Resources
Tips for finding information
- Use recommendations from your tutor or in the course materials. Most OU courses have an electronic desktop which lists resources directly relevant to the course. The desktop will be available shortly before your course starts and can be accessed from your student web page. The OU library also provides help in searching for mathematical sites and information and other subject-related material. There is a link to the library on your student home page. Select 'Your subject', which is one of the 'Featured links' on the Library home page; use the drop-down arrows to find an appropriate subject category and subcategory. You can then choose to see a list of selected ejournals, ebooks, databases and websites.
- Learn how to use a search engine effectively.
- Make your search word or phrase as precise as possible.
- Put phrases in quotation marks so they are considered as a whole.
- Bookmark sites you find helpful.
- Check the information on the site.
- Not all terminology is universal. Check that the descriptions you find match your course materials
- Check that the site is from a reliable and reputable source. Not all Mathematics on the web is correct, although most of it is! Read everything critically.