Step 1: Define your research question and locate the sources you will need
| Define the information problem | What am I trying to find out? What do I want to know? |
| Identify information needed | What information will give me answers? |
| Determine all possible sources | What kinds of sources will have the information I need? |
| Select the best types | What are the benefits and limitations of these sources? |
| Locate sources (See "FIND INFORMATION" tab) | What keywords and search strategies will get me helpful results? |
Step 2: Evaluate your sources and analyze what you find out
| Apply the C.R.A.A.P test to evaluate the source | Current? Relevant? Authoritative? Accurate? Purpose? |
| Analyze the information | What are its benefits? Limitations? |
See this Site Evaluation video
Step 3: Organize information and Synthesize (understand) how it all fits together to answer your question
| Engage by reading, hearing, experiencing | Extract relevant information (Take good notes!) |
| Organize information from various sources | Read and understand and apply to your question/ topic |
(See below: "Read, Think, Shrink" & "Common Errors" for notetaking tips)
Step 4: Present the information purposefully and ethically by citing sources
| Determine the best way to present the information | Consider your audience & purpose (essay? podcast? outline? video?) |
| Cite ideas and images that are not your own | See Citing tab for help |
Step 5: Reflect on your Process and your final Product
| Reflect on your Process | How efficient were you? What worked and what didn't? |
| Reflect on your Product | How effectively does the final product answer your question? |
Our standards combine the American Library Association, NET-S standards, and The Big Six
These will force copies!
All of these keep your source, quoted material, and paraphrase together
Mr. GL's Grid Style Notes: Put your source once and create a new note for each fact from that source
Category Style Notes: Organize your notes according to categories as you find information
Digital Note Cards: Fill in the cards and organize later by cutting and sorting
Cornell Notes: Track the key points as you go
