4.6 Using Retrieval Tools
Once you have found a book or website of interest, you can use retrieval tools to help find the information you are looking for within the book or website. For example, you could look at a book’s table of contents to make sure it addresses your research topic. Websites, like books and other texts, have titles and sometimes subtitles. You can also look at the site menu to find sections that may contain pertinent information.
Bibliographies allow you to find other sources of information by looking at the titles, authors, other sites, etc. used in the sources you consult. Since your research is ongoing, each source of information you find might lead to many other sources of relevant information.
Identifying What a Text Contains
Ask your class to identify the following elements in a text to help them establish what the text is about:
- Title
- Subtitle(s)
- Illustrations
- Etc.
Skimming a Text
How can you find the information you need in a book or website easily and quickly?
You can watch this video about the Reading Strategy: Skimming (8:51) to have more information on that strategy. You can even use it in class with secondary students.
What Is a Bibliography?
A bibliography is a list of all the works cited in a text. It may include articles, books, audiovisual materials and electronic sources.
Excerpt of a bibliography taken from Wikipedia for the word "deforestation"
Conclusion
You can consult the bibliographies in the sources you have found to try to find other sources or even other keywords to further refine your search.
In elementary school, students will learn to explore, recognize and use bibliographic records. In secondary school, students will be taught to use a bibliography to find other sources of information, including books, articles, authors and electronic sources.
You have just seen how to create effective search queries using various sites and strategies to refine your searches. The process is far from over since you now need to evaluate your sources! Remember, the Inquiry Process is an iterative approach. Once you become more familiar with it, the Search and Evaluate steps will overlap.