EPQ

Research Skills

Making a start

• The key is finding and selecting the best resources

• Make sure you have a variety of resources• This will show the reader that you have

carried out a full search which increases your chances of finding credible material

Where do YOU look first?

• Google?• NO• Wikipedia?• NO – why? – Watch Professor Wikipedia • http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eaADQTeZRC

Y• Ask a friend?• NO• The Library?• OF COURSE

Why The Library?

• It is the gateway to all knowledge• It has books• Electronic resources• And the giant human search engine – Mrs E!

Print Resourcesare

• Generally reliable• You can check an author’s credentials• Bibliography useful for further exploration• Currency – don’t forget to check. It can take a

while to write, edit then publish a book. It may have gone into many editions – do you have the latest?

Books

• Get hold of reviews and abstracts• These can often provide an overview and

bibliographic material• A review is someone else’s opinion of the

work• An abstract is a resume of the contents• They can help you decide if the book will be

useful

JournalsWhat are they?

• Magazines written for an academic audience• Up to date• Peer reviewed

How to access print resources

• You can borrow books from:

The School LibraryDepartmental LibrariesThe British Library (via school)The Public Library

• You may be able to read books at York University Library

ERY Librarieshttp://www.eastriding.gov.uk/cs/culture-and-information/libraries/online-reference-and-information/

• Via your membership you have access to:• Encyclopedia Britannica and Britannica

Student• Know UK and News UK• Oxford Reference Online• Oxford Art Online• Oxford Music Online

and many others

Subscription Databases

• School has access to paid for databases:• Issues Online• Heinemann Worldbook Online• History Today• The Economist• Greece and Rome

Search Tip

• Start on paper - What do you already know?- Where are the gaps in your knowledge?- Think of keywords and phrases- Use more than one example to widen your search- What kind of search engines are you going to use?

The Web

• There is too much information out there!• Books• Newspapers and Journals• Audio visual• Websites

Searching

You need to use specialist tools:

• Search engines – for comprehensive researching

• Meta search engines – less precise, but present findings in different ways

• Subject portals• Subject directories

Subject Directories and Portals

• Contents arranged by subject area, subject catalogue

• Selected, annotated and maintained by specialists

• Good for initial use if searching a general topic with broad keywords and phrases

• Quick access to best sites• Fewer results, possible currency issues

Use the Search Tools• Boolean operators: AND OR and NOT

- you can access these via the Advanced Search options as well as date restrictions, field keywords etc.

• Treat “words as phrases” for precision• Use a ~ (tilde) to search for synonyms• Search in lower case unless looking for names• Mine your results, exploit new

keywords/phrases

The Free Web

• Using search engines, meta search engines we can access most of the free web

• Examples of search engines:– www.google.co.uk

– Check out the Search Me tutorial:

http://static.googleusercontent.com/external_content/untrusted_dlcp/www.google.co.uk/en/uk/schools/files/searchtutorial.pdf

Examples of meta search engines:- www.dogpile.com- www.ixquick.com- http://uk.altavista.com

The Invisible Web

• It has been estimated that it is possibly 800 times bigger than the free web (source: about.com http://websearch.about.com/od/invisibleweb/a/invisible_web.htm)

• It is the largest and most important part of the web

• The usual search tools will not help • It comprises intranets, password coded

collections and databases

Databases• Organised, searchable collection of materials• Filtered and evaluated by publishers, authors etc.• Invisible to robots, spiders and crawlers

OPACs• Online Public Access Catalogue• Can be accessed from anywhere• Examples, British Library, University and Public

Libraries• Search by author, title, keyword

Search Tip Use subject headings on catalogue entries to

find more resourcesOriginal Search “bovine

tb”

Have a look at

• The Librarian Internet Index:http://lii.org/

• The invisible web directory:http://websearch.about.com/od/invisibleweb/The_Deep_Web_Find_Out_More_About_The_Deep_Web_Deep_Web_Search.htm

Ask an Expert

• These sites really work – there are experts who will come back to you with answers!

Recommended sites:allexperts.com

This site claims to have answered a million questions, which can make searching through the archives a challenge. Its experts are volunteers and include lawyers, doctors, engineers and scientists. Advice is free; most questions are turned around within a day.

Ask A Mad ScientistDespite the frivolous name, and some horrible design, the question section at madsci.org is free and informative. With 36,000 questions answered by the 800 scientists on its books, it’s hard to think of something they haven’t already figured out.

Peake, Mike. "The 10 Best 'Ask an Expert' Websites." Times 31 Jan 2010, Print.

Evaluate your Sources

Are they - CREDIBLE check credentials of sites, authors, web addresses

ACCURATE compare sources

RELIABLE what is the aim of the site? Check for bias

RELEVANT quality not quantity. Does it answer the question?

Use the URL address extensions to check the type of site:

• .com or .co.uk• .edu or .ac or .sch• .gov or .gov.uk• .org• %~

Academic Fraud

• What is it?• Stealing other people’s work or ideas• Copying from a friend• Buying from the internet• Help from others• Cut and paste without attribution

I didn’t mean to do it ...

• The information really did come from a book but I can’t remember which one

• I can’t express it any better than the website did, but I changed a few words

• My Mum wrote the summary because I was running out of time

• I reused a piece of work I did last year – well it is my own work

How to avoid it

• Credit facts and ideas• Be organised – keep a record of all the

resources you use• Ensure all quotations are in “quotation marks”• Paraphrase• Summarise/minimise

• Clearly identify your sources – make a bibliography

• King Edward VI School, Southampton has a great page explaining the hows and whys of referencing – why should Mrs E reinvent that wheel?

http://intranet.kes.hants.sch.uk/api/subwebs/?id=51&pid=221

How to knock our socks off

The bibliography is potentially the most time-consuming part of your work

Don’t let it beUse citation machines – simply fill in the boxeshttp://www.citationmachine.net/index.phpRemember, it doesn’t matter which system you use – APA, MLA, Harvard, Chicago – as long as

you are consistent

THE END

• And just to make sure I haven’t plagiarised:

This presentation is based on work done by Jane Whitelaw, Heckmondwike Grammar School

A.J. EdwardsJuly 2010