Module summary

 What is information?

• Information is part of a hierarchy with data and knowledge.
• One way of thinking about information is as data with added meaning.

 Types of information

• Common sources of information include books, journals, newspapers and websites.
• Peer reviewed journals are an excellent place to look for authoritative information.
• You may need to use special types of information for your assignments. The Library has guides to help you find these.

 Finding information

• Planning a search strategy will help you to find the best information for your assignment.
• Primo Search provides access to our resources and is a great place to start.
• Databases are more subject specific and allow for very advanced searches.

 Searching the internet

• Internet search engines curate the results that you get back, so treat them with care.
• Just because information is freely available on the internet doesn’t mean that it’s of less quality.
• Open access journals are often peer reviewed and freely available.

 Evaluating information

• There are a lot of ways to tell whether information is reliable.
• You can use the CRAP method as a quick reminder of key qualities.

 Fake news, facts and data

• Alternative facts aren’t facts.
• Fake news isn’t a new phenomenon but can still be hard to spot.
• Be careful when reading about or using statistics – are you getting the full picture?

You have completed the Information Essentials module.

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