Lesson: Selecting the Right Source and the Right Tool for Information Needs

PUBLICATIONS (PRINT/ELECTRONIC)

TECHNOLOGY

OBSERVATIONS

Lesson: Selecting the Right Source and the Right Tool for Information Needs

Description

The purpose of this lesson is to help students 1) understand that there are many information resources available to help them solve an information need; and 2) that there are reference sources (e.g. indexes, encyclopedias, dictionaries) available to help them find information. The concepts learned in this lesson will help students with their research needs and personal information needs. This lesson is best taught after students have chosen a topic on which they need to find information.

Learning Outcomes I Suggested Procedure I Assessment for this Lesson

Materials for this Offline lesson:

Whiteboard or transparencies
/markers

2 examples of topics related to the unit being taught

Pre-prepared sheet of sources and resources in categories: People, Places, Publications (Print or Electronic

Worksheet

Time allotment: 45 - 50 minutes (consider teaching this on two separate days)

Grade Level: Grade 3 - 12

Information Literacy Standard:
1. The student who is information literate accesses information efficiently and effectively.
4. The student who is an independent learner is information literate and strives for excellence in information seeking and knowledge generation.

Learning Outcomes

Students will be able to choose appropriate information resources (e.g. People, Places) from a variety of types available.
Students will be able to choose appropriate reference sources (e.g. dictionaries, indexes) to find useful information for their research need.

Suggested Procedure

Part 1: Range of Sources and Resources (35 minutes)

Tell students that when considering the information they need to gather for research, that they need to think broadly and creatively about people and places they can access (go to) to find information. They need to think of the RANGE of sources and resources that are available to them. Tell students that together they are going to explore all the information resources available for their topic.

Split the class in half. Give each half a topic. Further divide the class into smaller groups so that they can brainstorm resources for the topic.

Instructions to students:

Tell students to think of as many places or people or types of materials that they can use in order to find information on that topic. Encourage them to be creative.

Tell them to designate a recorder to write down ideas.

Tell them that this is a brainstorming exercise. All of the ideas are recorded and valued.

Give them 5-10 minutes to come up with possibilities.
During that time, write these categories on the board

Bring students back as a group. For Topic One, have the 3 groups each present their ideas. Record them on the board under the appropriate categories.

Ask the other half of the class if they have any other sources or resources to add.

Repeat this process for Topic Two.

Tell students that after they have a broad list of possible sources and resources, they need to prioritize the best of these for their topic.

Return to the list and ask students to choose the top 3-5 sources/resources that they will look into to find information on their topic.

Part 2: Reference Tools to Aid in Information Retrieval (25 minutes; this could be taught on a separate day)

Tell students now that they have decided the best range of resources to explore, they now need to be aware of sources that will help them find the needed information.

Reference Tools
Most students are aware of types of reference sources. However, they aren't aware that these sources are called reference sources. Here is a list of most commonly used reference tools:

Type of Source	Purpose	Example
Encyclopedias - General	To find background information on a topic	World Book, Encyclopedia Americana, Encyclopedia Britannica
Encyclopedias - Subject	To find focused background information on a topic	Encyclopedia of the World's Zoos, Encyclopedia of African American Culture & History
Dictionaries - General	To find definitions, pronunciations of words	Merriam-Webster Dictionary Dictionaries - Subject/Special To find definitions, pronunciation of words, organized by a topic or special feature Dictionary of Literary Terms, Cassell's Concise Spanish-English, English-Spanish Dictionary
Biographies	To find information about a person's life and work	Current Biography, Contemporary Authors
Bibliographies	To locate lists of materials on a particular topic, person or organization	Adventuring with Books: A booklist for pre-K-Grade 6
Indexes	To locate contents of magazines, journals, newspapers, etc.	Readers Guide to Periodical Literature, InfoTrac
Atlases	To locate compilations of maps	Cultural Atlas of the Viking World, Goode's World Atlas
Almanacs	To locate an assortment of general facts	World Almanac, Information Please Almanac Directories/Factbooks To locate specific information Telephone Directories, Statistical Abstract of the United States
Style & Writing Guides	To assist with grammar, punctuation, writing and citing sources	Turabian - A Manual for Writers of Term Papers, Theses and Dissertations

Tell students these are all tools that organize information and help students quickly and easily find information. These tools are available in both print and electronic formats. Electronic formats include CD-ROM and online versions of these tools. Tell students that some sources are available for free and others are available only through a paid subscription.

Exercise

· Tell students you will give them an information need and they need to tell you the type of source that should be used. (You may wish to write the TASKS on the board or on a transparency.)

TASK	RESOURCE(s)
I need to define a word	Dictionary (print or electronic)
I need a map of the U.S.	Atlas
I need to find the phone number of a museum	Telephone directory (print or web)
I need newspaper articles on my topic	Newspaper Index (print or electronic)
I need background information on my topic	Encyclopedia (general or subject)
I need to find information about a person	Biography, Encyclopedia
I need to find a quote	Quotations Book (print or web)
I need to cite the sources for my paper/assignment	Citation/Style manual
I need help writing my paper	Writing Guide

As students give you the answers, write them down, using the board or a transparency. After they finish, identify these as REFERENCE SOURCES that are organized to help you find a certain type of information easily.

Alternative Procedure: You may want students to complete part 2 of the worksheet to elicit the extent to which they are aware and understand the uses of these reference sources before doing the exercise mentioned above.

Assessment

Have students complete the worksheet for their own paper or research assignment. Note: As an additional resource for students, you may elect to have students type their definitions using a wordprocessing program, so that they have the list for future use.

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This page was last updated February 21, 2002
This lesson was created to support the AT&T/UCLA Initiatives for 21st Century Literacies.
Lesson: Selecting the Right Source and the Right Tool for Information Needs was created by Stephanie Brasley and Judith Kantor.