Info on conducting an environmental scan for age-friendly community resources, critically evaluating information and finding demographic information about Niagara.

1. Age-friendly
communities:
information
strategies &
resources
Elizabeth Yates,
Recreation & Leisure
Librarian
Winter 2014

2. So how do
you find the
good stuff?

3. Today’s outcomes
You will recall strategies for:
• Conducting an enviromental scan using
scholarly & grey literature
• Critically evaluating information
• Finding relevant demographic information
• Getting help with APA style

4. Niagara Age-Friendly Community
Network Assignment
• How the library can
help:
– Finding information
for environmental
scan
– Finding demographic
info for Niagara
Christina Saint Marche, Flickr:
http://flic.kr/p/ejkfvf

5. Environmental scan
• Term originated in business and
marketing research
• Refers to:
– Actively scanning a variety of relevant
information sources (e.g. books, scholarly
journal articles, websites, news articles)
– Collecting relevant information on your
topic
– Evaluating and synthesizing
information from multiple sources
Source: Industry & Market research, Portland State University Library: http://guides.library.pdx.edu/industry

6. The Research
Path
BACKGROUND INFO:
-overview
-key concepts & vocabulary
BOOKS
• Work from
background to
foreground
FOREGROUND:
-very specific, timely aspects of topic
JOURNAL ARTICLES

7. Think like a search engine

8. Finding background info
URL: http://researchguides.library.brocku.ca/RECL
>Find books tab
>SuperSearch
>use your keywords here
TIP: Start broad -- add more words as needed
Image: 'untitled'
http://www.flickr.com/photos/11
797720@N00/8559607109
Found on flickrcc.net

9. Tips & tricks
1. Use “quotes” to search for an exact
phrase e.g. “age friendly”
2. Use * to search for variations of a word
ending e.g. plan* (plan, planning,
planned)
3. Scroll down: the first results may not be
the best

10. Succeed with SuperSearch
1. Refine your results: select “books & media
@ Brock” to get background info
2. Slide the Publication Date to adjust time
period
3. Select “Subject” to find results focused on
a specific aspect of your topic
4. Add another keyword to find results
focused on a specific aspect of your topic
5. To get a book: note location in library
(print books) OR click “read this online” (ebooks)

11. Evaluating info: the CRAAP test

12. CRAAP
C – Currency
R – Relevance
A – Authority
A – Accuracy
P -- Purpose

13. Ask yourself:
Currency
>How current is this info?
Relevance
>How well does it relate to my topic?
Authority
>Who wrote this? What are the author’s
qualifications? Can anyone add info to this
site?

14. CRAAP, continued
Accuracy
> Can the facts be verified? Are
references clearly listed?
Purpose
>Why does this information exist?

15. Like videos? Here you go:
Evaluating websites:
http://youtu.be/7w62Wfgfc7w

16. On the web
Many websites are good sources of info for
your topic: see Recreation & Leisure
Research Guide > Websites > for ideas
Remember the CRAAP test!

17. Leisure information network
“LIN's vision is to be recognized as the national
knowledge-based digital forum for sharing
value-added information regarding
individual and community nourishment and
well-being through recreation, parks, and
healthy living.”
Try searching:
1. “age friendly”
2. “age friendly” community

18. Other strategies
• Municipal websites e.g. Welland >
Departments > Recreation and Culture
Summary of Parks, Recreation and Culture
plan (Vision 2025)
• Community organization websites
e.g. Niagara Connects >
Niagara Knowledge Exchange
• Niagara Community
Observatory

19. Grey literature
Publications produced outside the traditional
scholarly platforms of academic journals and
books
Examples:
• Reports from organizations
• Government reports
• Policy documents
• Conference proceedings
• Working papers
Grey literature can be used for background & foreground info

20. Strategies for finding grey lit
• Use known sources e.g. Niagara
Connects, LIN
• Use Google/Google Scholar – carefully!
Antiques, by bibliojojo: flickr http://www.flickr.com/photos/68509201@N08/7360308172

21. Tips for Google/Google Scholar
• Use advanced search – click
• Try exact phrase – e.g. age
friendly
• Try any words – for synonym
searching – e.g. city OR community
• Restrict to a geographic region -e.g. Canada

22. Scholarly
articles
• Found in subject
databases such as
Leisure and Tourism,
SportDISCUS, Web of
Science
• Written by researchers
who are topic experts
• Your topic is multidisciplinary >
SuperSearch is a
good bet

23. Succeed with SuperSearch
1. Refine your results: select “peer-reviewed
journals” to get scholarly articles
2. Slide the Publication Date to adjust time
period
3. Select “Subject” to find results focused on
a specific aspect of your topic
4. Add another keyword to find results
focused on a specific aspect of your topic
5. To get an article: use the GetIt link

24. Search tools: combine concepts
Search words AND, OR are powerful tools for
retrieving relevant results
Distinct concepts: use AND
e.g. “community engagement”
AND planning
home.howstuffworks.com/power-drill.htm
Similar concepts (synonyms): use OR e.g.
recreation OR leisure

25. Niagara data
Try the Recreation & Leisure Research
Guide> Data & Statistics page:
• Census of Canada & National
Household Survey> age, gender,
income, etc.
• Info varies depending
on geographic level e.g.
economic region
(Niagara), census tract

26. Data and statistics
Other useful sources (on research
guide>data and stats page):
• Living in Niagara 2011
• Canada Info Desk > Major Canadian Cities >
St. Catharines
• Niagara data - mapped
Tip: data/stats may not be available at the level you want

27. Help with APA style
Recreation & Leisure Research Guide
– Library website > left nav menu “Research
Guides by Program”
• Writing and Citing tab

28. Getting Help
Chat with us from this widget
@ brocku.ca/library
Text us @ 289.271.8777
Search our
Question &
Answer Bank

29. brocku.ca/library
Click on the Help Tab
to search topics by
Category
Contact me:
eyates@brocku.ca
905-688-5550
x4469

30. Summing up