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Discover

Finds the needed information effectively and efficiently

Discover

Discover is all about finding those academic resources you need to answer and support your assignments, projects, presentations etc. to get the best marks. 

It's about knowing:

  • Where to search. For example, which sources will provide the information you need.
  • How to use these sources to get the best from them.  For example, understanding how filters and different search techniques within online resources can improve the relevance of your results.
  • How to identify and articulate the best search words to create an effective search. This is often referred to as a search strategy.
  • Knowing when you need to revise and refine your search if things aren't going as planned.

The levels

It's worth remembering that the levels used in the Information Literacy Framework do not necessarily correspond directly to your year of study; you can be a beginner in some of the skills even if you are in your final year of study.  We have given the following as a guide:

Beginner:  Skills expected to be developed by someone new to, or returning to University level study after a break in education. 

Novice:  Skills that build upon the Beginner level and that demonstrate an increased confidence and understanding.

Intermediate: By the Intermediate level you are developing higher level skills. For example, you may be expected to demonstrate some or all of these by the end of the second year of an undergraduate programme.

Advanced:  These are more advanced skills expected to be developed by the end of the third year of an undergraduate programme, for example.

Expert:  The expert level skills would be expected to be developed by the end of a final year undergraduate or taught postgraduate programme.

Tools to help

We have a range of tools to help you develop your Information Literacy skills.  They may be workshops you can attend, guides we produce in the Library, resources we pay for you to be able to use, or further reading.  Take a look at the Tools to Help page in the left hand menu.