No one on earth knows everything, but every one of us knows some things well. Everyone, including you, is an expert on some topic. Perhaps you are an expert at salmon fishing; maybe you grow the best vegetables around. When you share a terrific recipe, help a friend fix a car, or make suggestions about raising children, you are sharing information and expertise(2). Over the years, you have gathered a lot of information that really works and learned many things from experience. When people ask you to share what you know, they are using research skills to get the information they need from you. You become a reference, a source of information.

When you want to know something, you first identify people or places that might have the answers you are looking for. Second, you gather information from these sources by reading, asking questions, or even viewing an activity or a presentation. Third, you arrange what you have learned so that it makes sense and discard anything that isn’t useful. Lastly, you prepare the information in such a way that it is useful to you and/or anyone else you decide to share it with. Developing good research skills is the foundation for success in any academic program or job.

Reference skills include knowing

1. when you need more information

2. where to find that information

3. how to locate the information you need

4. what kind of information is appropriate

5. who will be using this information

6. why you are gathering this information

7. how to arrange the information in a useful and appealing way

8. how to present the information effectively

WHEN ARE RESEARCH SKILLS USEFUL?*

The obvious answer for many learners might be, “When the teacher assigns a project”. Research projects and essays assigned in the classroom are, however, only a chance to practice, with the teacher’s help, finding and organizing information. A better answer to the question is that research skills are really most useful in the “real world”, at home, at work and in the community.

For example, you may be planning a garage sale and wonder what price to put on that ugly pink pitcher from your grandmother’s garage. Should it be priced at 50¢ or $1.00? Some research might help. At the library, you discover that it is a piece of Depression Glass made between 1920 and 1940, and it is worth $150.00! Your investigation put money in your pocket, and it’s better there than in the pocket of some Saturday morning bargain hunter.

2.the skill of an expert