Information Searching

(Where to look and finding information efficiently)

Choosing resources

• What do you already know about your topic?
• What do you need to find out about your topic?
• Which resources are the best to use to find information?

Finding Information

         [Available at Westhill]

• Print - yes, books!!
  • Books are often more reliable and accurate than Internet sites.
  • Use the online Library Catalog to find books at Westhill.
• Electronic/Internet
  • Westhill Online Subscriptions (click here)
    • Go to Favorites in Explorer at school
    • Get the handout to use these at home
  • Use an Internet search engine
    • Click here for advice
  • Evaluate web sites for authority, accuracy, objectivity, currency, and coverage.
    • Do they know what they are talking about?  Are the site creators a relibable source, i.e. a university or a young kid?  Can you even tell who created the web site?
    • Did they get it right?
    • Do they have an ax to grind - are they opinionated?
    • Is the information recent or old and does it matter?  Can you tell when the web site was created or last updated?
    • Did they cover the subject completely?
  • Cutting and pasting is a good way to collect and print just the information you need.  Don't print a lot of stuff you don't need.  Of course you would never cut and paste directly into your paper!

 

Record information about each source as you use it for your "Works Cited" at the end of the paper.