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One Guide to Rule Them All: Research Station

This guide was created as a way for all students at Ferrum College to get basic 'help' with research, tutorials and quick tip suggestions.

Surface vs. Deep Web Tutorial

Objectives:

Problem-based instruction is designed to:

  • introduce you to real world research situations
  • move from lecture to participatory based learning
  • promote deeper learning of information literacy skills

Goals:

At the end of this session you will be able to:

  • identify an information need from a problem scenario
  • use scholarly search engines/databases to find information on a topic
  • more critically evaluate credibility of information sources
  • understand the importance of developing a search strategy

The Problem Scenario:

The following problem is designed to mirror a real world issue you may encounter in your day to day life.  It will be the basis of our exercise.

The Problem

You are part of the legal team defending an organic canola farmer who adamantly insists that he did not plant Monsanto canola in his field.  His neighbors did.  Monsanto obtained samples of the farmer’s canola, and they contained the genes that Monsanto had created in their labs.  The farmer claims that his neighbor's Roundup Ready Canola genes spread via pollination, contaminating his organically grown crop, and has counter-sued Monsanto for damages since he can’t sell GMO-contaminated crops to the organic canola oil manufacturer. Your task is to provide scientific research evidence to support the farmer’s claim.

Is there scientific evidence to support your client’s claim?

See the video below for a OneSearch and Strategies Tutorial.