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SENIOR HIGH SCHOOL - RESEARCH NOTES
6 steps to effective research using the NSW Infor-mation Search Process (ISP)
2
INFORMATION SKILLS
6 steps to effective research using the NSW In-formation Search Process (ISP)
There a number of steps you need to go through
when doing a research assignment. They are:
1. Task Definition
2. Seeking and Locating Inform ation
3. Selecting and Using Inform ation
4. Synthesising and Organising Infor-
mation
5. Presenting to and Engaging your Audi-
ence
6. Evaluating
This booklet aims to guide senior students
through each step in some detail to offer direc-
tion and advice when researching and presenting
information.
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Before beginning, you must be able to answer the follow-
ing:
What do you know about your assignment?
What does your teacher w ant you to do?
Why are you doing it?
Make sure you understand the requirements of
the assignment
Are there any specific requirements for presenta-
tion?
Who is your audience
Ask your teacher to explain if the assignment
seems vague or confusing
Restate the assignm ent in your own words
and ask if you are correct
What is the due date?
What do you know about your topic? Identify the
information you need in order to complete the task:
List/brainstorm w hat you already know
about the topic. Discuss your topic with family,
friends, and teachers
Your teacher will often tell you what information
you need. If he or she does not, it will help you to
write a list of questions that you need to
"look up"
STEP 1: TASK DEFINITION
4
Read general encyclopaedias or reference ar-
ticles to learn more about the topic. Look for an as-
pect of your topic that interests you person-
ally and fits the assignment. An elem ent of
controversy will allow you to take a stand and will
make your research and the final product more in-
teresting
You will need to: Read, view, and/or listen until you
have a general understanding of your topic
Use more than one source! Compare sources
Ask yourself if your topic is too broad or too narrow,
and refine it as needed
Keep in mind the time and resources that you have
and the length of your assignment
What is the question or problem you will focus
on?
Identify a specific research question or
a hypothesis (tentative answer to your question).
This question will give you focus for the rest of your
research process. You will look for information that
answers the question or supports the hypothesis
Remember that research is searching again and
again. (re-search) You will often be looking at infor-
mation that others have looked at before, trying to
see something that they have not seen
Research is NOT:
Combining a paragraph from an encyclopaedia
with a couple of paragraphs from web sites.
That's plagiarism
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Rewording each phrase and citing each source.
That's just a summary of facts with someone
else's name on them
Research IS:
Going beyond facts and old ideas. Taking a new
look at the information and taking a stand
Developing Your Topic
Lotus Diagram
Developing Research Questions
http://www.studygs.net/writing/topic.htm
Now, with your focused question(s) or hypothesis
ready, you can start searching for the answer to your
question.
Where will you find resources?
You will need to make a list of all the possible
sources of information that will help you answer
the questions you wrote in Task Definition above:
Consider library catalogues, electronic databases,
encyclopaedias, general and specific Internet Search
Engines, sound recordings, podcasts, video in DVDs
and streaming formats on the web, historical docu-
ments and artefacts, people who are experts in your
subject (interview s), observation of your
subject, surveys and interviewing
STEP 2: INFORMATION LOCATION STRATEGIES
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Try to use those that your teacher or librarian has
linked, bookmarked or recommended. This will save
you time e.g. Local Library Databases - R207670
Evaluate the different possible sources to de-
termine priorities (select the best sources)
Now, look carefully at your list. Which ones are ac-
tually available to you and are easy for you to use?
Circle these
If your source is a person, figure out how you will
contact him or her and make a note of this
Find information within sources
If there are sources which you need help finding
and/or navigating, ask the Teacher Librarian!
What are effective practices when using the Web?
First results are not always the BEST
Your results are as good as your keywords and que-
ry!
Develop strong keywords -
Now that you have the source in hand, how will you
get to the information that you need?
a. First make a list of words that will help you find
information in all of your sources. These are
called keywords. They are like synonyms and
are words related to your topic. You can find
many of these in the questions you wrote in
Task Definition
b. Now make a list of the sources of information
you will use. Beside each, note how you will
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access the information you need
Tips:
Books - Look at the index or table of contents for
your topic and keywords
Encyclopaedias - Use the index volum e
(usually the last volume in the set) for the topic and
keywords.
Web sites - Type topic and keywords in the
search box. Try them separately and some together.
Ask your librarian for help if needed
More is less. The more words you use in a search,
the fewer results you will get -
Use broader terms searching library catalogues
and databases
In search engines, specific terms may give you
the results you need, but try using broader
terms also and then exploring the web sites
that are linked from a main page.
Your search results are only as good as
your search terms!
Internet Search Example
“Discuss the effect of television advertising on children”
a. Underline the main concepts and keywords (television
advertising , children)
b. Consider alternative keywords or phrases e.g. effect OR
influence; children OR adolescent; advertising OR com-
mercial television
If at first you don’t succeed, try again! Try a different search
engine or library database
8
Tools for synonym s and related term s –
visuwords.com / ‘Define’ function - Google
If at first you do not succeed, try again with re-
lated words before you change search engines
or databases (youth or adolescent instead of
teen)
Knowing where different types of information might
be is a key step in getting great results. For example:
Change Bike Tyre – YouTube
Australian explorers - Museum or Library web-
site
It's also useful to think about the information you
hope to find
Who would be the best organisation to make a
website about your topic?
What would be the page title?
What kinds of words would appear on the
page? Try these words as search terms
You can also try giving your Google specific direc-
tions:
Google Tips & Tricks
Using more than 1 search engine
itools
Look at any subject headings listed in a Library Cat-
alogue - they take you to other books on the same
topic!
Consider also the following:
Primary sources online
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Newspapers and journals –The Trove newspa-
per archive lets you limit your search to histor-
ical newspapers from all over regional and
metropolitan Australia
People and organisations – Conduct an inter-
view!
a. Do background research before the inter-
view
b. Prepare your questions in advance and
practice the interview with friends or
family
c. Be ready to take notes or bring a record-
ing device. Practice using the device
Public / State Libraries
How will you evaluate online resources?
Because anyone can post information on the web,
every search will give you a range of reliable and un-
reliable results. To decide whether a website is relia-
ble, ask yourself:
Who made the site? You should be able
to contact them through an ‘About us' or
‘Contact' section
What does the domain name tell you?
Has the site been made by a reputable organi-
sation? For example, there are a range of non-
profit, government and media sites that pro-
vide reliable and free information on various
topics. They often have common elements in
their domain names.
10
As a general rule, in Australia look for:
gov.au = government site
edu.au = education site
org.au = public organisation, usually non-profit
What's the purpose of the site? Is it de-
signed purely to give information, or is it trying
to sell you something?
Is the site well designed and easy to use?
Do all the links work? When was it last updat-
ed? Reliable sites are usually fully functional
and regularly updated
CHS Website Evaluation Criteria - Website Evalua-
tion Criteria
How will you ever read all that information?
Scan and read and make choices about what to
check out, print or save
Scan Webpages using Ctrl F search function
Consider what the author is saying, when the source
was written, and how the ideas are supported with
facts and evidence
With each sentence you read, consider the point be-
ing made. Is it logical? Is it valid? Does it change
what you believe about the subject?
Summarize the viewpoints and facts that you find
and record exactly where you find the information.
This will save you time later when creating your
STEP 3: INFORMATION SELECTION STRATEGIES
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reference list!
As soon as you can form a statement of what you
believe to be true, jot down this statement—or thesis
or revised hypothesis—your original position may
change as you learn more about the topic
What do you really need to look for when read-
ing?
You are on a fact-finding mission, but you will not
search primarily for facts
You will look for trends and patterns supported
by facts
In order to persuade your audience, one of whom
will be your teacher, you must gather evidence from
reliable sources
When do you have enough sources?
When you can make a valid statement supported
with evidence–when you can persuade your audi-
ence
When you have at least three good reasons that your
thesis is true
When you have several facts or experts to support
your reasons
How do you take notes effectively?
Take out the relevant information from a source
Taking notes should be more than just copying com-
mon knowledge, facts or ideas from others
12
In addition to the note taking from sources such as
books, web sites, journals and texts, you should
add your own ideas and opinions about the infor-
mation
Paraphrasing:
Don't copy and paste huge blocks of text. If you
need the information from a large amount of
text, paraphrase it
You will put the information into your own
words. This ty pe of note ta king must be
cited (giving credit to its source)
Summarizing:
Read a large section for overall meaning and
summarize it into one or two sentences
Summarizing is typically used for beginning
research, i.e. general explanatory material
It must be cited unless the information con-
tains common facts and knowledge
Copy & paste:
Copy and paste small portions of text such as
specific details, facts, definitions, and statistics
Direct quotes:
Quotations are reserved for one or two sen-
tence statements that back up a point or reveal
an attitude
They are especially appropriate for primary
sources such as diaries, journals, speeches, in-
terviews, letters, memos, manuscripts, mem-
oirs, and autobiographies
You need to use quotation marks and foot-
notes. e.g. (Edwards and Neill, 1998)
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Avoid Plagiarism
Tip to avoid plagiarism: add quotation marks
around text that is extracted directly from the
source
Add brackets or some other notation to
information that you summarize or paraphrase
as soon as you write or type it
Do this so you won't forget whether or not it is
a direct quote or paraphrased when you are
using the information in a paper
You will include the quotation marks around a
direct quote in your final paper
You do not need to put quotation marks
around a paraphrase or summary, but you do
need to cite it
Note taking
Video
Cornell note taking
Video
How should you cite sources?
Citing sources means acknowledging where you got
your information or ideas from
The last page of your paper will contain a reference
list of all your citations. It is alphabetized by author
(or title if there is no author)
Harvard System
Books with One Author:
Author’s surname, Author’s first name or ini-
tial. Year of publication. Title of book. Place of
publication. Publisher.
14
Example: Hough, Ben. 2003. Shooting
Pigs. Gunnedah, Australia. Macmillan.
Citation from website:
Author’s name (if possible). Title. Date of latest
update (if possible). Website’s address. Date
visited. [Note: do not place a full stop at the
end of a website’s URL]
Example: Walter Leonard. Washing Cars. 29
September 2003. http://www.bestweb.net
~auto/wash Visited 7 October 2003
To find out how to cite other sources e.g. journal ar-
ticle, videos, more than one author etc. follow the
link http://www.aresearchguide.com/
styleguides.html
Online referencing tools - https://
chslibrarymediacentre.com/student-resources/
referencing/
What about copyright and fair use?
Video
Creative Commons:
Copyright and the invention of Creative Com-
mons - http://creativecommons.org/videos/
get-creative
Their site - http://creativecommons.org.au/
How to search for CC material - http://
search.creativecommons.org/
You too can license your works! Ask your li-
brarian
chslibrarymediacentre.com 15
How will you keep track of all those websites and
online resources?
Content Curation is the collection and shar-
ing of online content
Tools
Diigo.com
How will you put it all together?
Organize information from multiple sources
Decide how you will put together the notes you took
and ideas that you will add. You may:
Write a rough draft
Create an outline
Create a storyboard
Make a sketch
Organising note taking makes it much easier to syn-
thesize your research and construct the various ele-
ments into a logical and powerful paper or presenta-
tion
Using the Cornell note taking system or something
similar will allow you to review your notes and
structure a draft confidently
STEP 4: INFORMATION ORGANISATION STRATEGIES
16
How will you present the information?
If your teacher assigns the product:
Make sure that you follow your teacher's guidelines
Add value to the product by including your ideas
along with the information you found in books, web
sites, and other sources
Make sure that your final product or paper is more
than just a summary of what you found in the other
sources
Make a product or write a paper that you would be
proud for anyone to read
What tool will you use to present your work?
There are many online tools available for you to choose
from, but there are things to consider before you make a
selection. For example:
What kind of presentation am I doing?
What options will the tool I choose need to have
Does the tool require internet access to view?
Is the tool free or does it require subscription fees.
Am I required to give personal details on sign up?
Does the tool perform better than others like it?
To save you time we have compiled a list of tools to suit
different user needs on our Library Website.
STEP 5: INFORMATION PRESENTATION STRATEGIES
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How do you write an essay/research paper?
There are many sources on the internet that will offer di-
rection on essay structure and writing, but as we know,
not all sources are reliable or correct! Here are a few reli-
able sources to help you tick the boxes when it comes to
effective essay writing:
lklivingston.tripod.com
www.studygs.net
Beware of information overload when reading these sites!
Just stick to the stuff that is relevant to your needs. Infor-
mation should always be sought on a ‘needs basis’.
If things are getting complicated in your mind,
seek the advice of a teacher or your librarian!
How did you go?
Judge your product (how effective were you) Before
handing in your assignment, compare it to the re-
quirements that your teacher gave you
Did you do everything and include all that was re-
quired for the assignment?
Did you give credit to all of your sources, written in
the way your teacher requested?
Is your work neat?
Is your work complete and does it include heading
information (name, date, etc.)
STEP 6: EVALUATION STRATEGIES
18
Would you be proud for anyone to view this work?
Judge your information problem-solving process
(how efficient were you)
Think about the actions that you perform as you are
working on this assignment.
Did you learn some things that you can use again?
What did you learn that you can use again?
How will you use the skill(s) again?
What did you do well this time?
What would you do differently next time?
What information sources did you find useful? You
may be able to use them again
What information sources did you need but did not
have?
Be sure to talk to your librarian about getting
them
20
DID YOU KNOW?
Google and other search engines will retrieve a ton of infor-
mation, but the School Library has access to a number of data-
bases that can provide you with information not available
through other search engines. As depicted in the image above,
you can see that the Library databases give you access to re-
sources that are part of the "deep web," like scientific reports,
conference proceedings, etc. Another bonus is that many of the
resources available through the Library are scholarly or peer-
reviewed, meaning they have been reviewed by other experts.
Because of this, you will spend a lot less time evaluating infor-
mation than if you were to do a standard Internet search.
Image and text adapted from http://libguides.cuesta.edu/css168/evaluate
