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Concordian International School

Information Literacy Resources: Identify

Digital Learning Objects

Icons Used in This Guide 

video game    text/tables  flash 

FlashBrainstorming Demonstration

CONTENT: click on image to demo how to explore facets of a broad topic & generate questions 

MEDIIUM/TIME: quick interactive

ASSESSMENT: no

NOTES: U of Idaho. Good visual impact

WHY WE LIKE IT: helpful for visual learners

Video Formulating a Research Strategy

CONTENT: identify major concepts in research topic; keyword, synonyms, truncation

MEDIUM/TIME: video (5:15)

ASSESSMENT: interactive quiz, worksheet

NOTES: Hunter College; learn basics of Boolean searching AND OR NOT, parentheses, truncation

WHY WE LIKE IT: lively, fun, informative; feedback and live help links and printable PDF tip sheet

 text Primary vs. Secondary Sources

CONTENT: definitions of primary and secondary sources with examples'; websites for locating services

MEDIUM/TIME: web page with chart, text

ASSESSMENT: no

NOTES: Borough of Manhattan CC; In contrast to video above, these diagrams provide text information

WHY WE LIKE IT: quick explanation w/examples; suggestions of authoritative open web primary sources

Video Scholarly vs. Popular Periodicals

CONTENT: identifies differences between scholarly and popular sources

MEDIUM/TIME: animated video (3:11)

ASSESSMENT: no

NOTES: Vanderbilt University; quick overview; does note that it can be more difficult to determine on the web v print

WHY WE LIKE IT: short and to the point; much viewed

Flash Timeline Demonstration

CONTENT: a news event makes visible to the public basic information, but that information is a part of a continuum that begins before and lasts long after the event takes place, and is not always visible to the public. 

MEDIUM/TIME: quick interactive

ASSESSMENT: no

NOTES: U of Idaho. Good visual impact

WHY WE LIKE IT: helpful for visual learners

Critical Thinking

Additional Class Exercises to Promote Critical Thinking Skills

  • Keep a record of library research. Search statement or research question as it evolves, keywords, sources used, subject headings searched in Alicat, noting successes and failures and adjustments.
  • Brainstorming exercise or some kind of graphic organizer of a research topic. Helps students see the broader and narrower issues of a topic and use it to find key words, phrases, dates.
  • Generate a list of articles of interest for the class to study, from a variety of sources (free web, newspaper sites, print & ebooks, print journals, subscription databases). Spend a class period "weeding" the selections from a disciplinary perspective, coming up with some standards of quality as a class. Have students use those markers and choose one article to read and annotate. Use Types of Articles Quick Guide.
  • Follow a current event as it develops. Who are the organizers involved? Who is the audience and interested parties? What is the history of the issue? What are the ideological conflicts?
  • Find a primary source on an issue or historical topic, then contrast it with a secondary source on the same issue or topic. Discuss how the treatment is different in each source and how to identify primary sources in databases. Here is more information on Primary and Secondary Sources
  • Select a topic related to your subject area and find a popular article concerning this topic. Then find a scholarly article on the same subject. Compare and contrast the approaches between popular and scholarly sources; what are their different viewpoints; look for bias, style and intended audience.