- UNDERSTAND YOUR TOPIC
- DETERMINE YOUR PRIOR KNOWLEDGE & WHAT YOU WANT TO KNOW
- DO A QUICK BACKGROUND SEARCH
- DETERMINE KEYWORDS
- PLAN SEARCH STRATEGY (TOOLS & QUERIES)
- SEARCH, TAKE NOTES AND EVALUATE
- KEEP TRACK OF YOUR SOURCES
EXAMPLE
THOUGHT PROCESS
- I’m interested in a topic that affects France or Paris.
- Issues: Claims from the Gilets jaunes, poverty, homeless, economy, the environment, pollution, discrimination, the economy...
- I search for [paris social issues] and read an article to get an idea of what interests me.
- I choose to research air pollution in Paris caused by cars and I want to find out what Paris is or should be doing to fight it.
- I list some keywords and develop a query:
. pollution, paris, cars, “car usage”, emissions, causes, fighting, cost, health, solutions, diesel, plan
- What queries can I write?
[paris pollution cars]
- I find an article that mentions that Paris wants to ban cars downtown.
Banning cars in Paris once a month
- After a bit more research I find articles dealing with different aspect on the question:
. Free public transportation in Paris for children
. Crit’Air (clean air car tag stickers)
. Gilets jaunes and the environment (conundrum: they are for ecological transition but against higher fuel taxes)
. Turning electric by 2030
. Why electric cars may not reduce pollution
- DON'T FORGET TO USE FILTERS
. Restrict by time (in "Tools")
. Videos and images
- CHECK THE NEWS SECTION
Check your topic in the News section to get most updated information, if any.
This search eventually leads me to several questions:
Is Paris doing enough?
Will banning cars 1 day in downtown Paris be enough to lower air pollution levels?
Are there any other laws or restrictions to help improve air quality?
What are other large urban centers do to combat air pollution, e.g., in Mexico City, Shanghai, Los Angeles, London…?
Are there any lobby groups?
Any petition to gain support from citizens?
What are the claims from the Gilets Jaunes?
** If you have not already, it's time to take a stance. In my case, I have several options and I can support any of the following:
. Add more electric options in Paris and support the banning diesel and gasoline cars from Paris altogether.
. A tax on fuel
. The development of hydrogen cars
. Improving public transportation systems and lowering the fees
. Create an online petition to gather support
. Etc.
