Research skills for your EPQ Where to begin

Choosing a subject Choose a broad subject area and carry out some basic research to find out how much material is available. Refine your research to develop a research question. If you really haven’t a clue what to do: ask your supervisor for advice and read all the academic journals for inspiration.

Starting the search task for real Finding and selecting the best resources are the key to any project Use a variety of different resources This will show the reader that you have researched fully and increase the chances of using credible resources

Where do you look first? Google NO Wikipedia NO Ask your mate NO The Library OF COURSE

Why the Library It’s the gateway to all knowledge Books Academic journals Electronic resources ….and more

As a post graduate researcher she will be able to help

Print Resources Books Generally reliable Authors credentials can be checked Bibliography provides list of other useful resources Currency, check the publication date. Remember that the publication process can take a long time

Book Resources Reviews and Abstracts Both can be used to decide whether an item is likely to be of use. A review is another’s opinion of the text An abstract is a summary of the contents.

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Often an abstract will provide all the information you need about the contents of a book, and provide another item for your bibliography

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Search tip Use the bibliography to find the titles of other resources that might be of use

Accessing Print Resources You can borrow books from the following School library British library – via school library Public libraries The Leeds Library – via school library Use as reference only University Libraries

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

World Wide Web There are billons of pages of information on the Internet Books Newspapers Audio video Websites

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To find the right resources you need to select the right tools. Using the best search tool can save a lot of time and retrieve higher quality more relevant resources

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Search Tools Search engines Meta search engines Subject portals Subject directories

Free Internet Most of us use search engines and meta search engines to access the free internet Quick and easy to use Search engines Meta search engines

Deep Internet Invisible web Largest and most important part of the web Not accessible using the usual search tools Online books, subject directories and portals and databases requiring a log-on.

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Search Process Focus Strategise Refine Evaluate

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Search tip A good online search starts off-line. Read about your subject. Think about what you already know and what you need to know Think about keywords and phrases and where best to search Adjust your search by widening or narrowing the range. Improve it by adding new words that you come across Decide how credible the document is

Search and Meta Search Engines How they work and why is it important Search engines are best when you want to carry out a comprehensive search. Meta search engines are less precise and are good if you want something less specific or obscure Meta search engines return results in varying ways which make searching easier

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Search Strategy Dream senario: Getting the best results and in the first few pages Beware of sponsored links

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Search tip There is always more than one way to describe what you’re looking for Brainstorm synonyms Nouns are better than verbs as verbs tend to be vague Put the most important words first Incorrect spellings can be a problem – use the spelling help if there is one Each search tool uses a different syntax or specific language. Need to know this to use the tool properly.

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Search Tips Boolean operators: AND OR and NOT Use “to treat words as a phrase” ~ Use a tilde to search for synonyms Search in lower case unless you are searching for names

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Advance Search Most search engines have an advance search screen. This allows for a more precise search by using parameters to limit the results. Restrict by date Specify which field keywords are to be found

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Mine your Results Use new words or phrases that occur to make your search more specific Use more than one keyword or phrase

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Search Tips Use the end of the web address to assess what type of site the info comes from.com or.co.uk.edu or.ac or.sch.gov or.gov.uk.org %~

Subject Directories and Portals Contents arranged in subject areas, subject catalogues Selected, annotated and maintained by specialists Use directories and portals if you are searching a general topic or have a broad keyword or phrase, good initial search tool Quick access to best sites but fewer results and issues with age of info

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

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Search tip Look at librarians Internet index Invisible web directory eb.htmhttp://websearch.about.com/od/invisibleweb/a/invisiblew eb.htm Search for subject portals or gateways in your subject area Use “databases” in your search query

OPAC An OPAC is an Online Public Access Catalogue Access from home School, British Library, University libraries and local library catalogues Search by Author, title, keyword or subject

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Search tip Use the subject headings on a catalogue entry to find more resources

Use the subject heading to form the basis of another search

Subscription Databases Access to full text scholarly journals, reference and non-fiction books School subscribes to Issues Online online/loginhttp:// online/login Username HGS Password Mrs Whitelaw has access to many others, see her for details

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Ask an Expert Use an “ask the expert site” Contact the author or editor via the website link

Evaluating Credible : check credentials of site and authors, print vs online, web addresses Accurate : compare sources Reliable : what is the aim of the site, does it have bias, check web addresses Relevant : Quality not quantity. Does it answer the question. Check the date of publication. Does it match the above criteria?

Academic Fraud What is it? Stealing others 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 came from a book but I can’t remember which one. Can’t express it any better than the website has but I changed a few words. My Mum wrote the summary because I was running short of time. I reused an essay from last year – well it was my own work.

How to avoid it Credit facts and ideas Be organised by keeping a record of all the resources you use. Ensure all citations are in “quotation marks” Paraphrase Summerise Clearly identify source - make a bibliography

Out-takes