Information Literacy

Your teacher and subject will have specific requirements for how you should reference or research. The below information is a starting point and a refresher for those who need it. Always consult your teacher and the course requirements to have a clear direction of what you need to complete your course to a high standard.Head librarian

Information Literacy

Identify when you need information and learn how to find, evaluate and record it.

Bibliographies and reference lists

REFERENCING or Who Did and thought What?

WHAT is it?
Referencing is acknowledging when you use someone else’s work.
It is a standardised method of formatting information sources you have used.

WHY should I?
There are many reasons we need to reference our work. A few are:

It’s the right thing to do – you are using someone else’s work
It traces the origins of ideas and your research process
It avoids plagiarism (which can have serious legal consequences)
It demonstrates your integrity and appreciation

WHERE does it go?
In-text citations give a brief acknowledgment in your body of work. They are in the text of your essay or document. All In-text citations should be listed in full in your bibliography.

Full referencing is done at the end of your work. It is usually added to a separate page and is often called a bibliography.

WHEN do I have to do it?
You need to reference when:

Directly copying something – including images, diagrams, and graphs
Using other people’s ideas – including friends and family – even if you’ve written them in your own words
Reusing your own work

It’s important to remember that it does not just apply to written text. And acknowledging your sources is especially important in public online spaces and formal assessments.

HOW do I create a reference list?

There are thousands of different referencing styles. Our school does not have one set method. Different subjects have different expectations, so always ask your teacher what they expect. If in doubt APA is a good style to use.

At a minimum, you will need: who wrote it, when they wrote it, and where you got it from.
Eg. Author, date, Source (Title of book, URL of website etc) Your teacher needs to be able to find the original information.

There are many apps to help with referencing. You can do your bibliography directly in Word (See video) or use external website or software. These save you time and help you be more accurate.

RefMe: www.refme.com If you would like a site to hold you references

The University of Auckland has this cite generator for many different reference styles
http://www.cite.auckland.ac.nz/2.html

Examples of APA style references.

Always have your list in alphabetical order.

If there is a type of material you don’t know how to reference? The ultimate guide if you are lost is http://www.apastyle.org/
but here are some common examples
Book
Author, A. (Year of Publication). Title of work. Publisher City, State: Publisher.
Websites or images from a website
Author, A. (date). Title of document [Format description]. Retrieved from http://URL
Video (eg. YouTube)
Author, A. A. [Screen name]. (year, month day). Title of video [Video file]. Retrieved from http://xxxxx
Apsolon, M. [markapsolon]. (2011, September 9). Real ghost girl caught on Video Tape 14 [Video file]. Retrieved from http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6nyGCbxD848

See below a video on how to reference using Word.

Researching

Researching is not a linear process you will find yourself taking 2 steps forward and 1 step back. This is important as it helps to clarify your keywords and identify which information is relevant and what can be discarded. Excellence is achieved by using resources which are hard to find. Using Epic databases is a good pathway to achieving this.

Check back in with your topic question and teacher to make sure that you are not getting distracted. Get clear on what you are looking for.

Make sure to head over to the digital literacy page for tips about online searching.

The research cycle – https://sengawhite.nz

The research cycle explained – www.sengawhite.co.nz

Once you have been asked to find information where do you go?

The library has physical and digital resources. Searching the library catalogue and knowing where possible sources are in the library will take practice. Ask your librarian for help if you get stuck.

Also, try the public library, museums, contact relevant people directly(be respectful).

Physical resources to help with your research may include.

Books (The Non-Fiction area if the library is shelved according to the Dewey decimal system. So subjects are grouped together)
Encyclopedias/World books
Magazines (Remember most articles are now available online – try EPIC)
Newspapers (Paperspast is a great online source)
Studyit (A useful site for Students studying NECA)

When looking in a physical book there are helpful sections to check out to see if it is relevant to your topic. Check the Contents page, the introduction, and the index. Look for your keywords.