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Botany: Finding Scholarly Information for Assignments

Finding information steps

  1. Define your topic and plan your search
  2. Gather background information to help you understand your topic further (Reference or e-books from the library).
  3. Look for scholarly research (books, journal articles, reports etc...). Search Library collections, databases, and the internet.
  4. Evaluate your sources and information.
  5. Cite your sources.

Planning your search

The first step to finding good quality information is to plan your search. If you develop a strategy, or plan, for your search before you start, it will save you time later and provide you with more relevant, better quality results.

Assess your findings

Evaluating and thinking critically about sources of information are important skills to develop and apply while undertaking research.

Not all information is reliable and appropriate for academic work, and not all information is relevant to your particular topic.

You should challenge and reflect on information that you find; don’t just accept everything you read.

Te Whatu Aho Rau - He Anga Arotake: an information evaluation framework - provides a holistic Māori-informed view of the information evaluation process, to apply as you find and select quality information.

Collaborators: Dr Angela Feekery and Reupena Tawhai, 2024

Te Whatu Aho Rau can be interpreted as 'the weaving of a hundred threads' or 'the eye catching a hundred lights'.

Assess sources, based on:
  • Pūtaketanga - Origin - trace the expertise, intent and authority
  • Aronga - Lens, Perspective, Purpose - objectivity of the information
  • Tātai hononga - Connections - conversations between ideas, communities, and disciplines
  • Māramatanga - Understanding - usability of the source for your purpose, audience, and context

     

    Formerly known as Rauru Whakarare Evaluation Framework

    Assess sources, based on:

  • OROKOHANGA - ‘The Origins’: The source of the information
  • MANA - ‘The Authority’ of the information
  • WHAKAPAPA - ‘The Background’ of the information
  • MĀRAMATANGA - ‘The Content’ and usability of the information
  • ARONGA - ‘The Lens’ or objectivity of the information

    Tutorial link

    • Work through this tutorial to develop your skills in evaluating information that you find online:

    SIFT - Evaluating Information Tutorial

    Even though the library databases are good sources of information, we still need to evaluate that information before we decide to use it. You can do this by asking the following questions:

    • Is the information relevant to your topic?​
    • Who are the authors, are they experts in the field? Who do they work for? What else have they written?​
    • What evidence is given, what references are given, and what methodology is used?​
    • How is the study funded? Is there a bias?​
    • When was the information written, is it still relevant? Has it been updated or amended in light of new evidence?

    Use the acronym BADURL to help you evaluate online sources:
    B ... Bias
    A ... Authority
    D ... Date
    U ... URL
    R ... Relevance
    L ... Links

    Work through this tutorial to develop your skills in evaluating information that you find online:

    TRAAP Test

    Or apply these terms to assess if the information you have found answers your research question.

    Timeliness

    Relevance

    Authority

    Accuracy

    Purpose

    Download the TRAAP Test Questions

    Here are some resources to help develop your evaluating skills:

    • For a simple 'commonsense' approach to evaluating claims made by the news media, read this short article by Doug Specht & Julio Gimenez from the University of Westminster, and pay close attention to the 6 'steps for reading like a scientist'.
    • If you need to verify a claim, you can check it on a fact-checking website. Check out this guide to Fact Checkers, curated by the University of California Berkley Library, for ideas on what websites to use if you are not sure.
    • Work through this excellent module on 'evaluating information and critical thinking' created by The University of Sheffield Library.
    • Check out this fun, short, easy game, created by a Canadian civics charity organisation 'CIVIX'. The game is designed to improve your verifying sources skills, by teaching you tricks for checking a claim, a source and an image: FAKEOUT

    Evaluating information

    Evaluating the accuracy and suitability of information is important for every academic assignment.

    Watch this short video to learn more (From Charles Sturt University Library)

    CSU: Evaluating Information Sources:

    https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hxzdlLcZAB4&t=177s