{"id":80,"date":"2015-09-28T13:40:53","date_gmt":"2015-09-28T13:40:53","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/sites.cardiff.ac.uk\/ilrb\/?page_id=80"},"modified":"2026-02-26T08:16:25","modified_gmt":"2026-02-26T08:16:25","slug":"finding","status":"publish","type":"page","link":"https:\/\/sites.cardiff.ac.uk\/ilrb\/framework\/finding\/","title":{"rendered":"2. Finding and selecting"},"content":{"rendered":"\r\n

Academic staff nurture the development of students\u2019 abilities to frame questions in their discipline, to see patterns in the literature, to evaluate the arguments and to find the gaps.\u00a0Subject librarians<\/a>\u00a0can help to develop students\u2019 skills in finding where the academic discussions are taking place, in identifying quality resources and background evidence as well as in finding resources for other tasks, such as for creating presentations or researching potentials employers.<\/p>\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\n

\u00a0<\/div>\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\n

2.1 Practices<\/h2>\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\n
\r\n

I…<\/h3>\r\n<\/td>\r\n<\/tr>\r\n

2.1.1…use search tools and sources best suited to the task at hand<\/td>\r\n<\/tr>\r\n
2.1.2…identify the key conversations and research in the topic I am investigating<\/td>\r\n<\/tr>\r\n
2.1.3…ask questions about what I find to be sure that information is accurate, authoritative and relevant to my purpose<\/td>\r\n<\/tr>\r\n<\/tbody>\r\n<\/table>\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\n
\u00a0<\/div>\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\n

2.2 Skills<\/h2>\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\n
\r\n

I can\u2026<\/h3>\r\n<\/td>\r\n

\r\n

Example activities<\/h3>\r\n<\/td>\r\n<\/tr>\r\n

2.2.1\u2026select appropriate information research tools for my task, recognising the differences between them and their benefits and limitations<\/td>\r\nExploring resources activity<\/a> (page 8)<\/td>\r\n<\/tr>\r\n
2.2.2\u2026 analyse my topic and formulate keywords<\/td>\r\nMind mapping or planning keyw<\/a>ords<\/a> (pages 4 and 5)

Finding appropriate sources tutorial <\/a>(Post graduate taught level) (pages 4-7)

Mindmap template<\/a><\/td>\r\n<\/tr>\r\n
2.2.3\u2026construct search strategies and use advanced techniques, such as Boolean searching, wildcards and truncation, and limit searches by particular parameters<\/td>\r\nIn pairs, explore the effect of using these techniques on the relevance of the results found

<\/td>\r\n<\/tr>\r\n
2.2.4\u2026locate sources of full text information, both online and print<\/td>\r\nSet an exercise on accessing the full text of electronic books and journal articles into a searching task<\/td>\r\n<\/tr>\r\n
2.2.5\u2026 track further relevant sources by using citations<\/td>\r\nPractical task using Scopus or Google Scholar to track citations. (A demonstration is available in Choosing quality sources <\/a>(page 13))<\/td>\r\n<\/tr>\r\n
2.2.6\u2026select appropriate information for my task, applying relevant evaluation criteria to determine the quality of the information found<\/td>\r\nIn pairs students are given a broad topic (e.g. climate change) and asked to prepare a \u2018for \/ against\u2019 argument. Students debate issue and a vote is taken. Marks awarded for use of evidence to support arguments. <\/a>

Choosing quality sources<\/a> tutorial

Using a critical appraisal checklist<\/a> activity (page 9)<\/td>\r\n<\/tr>\r\n
2.2.7\u2026maintain a record of searches carried out and information found<\/td>\r\nIn database search exercises ask students to set up a personal accounts in databases to save search histories and\/or email results to themselves

Critique and evaluate examples of research trails<\/td>\r\n<\/tr>\r\n
2.2.8\u2026find specialist content appropriate to my task e.g. statistics, datasets, systematic reviews, legal information, market reports, maps, historic documents, re-usable images etc.<\/td>\r\n\u00a0<\/td>\r\n<\/tr>\r\n
2.2.9\u2026 use social media and alerting services to keep up to date with my discipline<\/td>\r\nKeeping your research up to date<\/a> tutorial<\/td>\r\n<\/tr>\r\n<\/tbody>\r\n<\/table>\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\n
\u00a0<\/div>\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\n

2.3 Awareness<\/h2>\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\n
\r\n

I am aware of…<\/h3>\r\n<\/td>\r\n

\r\n

Example activities<\/h3>\r\n<\/td>\r\n<\/tr>\r\n

2.3.1\u2026 the importance of supporting my arguments and research findings using quality secondary sources<\/td>\r\nWhat is synthesis?<\/a> video (page 5)<\/td>\r\n<\/tr>\r\n
2.3.2\u2026the need to consider the relevance, accuracy, bias, reputation and credibility of information found<\/td>\r\nSynthesis quiz<\/a>
(pages 6 and 8)

Evaluating information tutorial<\/a>

Evaluating information flowchart<\/a><\/td>\r\n<\/tr>\r\n
2.3.3\u2026 the iterative nature of the search process as I review my findings and explore new avenues<\/td>\r\nDuring a search exercise ask students to note and reflect on the success of their search strategies.

Image of literature searching cycle<\/a> (page 3)<\/td>\r\n<\/tr>\r\n<\/tbody>\r\n<\/table>\r\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Academic staff nurture the development of students\u2019 abilities to frame questions in their discipline, to see patterns in the literature, to evaluate the arguments and to find the gaps.\u00a0Subject librarians\u00a0can help to develop students\u2019 skills in finding where the academic discussions are taking place, in identifying quality resources and background evidence as well as in<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"parent":2017,"menu_order":1,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","template":"","meta":{"footnotes":""},"class_list":["post-80","page","type-page","status-publish","hentry"],"jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"meta_box":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/sites.cardiff.ac.uk\/ilrb\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages\/80","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/sites.cardiff.ac.uk\/ilrb\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/sites.cardiff.ac.uk\/ilrb\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/page"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sites.cardiff.ac.uk\/ilrb\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sites.cardiff.ac.uk\/ilrb\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=80"}],"version-history":[{"count":22,"href":"https:\/\/sites.cardiff.ac.uk\/ilrb\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages\/80\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":4609,"href":"https:\/\/sites.cardiff.ac.uk\/ilrb\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages\/80\/revisions\/4609"}],"up":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sites.cardiff.ac.uk\/ilrb\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages\/2017"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/sites.cardiff.ac.uk\/ilrb\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=80"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}