Skills in Accessing, Finding & Reviewing Information - Safari

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1 . Understanding information 1. Introduction 2. What is information? 3. The information age 4. Everyday uses 5. Types of information 6. Information universe 7. Mapping sources 8. Identifying needs 9. Summary

2 . Unpacking information 1. Introduction 2. Information journeys 3. Supply chain 4. Research supply chain 5. Categorising information 6. Shape of the literature 7. Finding information 8. Summary

3 . Planning a search 1. Introduction 2. Describing information 3. Databases 4. Library catalogues 5. World Wide Web 6. Which to use? 7. Planning a search 8. Choosing resources 9. Summary

4 . Searching for information 1. Introduction 2. Basic principles 3. Databases 4. Library catalogues 5. World Wide Web 6. Tracking progress 7. Your subject 8. Summary

5 . Evaluating information 1. Introduction 2. Information quality 3. Presentation 4. Relevance 5. Objectivity 6. Method 7. Provenance 8. Timeliness 9. Summary

6 . Organising information 1. Introduction 2. Why organise? 3. Ways to organise 4. Social bookmarks 5. Citing references 6. Bibliographies 7. Summary

7 . Where do I go from here 1. Introduction 2. Sharing information 3. Electronic communication 4. Keeping up-to-date 5. Summary

Topic 9 Summary

In this section we have introduced databases, one of the main ‘tools of the trade’, and have thought about what they contain and why we should use them. We have also introduced a slightly different tool, the World Wide Web. We explained how to translate a search question into a search strategy, in preparation for using the tools. Then we looked at trying to match a search statement with appropriate resources.

Activity Applying what you've learnt

Jot down what you think are two of the most useful things you have learnt in this section. How are you going to apply these to your own work or study?

Finally, we hope that this section has helped you to start thinking about planning your searches in a systematic way, from deciding what it is that you are looking for, to choosing the best sources to use. These are really useful skills to master, as they can be applied to almost every situation in which you may need to search for information.

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