Libr

ary

5 useful things that HE libraries offer

students

Not just the usual books…

1

Resources for

your courseText books, journal articles, online resources and more…

2

Somewhereto study

Individual and group study spaces, open from the early hours to late at night…

3

Access to other libraries

Need somewhere to study during the holidays? Ask at your library…

4

Help and support

Help in the Library is often not just library help…

5

LibrariansWe can help you find and evaluate information…

Toda

y

Evaluation framework

Choosing what to use in your work

Information sources for your

studiesWhat to use, when to use it…

Information sources for your studiesAt university you will be expected to use a range of appropriate sources in your work. Doing so will improve the

quality of your work and should result in better grades.

Are good for finding background or general information

Because they are reliable and give a broad introduction to a topic

Boo

ks Don’t use to find the latest information

Because writing and publishing a book takes 2 years or more

Are good for finding the latest academic research on your specific topicBecause they are peer

reviewed so the information is reliable, and published regularly so the research is up to date

Jour

nals

Don’t use to find background or general information

Because the topics in the articles can be quite specific

Are good for finding general information, quick facts, opinions

Web

site

s

Because the information is intended for a general audience

Because the information is usually up to date and presented in an accessible way Don’t use to find

academic research

Anyone can publish information on the web!Always evaluate

any information you find before using it

Is the process of assessing the relevance

and reliability

of the information you have found E

valu

atio

n

Evaluation framework

Evaluating Information

What?

Who?

Why?When?

How?

Is the information relevant to my topic?

Is it the right information for my topic? For example, specialist /general W

hat?

Can you identify an author?

Are they an authority on your topic?

Who

?

Is the information unbiased?

For example, does it have a commercial or political agenda?

Is impartial information required?

Why

?

Is the information up to date?

For websites, always check if they are still being maintained.W

hen?

How has the information been made available?

For example, is it a book/journal article/blog post?

This can be an indicator of how reliable it is.

How

?

Activity break

ResourcesBook: http://lib.myilibrary.com/Open.aspx?id=362931# Journal article: http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.vaccine.2004.10.052 Newspaper article: http://gu.com/p/2n3j6/stw Website: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Smallpox YouTube video: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yqUFy-t4MlQ