Finding The

BEST Information

for Your Studies

Learning Centre, Guide 17

Website: http://intolearningcentre.co.uk

E-mail: manchester.lrc@into.uk.com

Telephone: 0161 631 12 22

September 2015

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What sources of information should you use

for your assignments?

Do NOT use Wikipedia as the main source of your information for your

studies; using it to get an understanding of the subject is OK, but

otherwise, if you want good marks, avoid it!

You should make use of a range of

information.

For example:

Newspapers

Books

Academic databases

Internet

1) Newspapers

Two types:

Broadsheets: these are good quality, detailed and well-

written. Examples include: Guardian, Independent, Times,

Financial Times

Tabloids: mostly about celebrities and sport, poorly written

and lack details. Examples include: Daily Mirror, Sun, Star

GOOD points about using broadsheet newspapers in your

studies:

Written by professional journalists

Brief well written information

Very up-to-date

Always ask for

help if you are

stuck!

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BAD points about using broadsheet newspapers in your

studies

Can exaggerate or be untruthful to increase sales

Can lack details

Sometimes only describe an event from one point of view,

can be biased.

2) Books

How do you choose a good book for your studies? Ask yourself

these 3 questions.

Who wrote the book? Does the writer have good subject

knowledge? (for example are they a University Professor,

teacher, politician, business person, writing about a topic in

their area?)

Who is the publisher? Is the publisher a well-known or

respected publisher (for example, a University publisher

such as Manchester University Press, or Oxford University

Press.) Other examples of publishers include: Macmillan,

Hodder, Pearsons, Penguin, Longmans).

Check that the publisher’s name is not the same as the

author’s. This is often a sign that no one else would

produce the book and is called “vanity publishing”.

How old is the book? You usually need an up-to-date

book unless it is a classic book on a subject or historical

analysis.

How do you find books you need in the Learning Centre

and in an University Library?

All libraries have a library catalogue available online, listing all the

books they have. Each book has a number (Dewey number) which

tells you where it is in the library.

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Dewey numbers are also called class numbers or

shelfmarks. The catalogue for the Learning Centre is at

http://intolearningcentre.co.uk (under Popular Links)

Use author and title search to find a single book; use a

subject or keyword search to find a list of books on a

particular topic.

Checklist to help you find the book/s you want:

Make a note of the shelfmark

number from the catalogue

Check how many copies are

available on the catalogue

Is the book/s on loan to somebody

else?

Is the book/s a reference copy? ( this

means you cannot take it out of the

library)

Is the book/s an e-book (electronic book)? This

means it will not be on the shelf and you need to go

online to read it.

You will soon get to know the Dewey numbers of the subjects

you are studying. The main numbers are given below:

Main Dewey Subject Numbers

000 Computer Science, Information and General Works

100 Philosophy and Psychology

200 Religion

300 Social Sciences. Includes 320 Politics, 330 Economics

400 Language. Includes 428.24 Studying English

500 Science. Includes 530 Physics, 540 Chemistry, 574

Biology 510 Mathematics

600 Technology. Includes 650 Business, 658 Management

700 Art and Recreation. Includes 746.92 Design

800 Literature

900 History and Geography

Use the Library

Catalogue to get the

Dewey number of the

book you want . This

number tells you where

you may find the book

on the library shelf

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3) Academic Databases and Other Electronic

Resources All INTO Manchester electronic resources are accessed using the

Open Athens link on our website

http://intolearningcentre.co.uk/online-resources/

Click on the OpenAthens logo

You then use your Open Athens

username and password to log in. If you don’t have an Open Athens

ID and password, see the Learning Centre staff to get one.

In all databases you can print and download within limits set by the

database.

Our databases include:

A. Ebsco is a Social Sciences (Economics, Business, Politics and

Sciences) academic database that covers over 7,000 online journals

and newspapers and has millions of articles. Ebsco is an essential

resource for Graduate Diploma and International Diploma students.

English used in the articles on Ebsco can sometimes be difficult to

understand and there are some specialist words that you may come

across whilst using Ebsco:

Examples include:

Academic article - piece of work written by a university teacher or

educational/subject specialist

Academic Journal - contains several academic articles

Scholarly peer-reviewed- academic article read and judged by

experts to be a good piece of work

References available - the piece of work includes a reading list or

bibliography and throughout the article informs the reader what

works were used to support any findings

Abstract - short description of an academic article - always read this

first!

Cite - puts any academic article you have used in the correct format

for your bibliography.

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You can search Ebsco through a single search box that looks like

Google but for better results use the advanced search option. With

this option you can do the following:

Search by title makes the search more specific

Search for the most recent academic articles only

Search for academic articles that include references

Search for academic articles that are peer-reviewed

You can read the full PDF version of any academic article,

but first read the short version called an abstract

You can print any article, save it and if you use cite, put it

in Harvard style for your bibliography; this option is

particularly important for Graduate Diploma students

You can also search for electronic (e-books)

There is a separate, detailed leaflet on using Ebsco

available in the Learning Centre.

B. E-Books (Myilibrary) Myilibrary is our e-books collection where you can search in one book

or in all of them. Our e-books collection includes some textbooks used

in your courses. The e-books collection covers all subject areas

taught at INTO Manchester. The e-books collection is an essential

resource for all students regardless of which course you are on.

There is a separate, detailed leaflet on using E-Books

available in the Learning Centre.

C. Philip Allan Magazines Cover over ten years of magazines in the following areas:

Politics and Economics, Business, Law, Sciences (Biology, Physics

and Chemistry). Contains good short articles written by teachers and

subject experts. Ideal for Foundation and A level students.

There is a separate, detailed leaflet on using Philip Allan

Magazines available in the Learning Centre.

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Other Electronic Resources All accessed from the Learning Centre website at

http://intolearningcentre.co.uk/online-resources/

A-N Newsletter: for art and design students. Get your

password from Art & Design Foundation Staff

Emerald: only available to Graduate Diploma students. Get the

password from Graduate Diploma staff

Issues Online Database on social issues; covers topics such

as ethics in business and ageing in society. Includes key

statistics and also links to a range of e-books on social issues.

However, if you are using Issues Online off-site, at home,

on a mobile phone/tablet/I Pad etc, you need a special

Issues Online password/username. Please ask Learning

Centre Staff for this.

New Scientist: archive of the popular science magazine. .

However, if you are using New Scientist off-site, at home,

on a mobile phone/tablet/I Pad etc, you need a special

password/username. Please ask Learning Centre Staff for

this.

4) Using the Internet Dangers of using the Internet:

Anyone can set up a website

Many websites offer no evidence for

facts and views

Some websites are hoaxes or fiction.

For example, see http://zapatopi.net/

treeoctopus/

Always check the

website address/ URL

carefully. Is it an

academic website or a

hoax one?

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How to judge if a website is a reliable source of information:

Check its web address or URL for clues.

For example:

.ac or .edu at the end of a URL shows that it is a website from an

educational institution

.gov at the end of a URL shows that it is a website from a

governmental institution

.org at the end of a URL shows that it is a website from an

organisation or charity

co. .net or .com Can be anything!

How to search effectively on the Internet

Many students type in long sentences when searching the Internet.

This means bits of the search will be picked up separately and you will

get 1, 000s of hits that are not exactly what you want. To search more

effectively use Boolean Language.

This is a way of making your searches more exact with fewer hits. For

example:

Use “ ” around a phrase and it will search for all the words in that

phrase

Use + to link two phrases together

Use – to search for one phrase but deliberately miss out the other

one.

Not finding information for

your assignment?

You can get help by coming to

the Learning Centre drop-in

help sessions.

Just ask the Learning Centre

staff to arrange a time that

suits you!