At university, you will be expected to find and use information effectively as part of your studies. You will need to use information when preparing for classes, to underpin group discussions, and to support your arguments in written work. You'll also use information to develop specialist skills and to inspire your practical work.
Finding, using, managing and evaluating information are important skills required in everyday life, particularly with the growing prevalence of Generative AI. The skills you develop to help you with your studies will continue to support you long after graduation.
When starting to research a new topic, the temptation may be jump in and start searching furiously for anything (and everything) that looks potentially useful.
This approach has its place, particularly if you don't know where to start. Or you feel you should have started searching weeks ago. However, it can be messy, time-consuming and there are no guarantees you'll find what you need.
Before you switch on a computer or open a text book, spend some time thinking about your topic. If you are working on an assignment, make sure you read the guidelines carefully.
Ask yourself:
Whether you need information to answer an assignment brief, are seeking inspiration for a project or simply curious about a topic, often you are looking to fill a gap in your own knowledge. This is known as your 'information need'.
Sometimes your needs are simple. You might require a factual answer to a simple question, for example, what is Pepper's Ghost? The answer to this question can be retrieved quickly from a single source, if you know where to look.
Sometimes your information need is more complex. You may need to explore the how or why of a situation, to compare and contrast theories, or discuss a topic in depth. You will need to consult multiple sources for information. If these provide conflicting arguments, you would need to evaluate, analyse and synthesise all this information.
Identifying your information need will help determine:
