7. Information Literacy Guidance: Using Boolean Search

It is convenient to use search engines to look for useful resources for your project. However, how can I make use of them effectively so that I can locate the most suitable information?

Boolean search is a skill that allows you to narrow your search to the most relevant data. With the use of Boolean operators (e.g. OR, NOT), you can more easily find information you want.

 

 

You can learn more about Boolean Search here:
 

http://websearch.about.com/od/2/g/boolean.htm

7. Information Literacy Guidance: Organising your work using Big Six thinking skills

 There is so much information available on the Internet. The question is: How should I evaluate the information and prepare for my project in a well-organised manner?

 

One possible way for you to do so is to adopt “Big Six”, a thinking model that guides you through the project starting with defining your task and finally ending with assessing everything you have done.

Here is a link about an article which elaborates Big Six in detail:

http://www.nypl.org/blog/2013/11/18/research-using-big6-skills-better-grades#comment-10112

Alternatively, you can visit the official Big Six website:

http://big6.com/

 

7. Information Literacy Guidance: Choose the right search engine

When you start your research online, the first thing is you have to look for the right search engines that suit your need.

     1. Google is always a safe bet for most search queries, and Yahoo is also a great choice. Enter the keywords and you will very quickly see useful stuff.

     

      2. Some search engines will help you with search suggestions, including Clusty, WiseNut, and AOL Search, in addition to Gigablast and SurfWax. You can also filter your searches quit effectively with advanced Google search shortcuts.

       3.  Remember you are doing a project that requires concrete knowledge and reliable information. Some search sites that deal primarily in academic and research oriented results. Included among there are YahooReference, National Geographic Map Machine, MagPortal, CompletePlanet, GoogleScholar, and EducationWorld.

       4.You might need photos for your presentations. Images on the Web are easy to find, especially with targeted image search engines such as Picsearch, Ditto, and of course, Google has some fantastic image search capabilities.

Source of information

Boswell, W. (n.d.). The perfect search engine: How to pick the right tool for the job. Retrieved from http://websearch.about.com/od/enginesanddirectories/p/websearch101.htm

6.Additional information for interest: Online Quiz(Online quiz)

Reason for recommendation:

The online quiz is an easy-to-use tool which contains four questions only. Upon answering each question, users will be told if their answers are correct, and a detailed explanatory note is also provided. These are  nice tools for people who are eager to explore the less noticed aspect of the topic.

Here are the links: 

http://projects.eri.ucsb.edu/understanding/quiz/
http://www.jpl.nasa.gov/multimedia/earthquake1906/html-quiz/
http://www.proprofs.com/quiz-school/story.php?title=earthquake-quiz_7
http://www.quizplz.com/science/earth/earthquake-quiz.htm

 

Information Literacy guidance:

Enter the website and for each question select the answer users deem correct. Submit the answer and users can get an explanation. Once the quiz is over, users can get to the homepage for more information on the topic.

5.Case Study + Preparing for presentation(authoritative websites: database)

We can learn the damage of earthquake by searching database.

http://earthquake.usgs.gov/earthquakes/eqarchives/

Reason for recommendation:

By its powerful database which provides and applies relevant earthquake information and knowledge, viewers can have more ideas about earthquake by easy searching of information. Its large amount of data also allows viewers to experience more during real case study.

Others:
http://www.csi.ac.cn/publish/main/813/2/index.html
http://www.hko.gov.hk/gts/equake/neqpress_e.htm
http://earthquake.usgs.gov/learn/today/
http://www.ngdc.noaa.gov/nndc/struts/form?t=101650&s=1&d=1
http://www.ga.gov.au/earthquakes/searchQuake.do

Information Literacy guidance:

These are informative websites government website, they provide reliable geographic earthquake data all over the world.

Viewers can select the information of earthquake base on its location, date, magnitude, destructive, etc first. Then summarize the information of earthquake.

Learning tools:

Real case study is set to students. Four students will form a group. They are requested to focus on one or a couple of the earthquakes happened in the past, summarize its geographic and historic information, explain the cause, characteristics and effects. The main part of the project, however, is on students' critical thinking and analysis of the case.



Students must first study the case and then come up with an issue that they want to examine. They should then gather information and look for data from the Internet for analysis. In the end, they should make suggestions on how to work on potential problems (including damage and casualties) caused by earthquake.




Students may refer to the following critical thinking model for reference:
http://www.criticalthinking.org/ctmodel/logic-model1.htm

Case study guidelines:

 

1.Examine and describe the case (the factual component of the research project) Give a detailed description of the case you have selected, including the time, location and damage caused. Some possible questions to answer: Why did the earthquake occur?  Which plates collided with each other?  How severe was the damage?

2.Identify the key issues or problem in case study with supporting documents and statistics (the analysis of information)  Some possible questions to answer: What are so significant about this earthquake? What are the statistics associated with this case that prove your observation correct?

3. Analyze the data with critical thinking. Some possible questions to answer: Was anyone to be blamed for the damage and casualties? Did the case suggest any loopholes in the measures in preparation of earthquakes?

4. Conclude your analysis by reviewing your findings and emphasize on significance of different study. Some possible questions to answer: What  should we learn from the case? What measures should the government of the country adopt in order to minimise damage caused by future earthquakes?

5.References and Appendix.    It is important that you acknowledge the source. of information. Make sure you quote the sources properly. You may make use of the following website: http://citationmachine.net/index2.php

Tips: Always read a case study several times. At first, you should read just for the basic details. On each subsequent reading, look for details about a specific topic; highlight phrases and sections relating to the topic and take notes.

4.Earthquake Safety

How should we reduce the damage? 

Reason for recommendation:

The information on this page is designed as a step-by-step guide to provide details on what to do before, during, and after an earthquake.Seven steps are clearly introduced; every step is presented in point form and illustrated with pictures.

http://earthquakecountry.org/sevensteps/

http://www.sciencedaily.com/news/earth_climate/earthquakes/

http://www.redcross.org/prepare/disaster/earthquake

http://www.hko.gov.hk/gts/equake/eq_safety_e.htm

http://www.police.uci.edu/em/EarthquakeSafetyTop10.pdf

http://amo-csd.lbl.gov/downloads/Earthquake%20Safety%20Procedures.pdf

Exercise guidance:

In order to classify different steps, before students visit the website, students finish the matching of seven steps and related pictures for preparation. After browsing the webpage, students fill in the note with specific descriptions.

Exercise for understanding information

graphic organizers

3.Earthquake Damage (2)

Purpose: Focus on facts and statistics on earthquake 

Students are required to do the research on facts and statistics on earthquake.

Here are the steps that students can do:

1. Use various searching engines like google, yahoo, AOL, etc to search for the related resources. 

2. Students can use key words like frequency of occurrence, magnitude charge, earthquake data, etc. (Use Boolean search)

3. Once students find suitable data, they have to understand and analyze the facts and statistics for case study project and final presentation. 

Recommend following resources: 

http://earthquake.usgs.gov/earthquakes/feed/v1.0/

This is a link with real-time feeds & notifications that suggested web tools on providing the most latest news on earthquake datas through email, Atom Syndication and Tweet Earthquake Dispatch. Spreadsheet Applications, Programmatic Access and Google Earth KML are useful tools for reorganizing datas and information.

Tweet Earthquake Dispatch

Tweet Earthquake Dispatch (TED) offers two Twitter accounts. On average, each account will produce about one tweet per day.

Atom Syndication

A basic syndication format supported by a variety of feed readers. This is a good option for casually subscribing to earthquake information.

Spreadsheet Applications

A simple text format suitable for loading data into spreadsheet applications like Microsoft Excel™. This is a good option for manual scientific analysis.

QuakeML

A flexible, extensible and modular XML representation of seismological data which is intended to cover a broad range of fields of application in modern seismology.

Earthquake Notification Service

The Earthquake Notification Service (ENS) is a free service that sends you automated notifications to your email or cell phone when earthquakes happen.

Google Earth KML

This feed format is suitable for loading into applications that understand Keyhole Markup Language (KML) such as Google Earth™.

Programmatic Access

A well-structured format readily parsed by most programming languages. This is a good option for software developers wishing to use earthquake data.

• Formats
  • ATOM
  • GeoJSON Summary
  • GeoJSON Detail
  • KML
  • Spreadsheets
  • QuakeML
• Web Service
  • API Documentation
  • Search Earthquake Archives
• Glossary
• Change Log
• Feed Life Cycle Policy

Source of information

USGS. Science for a changing world from http://earthquake.usgs.gov/earthquakes/feed/v1.0/

Other: Exercise

Students can fill in the following exercise to test their concept on earthquake statistics according to http://earthquake.usgs.gov/earthquakes/world/world_deaths.php