CAFS

The purpose of this guide is to provide you with assistance in finding information for your CAFS Assessment. 

The library catalogue (eLibrary) provides you with access to book resources as well as providing links to e-resources such as the EBSCOHost databases, online journals, and government websites.

INFORMATION GATHERING

Check what's available in the Library

Start your search with the library catalogue to find books and other resources which will assist you with your research. A good topic to search the catalogue with is "child development". As you view each catalogue record scan the Subject Headings. These may be clicked on to lead you to other useful resources. Keep a note of the Dewey call numbers so that you can locate resources on the library shelves. Once you have located the book(s) you are interested in, scan the contents page and index page(s) to see if the book contains information that will be helpful in developing your knowledge and understanding of your topic.

Click here to login to the library catalogue.

Note: Child Development (13th edition) by John W. Santrock is on display in the library for CAFS students. A few Family Matters journals are on display too (more available - ask at the Information Desk for access to past issues). 

Source Evaluation 

Once you have located a source, consider the following questions before you read it in detail:

• what type of source is it?

• who wrote it and when?

• is it relevant, reliable and academic (if not, is that okay)?

• what is the main purpose of the text (e.g to describe, discuss. explain, argue, hypothesise, or a combination of these)?

• who is the text written for?

• why are you going to read it - what exactly do you want to get out of it?

• do you think it will generally support your conclusion or will it give you an opposing viewpoint?

Adapted from:

Godfrey, J. (2014). Reading and making notes. (2nd ed.). Palgrave McMillan : NY

APA REFERENCING

Get help with referencing for your assignment. Click here.

EBSCOHOST ONLINE DATABASES

Online databases can provide you with an important source of current and relevant information for your research. Students have access to the EBSCOHost Research Databases which provides full-text access to articles from journals, newspapers, magazines, reference books and more. 

Identifying keywords

Before you begin searching the databases, have a think about some of the keywords you could use and jot these down. As discussed in class, some suggestions could include socialisation, socialisation and child development, infants, adolescents and youth. Be aware of different ways of spelling the same word such as socialisation and socialization - try searching with both and compare the results you obtain (they may be the same or they may differ). 

To search both variations of this keyword in the EBSCOHost database you could enter in brackets: 

(socialisation or socialization) 

OR another method is using a wildcard (? or # symbol) as shown below: 

sociali?ation (by adding the "?" the database will search both spelling variations.

You may need to add additional key terms to further refine your search. For example; 

(socialisation or socialization) and children 

You could also try using truncation to allow for variations of a word (for example, child, children etc). To truncate you use the "*" asterisk symbol. For example;

(socialisation or socialization) and child*

Also, think about synonyms (ie. a word that means the same or nearly the same as another word) such as adolescent and teenager). Being aware or trying different words with the same or similar meanings can help you discover additional resources.

Tip: keep a record of your search terms so you have a record of the ones which have worked the best for your particular search. Note that the terms above are suggestions to get you started and may be quite different from the terms you end up using for your particular research.

Searching the databases

After you have completed your first search, scan the results page to see if there are any articles of interest. Select an article. Look at the subject headings associated with this article and read the abstract to determine if the article is of interest to you. Take note of the subject headings, these may assist you with further searches. From here you may decide to download the full article so that you can read the complete article. If it is not of interest, you can go back to your results list and continue searching your list of articles. If you are not finding any articles, you may need to review your keywords and begin with a new search with different keywords. If you need help with searching please ask your teachers for guidance or see Mrs Sylaprany. 

AUSTRALIAN GOVERNMENT WEBSITES

These websites may be helpful when researching for CAFS:

• australia.gov.au – Your connection with government

• Australian Government - Help for student assignments

• Australian Bureau of Statistics

• Australian Institute of Family Studies

• Department of Health & Aged Care