Information and evidence · Learning path one

Information search: find answers you can check

Six lessons, a search workbench and a cross-context assessment for finding information and preserving its evidence.

Define a question, choose channels, refine queries, trace sources and write a bounded answer. No research experience required.

Allow 15–20 minutes per lesson and 10–15 for the assessment. All cases are fictional teaching materials.

From a question to sources and evidence gaps

1. 1. Define what would count as an answer

   Turn a broad topic into a scoped question with an evidence requirement.

2. 2. Build keyword families

   Try concepts, synonyms, formal names and more than one language.

3. 3. Match the channel to the question

   Choose documentation, research, data or reporting and trace the actual evidence.

4. 4. Iterate one useful change at a time

   Narrow deliberately and keep a reproducible search log.

5. 5. Search for what could change the conclusion

   Check gaps, different outcomes and shared origins instead of counting links.

6. 6. Search workbench: keep the answer with its sources

   Export a reviewable record of questions, searches, evidence and gaps.

7. Final assessment: search in new contexts

   Ferries, reports, buildings, archives and interviews, with explanations after submission.

Your final artifact

A search report preserving scope, candidate queries, actual search logs, sources, provisional answers and unresolved points. The workbench organizes queries and notes; it does not fetch or verify pages. Drafts are local and language-specific, with export.

Pair with information judgment: examine what you find