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Pattimura Elementary Library: Locate

Locate

Students will be able to :

Range of Sources

                              We recommend using a range of sources to find answers to your questions. 


This helps provide a balanced view of what you are researching, but also helps you check the reliability of the information you find.

 

Books - Using the school or public library is a great way to find books around the subject you are searching for. Destiny, the school library catalog, has a list of all titles available at JIS, which is a great place to start.
 
 
 
Websites - Learning how to find the very best websites to suit your needs is a skill worth developing. Check out the videos below to learn more about searching strategies. Try WebPath Express, a service the school subscribes to which searches sites which are suitable for students and identifies findings by grade level.

 
 
 

Interviews - Speaking to knowledgeable individuals is another valuable source of information. Thinking about different perspectives on an issue or topic is a useful approach.



 

Videos - We can learn a great deal from watching videos about the subject we are researching. Sometimes it is easier for us to learn from viewing information instead of reading it. BrainPop and Learn360 are great websites for videos. 

 


 

Images - Images can bring our research to life and inform us about a topic. We encourage ethical use in all aspects of research, and searching for images is one example. The following sites are recommended: Photosforclass and Compfight, 

 

How to Search Google Effectively

 
Matt Cutts, and engineer from Google, explains how Google Search engines work in the video How Search Works (below).
 
 
 

Boolean Strategies

Boolean search terms allow us to filter our search results so we are more likely to find the websites that are useful to us. 
The basic Boolean search terms are:
AND      - which combines two or more keywords/phrases (e.g. apples AND oranges)
NOT    - which removes specific keywords/phrases (e.g. fruit NOT oranges)
OR          - which shows combined results for two or more keywords/phrases (e.g. apples OR oranges)
"___"  - which searches for a specific phrase (e.g. "apple pie")
 
Try Boolify for a great intro to Boolean search terms.

Using Keywords

Keywords are the keys to unlocking information on the Internet. Each keyword gets you closer to the information you are looking for.

As you look for Information:

Try to imagine the exact answer you are looking for.

  • What keywords do you hope to find?
  • Try to use terms that are commonly used and that are absolutely essential to your research question.

A group of terms is called a search string. Try building your search one term at a time, just as you would add beads to a string. You don't need to add a + or the word and between the term and the next.

 

Sources

  • "Choosing and Combining Search Terms." Bristol University. N.p., n.d. Web. 29 Sept. 2013.
  • YouTube. YouTube, n.d. Web. 29 Sept. 2013.

 

Image Credits:
Locate icon made by Freepik from www.flaticon.com 
Book - Creative Commons - Attribution (CC BY 3.0) Foomandoonian, from The Noun Project http://thenounproject.com/noun/book/#icon-No2248
Laptop - Creative Commons - Attribution (CC BY 3.0), The Noun Project http://thenounproject.com/noun/laptop/#icon-No114
Question - Creative Commons - Attribution (CC BY 3.0) Martin Delin, from The Noun Project http://thenounproject.com/noun/question/#icon-No5742
Video Camera - Creative Commons - Attribution (CC BY 3.0) Monica Ciapala, from The Noun Project http://thenounproject.com/noun/video-camera/#icon-No6199
Image - Creative Commons - Attribution (CC BY 3.0), The Noun Project http://thenounproject.com/noun/picture/#icon-No541
Key - Creative Commons - Attribution (CC BY 3.0) Márcio Duarte, from The Noun Project http://thenounproject.com/noun/key/#icon-No7169