Research Paper Survival Guide - Fayette County Schools

Research Process
What are the steps in the research process?
The Big6 Skills are:
1 Task Definition
1.1 Define the information problem
1.2 Identify the information you need
2 Information Seeking Strategies
2.1 Determine possible sources
2.2 Select the best sources
3 Location and Access
3.1 Locate the sources
3.2 Find the information within sources
4 Use of Information
4.1 Engage
4.2 Extract relevant information
5 Synthesis
5.1 Organize information from multiple sources
5.2 Present the information
6 Evaluation
6.1 Judge the product
6.2 Judge the process
Source: http://www.big6.com/kids/7-12.htm
For more information on The Big6 Skills, see the handouts for high school and middle
school.
Where do I start?
After you have identified your topic, begin searching in the media center. Your media
specialist will be able to help you get started if you have never conducted research in
the media center before. Public and university libraries have specialized librarians
called research librarians who may be able to help you.
How can I tell if a web resource is reliable?
Good question. Evaluating the information you find on the Internet is important. Not all
information published on the Internet should be used in research papers. You can use
this handout to evaluate sources you find on the Internet, or your teacher may have
another handout or set of guidelines to use. Students are not allowed to cite useredited
resources (i.e. Wikipedia.org) according to FCBOE policy.
How can I keep track of everything I find? I keep going back to the same sources
over and over.
Try using a research log. (See sample on next page)
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Research Paper Survival Guide