WRI 1100: McFarland

Here are a few options for getting started with your research.  While the scientific articles are the primary source for your research, sometimes they are a bit complicated to read without additional background information.  Here are some starting point to fill in your knowledge when getting started.

1. Subject Specific Encyclopedias such as Access Science can be used to look up more information on topics, for example for this class, you might want to check out this search for x-ray fluorescence analysis

2. Popular science articles or a press releases (secondary source that describes research) can be used to read a plain language summary of the original research.

3. Search to library catalog to find books that can give you a foundation on the topic.

Then you can find scientific or peer reviewed journal articles (Although I recommend cycling back through the above as you encounter new questions and information!)

use site:nationalgallery.org.uk/research/research-resources/technical-bulletin to use Google to search the Technical Bulletin Archive

SIFT is a set of four 'moves' you can use when evaluating a source.

Stop - 

• First, what do you know about this source?  What is the reputation of the claim and the website (or journal, or book).  If you don't know, use the other moves to get a sense of what you are looking at.
• Second, think about how much fact-checking you need to do for your purpose. If you want to know if something is reliable to repost on social media, this might be a quick check, but if you are doing scholarly research you would want to do more research before using or sharing

Investigate the source - 

• This does not need to be a full scale investigation, but take a little time to recognize what media type it is and a little about the source before deciding to read, share, or use as a source.

Find Better Coverage - 

• Often the same information will be available from multiple sources. While this doesn't always prove that this information is correct or that you must agree with the claim, it does help to a give context and history for the claim.

Trace claims, quotes, and media back to original media -

• Secondary sources are often stripped of their original context, going back to the primary source, or even a fuller secondary source can help. For example, is the claim broadly accepted or contested? 
• Sometimes you will find that the initial source is outright wrong or mis-leading, but most often you will simply find additional helpful context

Shared under a Creative Commons License from:https://hapgood.us/2019/06/19/sift-the-four-moves/
To learn about SIFT in more detail, check out the SIFT three hour online minicourse.

This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License.

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