Research Toolkit
In sixth grade, students are introduced to how we do source-evaluation and research at WMS. The skills they learn here will help prepare them for all three years of middle school (and beyond)!
TRAC
At WMS, we use the acronym TRAC to evaluate all sources of information. Watch this video to learn about TRAC and how it applies to research and learning.
TRAC 2023.mp4Click the "pop-out" button in the top right corner of the video if it will not load.
INFORMATION SOURCES
Now that you've learned about what the letters of TRAC stand for, let's see how it relates to different information sources. Here's a reminder of the three most common information sources for research:
Books
Databases
Websites
When you're thinking about books for research, think about nonfiction or reference books that you'd find in a library or classroom. Books with publishers and authors that make them reputable.
Online databases are like virtual libraries that provide a variety of magazine, newspaper, and reference information and much more. What makes databases special is that they are collections of published sources AND the database has a publisher, so they're double trustworthy. Databases are accessed through the library website because we have subscriptions to them (which make them different from websites).
Websites could be any source you find through a regular web search, from National Geographic to Wikipedia. Websites can be created and published by anyone with the knowhow.
INFORMATION SOURCES: SIMILARITIES AND DIFFERENCEs
BOOKS
Trustworthy: Definitely - because a publisher is taking responsibility*
Relevant: Maybe - depending on your topic - use the index and table of contents to check.
Accessible: Maybe - depending on the learner.
Current: Maybe - but once it's published, it can't be updated!
*This refers to professionally-published books
DATABASES
Trustworthy: definitely - because a publisher is taking responsibility.
Relevant: Maybe - depending on your topic - try different keywords to see.
Accessible: Maybe - many different reading levels are offered.
Current: Probably - even if an article has been published, it can be updated because it's an online source.
WEBSITES
Trustworthy: Maybe - it depends on who is taking responsibility and this can be tricky to tell.
Relevant: Maybe - depending on your topic - try different keywords to see.
Accessible: Maybe - many different reading levels are offered.
Current: Probably - websites can be updated at any time, so there's a good chance it will be (but not a guarantee).
Click on the rubric to go to a copy in Google Docs. Make a copy for yourself.