Senior: 11 & 12: Unit 4: Changing Earth

Check the quality of your websites using these criteria (adapted from QUT Library):

Currency: Timeliness of the information

• When was the information published, posted or last updated?

• Is the information current for your topic and field of study? How recent does it have to be? Can older sources work just as well?

Relevance: Importance of the information for your needs

• Is the information appropriate for a senior secondary course?

• Is this an adequately in-depth examination or a quick summary of the topic?

• Who's the intended audience? Is it the general public, a student, a researcher or industry?

• Is the level of information too basic or too advanced for your needs?

Authority: Source of the information

• Is the author/authoring body (individual person, or institution, or organisation) established and reputable?

• Are their qualifications, credentials, expertise, experience, educational background and previous work (if any) relevant and do they add credibility to the source?

• Has the piece been published by a well-known and respected publisher or organisation?

• Do references to other sources support the writing ie is a Reference List provided?

Accuracy: Reliability and correctness of the information

• Where does the information come from, and is it supported by evidence?

• Does it have a Reference List or Bibliography so you can easily find and verify the sources used?

• Are there any spelling, grammar, or other typographical errors?

Purpose: Reason the information exists

• What is the purpose of the information? Why was it written?

• Does the point of view appear objective, unbiased and impartial?

• Is the viewpoint of the author's affiliation/ sponsors reflected in the message or content?

• Does the author acknowledge alternative versions of the issues or facts?

Purpose: Reason the information exists

• What is the purpose of the information? Why was it written?

• Does the point of view appear objective, unbiased and impartial?

MyBib is an online referencing generator to help you with in text references and your List of References.

NOTE: 

• Sign up for an account so that it will store the references for your assignment. Add it to your bookmark bar to find it quickly.

• Install the Chrome extension to make your referencing even faster.

• Make sure everything in your Reference List has a corresponding In-Text citation in the body of your essay.

Scroll down to p 4.

You can see the entire Proquest Ebook Central Catalogue of 500,000 resources by entering your search term in the box above.  You may browse any title for 5 minutes, and if it's one we don't already own, it will say 'request this book from your library', which means you can email the Library to ask us to purchase it if you like it, or simply rent it for a day so you can quickly take the notes you need during that day.

SIGN IN WITH YOUR STUDENT NUMBER AS YOUR USERNAME.

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The ENTIRE collection of resources provided by the BBC Birtles Library can be searched on ONE single, powerful search platform, which retrieves print books, eBooks, database articles and websites. Click HERE for assistance.

United States Geological Survey - One of the most prestigious geology websites

American Geosciences Institute

The world’s largest collection of open access research papers

An inclusive journal community which believes all rigorous science needs to be published and discoverable, widely disseminated and freely accessible to all

A free distribution service and an open archive for scholarly articles in the fields of science

An American website that aggregates press releases and publishes lightly edited press releases about science

Breaks down the stories behind the most interesting news and photos on the Internet.

A network of not-for-profit media outlets that publish news stories on the Internet that are written by academics and researchers


The NCBI advances science and health by providing access to biomedical and genomic information.

Regarded as a 'porthole' site, SciTech Daily offers the best intelligent, informed science and technology coverage and analysis you can find on a daily basis, sourcing a huge range of great writers and excellent research institutes.

Gateway to the best Science news sources.

A global science gateway comprised of national and international scientific databases and portals.

Google Scholar's searches are set to cover scholarly material more often than 'regular' Google. Google Scholar's searches are set to cover scholarly material more often than 'regular' Google.  Read the article below on the advantages an disadvantages of using it.

• TIP: To get PDFs only, type in 'filetype:pdf'. It's great!

  • Advantages / Disadvantages of Google Scholar  

• How to use Google Books

Google Books can be very frustrating because often much of the book is missing and you are expected to purchase it to read the full content. So after you put in your search term you are interested in (eg biodiesel), and get some results up,  you should then go immediately to the search box (on the left - above 'About this box')  and type in a particular word or term you are interested in (eg CO2 emissions OR methanol) you should get a number of pages pop up. Choose one that looks useful - you should get some good results this way!

1. Use 'Ctrl F' (Control + Find) to search for particular terms easily in a long document, whether from a website or a database article.

2.  Use a Boolean command - put double inverted commas around phrases to limit and improve your results eg "energy drinks cardiovascular problems children". 

3. Use a Google domain command eg site:edu OR site:gov to limit results to a CERTAIN DOMAIN such as education or government eg biodiesel site:edu

4. Use a Google command to limit results to the MOST RECENT: After you get your results, choose the Google Menu Bar, and choose 'Tools'. Then on the far left, at the drop-down menu next to 'Any Time', you can choose 'Within the last year' (or less, if you prefer), but generally, you can choose 'Custom Range' at the bottom, as often the last 3-4 years would be sufficient for a recent search.

Research template

How to Create a Table of Contents

How to Insert In-Text References in Your Report