Library Guides: INF200 Research Skills Guide: Assessment 2

What are you being asked to do?

Your third assessment task is a critical evaluation of the supervisor described in the scenario in your Subject Outline. Analysing the case study details will help you to think critically about the information provided in it. Once again, you will need to use research in your report, to prove your argument and back up your plan.

Where should you start?

First, make sure you read the information in the Subject Outline about this assessment task carefully, as well as any information provided to you by your lecturer. Ask questions if you don't understand something.

Then, refer back to the Getting started with your assessment section in the INF111 Research Skills Guide, and to the information on the Assessment 1 page in this guide for refreshers on topic analysis and finding information.

This scenario focuses on supervision, but it's important to think outside the box as you critically evaluate how this supervisor treats both his own staff and his superiors, and what key phrases you might use to describe his office management practices.

Key tips

When you're developing your list of keywords to use while searching, you might like to do some background reading in workplace behaviors, to find the right phrases to use to describe the supervisor's actions
- Don't forget to think about synonyms, or what versions of phrases could be used in an academic context
You should search for LIS-focused books and journal articles to use, but you could also use information from Business and Management discipline, so don't forget to make sure some of your searches include these areas
Refer to the Using Journal Databases and Using Internet Resources pages for more tips on searching, or for information on how to evaluate your resources
Part of a critical evaluation includes giving your opinion, but you should show how that opinion has been formed using evidence from peer-reviewed research

Critical evaluation

A critical evaluation involves analysing something - in this case, the supervisory style of the librarian described in the scenario - and weighing strengths and weaknesses, identifying issues, and/or discussing how successful it is in meeting certain objectives.

Pay attention to the rationale in your Subject Outline for some detail about what to focus on in your analysis. Some of the resources below (which are just for background, not to be references in your assessment) might get you started on how to critically analyse the scenario:

You should check in with your lecturer about exactly how to structure your essay.

Peer-reviewed sources

You need to include evidence and research from peer-reviewed sources to support your discussion. Refer back to the Evaluate section of the INF111 Research Skills Guide for more about evaluating your resources.