Don Wilson/Ken Kirby
I. EVALUATING YOUR NEED FOR INFORMATION
When beginning a research project, you are well advised to evaluate your current state of knowledge about the subject and make a quick assessment of what you might need to know. If, for example, your topic was to write a history of the universe from its beginnings to about 5-10 billion years ago when the Earth was cooling, you would need information about steady-state theory vs. the Big Bang theory, relativity, perhaps the Grand Unification theory, optical and radio telescopes and the limits of each, and things of that nature. Below is another problem, taking two forms. What specific subject areas would describe your need for information on one of these topics?
General subject area: influence of the media. (Choose Topic 1 or 2.)
Question 1
Topic 1. To what extent is the “written media” biased in dealing with current U.S. Middle East policies?
Knowledge I already have on this subject:
Specific subject
areas I might need to research related to the
OR
Topic 2. If you prefer a different current issue, for example, the environment, business, religion, or other, list it here: __________________________. Again, to what extent is the “written media” biased in dealing with current U.S. policy toward this subject?
Knowledge I already have on this subject:
Specific subject areas I might need to research related to my topic:
II. FINDING INFORMATION EFFICIENTLY AND EFFECTIVELY
Choose the best answer.
2 The library catalog does
not provide call numbers for:
_ Books
_ Government documents
_ Journals
_ It provides call numbers for all of the above
3 Which of the following
would you NOT use to find journal articles by topic?
_ Bibliographies
_ Online catalog
_ Print indexes
_ Online databases
4 Which of the following
books would be shelved first:
_ PN1998.234.F4
_ PN1998.8.A9
_ PN1998.14.B2
5 The term to describe a list of books,
articles, web pages, and other materials that are related to one another and
organized together is:
_ A biography
_ A bibliography
_ An encyclopedia
_ An almanac
6 A periodical can be:
_ A journal or magazine
_ A newspaper
_ A serial
_ All of the above
7 Which of these publications
is most likely to have scholarly information on eating disorders?
_ Newsweek
_ Southern Living
_ Journal of Psychiatric Research
_
8 Which of these is a primary
source?
_ An critical edition of writings by Teddy Roosevelt
_ A diary found in Special Collections
_ A documentary film on Rosa Parks
_ All of the above
9 If you were searching the
World Wide Web for information on “incidences of environmental injustice in
rural counties in the
_ Injustice, rural, South
_ Environment, rural, South
_ Incidences, environmental, South
III. EVALUATING INFORMATION AND ITS SOURCES CRITICALLY
10 Which statement is
correct?
_ When searching the Internet, you need to seek as many sites as possible
_ It is not possible to limit your search by domain (.edu., .org., .com)
_ You should use only one search engine, not skip around.
_ You should compare Web information with information from reputable print sources.
12 Which is NOT an
appropriate step when writing a research paper that requires a minimum of five
sources?
_ Using encyclopedia articles to learn background information.
_ Narrowing or broadening the research topic.
_ Using the five most recent articles that come up when searching the database.
_ Evaluating each resource for relevancy to the topic and your thesis.
13 When evaluating Web sites
you should consider:
_ Who publishes the web site or article you are reading.
_ When the site was last updated.
_ What links to other sites are provided.
_ All of the above.
14 When selecting sources,
you should:
_ Use a variety of sources, not omitting at least one book, one article, one Web site, and one primary source.
_ Use whatever appropriate sources enable you to support your thesis.
_ Use only library books and journals.
The following IL assessment tools were used in the creation of this evaluation:
California State University. Pomona http://www.csupomona.edu/~kkdunn/Icassess/phase1questionnaire.htm
Cabrillo College http://www.topsy.org/InfoLitAssess.html
and Portland State University http://www.lib.pdx.edu/instruction/infoliteracy.html.