Communication and Information Competency in Small Bytes

Purpose and Decision to Start

Rhetorical Need
Motivation
Planning and management of tasks over time

Problem Question

Generate Information Needs and Questions

General orientation to subject
Specific topics: events, chronology, people, issues, etc.
Identify key concepts and words

Personal

Documents

Library

Internet

Observation Notetaking

Letters
Reports
Maps
Organizational files and records
Brochures
Newsletters

Books

ALIS at Fresno State

Indexes and Abstracts

InfoTrac

Bibliographies
Encyclopedias
Biographical indexes

Search tools
AltaVista
Webcrawler
Yahoo

Hot Topics

Useful websites
Libraries Museums Government Commercial Business Scholarly Professional Personal

Access Research Sources

Find and read materials
Use footnotes & bibliographies for additional leads
Revise and refine research question in light of new information

Notes and Records

Keep track of sources: build bibliography as you go

Take notes:
"Direct quotations"
Paraphrases
Important facts, statistics
Your comments in reaction to material

Organize as you go

Critically Analyze and Evaluate Information

Criteria for evaluating evidence

Pertinence to task and audience

Organize and Synthesize Information

Synthesizing a thesis

Selecting and apportioning developmental materials

Ciceronian organization principles:
exordium, narratio, partitio, confirmatio, confutatio, and conclusio

Communicating results of research to others

Essays and Research Papers

draft, revising, rewriting, and proofreading

Scholarly citation styles and formats:
MLA, APA, Chicago, Chemistry, Biology

Tech: Using Word

Reports

Speaking

Oral reports: Using PowerPoint

Written reports: Using Word in association with PowerPoint

Webpages & hyperlink essays

Links to HTML instructional sites

Instructions for creating webpages at Fresno State

Judging the communication product and the process

Evaluation of academic work: grading

Continuing role of information competencies in getting university education