HSC Community and Family Studies: Home

These publications contain relevant information

The Bush Telegraph full program podcast - one single audio file of the whole program for continuous listening. Presented by Michael Mackenzie, Bush Telegraph is an entertaining look at rural and regional issues around Australia. It's current, it's topical and it's an in-depth look at what makes life outside our capital cities unique.

Hindsight, 360 and Verbatim bring home the richness of the outside world, liven up our national history, and tell the story of your local community. Life Matters and Australia Talks discuss daily concerns and invite your response: from anecdote to academic theory, it's here on Radio National.

Spend an hour in someone else's life each weekday. 'Conversations with Richard Fidler' draws you deeper into the life story of someone you may have heard about, but never met.

What is Library 2?

In Moodle - Students - Library you will find a link to Library Intranet.

Click here to access EBSCO, and other databases.

Please refer to the syllabus document link, and in particular Section 9.1 : HSC Core : Research methodology

You may find some of these websites useful in gathering infomation for your Independent Research Project

Type your search term into the Search Box below

Click this icon and set yourself up a Google Alert. Have information delivered straight to your InBox

Enter your search term into the search box below to search for scholarly articles, theses, arguments.

Don't just use Google!

Noodle Tools lists some alternative search engines which you can emply depending on what you want to achieve! Check it out...

Instagrok employs a visually interactive map interface with links to other types of media besides web pages.

Carefully evaluate the resources you select for your assignments. This will help you to determine their quality and decide whether they will be appropriate for your purposes.

Use the following criteria to evaluate resources:

Relevance

• covers important issues in enough depth
• uses an appropriate level of language, e.g. is it too basic or too specialised
• is the source primary or secondary, e.g. is it an original account, an analysis or an interpretation of original material

Currency

• check the date of publication, as some topics require recent information
• when was the web page last updated?

Reliability

• who is the author? check for an author's credentials, e.g. their qualifications
• is the website creator stated, who are they? Look for information about an organisation 
• who is the publisher? Is information about them readily available?
• peer-reviewed or refereed journals indicate that articles are scholarly
• blogs generally present a personal viewpoint

Accuracy

• is there author bias, suggesting less credibility? What is the writer's angle?
• are facts or statistics from a reliable source, e.g. Australian Bureau of Statistics?
• use of emotive language indicates the information is opinion rather than fact
• URL domain, e.g. .gov .edu .com, indicates a government site, an educational body or a commercial organisation

This guide was produced by the University of NSW Library (ELISE) and has been used with permission.