If you are a
college student then you know how important it is to find quality information
for use in your class assignments. However, it is important to realize that an
important part of your college career is not only passing your classes to get
your degree, but also to develop the skills you need to be an effective lifelong
learner. While you are in college, you have numerous resources available to you
that can assist you in finding the information you need without worrying too
much about its credibility, such as your professors and librarians. After
graduation this will change, and you will need to rely on your own skills to find,
critically analyze, and apply various forms of information to your professional
work, personal life, or both. In addition, as technology continues to evolve,
you will find information presented to you in more ways than you can imagine. While
this may appear to make information finding a much easier task, being able to
critically evaluate the information will be more important as much of this
information will be produced from biased sources or will not be credible at
all. In fact, you don’t have to wait until after graduation to see this, it is
happening as we speak. You may be inclined to use these new sources of
information seeking to perform your academic assignments. The following is a
guide to help you become more information literate whether you seek information
through traditional means or through new media venues. This guide is based on
the information literacy skills outlined by the Association of College and Research
Libraries Information Literacy Competency Standards for Higher Education.
Step 1 - Determine the
extent of information needed
This involves having a clear vision
of what the research project or assignment is about and what the expectations
are from your professor. Once you know this then you need to consider what the
end product will look like, possibly in the form of a thesis, and what sources
of information will help you get to that point. It is possible that the best
sources of information to support your position may not be immediately
available in digital format through the Internet. Be sure to consult with your
librarians who may be able to point you to better sources and can often times
get you access to something in a relatively short period of time. As you begin
this initial research as to what sources of information are available, you may
find that there is not enough information to support your position and may need
to re-evaluate your overall project.
REFERENCE - Arizona State University
Libraries. (n.d.). Skill 1: Determines the nature and extent of the information
required for a specific purpose.
Retrieved from
https://lib.asu.edu/node/3149
Step 2 - Access the needed
information effectively and efficiently
This is related somewhat to step #1
above, but has more to do with your actual in-depth research as opposed to just
skimming to see what is out there. Once you commit to a position or a strategy
for your research assignment, you must then secure the specific sources of
information. This involves selecting the most effective, not necessarily the
most convenient, tools for searching and finding information. In some cases
this may include several different methods which may result in several
different sources, which is usually a good thing. Yes, you may find something
doing a Google search, but as we will discuss shortly, you will need to
evaluate its quality. It is recommended to consult with a librarian when
possible, keeping in mind that they have similar digital search engines they
can use like Google, but usually end up
with more substantial and credible resources. You may also want to consider
subscribing to a listserv or discussion group, especially if the research
project is a long term project over the course of the semester. As things
change or others with similar interests find information they will often share,
giving you an opportunity to expand your information sources.
Step 3 - Evaluate information and its sources critically
This is an
extremely important step and needs to be further broken down into sub-steps.
1)
Evaluate the authority – This involves
asking questions about who the author is, what their credentials are, who are
they associated with, and what is their reputation among their peers? This also
involves questioning the publisher and what their objectives are.
2)
Evaluate the objectivity of the
information – what is it the author is attempting to do with the information?
Is the information biased and is it supported by factual evidence?
3)
Evaluating the quality – Consider how
well organized the information is including everything some spelling and
grammar to clear articulation of pictures, images, charts, diagrams, etc.
4)
Evaluating the currency – Is your
topic time sensitive? In other words, is it likely that information on the
topic published today might be different than information published a decade
ago? If so, you need to consider how current the information is you are
viewing.
5)
Evaluating the relevancy – Is this
information relevant for your project and does it support your thesis? Try to
avoid using a resource for one small part or statement within the information
that may support your argument when the overall work is not really related.
Step 4 - Incorporate
selected information into one’s knowledge base
This involves
organizing the information that you have found and evaluated to be a good
quality source of information into a manner that supports your position. To do
this you will need to consider what the mechanism is for you to present your
research findings. In many cases this will be a standard research paper report,
but in some cases it may be an oral presentation or a visual presentation, such
as a PowerPoint. In the case of a written paper, you should try to paraphrase
the information into your own words as much as possible. This helps you to
truly grasp the knowledge intended by the project. In some cases it will make
more sense to simply quote the author, but even then it is important to put
your own interpretation of the quote into the paper or write your own
description linking the quote to your position. This also helps with oral
presentations as well because you will likely be asked questions and if you
haven’t taken the time to synthesize the information into your own
understanding, you will not be able to answer the questions. In the case of a
visual presentation, it is often suggested to include more images and diagrams
and less text. If you use images and diagrams from your information sources, be
sure you understand what they are showing and can relate it to your position.
Step 5 - Use information
effectively to accomplish a specific purpose
Now that you have
absorbed the information, developed your knowledge of the subject, and
organized your thoughts, not it is time to get it into your presentation mode.
If you are writing a paper, you need to have the paper organized. Just because
you have it organized in your head does not mean it will be organized well in
writing. It is suggested that you start by writing a simple outline of the
project without all of the word for word details and then evaluate the outline
to see if it makes sense. Then after you write the details in the paper
following your outline, you should ask for someone to review it for you.
Sometimes your professor is willing to do this, but often times your college
will have an academic support service with writing tutors that are happy to
read these for you and offer suggestions on things that were not clear to them.
It is easy for somebody with considerable topic knowledge to take certain
things for granted as common knowledge and omit it from the paper. However,
someone with little subject knowledge will be better able to make that decision
for you. Finally, make sure everything flows nicely and that, even though the
information may be clear and understandable, it doesn’t jump around or include
quotations in awkward points in the paper. Similar strategies should be applied
for presentations in oral or visual formats. Outline the topic, put it
together, present it to a reviewer first, and be sure it flows smoothly.
Step 6 - Understand the
economic, legal, and social issues surrounding the use of information, and
access and use information ethically and legally
This is the part that can get you
into trouble if you are not careful. Anytime you are entering a research
environment, either in print or electronic, you need to be careful about your own
security and privacy. You also need to be conscious of the fact that many
scholarly sources of information, like the ones you may find most useful to
your research project, are not free. You may have to pay a fee to access them,
or in many cases your library has already paid the fee so you can have access.
It is also important to have an understanding of issues such as censorship,
freedom of speech, intellectual property, copyright, and fair use. Most
professors will require one of two formats to follow when writing a research
report, either APA or MLS. Be sure you know which one as it will affect the
proper format for citing your resources. Of course, you need to be aware of
when it is necessary to cite something and when it is not. Generally speaking,
anytime you include a quote or image that you did not say or create yourself,
it needs to be cited. In fact, even your own paraphrased description of a fact
or concept that you essentially derived from someone else, in other words it
was not your own previous knowledge or work that determined the information,
you need to cite it. Again, this is something that most librarians are quite knowledgeable
about and can provide tremendous guidance for you if you simply ask.