Acknowledgements

Unit Image

Courtesy of banlon  1964.

All other materials included in this unit are derived from content originated at the Open University.

1. Join the 200,000 students currently studying with The Open University.

1.6.5 RSS

RSS (‘Really Simple Syndication’ or ‘Rich Site Summary’) newsfeeds supply headlines, links, and article summaries from various websites. By using RSS ‘feedreader’ software you can gather together a range of feeds and read them in one place: they come to you, rather than you having to go out and look for breaking news. The range of RSS feeds on offer is growing daily. There is probably a feed to cover all aspects of your life where you might need the latest information, and you may
Author(s): The Open University

1.6.4 Blogs

The founder ofTechnorati  claims that the number of ‘blogs’ doubles every five months and that the creation rate is approaching two per second. One estimate I read in July 2010 put the number at 400 million ‘blogs’. Because these online diaries offer instant publishing opportunities, you potentially have access to a wealth of knowledge from commentators and experts (if they blog) in a wi
Author(s): The Open University

1.5.7 Referencing

We mentioned above that we need to reference sources to ensure we abide by copyright legislation. But there is another reason we need to give accurate references to items we use – so we can share it.

Consider this scenario. A friend says they’ve just read an interesting article where Joshua Schachter, founder of Delicious has spoken about why it isn’t a faceted search system, and you should read it. How would you go about finding it? Would you start looking in a news database, a s
Author(s): The Open University

1.4.5 M is for Method

Method is about the way in which a piece of information is produced. This is quite a complex area as different types of information are produced in different ways. These are a few suggestions to look out for:

Opinions – A lot of information is based on the opinion of individuals. They may or not be experts in their field (see P for Provenance) but the key message is to be clear that it is just an opinion and must be valued as such.

Research – You don’t have t
Author(s): The Open University

Learning outcomes

By the end of this unit you should be able to:

• conduct your own searches efficiently and effectively;

• find references to material in bibliographic databases;

• make efficient use of full text electronic journals services;

• critically evaluate information from a variety of sources;

• understand the importance of organising your own information;

• identify some of the systems available;

• describe how
  Author(s): The Open University
  

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2.2 Using specific or general questions

Notice the difference between closed questions and open questions.

Closed questions

These questions are very specific and the answers give precise information.

• Are there sites available?

• Yes.

• Has it got air conditioning?

• No.

• Where is Preston?

• In the north-west of England.

• What's the population?

• 128
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