Research Skills – Take away
What could be a secondary source that is or
could be written about you?
Can you name 3 sources that would be considered
primary sources about you?
List one fact about yourself
List an opinion you have about
yourself.
For each of the following sources; describe it in terms of the above six terms:
Primary/Secondary
A student uses a book by a famous historian (professor at
McGill university) who argues that Wilfrid Laurier is
Canada’s best Prime Minister.
A student finds a newspaper article dated April 14, 1912
outlining the rescue efforts that occurred the night the
Titanic sank.
A student uses the material on the FLQ crisis from their
textbook.
A student quotes a writer from an article on whether
Canada responded appropriately during the Cold War that
was found in the Canadian Historical Journal.
A student uses a speech by President Obama in which he
states his government’s position on the civil unrest in
Syria.
A student uses a quote from an interview of Justin
Trudeau on the news on the “fairness” of the new Fair
Elections Act.
A student quotes from the new Fair Elections Act in an
essay where the student argues against the new act
improving the fairness of elections.
A student uses a photograph of a Group of Seven painting
to show Canadian contributions to the world of art.
A student uses the In Flanders Fields poem to show how
soldiers felt about the death toll in WWI.
A student finds a MacLean’s article summarizing Canada’s
military involvement in Afghanistan.
A student uses information from the Canadian
Encyclopedia on-line on the October Crisis.
A student uses a set of photographs that show life in the
trenches during World War I.
Facts/Opinion
Scholarly/Popular
Consider the following list of sources:
Which of the sources would be
edited?
A blog post on the Toronto Maple
Leafs
A library book on the history of
hockey
An article in Maclean’s magazine
about the Leafs late season collapse
A Wikipedia article on the Toronto
Maple Leafs
Material from the Hockey Night in
Canada website on concussions
An article from the Journal of Sports
injuries on concussions in hockey
An article in the Canadian
Encyclopedia on-line about the
history of hockey
Evaluating sources:
Which website below is the best for information on global warming?
http://www.epa.gov/climatechange/
http://www.globalwarming.org/
http://www.greenpeace.org/usa/en/campaigns/global-warming-and-energy/
Which of the sources contain mainly
facts?
Which may contain “expert”
opinion?
CRAAP Test
Currency: The timeliness of the information.
 When was the information published or posted?
 Has the information been revised or updated?
 Is the information current or out-of-date for your topic?
 Are the links functional?
Relevance: The importance of the information for your needs.
 Does the information relate to your topic or answer your question?
 Who is the intended audience?
 Is the information at an appropriate level?
 Have you looked at a variety of sources before determining this is one you will use?
 Would you be comfortable using this source for a research paper?
Authority: The source of the information.
 Who is the author/publisher/source/sponsor?
 Are the author's credentials or organizational affiliations given?
 Is the author a teacher or student of the topic?
 Does the author have a reputation?
 Is there contact information, such as an e-mail address?
 Has the author published works in traditional formats?
 Is the author affiliated with an organization?
 Does this organization appear to support or sponsor the page?
 What does the domain name/URL reveal about the source of the information, if anything?
Accuracy: The reliability, truthfulness, and correctness of the informational content.
 Where does the information come from?
 Are the original sources of information listed?
 Can you verify any of the information in independent sources or from you own knowledge?
 Has the information been reviewed or referred?
 Does the language or tone seem biased?
 Are there spelling, grammar, or other typos?
Purpose: The reason the information exists.
 Are possible biases clearly stated?
 Is advertising content vs. informational content easily distinguishable?
 Are editorials clearly labeled?
 Is the purpose of the page stated?
 Is the purpose to: inform? teach? entertain? enlighten? sell? persuade?
 Are there political, ideological, cultural, religious, institutional, or personal biases?
Keywords:
Choose one of the topics you have or will cover for your culminating activity and brainstorm keywords to help your search.
*
Promoting culture and arts
* a.
Music
* b.
Art
* c.
Drama
* d.
TV
* e.
Dance
* f.
Sports, Olympics
* g.
Authors
* h.
Architecture
Similar terms – synonyms, other names the topic is
known by
Broader terms – think the big ideas that include
your topic, or think of the title of a book that would
contain a chapter on your topic
Narrowing terms – terms that focus your topic
Can also narrow by geography, time, filetype
(limiters)
TOOLS FOR FINDING SOURCES:
LIBRARY CATALOGUE;
DATABASES; OR
SEARCH ENGINES
Which of the tools above is the best to find a quality magazine article?
Which do you use to find a book?
Why is the information you find using a database usually of higher quality than information from the Web?
What is the log in information for the Virtual Library?
Log in:
Password:
What is Questiaschool? http://questiaschool.com
What is the login?
The password?