Types of information:Matching sources to needs

 
 

1.     Is a vegetarian diet healthier than a meat based diet?

I would start with this resource as it is an article written by clinical experts from a respected and authoritative medical facility. It is also certified by a medical watch group.  I would expect to find medical statistics, nutritional information and links or references to other authorities. The references for the article led me to other information sources such as studies, government guidelines and expert opinions on this matter.

  

Meatless meals: The benefits of eating less meat

You can eat healthfully without spending a lot. One way to achieve healthy savings is to serve meat less often.

By Mayo Clinic staff

We comply with the HONcode standard for trustworthy health

http://www.mayoclinic.com/health/meatless-meals/my00752

2.     Target often forces musicians to alter lyrics in order to have their CDs sold in Target stores. Is this censorship?

This one was a bit more difficult as I could not find any direct reference to Target and censorship.  I looked through the library and found many articles on censorship, but none that I really wanted. I finally found a research paper that dealt with media coverage of censorship, family values and the impact of lyrics on the listener. I realize this is a roundabout way to approach the issue, but I feel it would give a good background and a reason that Target may feel the need to adjust language in the music it sells. The paper also had quite a few references that I could use.

I expected it to be very scholarly with tables, statistics and many references.

Nationwide Newspaper Coverage of Music Censorship: 

A Community Structure Approach

www.tcnj.edu/~pollock/files/musiccensorship.doc

I would also look at the more generic articles, books and blogs on music censorship in general to get a more rounded public perspective. These sites and books would not necessarily be scholarly; they would be more along the lines of popular magazines, and newspaper articles. 

3.     How much more can a college graduate expect to earn over someone with a high school diploma?

 The College Payoff

Education, Occupations, Lifetime Earnings

www9.georgetown.edu/grad/gppi/hpi/.../collegepayoff-complete.pdf

I wanted an authoritative journal or magazine so that I would get accurate and verifiable numbers. This resource provides statistics not only by occupation but by degree attained, gender, ethnicity and race. It provides many charts, graphs and figures.

This document uses data from the 2007-2009 American Community Survey and is written for the Georgetown University Center on Education and the Workforce. I expected a reference page, but this is an analysis of the above survey only.  I would use this for the statistical information but I would have to find more references, possibly using Census records and Academic journals.

This source is a great starting point. It is not really an academic journal, it is more of a book which provides in-depth info but I would need to get more authoritative resources to back up the info I gain here.

4.     Should educators use commercial services to combat plagiarism?

    I went to a web site for this one as I figured there would be many educational institutions that would have thoughts on this issue. While this site did offer the university’s policy and overview of the issue, it also gave me many other places to go to research this issue including an academic journal and news articles.

  

Composition Program Policy Against the Use of Plagiarism Detection Software

http://louisville.edu/english/composition/policy-against-the-use-of-plagiarism-detection-software.html

5. Is the current lack of sunspot activity affecting global warming?

    Since this is definitely a scientific question, I wanted to find articles in journals or popular magazines that could help me not only start but to point me to other resources.  I went to the library and found the following Journal of Atmospheric and Solar-Terrestrial Physics article that is very scholarly and authoritative. There is a lot of language and ideas that I do not completely understand, but I kind of expected that with this subject. All of the titles from Summit are books that I would need to check out to research this question and I am sure that they would all have extensive reference sections that I could use to find further information.

Multi-resolution analysis of global surface air temperature and solar activity relationship

http://summit.worldcat.org/title/multi-resolution-analysis-of-global-surface-air-temperature-and-solar-activity-relationship/oclc/450197528&referer=brief_results

My reference questions:

1.     How will increased Internet access and world-wide communication affect the military's ability to keep strategies and movements secret? 

   I tried the library because I wanted to find an encyclopedia or a book that specifically addressed this question, but I could not find anything that was specific. I put the question into the search engine and found a paper written by a military officer for military use. I figured this would be a great place to start since who would know the answer to this question better than the military. It is also a great contributor to my search in that it quoted more than 50 other papers, books, articles and sites for my future research.

The End of Secrecy? Military Competitiveness in the Age of Tranparency

www.fas.org/sgp/eprint/kaspar.pdf

2.     In an atmosphere of "public right to know", will the press return to pre-Vietnam "self-censorship"?

I had to narrow and redefine my question in order to find references in the library. I looked up media and military censorship.  Also media self censorship.

I wanted to find specific examples to be able to compare how the media has handled conflicts throughout history and if there is a trend. I found this book on Summit and would continue my search there for more research material.

 War and the media: a random searchlight

http://summit.worldcat.org/title/war-and-the-media-a-random-searchlight/oclc/37854432&referer=brief_results

    

3.     Will the military have to increase censorship to maintain secrecy?

I wanted to find references to up-to-date military efforts to control social media and so I went to websites to find links to other websites that also had links. Each of these gave me overviews, generalities and specifics. These are not official sites but they give me access to other sites that are providing military members with information.

How the Air Force Stops Social Media from Spilling Military Secrets

http://gizmodo.com/5926638/how-the-air-force-stops-social-media-from-spilling-military-secrets

 Navigating the Social Network: The Air Force Guide to Effective Social Media Use

http://publicintelligence.net/usaf-social-media-guide/

 

While looking for books for my second question, I also stumbled upon a reference that related to this question. It does not deal with social media, but does deal with the question of overall efforts to stop public dissemination of military secrets. It is a book that I could use for both of these questions as it deals with voluntary and involuntary censorship of the media.

 

Second front: censorship and propaganda in the Gulf War

http://summit.worldcat.org/title/second-front-censorship-and-propaganda-in-the-gulf-war/oclc/24872182&referer=brief_results