Step 2: SourceInformation Literacy

Source

• Where can you look for information to help answer your search question?

• Information sources can include people as well as written and electronic materials. Colleagues, family, friends, books and online databases are all potentially valuable sources of information.

• At this stage you need to decide which of the available resources are most likely to provide the answer to your search question.

Learning outcomes

This unit aims to support you to develop skills associated with the Source step of the information literacy cycle. It will enable you to:

– identify a range of different information

and knowledge sources;– consider which sources are most likely to

be useful for your search question;– understand why some information sources

may be more helpful than others in the context of a particular information need.

Different information sources

• You’ve formulated your search question and identified search terms in the Question step of the information literacy cycle outlined in unit 1.

• There are many different sources of information and knowledge that can help you with your search question.

• One of the most fundamental distinctions between sources of knowledge is that between explicit knowledge that can be found in articles, books and other documents; and implicit knowledge that people carry around in their heads.

Knowledge: explicit, implicit and tacit

• Explicit knowledge is knowledge that has been articulated in, for example, journal articles, maps, diagrams, documents and procedures.

• Implicit knowledge is knowledge that people carry in their heads but hasn’t been articulated (written down)

• Tacit knowledge refers to the things we know that can’t be articulated (i.e written down). Examples include recognizing faces or knowing how to ride a bike.

Sources

• Bibliographic databases • Primary sources • Secondary sources• Reference sources• Academic journals• Books• Audio / visual materials• Internet resources• Search engines• Portals • Intranets

Recognising the right source for your information need

Situation SourceYou’ve just started a new job in a local authority and you’ve been asked to familiarise yourself with the authority’s health and safety regulations.

The authority’s intranet

You want to find research evidence on the needs of children of substance-misusing parents and the interventions that best support them.

A bibliographic database

You’ve been asked to do some research on approaches to restorative justice to inform the work of an agency service improvement group. You don’t have time to search for this information in lots of different places.

A portal

You’ve been asked to arrange the office Christmas party in a city centre location.

A search engine

Activity 11. You want to find some research on the effectiveness of a new drug to treat

dementia. Which source(s) would you use to find this information and why?

a) a colleagueb) your agency’s intranetc) a search engined) a bibliographic databasee) a bookf) a portal

2. You want to find a charity that specialises in supporting children with learning difficulties. Which source would you use to find this information?

a) a colleagueb) your agency’s intranetc) a search engined) a bibliographic databasee) a bookd) a portal

Activity 1 continued…3. A colleague recommends a journal article to you. You have the title but don’t

know which journal it is in. What would you use to find out?

a) a colleagueb) your agency’s intranetc) a search engined) a bibliographic databasee) a bookf) a portal

 4. You want an overview of a particular mental health problem, including a

definition of it and references to other relevant material. Which of the below is likely to be the most useful source?

a) a colleagueb) your agency’s intranetc) a search engined) a bibliographic databasee) a bookf) a portal

Activity 2

Google is a hugely popular search engine indexing many millions of web resources and is one of the first ports of call for many web users. What do you think are the pros and cons of Google as a tool for locating information to inform professional decision-making?

Further reading• Recommended Search Engines:

http://www.lib.berkeley.edu/TeachingLib/Guides/Internet/SearchEngines.html

 • Tacit, Implicit and Explicit Knowledge:

http://www.knowledgeharvesting.org/modules/Understand%20the%20nature%20of%20tacit,%20implicit%20and%20explicit%20know%E2%80%A6.pdf

• Evaluating Sources of Information: http://owl.english.purdue.edu/handouts/research/r_evalsource.html

 • Published Sources:

http://www.resmind.swap.ac.uk/content/04_finding/finding_03.htm

• Finding information in health and lifestyle: Resources: http://openlearn.open.ac.uk/mod/resource/view.php?id=189662

References• Gannon-Leary, P. (2006). Glut of information, dearth of

knowledge? A consideration of the information needs of practitioners identified during the FAME project. Library Review, 55(2), 120-131.

• Harrison, J., Hepworth, M., & De Chazal, P. (2004). NHS and social care interface: A study of social workers' library and information needs. Journal of Librarianship and Information Science, 36(1), 27-36.

• Horder, W. (2007). 'Reading' in professional practice: How social work practice assessors access knowledge and information. British Journal of Social Work, 37, 1079-1094.

Copyright & Credits(c) 2009 Institute for Research and Innovation in Social Services except where indicated otherwise.

This work is based on and derived from Better informed for better health and better care. NHS Education Scotland, 2009 (http://www.infoliteracy.scot.nhs.uk/information-literacy-framework.aspx).

CC-BY-NC.  Except where otherwise noted,  this work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-Noncommercial 2.5 UK : Scotland License. To view a copy of this licence, visit http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc/2.5/scotland/.

This means that, unless indicated otherwise, you may freely copy and adapt this work provided you acknowledge IRISS as the source. Specifically:

* The Information Literacy Cycle diagram may be copied but may not be modified without permission from NHS Education Scotland [contact: Eilean.Craig@nes.scot.nhs.uk]

* The article reproduced with the permission of the Press Association may not be included in any derivative work.