Building Information Skills
Management Project: Starting a Business__Key Resources
You have the opportunity to start your own business. What do you need to know to get started in the business? If you look at your Project handouts, you will get a broad idea of the many tasks involved in starting your business. Whether you are planning a business, opening a business or working for someone else, it is extremely important to practice life-long learning in your occupation. One way to stay on top is to learn how to evaluate and use information available to you.
I will set up a time for your class to go to the MacArthur Library to work on this exercise. A major goal is to learn steps that will help you build information skills. If you know where to find information and how to evaluate it, then you will have a skill that will help you throughout your career.
________________________________________________________________________________________________
Assignment: Fill in the worksheet below. The worksheet takes you through the Big6 Information Literacy steps. You will use at least two of each of the following resources: (1) You are to find at least two books that will help you with your assignment. Write down or print the bibliographic information, such as author, title, publisher & date. Include a call number if the book is on the shelf. If it is an e-book, give the name of the database or service. (2) You are to find at least two articles that will be helpful to you in your assignment. Print them. (3) You are to use at least two websites and justify your use of them.
1. Task Definition. Be sure of problem/questions/assignment topic
What are we supposed to do? What is my problem? What information do we need to complete the project? What do I already know?
We need information about the different types of businesses related to cosmetology in order to choose one. If we are opening a business in Alabama, we need to know about Alabama requirements. We need resources about general business management and business planning as well as those related to cosmetology. We need definitions and background information related to financial terms, marketing concepts and legal forms.
We are to locate at a minimum 2 books, 2 articles, and 2 other sources about starting a business. We need to write down the bibliographic info for 2 books and write a sentence or two on how they were located. We must find 2 articles related to the assignment and print them. (3). We need to choose 2 websites and explain in a few sentences who was responsible for the content.
We need to create our own project timeline to be sure that we start early enough to finish the project. We need to know how to get started finding resources. Keywords for searching could include salon, spa, beauty shop, barbershop or barbershop, beauty academy, marketing plan, market analysis, product service strategy, financial plan, management, beauty, baby boomers
2. Information Seeking Strategies. Identify Resources.
What possible sources might we use? What sources are best to use? How will we know that a website is a good source of information?
Books in the MacArthur library; books in another library; e-books, articles from magazines in the library, articles from a database, the Internet, interviews, a video. Internet search engines such as Google, Yahoo, Ask. Library web page; librarians and instructors.
Best sources would be from library resources or best-of-the-best websites. Websites should be maintained by someone who would be an expert. Is the information accurate or is someone trying to sell products to you?
3. Location and Access. Gather relevant information.
Where will we find the resources listed in Step 2? How do we find information from within each resource? What will be our search strategy? How will we record the information? Can I defend the resources that I am including? How?
In the MacArthur library, another library or from the library website and on the Internet. We can use the Table of Contents in books, can request a book on interlibrary loan, read abstracts. To begin the search, I need to do an overview of what information is available and how much. I need to then decide on the type of business. I will record where I search and keep my notes and copies in a folder.
4. Use of information. Select an approach/theme/strategy.
How will we gather the information? How much of the information is truly relevant? Do I see any patterns?
How will we record the information? How do I take notes? Would an outline or visual tool help?
We will read the information on the websites carefully and print only the parts that answer our questions and the part that identifies the author and purpose. We will use the abstracts, opening and closing paragraphs to choose the best article. We will check out books, get them on interlibrary loan, or make notes from e-books. Once we have the resources, we will take each source and be sure that we have recorded the needed bibliographic information using examples given to us by the librarian and instructor. For each source, we will take notes. If we use the exact words or an authors ideas, we will be sure to note it.
5. Synthesis. Integrate the information to form solution/answer/new idea.
Who is my audience? What is the best format for presenting the results of my research? How will we organize the information from multiple sources?
My instructor has given us handouts for the different aspects that must be covered in our project. Since we have the major parts, we will organize our notebook using these major points. In our notebook, we will keep notes about our progress. We will double check the instructors requirements and have someone in the know proof our work.
6. Evaluation. eXamine results and refine.
How do we evaluate what we have done? Did I do my best? How well did we do with this process? Did we plagiarize?
We will create an evaluation checklist and/or use one provided by the instructor. We will have our peers evaluate our project. We will think about how this process could be used again, what we would do differently next time and which resources might be useful again. Did we plagiarize?
Note: You may want to keep this assignment and include in a portfolio.
Building Information Skills
Technical Project: Cosmetology__MAKEUP_Key Resources
Because all of us live in a time where competition for jobs is fierce, it is very important for us to know where to find the best information. We need to think through the steps to finding information. When do we need information? All the time! Where do we find information? Everywhere.
I will set up a time so that we can go to the MacArthur Library to work on this exercise. The goal is to develop skills in finding basic resources related to cosmetology. ________________________________________________________________________________________________
Assignment: Your instructor will give you a 3-part assignment. Fill out this form as you work on Part 3: Find at least two articles to help you compare and contrast the makeup application for two of the looks (natural, business, evening, dramatic) in Part 2. Print the articles. In a table, list the similiarities and differences in the application of makeup for the two looks. You will fill in the blanks below.
