SAWLE LITERATURE & RESEARCH CENTRE

RESEARCH ORGANISERBOOKLET

“If we knew what we were doing, it would not be called research, would it?”

Albert Einstein

Name: __________________________________________________________

Subject: _________________________________________________

Teacher: ________________________________________________

Assignment: ____________________________________________

Due Date: ______________________________________________

DEFININGDefining the Task:

What am I being asked to find out? _______________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________

What do I have to present at the end?_______________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________

Mindmapping - BrainstormingWhat do I already know?What do I need to find out?

DEFININGKey Words (from the assignment question & prior knowledge) to guide my research:

Search Terms (assignment sheet, brainstorm, synonyms, antonyms) to guide my research:

Focus Questions:What questions will guide my research? Closed questions will limit your research (they will yield “Yes” or “No”) answers.Try to think of open-ended questions.

Question Starters

Write your questions here…You can ask more than one for each starter.

Who?

What?

Where?

When?

Why?

How?

LOCATINGHow do you decide which are the best resources for your research assignment?The type of research assignment will guide your sources of information.

Three types of information you can use:

PrimaryInformation directly

from the source.

SecondaryInformation someone else has written about

the topic.

TertiaryIndex and/or textual

condensation of primary & secondary sources.

InterviewsSurveysOriginal documents (letters, photographs etc)ExcursionsGuest speakersRealia (real objects)

BooksEncyclopaediasNewspapersPeriodicalsJournalsMagazinesBlogsWikisTwitterYouTube

IndexesDirectoriesSearch results (from Clickview or Google or some other search engine)AMLIB – Library catalogue

Where do I look?The Sawle Literature & Research CentreThe LRC has a wide range of print and digital resources that have been selected for your use. There are a range of books, journals & periodicals, on-line links through the catalogue, and research professionals who are happy to help.

Encyclopaedia Britannica - this is an online encyclopaedia that is great source of information & can be accessed through the school portal page.

The West Australian On-line - there is a password you will need to access this & you can get this from the SLRC staff.

Weblinks - these appear on the catalogue as WL with a link to click on.

Sawle Literature & Research Centre website – research process tabs with resource links.

The Internet – there are millions of resources available on-line so remember to use the hints below.

LOCATINGHow do I know the website is relevant?

RADCAB (created by Karen M. Christensson, M.S. Library Media Education)

Relevancy Is the information relevant to the question I am trying to answer?

AppropriatenessIs the information suitable to my age and core values?

Detail How much information do I need? Is the depth of coverage adequate?

Currency When was the information published or last updated?

Authority Who is the author of the information?What are his/her qualifications? Are they an expert in this area? How do you know?

Bias Why was the information written? Was it written to inform me, persuade me, entertain me, sell something to me?

Key Words & Search Terms:Make a note of key words (from the assignment information) and search terms you used during your research.

Circle the most useful ones & make note of any more terms you discover.

LOCATINGSearch EnginesWhich search engines did you use?Try more than one.

Google Duck Duck GoSearch Cube

Mashpedia Sweet Search Instagrok

Boolify Mrs Freckles

Possible sources of Information

Primary Sources:

Interview Survey DocumentSurvey

Secondary Sources:

Book Encyclopaedia Journal/Newspaper

Audio/video Internet Blog

YouTube Twitter Wiki

Tertiary Sources:Library Databases

Encyclopaedia Britannica

SELECTINGNote Making OverviewTask/Problem: ____________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________Focus Question: ________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________

Subheading from Focus Question

Notes Source(refer back to & for bibliography)

Focus Question: ________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________

Subheading from Focus Question

Notes Source(refer back to & for bibliography)

Focus Question: ___________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________

_____________________________________________________________________

Subheading from Focus Question

Notes Source(refer back to & for bibliography)

Focus Question: ________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________

Subheading from Focus Question

Notes Source(refer back to & for bibliography)

PROCESSING / ORGANISINGResearch Notes

Heading: ____________________________________________________________

Focus Question: ______________________________________________________

Research Key Word

Notes(point form – new line for each new idea)

Source(refer back to & for bibliography)

Make more copies of this page if you need to.

PROCESSING / ORGANISINGResearch Notes

Heading: ____________________________________________________________

Focus Question: ______________________________________________________

Research Key Word

Notes(point form – new line for each new idea)

Source(refer back to & for bibliography)

Make more copies of this page if you need to.

PROCESSING / ORGANISINGNotes into Paragraphs

Basic Paragraph:T – topic sentenceE – explanationE – exampleT – tie back

__________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________

PRESENTINGOnce a draft has been written and checked with the criteria on your assignment sheet, put your information into its final form ready for presentation.

Remember to include your research booklet & your bibliography.

Proofing Reading & Editing Checklist:

Punctuation I have edited.

Someone else has edited.

Capital letters – start sentencesCapital letters – proper nounsFull stopsCommas – used in lists, joining similar ideas.Apostrophes - contractions

SpellingCheck words underlined in redUnderline anything you are unsure of.

Grammar & WritingRead sentences out loud – make sense.Used interesting sentences.Sentences make sense.Paragraph

PRESENTINGSimple Bibliography

Primary SourcesPerson / artefact / place:

Who/What/Where Date Place

Secondary SourcesBook:

Author Date Title Publisher Place of publicati

on

Internet:Author (company,

institution etc)

Date(copyright, update, publicati

on)

Title(page, article,

heading)

http: Date(you

downloaded

information)

Journals:Author Date Title of

articleJournal Title Volum

e number

Page numbe

rs

If sourced on line include http & download date.

Newspaper:Author Date Title of

articleNewspaper

TitleVolum

e number

Page numbe

rs

EVALUATINGSelf-reflection:

How did I go with the research task?

What was I able to do well?

What did I have difficulty with?

What do I need to improve?

What are three things I learned while doing this task?1.

2.

3.

Is there some thing I learned that will help me next time?

Is there a better way that I could have tackled this task?

Is there anything else that my teachers could provide to help with this task? (except for the answers )

Research Organiser Booklet – available on Sawle Literature & Research Centre website