Information Sources

You should use a range of resources as part of your research on a topic or for an essay. It will give you a range of views and opinions as well as help you verify the information you find.

As part of your Global Skills course in Year 9 you will be developing your research skills to help with your independent learning and a topic you will be asked to research later in the year. These sessions and the course in general aim to help you become INFORMATION LITERATE . This means you know:-when and why you need information, where to find it, and how to evaluate, use use and  communicate it in an ethical manner 

SOURCES OF INFORMATION

  • Books. Use the school and public libraries. Use our library catalogue Destiny for an initial search. You might also want to search the National Library Board of Singapore's library catalogue. You can borrow books from them if you are a member.
  • Websites. Make use of the Webpath Express service on Destiny for reliability.
  • Instagrok is an is an educational (re)search engine helps you research any topic in an engaging, visual way. instaGrok finds the best information on the topic and presents it as interactive concept map ("grok"), showing key facts, concepts and relationships, videos, images and more.
  • Online subscription databases. We subscribe to a number of online databases ( see below) which will guarantee you high quality, reliable and verifiable information.
  • Videos. You may find Ted Talks a useful source.
  • Images. You must use images that are copyright free and licensed for public use under Creative Commons.  You may find Flickr and Getty Images useful sites also.

Wikipedia?

Whilst wikipedia can be a valuable source, you should not rely on it. Make use of the links to external articles for more reliable information. Why should you not rely on it? Read this article:-

Why not to rely on Wikipedia

Watch these short Brainpop videos below about how to research:- ( Log On: dcsg Password: dcsg2014) 


TASK: Complete the attached Research Grid using a range of sources as outlined above.

ONLINE SOURCES

We subscribe to several online resources which may help you with your research. Do not rely simply on google! 90% of the worthwhile information on the internet is held on subscription databases. This is called the invisible or deeper web.

A good place to brainstorm or mind-map your research might be to use Visuwords. It will give you helpful keywords and a structure to your research.

All these sources are accessible via the Student Portal automatically within school. At home you will require a log on and password:-