Research skills, Dio Library, IB, Extended Essay

1. IB Extended Essay
Research Skills

2. What do you do when
you research?

3.  Research is a cycle.
Key Points
Start referencing & taking good notes now.
Helpful resource covering this on the Dio
Library website Research>Senior high school

4. 1. Task Definition
 1.1 Define the information problem
 1.2 Identify information needed
2. Information Seeking Strategies
 2.1 Determine all possible sources
 2.2 Select the best sources
3. Location and Access
 3.1 Locate sources (intellectually and physically)
 3.2 Find information within sources
4. Use of Information
 4.1 Engage (e.g., read, hear, view, touch)
 4.2 Extract relevant information
5. Synthesis
 5.1 Organize from multiple sources
 5.2 Present the information
6. Evaluation
 6.1 Judge the product (effectiveness)
 6.2 Judge the process (efficiency)
Big 6

5. 1. Task Definition
 Understand what is expected from your extended essay
 Identify an area/direction for investigation
 Research questions - descriptive, relational, casual
 What do you know? & how do you know it?
 Background reading
 What do you need to know?
 What are some keywords?
1.1 Define the information problem
1.2 Identify information needed

6. 2. Information Seeking Strategies
2.1 Determine all possible sources
2.2 Select the best sources
 What resources might help?
 Where will you find them?
 Alternative search engines,
 Refining your search
 Online databases

7. Carrot 2 http://search.carrot2.org/stable/search
Google Advance Search https://www.google.co.nz/advanced_search
Google Scholar (costs for access) https://scholar.google.co.nz/
Alternative Search Engines
 Tag cloud : organise information
 Larger the tags have more results
 Helps to refine search

8.  Quotation Marks
 Minus sign
 Site:
 ~Tilde symbol
 Boolean searching: and, or, not
 Plus sign
 Searching within numerical values eg 1940s..1960s
 related:
 Keywords
Google searching tips

9. Databases

10. EPIC

12. Library
Non-fiction books to help
researching your topic are
available to borrow from the
library.
By doing a search in
our catalogue you are able to
see what books we have
available and where to find
them with their call number.
If the book has a green tick it
is in our library and available.
000 – 099 Computer science, information &
general works
100 – 199 Philosophy & psychology
200 – 299 Religion
300 – 399 Social sciences
400 – 499 Language
500 – 599 Science
600 – 699Technology
700 – 799 Arts & recreation
800 – 899 Literature
900 – 999 History & geography

13. Public Library

14. 3. Location and Access
Do you know if the information is valid?
Who is responsible for the information?
What other information is there?
3.1 Locate sources (intellectually and
physically)
3.2 Find information within sources

15. Currency - When was it written? Has it been updated?
Relevance - How is it relevant to your research? What is its scope?
Authority - Who is the author & publisher? What is their point of view?
Accuracy – Is it true? Has anyone checked it – peer reviewed?
Purpose - Why was the source created? Who is the intended audience?
http://guides.lib.berkeley.edu/evaluating-resources
CRAAP

16.  URL : http vs https, .govt, .edu or .ac (education), .co or .com (company)
 Contact/about us?
 Invasive advertising?
 Do their links work?
 Wikipedia?
 Do other sources match up?
 Correct spelling & grammar?
Examples
 Dog Island - http://www.thedogisland.com/index.html
 Tree Octopus http://zapatopi.net/treeoctopus/
 All about explorers https://allaboutexplorers.com/
 Martin Luther King https://www.martinlutherking.org/ (6th hit on Google)
https://sites.google.com/a/cloud.diocesan.school.nz/dio-senior-library-2/research-skills/senior-high-school
http://schools.natlib.govt.nz/blogs/libraries-and-learning/15-03/spot-hoax-when-evaluating-web-content
Evaluate Sources

17.  Taking good notes
 Reading
 Critical thinking
4. Use of Information
4.1 Engage (e.g., read, hear, view, touch)
4.2 Extract relevant information
 How is this relevant to my question?
 What parts support my answer?
 How does it relate to what else I
know?
 What parts do not support my
answer?
 Does it raise new questions?

18.  It’s important to see both side of the issue and then make your
own conclusions.
 Show multiple perspectives. Quoting from a biased book and
disproving it will show you are critically thinking.
5. Synthesis
What is my main point?
Who is my audience?
What else is important?
How does it connect?
5.1 Organize from multiple sources
5.2 Present the information

19. Evaluating the reliability and usefulness of selected
information in relation to the inquiry
6. Evaluate
6.1 Judge the product (effectiveness)
6.2 Judge the process (efficiency)

20. Plagiarism
 Massey – how to avoid plagiarism

21. Referencing/Bibliography
Do it from the start. Do it as you work
• In text citations
• Bibliographic citations
https://www.digitalchalk.com/blog/10-online-bibliography-citation-tools