Identify the information needed

• Analyze task in terms of information already known.
• Analyze task in terms of information needed, considering amount, format, location, and type;e.g., numerical, text, pictorial information.
• Formulate primary research questions.
• Select and narrow or broaden keyword search terms.

• Develop an information search strategy based on a personal information search style, beginning with the resources available in or through the school library media center.
• Identify potential information resources in such formats as CD-ROM, video, network, virtual reality, print, and videodisk, including:

• Encyclopedias
• Almanacs
• Newspapers
• Periodicals
• Dictionaries
• Atlases
• Thesauruses

  What is a Thesaurus ?
• Quotes or sayings
• Biographical dictionary

• Geographical dictionaries
• Specialized encyclopedias, automotive manuals, computer handbooks, etc
• General collection resources, both nonfiction and fiction, including literature.
• Human resources: e.g., interviews, in person, or on radio, on television.
• Community resources: e.g., other libraries, art galleries, museums, chambers of commerce, historical organizations, private and governmental agencies. Another related site.
• Databases on local and global networks; e.g., news and weather services, stock market reports, library catalogs, full-text services
• University data bases
• The Internet Public Library
• Historical information sources
• Information and resources available through electronic bulletin boards, discussion groups, e.g., mailing lists, newsgroups.
• Recognize recreational uses of literature in print and nonprint resources.

• Evaluate for relevance, accuracy, availability, timeliness, cost, authority, and ease of use.
• Evaluate for differing points of view and absence of bias and prejudice.
• Apply an understanding of the difference between primary and secondaryresources.
• Determine if resource can be obtained within the defined timeline of the task.
•  Select only materials meeting above criteria.

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• Information Literacy Lesson plans

Brush Up on the Internet: Illustrates the need to evaluate information found on the Internet for authority, authenticity, applicability, and bias.
• Outta Ray's Head Library lessons
• At Home in the Heartland:Lesson plans on family research
• Interviewing your family, neighbors
• Using Oral History
• Activities using primary resources
• Writer's Roost Online Writing Resources: Primary vs. Secondary Sources
• Using Primary Sources in the Classroom
• Is the Internet a Web of Deceit?  Teaches students how to determine if a Web site is credible in authorship, information, currency, and other evaluation challenges, and culminates in a written critique of the Web site analyzed in class.
• Horus' Web Links to History Resources
• Boolean searches on the Internet