Library Guides: Information Literacy: Information Needs &amp; Resource Types

Identify Your Information Needs

When you start a research project, one of the first things you should do is develop a research strategy. A big part of your research strategy will be choosing your topic and narrowing the scope of what you want to learn. You can do this by determining:

What you know
What you don't know
The best resources to fill in your knowledge gaps

Resource Types

Know your Resources
This page from The Learning Portal features a section that discuss different types of common resources.
Types of Sources
A brief description of a few of the sources you may use while researching.
Primary vs. Secondary Sources
Description and examples of Primary vs. Secondary Sources

Organize Your Information

One thing that may help you when you start your research is to organize the information you have, the information you need, and which resources may be best to get that information. You can make use of websites like the ones below, which provide a platform to organize and visualize brainstorming.

Diigo
This service allows you to keep track of all your online resources in one place. It will enable highlighting, sticky notes, and outline creation, among many other uses.
MindMeister
A free online visual brainstorming tool.
Microsoft OneNote
OneNote is a virtual Notebook that will allow you to classify your different research needs and add information using typing, drawn text, and clipped images from web pages.
WorkFlowy
This service allows users to create expandable and collapsible lists that can help you organize your research.