Foundations of Reasoning

It is fairly common these days to simply type in a question we have into a search engine on our phone or computer when we are curious. But this method, while effective at times, only scratches the surface of what information is available to you. Search tools come in many forms, it may be an expert, a friend, a database, a professor, or a group. The search tools you use will be determined by your information needs. Think to yourself:

• What types of information do I need?
• Where can I begin to get a better sense of this topic?
• What types of people may have the answer to this question?

When you have a complex question or need, the best thing to do is to gather preliminary or background information. In this stage, you want to find and process enough information to give you a sense of what is going on. You want to figure out basic terms, ideas, and what sort of information is out there. Places you can search include encyclopedias, for example Wikipedia, watch a few videos on the topic, read a few short articles online, or read an introductory book.

Once you have a basic idea of what is going, it is time to do a second search. In this stage you will need to first locate specific resources to search and really dig into to finding relevant information using the terms and ideas you located initially. For example, if you are interested in an argument on whether or not children should be given tablets at age 2, you will search databases which collect research on children's development, parenting, and effects of technologies on humans.

Here's a list of library databases

Sometimes as you search, you will need to break down your question into smaller questions or re-do a previous step. Don't worry if this happens, searching is iterative. This means the process from asking the first question to knowing the answer will involve repetition. Complex searching never happens in a straight line, it's more like a circle.

In academic inquiry, you will often use databases to find information to complete your assignments. But what is a database? "A database is a collection of records. A record is a collection of fields. A field is a container for specific information." Databases are a part of digital life, they can take the forms of a collection of chemistry research articles or articles of clothing for us to buy online. Below is a representation of the basic structure of a database.

• Database XYZ contains 3 records:
  • Record 1
  • Record 2
  • Record 3
• Record 2 contains 2 fields:
  • Author
  • Title
• The Author field contains information, in this case who the author of the document is

Source: Concise Guide to Information Literacy, page 66