Defined: learning and locating summary information about your topic. Often found in reference books (encyclopedias, dictionaries, handbooks, etc.), textbooks, and introductory level sources.
You may use informal sources, such as Wikipedia, but you will need to verify the facts through other sources.
Watch for helpful keywords while doing background research and use them as you search.
The Multimedia Encyclopedia of Women in Today's World
The Oxford Encyclopedia of Women in World History
by
Encyclopedia of Women in Today's World
The book AI Snake Oil describes AI chat services as bullshit generators. This is because while they are very good at generating authoritative sounding text they have no concept of truth and cannot fact check. For this reason use of AI to locate factual information and sources of factual information is not a good idea. You can use them to help you brainstorm but, similar to Wikipedia - everything they provide has to fact checked - including citations!
Narayanan, Arvind, and Sayash Kapoor. AI Snake Oil : What Artificial Intelligence Can Do, What It Can’t, and How to Tell the Difference. Princeton: Princeton University Press, 2024.
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