Resources Recommended Books
What are you going to search for?
Defining and Refining your topic. Start as specific as you can (x). Ask a question: what about x? Broaden or
narrow your x as you learn more about it, or as you learn that there just isn’t enough material on specific x.
x = |
what about
it?
Identify
key words
Find books on your topic in the library catalog.
Preliminary keyword search for background information: (defense, education, athletics, sports, shopping) - click Subject button
For general books on the "future", type forecasts OR forecasting OR
social prediction - click Subject button
Find
articles in magazines and newspapers
using
Expanded Academic Index (Infotrac)
or any of the
databases
Advanced Search: (su ________ AND su
forecasts)
Find web sites
LII.org (Librarian’s Index to the Internet)
future studies OR (forecasting OR forecasts) NOT weather
Infomine (infomine.ucr.edu) Mix of free
and fee-based sites
(forecasting NOT weather)
Everything should be read with a critical
eye,
but, documents on the Internet need
especially
careful scrutiny. It’s too easy to post false and
misleading
and incorrect material on the Internet,
where
there is no editor or quality control.
Guidelines for evaluating online resources |
|
Make sure you are in the right place.
Does this site address the
topic you are researching? Did you learn anything? Was the page worth
visiting?
When in doubt, doubt.
Is the information on the
site documented? Do you think it is accurate? Did authors indicate their
research methods or provide any supportive evidence for their conclusions?
Consider the source.
Who are the authors of the
Web page? What gives them their expertise? By what authority do they
write? Are the authors and their credentials clearly identified? Who is
responsible for the site? Is this a commercial, governmental, personal, or
academic Web site? From what country does it originate? (allwhois.com)
Know what's happening.
What is the purpose of the
site? Is the main purpose to inform, to persuade, or to sell you
something? Is the site's text well written? Do you understand what is
being said? What do you think has not
been said that should be addressed?
Look at details.
Is the site well organized?
Is all the information you needed on the top page or easily found on
another page within the site? Are there misspelled words or examples of
poor grammar? Do the site's links work? Are they evaluated or annotated in
any way? Do they send you beyond the site to other reliable sources of
information? Does the site offer anything unique? Does it tell you more
than you could find out in an encyclopedia? Are the graphics on the page
clear and helpful or distracting and confusing? Distinguish Web pages from pages found on the Web. Do you think this page was
designed for the Web, or do you think it was originally something else? If
it was originally something else, what something else was it?
Henderson, John R. I
CYouSee: T Is For Thinking. 13 June 2000. 30 April 2004. |