When I started this project I didn't know much about screen-based media so I needed to do quite a lot of initial research before I could begin working on any of the publications.

I began by using Google, Yahoo and Ask Jeeves to look for information. 'Screen-based media' did not produce any useful information so I used a number of different phrases. Here are some of the search criteria I used:

• "computer games" OR "video games" AND behaviour
• "computer games" OR "video games" AND learning
• "violence on television" AND behaviour
• "gaming addiction"
• "parental control" AND television OR Internet

There were so many hits that I decided only to look at information that was published since 2000. Although the same sites were often listed by all the search engines, it was worth using more than one because sometimes a site only came up on one of them.

Some of the hits were to forums such as igda (international game developers association). I got some good leads from here about the effects of computer games on human behaviour and development.

As I read through the information I had found I made a note of some new key words I could use. For example, Professor Mark Griffiths at Nottingham University was mentioned in several articles. He is a psychologist specialising in addictive behaviour.  He has written a lot about children getting addicted to game-playing.  I typed his name into Yahoo and got 90000 hits! Another name I tried was Dr Guy Cumberbatch who is an expert in media violence. I found a really good quote from him to use in my letter.

The Video Standards Council has published a review of the research by Dr Cumberbatch. I think parents ought to read this and have put it on the recommended reading list for the PTA report and the web pages.

I used a mind map to help me group the information I found into topics. This helped me decide what information was relevant for each publication. For example, for the debate I decided to concentrate on the benefits of computer gaming and why educational games are good.

As well as acknowledging my sources in my publications I prodcued a complete bibliography.