Introduction to research methods:

information literacy and the internet

Sarah Wilcock

Eastwood Learning Centre

London College of Fashion Library 1950s

Aims of today’s session

• To establish what information literacy is

• To give you some tips on how to

research effectively

• To demonstrate some useful websites

(for your assignments!)

What is information literacy?

Buzz group task:

What do you think information literacy

is?

Come up with one idea to feedback to the

class

What is information literacy?

“ Information literacy is knowing when and

why you need information, where to find

it, and how to evaluate, use and

communicate it in an ethical manner ”

Definition by the Chartered Institute of Library and Information Professionals

How can you practice information

literacy?

• Do you know how to use the learning centre catalogue?

• Do you use contents pages and indexes?

• Do you search the internet effectively?

• Do you evaluate resources and think about them critically?

• Do you cite and reference the information you use in assignments?

Research techniques 1: books &

journals

• WebView – the Learning Centre catalogue

Books and Journals

Remember to use…

• Contents pages

• Indexes

• Bibliographies

• Library catalogues

• Learning Centre staff

Research techniques 2: using the

internet

Too much information?

Reliability of information?

Google is not a brand

Copying and pasting

• Some tips…

Finding what you need on the

web: search tips

• Use key words

• Use synonyms

• Use operators e.g. AND OR

• BE CRITICAL!

Evaluating internet resources: being

critical

• When was it written?

• Who wrote it?

• Why was it written

Evaluating internet resources:

things to consider

Can you see:

- An author

- A date

- A purpose

- Contact/ About us page

Evaluating internet resources:

things to consider

• Do you trust the web address?

• A web address gives you insight into a sites

purpose, reliability, and relevance

- http://www.bbc.co.uk/iplayer/ (commercial companies)

- http://www.bfi.org.uk/ (not for profit organisations)

- http://www.culture.gov.uk/ (government departments)

Evaluating websites…

Buzz group task…

Compare these two sites:

http://www.worldbank.org

and

http://www.whirledbank.org

What do you think?

Take a look at…

http://www.malepregnancy.com/

http://www.dhmo.org/

Any feedback?

Research tip: use resources that have

already been checked e.g. Moodle…

Learning centre resources…

Look for your subject area…

Use Moodle to find…

• Useful websites

• Journals

• Careers information

• Information on Harvard referencing (next week!)

• Useful presentations from the Further Education

National Consortium – info for your assignments!

Film & Sound Online- Access via Athens

Issues Online: media

Encyclopaedia Britannica Online

Intute: collect some quality resources…

Try the virtual

learning suite

Take the tour

and use this

opportunity to

bookmark

some useful,

and reliable

resources

Next week…

Referencing and bibliographies

Thank you for listening…

Any questions?

Don’t forget to sign up for an Athens

password if you haven’t got one