There are many things I learned about searching in this class, but the three things that I will try to apply on a daily basis would be how to:
- Using AND/OR properly
- This is important because it helps me specify what I am searching for. Using and/or in the right places helps me narrow down my search results which pertain to the topic I am trying to gather information on.
- Developing research topics
- Trying to narrow down a research question is quite the daunting task. Using the information I gathered from this class, I know what words to use, how to structure my research question, and not to be ambiguous.
- Checking the background info on sources we use
- The legitimacy of a source is important. Learning how to search about the authors who publish the articles that I will cite is instrumental to the factuality of the topic I am discussing.
What I wish we spent more time on is identifying what type of source we are using. BEAM helps a lot, and so did the graphs, but it’s a slippery slope trying to differentiate between sources.
