What other things do you need to consider?
There are a number of factors that must be considered when choosing appropriate materials. These include:
- How comprehensive is the assignment meant to be?
- What type of presentation is required?
- Do you need primary, secondary or tertiary information sources?
How comprehensive is the assignment meant to be?
The longer the assignment, the greater the amount of information (and the level of detail) you will need to include in your answer. The type of assignment will also determine what type of material to use. Decide whether it is appropriate to use an encyclopedia, books, journal articles, or all of these. Use a number of sources to understand the issues and to avoid unwittingly following the opinion of an unreliable source.
What type of assignment is required?
You may have to do a book review, a scientific report, keep a personal journal, write a major essay or put together an annotated bibliography (an annotated bibliography is one in which you have added your own comments to the bibliographical information you have collected).
Some types of resources are more appropriate for specialised purposes than others. To take one example, encyclopedia articles are usually not included in an annotated bibliography.
Do I need primary, secondary or tertiary information sources?
The distinction between these different sorts of information is extremely important.
Primary sources contain original information. They are particularly useful in that they contain details that are often left out by the people who write secondary sources.
|
Examples of primary sources
|
Secondary sources occur when primary sources are interpreted, evaluated or rearranged to produce material for a specified purpose or audience. Consulting secondary sources can save you lots of time, plus you gain background information and insight into the interrelationship of material from several sources as a result of the author's knowledge and expertise. When using secondary or tertiary sources watch for bias and reliability of evidence and decide for yourself if you agree with the author's conclusions.
|
Examples of secondary sources
|
Tertiary sources are collections which review or evaluate material (either primary or secondary or both) about particular subjects. The distinction between secondary and tertiary sources is often hard to make. Perhaps the important point is that tertiary sources are usually another step removed from the original information. That doesn't mean that they are necessarily less accurate, but there is always the danger that each step away from the primary source material will lead to further errors of interpretation or fact.
|
Examples of tertiary sources
|
Sometimes your assignment will require you to work from the primary sources. At other times, you will find it much more useful to use secondary or tertiary sources. If in doubt, consult your unit coordinator.
Some other questions
There are many other questions that you need to ask yourself. These include:
- Do I need information about Australian conditions or will material from other parts of the world be sufficient?
- Do I need the latest information or will older material do?
- Do I require statistical data?
- Do I need special sorts of information, such as the text of government legislation, government policy statements, official reports or maps?
Sometimes you need to search for very specialised or obscure pieces of information. This sort of material is not always readily available. You will often need to ask library staff for assistance. The Ask a Librarian service is often a good place to start. You can also talk to the staff at the Service Desk or ring them on 02 6773 2458.
The time you have available to complete your assignment will also influence your approach. If you don't have much time, you will probably find that items like bibliographies become indispensable. Although no bibliography contains a list of everything ever written on a particular topic, a few minutes spent reading a bibliography will often give you enough references to complete your assignment. General and subject specific encyclopedias can often save time by providing you with a quick overview of the main issues in a topic area.
Don't leave your search until the last minute. Searching for information on the World Wide Web is fast, but you won't always find what you need. Leave time for a thorough subject search or for books to be posted to you if you live at a distance from the campus.
 |
ASO Fact Sheet - Time Management Fill out this page on Time Management produced by UNE's Academic Skills Office to help you manage your time more effectively. In addition, the Academic Skills Office runs regular workshops on time management. |
Summary
We've looked at the following:
- The sorts of questions do you need to ask yourself to ensure that you choose the right materials to assist you in your search
- The differences between primary, secondary and tertiary information sources
- The importance of using your time effectively and were to go for help regarding time management.
Next, we'll examine the ways you can find the exact information that you need.
 |
Self-test
Try these quick self-test questions to assess what you have learnt from this module. |
