The Stacks

IL IRL: Context of Information

Welcome to another edition of Information Literacy in Real Life (IRL IL)! This monthly blog post from the SCC Library will talk about the different ways that the information literacy skills (the skills you learn to help you find and evaluate credible information) that you learn in college can also be helpful in your life outside of school.

One reason why we do research is to look up information we did not already know. This might be both for school, to complete an assignment, or for personal use, like looking up information about buying a car. Depending on why you are doing research, and the context of the research, will decide which sources you end up using for your research.

For example, if you were doing research for an English 101 class at SCC, you likely have specific requirements for the types of sources you need to use for your research. You might be told by your instructor that you need to use peer-reviewed sources or you can only use sources from library databases. When doing academic research like this, you are going to want to use sources that are more academic in nature, and written for readers who are using this information in an academic context. 

In contrast, you might be doing research for personal reasons, like before you make a major purpose, or just learning about a new topic. When you are doing personal research, you will have different requirements for the types of sources you choose. Since you are doing personal research, you might lean towards website sources or articles that are more of an overview of a topic, instead of an in-depth analysis.

Any time you are doing research, consider why you are doing this research in the first place. That will help you figure out the context you are doing this research in - such as personal or academic - and help you decide what kinds of sources to use to help with your research.