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CONTENTS
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Recognizing What You Need
Recognizing
what information you need is based on
understanding your research objective and its
level of complexity and requirements. Different
resources have varying combinations of
information depth, currency, accuracy, authority,
and quick accessibility and ease of use.
Determining which types of resources have the
best combinations of these characteristics is one
of the keys to effective research. The importance
of each factor will vary according to your
research problem.
Questions
to ask:
- How
much information do I need? Am I looking for a
quick answer or overview, or do I need to study
this issue in depth?
- What
level of quality and accuracy must the
information have? Do I need to use only scholarly
literature such as peer-reviewed journals, or can
I use popular magazines or newspapers as well?
Will just one source do, or should I look at what
a range of experts say, and whether they agree?
Is it important for the information to come from
a professional expert, or can I accept
information from an informed layperson who may be
a good communicator but not necessarily that
knowledgeable?
- How
important is currency of my source? Is the topic
area changing so rapidly that I need the most
current information available (example: medical
research), or are older materials just as valid
(example: literary criticism)?
- Am I
trying to compare varying viewpoints on the
topic, or do I need an unbiased evaluation of the
topic?
- Do I
need to use primary sources, where I look at
original research and interpret it myself? Or can
I use secondary sources where others have already
evaluated and summarized the research in this
area?
- What
are the tradeoffs of using different formats of
information? Does the ease of using the Internet
justify the ephemeral nature and often lesser
quality information I am likely to find there? Do
I need historical or archival materials that are
perhaps only available on microfilm or cannot
leave the library?
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