Organising+and+Referencing+Information

= Step 3: Organising and Referencing Information =

Organising Information
Organising Information is an essential information literacy skill that students should be explicitly taught. They are constantly bombarded with information from multiple sources. Students have no issue with finding information; but, can they identify if it is appropriate and select the best and most relevant information for their projects, and organise it systematically? This is a very difficult skill for children to learn.

Students should be taught to and be able to use a range of [|graphic organisers] to help organise the information they have collected. Their [|note taking skills] should be developed systematically and they should know how to use social bookmarking sites effectively. Learning how to organise and make sense of the information that they have collected is an essential information literacy skill.

**Discussion Questions** Think about the following questions and add your expertise to the discussion thread.
 * [|Graphic Organisers]: Do you use them in class? What do you use? Do you think they are effective? Why? Why not?
 * [|Note Taking Skills]: Is the classroom teacher or teacher librarian responsible for introducing note taking skills in your school? What do you do in class/library to support the development of note taking skills?
 * [|Social Bookmarking]: Have you introduced social bookmarking to your class/es? Do you think social bookmarking is a valuable tool to support the organisation of information? Why? Why not?

Referencing Information
Students need to be taught how to reference the information that they have collected correctly. It is important that they are aware of the implications of copyright infringement and plagiarism. Educators need to model ethical behaviour and respect for intellectual property rights.
 * [[file:AGuideToWritingBibliographies-2.doc]]
 * [|TeacherVision: How to Write a Bibliograph]

===Useful Web2.0 Tools that can help to support students when organising and referencing information : ===

Google Apps: This application is user friendly. It allows users to share documents, organise information and collaborate with others. Great for following what students are doing and how they are collecting and organising the information that they have.

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Notestar: Is a free educational tool created by teachers for teachers. It is aimed at developing students research skills. Teachers can set, monitor and assess projects; and students can use it to collect notes, organise information and create a bibliography.

readwritethink: A range of interactive tools that help students to organise the information they have collected.



Evernote: This tool allows you to capture, organise (is automatically processed, indexed, and made searchable. If you like, you can add tags or organize notes into different notebooks) and find anything fast. Saves time trying to re-find websites and information.

Delicious: Is a social bookmarking site that allows you to share your book marks with other people and access them from different devices. A great tool for students to be able to save links to websites, videos, pdfs and documents.

Diigo: Another social bookmarking site. It allows you to collect and highlight resources. A great way to keep all your information organised and in the one place.

NoodleTools: Is a free online software site that aims to support students, teachers and librarians throughout the research process. It enables students to search, organise and create bibliographies.