Researching in the Media Center or Lab

Tomorrow, you’ll have the entire period to

look up information on the topic of your

choice. Today, we’ll go through the many steps

it takes to get quality information.

Reliable Sources- You might be thinking to yourself:

why do research in the media center when I have the internet???

- Good question.- Well, some sources aren’t reliable.- Reliable source: any source that

comes from a reputable source (journal, database, book, etc.).

- What’s not a reliable source?- Any random website- Wikipedia.com- Anything from Google.com,

Yahoo.com- notice the .com

Where can I get information?- Source #1- Library books- Look up your topic on the

library catalog.- Ask a librarian! They are

bundles of knowledge!

- Source #2- Research databases

- On the media center webpage, go to “Research Databases.”

- You have to log-in using your username and ID#

- Then, you can use any of the databases there!

What steps do I need to take to get the right information?

- Step #1- Do some basic research on your park

- Look up your topic on the internet (this is okay ONLY this time) to find out basic information on the topic.

- Step #2- Find reliable sources on your park

- Look up your topic on the library or research databases.

- Read articles or books about your topic.- Step #3- Write down important

information- This is where you decide on what to do.- What do you find to be important?

The above are the best databases.

What steps do I need to take to get the right information?

- Step #3- Write down important information- ***Read the source first! The WHOLE thing! You must know if it’s a

good source.- Once you know it’s a good source, write down the source name on

the sheet Mr. Klein gives you.

- Step #4- Pick the topics you want to cover- Write those down on the sheet and fill in the information needed

along with the source it came from.