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Research Skills: Finding Information on the Australian Sugar Industry

Image courtesy of tratong freedigitalphotos.net

Outline of Session

1. Research Skills: 5 stages2. Search for information on the Sugar Industry:

From library resources - books From a library database - Australia NZ Reference Centre From Australia Bureau of Statistics (ABS) From the Web - Google Advanced Search

3. Evaluate your information4. Reference your information5. Student exercises

© Central Institute of Technology 2014

1.Analyse question or topic

Research Cycle:

5 Stages

2.Identify

keywords &search terms

WriteFinal

Essay/Report

4.Evaluate your

information5.

Reference yourinformation

3.Search for

& find information


STAGE 1: ANALYSE QUESTION

OR TOPIC

Stage 1: Analyse question or topic

• When you are given an assignment, read through it carefully. Before you start looking for information, be sure you understand what you are looking for.

• Analyse the topic to determine the approach being asked for. Are you being asked to: Compare? Discuss? Outline? Contrast? Summarise? Explain?


Consider the following:

• How is it to be presented – report format or essay format?

• What are the assessment requirements – how many words?

• How many and what type of resources are to be used?

• How current does the information need to be?© Central Institute of Technology 2014

STAGE 2: IDENTIFY KEYWORDS

& SEARCH TERMS

Stage 2: Identify keywords & search terms

Australian Sugar Industry

agriculture

canegrowers

harvesting

Queenslandsugarcane

statistics

confectionery industry

CSR sugar NSW

export market, domestic use

history sustainability

sugar mill


STAGE 3: SEARCH FOR &

FIND INFORMATION

FROM LIBRARY BOOKS

Library Catalogue searching tips:

• Use your keywords (or alternate terms) to search the Library Catalogue for factual, in-depth information from books and DVDs.

• When searching the catalogue remember to limit your search to Perth campus.

• Note the location details and the status of any items of interest.



Books tab

Library Catalogue - Search Page

Enter your search terms and choose options from the drop-down boxes


Library Catalogue - Search Results


Item Record


Reference Books

- Also check your Public Library for books on this topic -


FROM LIBRARY DATABASES

ESL Subject Guide - Databases/Magazines - Australian NZ Reference Centre -


Search Screen


- List of Results -


- Full Text of Article & Options -


- APA Citation Provided -


FROM ABS(AUSTRALIAN BUREAU

OF STATISTICS)

ABS – www.abs.gov.au - to find statistics


http://www.abs.gov.au/

FROM THE WEB


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gle

Adva

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Sea

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Adva

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Sea

rch

Australian Governm

ent site - .gov.au

Australian Educational site - .edu.auG

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STAGE 4: EVALUATE YOURINFORMATION

Stage 4: Evaluate your information

• When evaluating information from websites, it can be difficult to determine how reliable the information is.

• There is little control as anyone can create a website on any topic.

• A lot of the information on the Internet is commercial or personal.

• If you examine the URL or address of a website, it can be helpful in deciding if it is an appropriate site.


List of Organisational Types List of Country Codes

.com commercial .au Australia

.edu education .nz New Zealand

.gov government .uk United Kingdom

.net network .de Germany

.org organisation no code USA

Generally, the websites that have .edu or .gov in the URL will be more reliable.

If you want Australian sites, add .au to your search.

URL Codes


Examining URLs

For example, the URL www.canegrowers.com.au stands for:www - world wide webcanegrowers - name of sitecom - commercial siteau - Australian site

In summary: It is an Australian, commercial site that promotes the interests of cane growers.


http://www.canegrowers.com.au/

Examining, selecting and rejecting resources

Ask yourself these questions…√ Is the information correct?√ Is the information relevant?√ Is the information reliable? (who is the

author/sponsor?)√ Is the information up-to-date?√ Is the information free from bias? (is it trying to

persuade?)√ Is it what I need?


ONLINE SEARCHING TIPS

Online searching tips…Boolean Operators

AND (+): limits the search as both keywords must appear in the document

sugar AND Australia

OR: expands the search as either keywords will appear in the documents

industry OR agriculture

NOT (-): limits the search as excludes one of the keywords from the documents

Queensland NOT NSW


More searching tips….

• Quotation marks: searches for the phrase “sugarcane industry”

• In title: searches for that term within the titleintitle:canegrowers

• Site: searches for results from specific sites site:.gov

site:.au

• File type: searches for a particular file type filetype:ppt

filetype:pdf


STAGE 5: REFERENCE YOUR

INFORMATION

Stage 5: Reference your information

When taking notes for an assignment, write down allthe relevant bibliographic details of your information sources that you will need to include in your Reference List.

For a book: author - year of publication - title - edition - place of

publication - publisher

For a website: author or sponsor or organisation - year of creationor update year - title of web page - URL

For more information on referencing

Clipart sourced from Microsoft Office

- APA Referencing Guide -


Remember!

If you require further assistance:

Ask at the Library Service Desk

Email: [email protected]

Check out the OIL (Online Information Literacy) modules on the library website @ www.central.wa.edu.au/library


Student Exercises - ESL subject Guide - guides.dtwd.wa.gov.au/central-esl


Image courtesy of tratong freedigitalphotos.net. Outline of Session 1.Research Skills: 5 stages...

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