Research+skills

__ Research skills __
These start with planning. While planning you might find this useful: the Resource Project Calculator [] Another great site, developed by Leonie McIlvenny of Western Australia is: [] and for Secondary: [] and []. Easy to use and each step is supported by university designed materials explaining what is required by each step. While each site is different, the intent is the same, so any choice will really be made on the basis of layout. Below is a synthesis and summary of the “Research skills” section of the “[|Ergo]” database of the State Library of Victoria, 2009, suitable for Primary School age children.

** Develop a purpose. ** Good writing always has a clear purpose. It outlines the key ideas of an argument or idea in a consistent and logical way. Think about:

**Keywords.**
Keywords specific to your project help you refine your search, so that the information you find is RELEVANT. Some things to help you search are here: =** Helpful sites and databases. **=

State Library of Victoria, online catalogue of over a million images, manuscripts, books and more.
Our Library catalogue (Oliver)

Note taking.
Note taking helps you remember what you have read, and can be the foundation for your project. The tips here will get you started: ** Try skimming and scanning: ** Using these means you don’t have to read every word on the page. these points:
 * Skimming ** is looking at headings, summaries and pictures to get an overview of what the resource is about and if its worth reading in detail. Look at

** Scanning ** Is searching text for exact words, such as your keywords, to decide if this text has relevant information for you. To scan effectively try these: Question what you’re reading Questioning what you read helps you to fully understand a text and form you own opinions about a subject. While reading, think about: ** Evaluate websites. (Click here for a vast array of sites that help teach this skill) ** Because anyone can post information on the web, every search will give you a range of reliable and unreliable results. There are a range of non-profit, government and media sites that provide reliable and free information. As a general rule, in Australia look for: gov.au = government site; **edu.au** usually non-profit public organisation.
 * education site; org.au**

There are anumber of ways to decide if a website is reliable. Click here for some great clues and sites
** Evaluate images. ** Images, paintings and photography gives and insight into society and people you may not get elsewhere. Think about:

Being able to identify bias helps you understand the underlying message in what ever you are looking at: text, picture, website. Think of the following questions to help you identify bias in every resource you use. **Who created the resource?** The resource will be influenced by the ideas of the person who created it. Think about: When was the resource created? Any type of resource, picture, book, newspaper website – will reflect the society and time in which it was created.
 * Identify bias **

Why was the resource created? Writers, artists, historians, photographers can use their work to persuade people about a particular viewpoint of an idea or event. If you find a range of opinions supported by different sources, it is easier for you to make up your own mind about the information being presented.

Who was the resource created for? The overall message and format of the resource is influenced by who the target audience is. For example, a Teen magazine is very different to a travel website or an annual report because the people they want to read their publication is very different. ** Ask yourself these questions. ** The answers to these questions will help identify any problems you have.

**Finally, try [|PMI] (Pluses, minuses, interesting**) techniques to evaluating your work, or use [|Six thinking hats.]