Summary

You have reached the end of your Safari.  We hope you have enjoyed it. If you have looked at every section in Safari, you will have covered a lot of ground, developed some news skills and, hopefully, will feel more confident to carry on with your studies. Below is a list of all the skills we hope you have had a chance to develop through Safari.

If you completed section 1, Understanding information, you should now be able to:

• consider what 'information' means to you;
• explore some of the consequences of living in an 'Information age';
• consider the different types of information you might use both in everyday life and for your OU studies;
• understand how to recognise a need for information.

If you completed section 2, Unpacking information, you should now be able to:

• identify where information comes from;
• understand who disseminates information;
• consider how information is disseminated;
• understand how information is categorised;
• explore where to find different types of information.

If you completed section 3, Planning a search for information, you should now be able to:

• talk about and describe different kinds of information;
• understand and use the terms ‘fields’ and ‘records’;
• understand what a library catalogue is and why you might use one;
• understand what a database is and why you might use one;
• understand what the World Wide Web is and why you might use it;
• turn a search question into a search strategy.

If you completed section 4, Searching for information, you should now be able to:

• identify some of the search features that different tools have in common;
• apply techniques such as phrase searching, and combining search terms, to different tools;
• understand some of the different ways of finding information on the World Wide Web.

If you completed section 5, Evaluating information, you should now be able to:

• understand what is meant by 'quality' in relation to information;
• appreciate the importance of quality information;
• practice use of a structured approach for evaluating information.

If you completed section 6, Organising information, you should now be able to:

• understand the importance of organising your own information;
• identify some of the systems available;
• describe how to use bookmarks/favorites for web resources;
• understand how and why to cite references in your work;
• produce a bibliography.

If you completed section 7, Where do I go from here?, you should now be able to:

• maintain and develop your information management skills by sharing/communicating your knowledge and opinions;
• maintain a 'working knowledge' of current developments in your subject area;
• use the results of your work on Safari to develop an information seeker action plan for your own needs.