• Use quotations• Paraphrase Correctly• Check your citations

Maine South High School Library Resource Center