F4 Individual Project: Information Sources

Is veganism the answer to climate change?

Keywords:

To search for information on this topic, you will need to consider a range of alternative terms:

• veganism / vegan diet / plant-based diet
• climate change / global warming
• meat consumption

In your search results, look initially for sources that should be more reliable: BBC, newspaper websites, university/academic sites.  If you come across sites you are not sure about, you can apply the rules of CRAAP testing - looking at currency, relevance, accuracy, authority and purpose.  See below for more information on this.

Subscription Databases:

Databases that should provide you with useful material for this topic include:

Britannica - a good place to start, to look for definitions and to discover further topics to consider.  Start at Intermediate Level (2) and move up to Advanced (3) if you want more.

Gale in Context: Opposing Viewpoints - this source is great for information on both sides of a debate.  Once you have done you search, make sure you look below the 'Academic Journals' results box to find viewpoints, newspaper and magazine article and audio clips, which are likely to be far more useful.

The Day - a database of news articles written specifically for children so easy to read, but with lots of links to other videos, articles, websites that you can follow.  It is also divided into helpful sections like 'Climate', 'Science' and 'Health'.

Access Global Newsbank - a newspaper database that also includes magazines, newswires, web-only sources  and blogs. Good for opinions, but you will need to make sure you can back up these opinions with  evidence from elsewhere.

Oxford Very Short Introductions - much more in-depth material available here. There are Very Short Introductions to Climate / Climate Change / Environment / Agriculture which you can search.

Are electric cars really as good as they are portrayed as being?

Keywords:

To look into this topic, you will need to think about the different factors you intend to consider in order to make your judgment, and include these in your search terms:

• fuel consumption / environmental factors
• production costs (financial and environmental) / running costs / disposal
• electricity generation / fuel cells

In your search results, look initially for sources that should be more reliable: BBC, newspaper websites, university/academic sites.  If you come across sites you are not sure about, you can apply the rules of CRAAP testing - looking at currency, relevance, accuracy, authority and purpose.  See below for more information on this.

Subscription Databases:

Databases that should provide you with useful material for this topic include:

Britannica - a good place to start, to look for definitions and to discover further topics to consider.  Start at Intermediate Level (2) and move up to Advanced (3) if you want more. In this example, there is very little difference between the two, but that is not always the case.

Gale in Context: Opposing viewpoints - this source is great for information on both sides of a debate, and has a lot to offer you for this topic.  Once you have done you search, make sure you look below the 'Academic Journals' results box to find viewpoints, newspaper and magazine article and audio clips, which are likely to be far more useful.  

For news articles, you can have a look at:

• The Day - which is aimed at children so easy to understand, and helpfully divided into sections called 'Climate' and 'Technology' so it should be easier to find relevant material OR
• Access Global Newsbank - which covers global newspapers, magazines etc but is a much larger database, and you will need to make sure you can find evidence for any opinions expressed in the articles.

Oxford Very Short Introductions - much more in-depth material available here. There are Very Short Introductions to Renewable Energy / Energy Systems / Environmental Politics / Climate which may provide you with some thought-provoking material.