Research media file and in-class essay
Updated Term 2 2022
Quick links
As you do further research for this task try using SweetSearch instead of Google. SweetSearch is designed to bring up results that are more relevant to students. Add inurl:au at the end of your search to find websites from Australia.
You can use the SLASA Referencing Generator for your bibliography. See Miss Hewson for the login details.
We have compiled a resource on researching for legal studies to help you find information from a variety of sources (which the syllabus requires you to do).
As you do further research for this task try using SweetSearch instead of Google. SweetSearch is designed to bring up results that are more relevant to students. Add inurl:au at the end of your search to find websites from Australia.
You can use the SLASA Referencing Generator for your bibliography. See Miss Hewson for the login details.
We have compiled a resource on researching for legal studies to help you find information from a variety of sources (which the syllabus requires you to do).
How to find information HSC Legal Studies Guide - A guide created by the State Library on how to use their resources to research for Legal Studies. Finding cases for Legal Studies - Art of Smart [archive] - An article by a former Legal Studies student on how to find legal cases. *what does [archive] mean? |
Finding media articles
There are three ways you can do this:
Option 1: Go to a news outlet's website and search for your topic.
Some news websites have a better search function than others. There
are links to some news outlets further down the page.
Option 2: Using Google, search for your topic and add
site:[your news outlet] at the end of the search.
eg. copyright site:abc.net.au
Option 3: If you want to search more than one news outlet at once, use Google News. You can use the filters on the left to limit the search to Australia, and you can click the tiny arrow at the right-hand end of the search box to use the advanced search, which lets you limit the search to recent articles, or specify words that you don't want appearing in your search results (use this to remove irrelevant results).
There are three ways you can do this:
Option 1: Go to a news outlet's website and search for your topic.
Some news websites have a better search function than others. There
are links to some news outlets further down the page.
Option 2: Using Google, search for your topic and add
site:[your news outlet] at the end of the search.
eg. copyright site:abc.net.au
Option 3: If you want to search more than one news outlet at once, use Google News. You can use the filters on the left to limit the search to Australia, and you can click the tiny arrow at the right-hand end of the search box to use the advanced search, which lets you limit the search to recent articles, or specify words that you don't want appearing in your search results (use this to remove irrelevant results).
Searching tricks
Searching as a phrase:
For some of these topics it might work better to search for the phrase, which means searching for a group of words in a particular order. To search for a phrase, put the phrase in double speech marks. This works in Google and most other search boxes.
eg. “genetic profiling”
Irrelevant results
If your searches are turning up a lot of news articles that have your search terms in them but aren’t relevant, try using more keywords to narrow down the search. If there is a common theme to the irrelevant articles (eg. getting articles about the latest version of a mobile phone) put a minus sign in front of the recurring irrelevant word or phrase and Google will filter out results with that word or phrase.
eg. mobile phone -“iPhone 9” site:theguardian.com
If you use the advanced search in Google news, but the irrelevant word or phrase in the exclude words box.
Searching as a phrase:
For some of these topics it might work better to search for the phrase, which means searching for a group of words in a particular order. To search for a phrase, put the phrase in double speech marks. This works in Google and most other search boxes.
eg. “genetic profiling”
Irrelevant results
If your searches are turning up a lot of news articles that have your search terms in them but aren’t relevant, try using more keywords to narrow down the search. If there is a common theme to the irrelevant articles (eg. getting articles about the latest version of a mobile phone) put a minus sign in front of the recurring irrelevant word or phrase and Google will filter out results with that word or phrase.
eg. mobile phone -“iPhone 9” site:theguardian.com
If you use the advanced search in Google news, but the irrelevant word or phrase in the exclude words box.
Some high quality news outlets:
ABC News
The Guardian Australia
Sydney Morning Herald
Australian Financial Review
The Conversation - Articles written by academics in a journalistic style.
ABC News
The Guardian Australia
Sydney Morning Herald
Australian Financial Review
The Conversation - Articles written by academics in a journalistic style.
Finding legal information
You can use these websites to find cases, judgements and other legal sources. They are all similar, so use the one that you find the easiest to use. Australian Legal Information Institute LawCite Jade |
Finding academic information
'Academic information' means information that has been written by experts and 'peer reviewed', which means other experts have reviewed it and confirmed that it is correct. This means the information is trustworthy and of a high quality, unlike a lot of the information you will find with Google. Academic articles are a good resource to use in Year 11 and 12. You can register your Sutherland Shire library card to access the State Library databases to find academic articles. The State Library also subscribe to a database called Factiva, which searches news articles. |
Evaluating information
You should evaluate all the websites, articles and videos you use to ensure that it is accurate and credible. These questions will help you to do that:
You should evaluate all the websites, articles and videos you use to ensure that it is accurate and credible. These questions will help you to do that:
Hint
.gov websites are a good source for Legal Studies.
.gov websites are a good source for Legal Studies.
© 2024 Inaburra School