INFORMATION LITERACY Locating Information

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INFORMATION LITERACYLocating Information
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Five Common Types of Reference Materials

• Dictionaries
• Thesaurus
• Encyclopedia
• Atlas
• Almanac

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Dictionary

• Dictionaries are used to look up words.
• They can be used for a variety of reasons
  definition, spelling, pronunciation, word origin,
  part-of-speech and how it is used in a sentence.
• There are also many different types of
  specialized dictionaries such as a Biographical
  or Geographical dictionary.

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Thesaurus

• A Thesaurus is used to find words that mean the
  same or opposite as another word.
• These are called synonyms and antonyms.
• They are simple to use - just look up your word
  and a thesaurus will give you the list of
  synonyms and antonyms for that word.
• A Thesaurus, however, DOES NOT usually provide
  you with a definition (you need a dictionary for
  that).

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Encyclopedia

• An Encyclopedia is used to find information about
  a person, place, or thing.
• Articles found in an Encyclopedia are usually
  longer and contain more information than a
  Dictionary.
• Encyclopedias are a great place to start to find
  information about a topic you know nothing about,
  but are not usually accepted as a source for
  students.
• Example Wikipedia!

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Atlas

• An Atlas is a book of maps.
• Atlases are used to find specific locations such
  as country, state, city or geographic formation.
• Many people use an atlas when they are going on
  vacation or traveling to another place.
• There are also specialized atlases such as
  historical and geographic.

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Almanac

• An Almanac is a book of facts that provide brief,
  useful and interesting information relating to
  countries of the world, sports, entertainment,
  etc.
• They are updated every year so they always
  contain the most current information available.

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Do you know?

• For the next few slides I will describe a
  situation. You must decide what type of
  reference material would be the BEST and FASTEST
  way to find the information.

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Challenge Question One

• Your family is going on vacation to see the Mayan
  ruins in Mexico. You want to find more
  information about the ancient civilization.
• Where would you find this type of information?

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Answer

• Encyclopedia
• Great Job!!!

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Challenge QuestionTwo

• Your family is planning a vacation to Florida.
  You are going to Universal Studios! Your father
  is trying to decide what interstate he needs to
  take.
• What reference material should he use to find
  this information?

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Answer

• Atlas
• Great Work!!!!

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Challenge QuestionThree

• You want to find out which NFL player had the
  most touchdowns in 2008.
• Which reference material would you use?

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Answer

• Almanac
• Fantastic!!!!!

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Challenge Question Four

• You are writing an essay on To Kill a
  Mockingbird. You want to find another word to
  use instead of saying great.
• What reference material would you use to find
  another word for great?

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Answer

• Thesaurus
• Wonderful Job!!!!

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Reference Materials

• Reference materials such as dictionaries, a
  thesaurus, atlases, encyclopedias and almanacs
  help us locate information QUICKLY and
  EFFICIENTLY.
• Remember, the Internet is a great resource, but
  many times information can be found easier by
  using a reference book!