2 is the ability to efficiently find, critically evaluate, and ethically use information from a variety of sources.

3 is a life skill--not just a skill needed in school.

4 “I find plenty of information... “ But are you really making an effort to find the best of what is available... or just settling for what you find first? And are you using search strategies that increase your odds of finding the best sources faster... or just typing a word or two into a search box and hoping for the best?

5 Do you think about the fact that a program is just looking for what you tell it to look for? Do you acknowledge that few (or no) results or irrelevant results may not mean that there is nothing available but may be because of how you searched? Do you try again if what you tried the first time doesn’t get good results? Because...

6 SO THE LITERAL MEANING OF RESEARCH IS TO SEARCH AGAIN

7 Using various search strategies is one of the characteristics of a good researcher ( but do understand that all strategies don’t work in all information sources ).

8 SUBJECT—a specific topic like elephants, adoption, Charles Dickens, etc. KEYWORD—important words or phrases NATURAL LANGUAGE—a complete statement or question as if you were speaking to a person

9

10 Do you use quotation marks to keep a phrase together for more relevant search results? (For example, search for “animal rights” so that the computer searches for it as a phrase instead of two separate words).

11 Do you use the Find command (found under Edit in the toolbar) to help you determine whether a search result really is what you are looking for? (It shows you where your search term is located on a particular page.)

12 Do you try synonyms or more descriptive phrases? (For example, search for “capital punishment” instead of “death penalty”).

13 Destiny (this is a catalog of sources in our library—not an actual source of information itself) Gale Student Resources in Context Gale Virtual Reference Library SIRS Issues Researcher Opposing Viewpoints in Context CQ Researcher Issues & Controversies Britannica Image Quest Encyclopedia Americana American History Online Ancient and Medieval History Online Modern World History Online World at War: Understanding Conflict and Society A to Z World Culture Current Biography Ferguson’s Career Guidance Bloom’s Literary Reference Center Health Reference Online Resource Sharing Alliance (a catalog like Destiny) NoveList FirstSearch MTHS Library Connection (the library’s web page) Free-Web Sites

14 Books and Articles from Books Newspaper, Magazine, or Journal Articles Pictures, Charts, Graphs Interviews Transcripts from TV or Radio Shows Links to Free-Web Sites and more...

15 How many of our MTHS information sources are accessed using the Internet? All of them Even though they are accessed using the Internet, how many will show up in Google search results? Almost none INTERNET = WEB = GOOGLE? NO!

16... with the first source that you find. Don’t just locate the minimum sources required as quickly as you can so that you can claim that you’re done with your research. Always look for the best sources for whatever it is that you’re researching!

17 Destiny is our online catalog to locate books, vertical files, and AV in our library. Does every book in this library that includes information about a particular topic show up in Destiny results? No!! Destiny is accessible anywhere there is Internet access.

18 Keep your searches simple. NO natural language (complete sentence) searching. The program matches your search terms to the words it finds in Destiny—it cannot find what isn’t there.

19 Look for the most relevant results. Search terms are highlighted in the detailed record—check the details if a source doesn’t look like it would include your topic. Write down the title and the complete call number (312 ARM—not just 312 or just ARM).

20 Items “live” in a neighborhood in the library (fiction, biography, etc.) then at a specific “address” in that neighborhood (the call number).

21 If you lived at 159 Willow and someone asked you for your address, would you tell them just 159 or just Willow??

22 To find an item in a library, you need the complete address (or call number). For example, REF MAN is a complete call number. If you try to find this book without the REF, you will not succeed because you’ll be looking in the wrong “neighborhood.” If you try to find it without , you have an incomplete “address.”

23 F FICTION B BIOGRAPHY SC STORY COLLECTION CQ CQ RESEARCHER (PAMPHLET) VF VERTICAL FILE VF BL BRITISH LIT VERTICAL FILE VF AU AUTHOR VERTICAL FILE M MAGAZINE REF REFERENCE GN GRAPHIC NOVEL LEG LEGACY BOOKS AV AUDIOVISUAL NUMBERS LIKE 590, 973, ETC. NONFICTION Blue means you need to ask for that particular source.