home

====You may think research is only something you have to do for school, but you are WRONG! Research is a skill you will use throughout your entire life! If your parents gave you $5000 to buy a car, you would check around and find the best car for the money, right? You might ask your friends, read some articles in Consumer Reports, check the values of various models in Kelly's Blue Book. Well that is real life research! Below is an example for you. The steps may not always be done in the same order, and you might have to do some steps several times.====

**1. What is it I am supposed to do? **
In our example you are trying to find the best car for the money you have available.

**2. Where can I get information to help me complete my task? **
Consumer Reports, Kelly's Blue Book, books on cars, ask a friend, ask a mechanic

** What are the best sources of information for this task and why? **
Consumer Reports, Kelly's Blue Book, books on cars In the **Who we are** from a **Consumer Reports Contents** page we find the magazine is published by Consumer's Union, the world's largest independent consumer-product-testing organization. In the **About Us** section of the **Kelly's Blue Book** website we find, "Kelley Blue Book went to work gathering and analyzing transactions from thousands of dealers across the United States, and in 2002, introduced kbb.com visitors to the Blue Book value for new cars - what other consumers are really paying for them."
 * Books** such as __**Classic Sports Cars**__ have editors whose job it is to make sure the facts in the book are accurate.These would all be considered **authoritative sources**. For a source to be considered **authoritative**, you should be able to find three things:

=
1. Who wrote it, including their affiliation, ======

=
2. Where it appeared, and its relevance (e.g., professional journal or personal website), ======

=
3. Why the author is a reliable source of information ======

=
 **3. Where can I locate in information resources I need? **====== I really want a sports car, so I find a **book** in the library called __**Classic Sports Cars**__. I decide I would like a Mustang or a Camero. Then I **google [|Kelly's Blue Book]** and find a cherry red 1995 convertible for $3495! That would leave me some money for gas and tricking out my new ride! But then I check **Consumer Reports** using **the GeneralOneFile database on Discus.** I went to **Advanced Search** and used the **keywords best, used cars**. I limited my results to **documents with full text**. I also choose Consumer Reports as the only publication to search. I find a great article: [|"Used Cars: The Best and Worst Available"] from Consumer Reports. This article lists a '97 or '98 Mustang as being very reliable, but it also lists them in the $6000 to $8000 price range. I will check Kelly's again, and if I don't find those models in my price range, I will check the article again to see what is in my price range. This could go on for awhile, but I want the best car for my money!

**4. Get the information I need. **
I have done some of this in step 3, and I will probably have to do more before I make my decision. I will also take the cars I am thinking about to a mechanic to get them checked.

**5. Organize the information. Present the information. **
I will make a list of possible cars and their prices, mileage, reliablity rating, and the mechanic's advice. Since my parents are giving me the money, I will show it to them, and we will make a decision.

**6. Evaluation **
Did I do a good job picking my car? How could I make the search easier next time?

//adapted from the Big6 reseach model by Robert E. Berkowitz and MikeEisenberg//