Smart Thinking: Skills for Critical Understanding and Writing, 2nd Ed

118 SMART THINKING: SKILLS FOR CRITICAL UNDERSTANDING & WRITING

knowledge, rather than as particular books or articles or experiments. Finally,

what we take away from these sources can be organised as elements of

reasoning: as claims, arguments, or explanations; as assumptions and values;

or simply as more questions.

CONCEPT CHECK

The following terms and concepts are introduced in this chapter. Before checking
in the Glossary, write a short definition of each term:

analysis

analytical questions

information

knowledge

source

Review exercise 8

Answer briefly the following questions giving, where possible, an example in your
answer that is different from those used in this book:

a. What do we need to know to be good researchers?

b. What sorts of questions are involved in formulating a topic?

c. What allows us to classify information into five separate categories?

d. How do the four types of information compare and contrast with each

other?

e. What is the difference between a direct and an indirect source?

f. What role does the 'author' and the mode of production of information

play?

g. What are the important issues of context involved in using information

from any source?

h. Why must we ask questions when we are searching?

NOTES

1 This information, and quotes from Licklider's report, are taken from Mark Stefik,

Internet dreams: archetypes, myths, and metaphors, MIT Press, Cambridge, Mass.,

1996, pp. 23-32.

2 Please note that my classifying of information here is just one of many different

approaches which you may encounter. I have developed it because it usefully extends

our smart thinking abilities and not because it is 'right' in any objective sense.

3 All these examples are drawn from the process of researching and writing that went into