Research Skills Big6 - Step 4. Use of Information

 

The purpose of this step is to evaluate information collected from various sources. That requires effectively extracting information from your sources, taking good notes, and cite your sources clearly and correctly. 

1. What type of information do I need? 

Extract relevant information from a source. When you read a text, ask yourself whether it is relevant to the research topic: 

• Does it describe the background of food safety in Hong Kong?

• Does it explain the reasons behind food safety in Hong Kong?

• Does it suggest any solutions to food safety in Hong Kong?

• Apart from text, do I need pictures, graphs and figures, etc. to complete my research?

2. How can I take notes? 

Take notes while you are reading and after you have read a text. Use the following note-taking skills to help you:

~ Do not write down everything that is said, word-for-word, that would be transcribing, which is an altogether different skill. 

~ Write in your own style and use your own words.

~ Try to use short concise points, single words or phrases or short sentences, use bullet or numbered lists if necessary.

~ Use underlining, indentation, circle words or phrases, use highlighter pens – whatever system works for you to emphasis the most important points and add some structure to your notes.

~ Use some sort of shorthand system that you will understand later – develop this system as you become more skilled at note-taking.

Once the event has finished:

• As soon as possible, after the event, you should review and, where necessary, rework your notes.

• If possible share and/or compare your notes with a peer. 

Is the information reliable?

You can assess the reliability of information by evaluating a website. You can use the Web Research Guide from Criteria For Evaluating Web Resources, or the resources under the tutorial session below to help you.

    Tutorials:

 Note-taking Skills

    Take Better Notes

    Effective Note-taking

     Notes from Research Reading

     

 Website Evaluation

     Critical Evaluation of Information

     Five Criteria for Evaluating Web Pages

     Evaluating Websites

 

      Learning Tools:

  Note-taking tools

            ShortText.com

            Evernote

       
            Google Notebook

 Evaluation tools

          Evaluation Wizard