How to become an information literate student.
Last year you had a lecture about searching and finding reliable sources. This year we are going to place searching and finding reliable sources in a larger context: Information Skills. In six steps, you learn to structure your literature research.
You have information skills if you are able to gather, assess, process and present reliable information in a systematic way. This is an important part of the ‘research skills’ competence. You acquire information skills by systematically going through the process of searching for information.
The learning outcome is that you know exactly where to find reliable information and how to apply these sources in your reports. It's all about high quality literature and how to use it correctly and ethically.
 step 1 Orientation |
Orientation in: HANQuest / Google / Google Scholar / Nexis Uni |
 step 2 Searching |
Search query / Search terms / Search strategies |
 step 3 Finding |
Search actions in sources |
 step 4 Assessing |
Assess on reliability |
 step 5 Referencing |
Processing and referencing with APA-Guidelines |
 step 6 Evaluating |
Evaluate / Is it good enough |
From the first step, you should record what you’ve done in your search for information. Creating structure allows you to maintain an overview of the search process.
If you keep a record of your search and results during the search, you can adjust the process as necessary. This allows you to see which search terms and sources you’ve used, and you’ll be able to find this information again later. You will also need a record of your search process and results for the assessment of your final product. The person who is assessing the result needs to be able to verify how you searched and what information you found.