4. Assessment criteria includes
• The literature review needs to identify the principle
areas of the research domain
• The literature review needs to cite some of the key
sources in each of those areas
• Communicate in an academic style and structure
• Use the IEEE referencing system
9. Searching for information – Library
Search
Click on ‘Sign-in’,
choose ‘Middlesex
University’ and use
your MDX university
email address.
Sign-in to check your library
record, request items, create
lists, save searches and create
alerts and export references to
RefWorks.
12. Journal databases
myUniHub > My Study > My Library > Databases
http://libguides.mdx.ac.uk/pdde/JournalDatabases
IEEE Xplore
13. Google Scholar
http://scholar.google.co.uk/
You may be
able to access
the full-text
here.
Refine your
search
results here.
Create an alert for your search,
so you can keep up-to-date
with new publications.
Link to MDX resources: > Settings > Library Links > Search for MDX and save.
14. Google Scholar: Useful features
Full text available
from Middlesex
Uni and/or other
sources.
Click on author’s name (if underlined)
to view profile and check for other
research by the author on the same
topic.
Click on ‘Cited by’
to see other articles
that have cited this
article.
‘All versions’: The same article
on other websites – sometimes
useful for getting full text if not
available from MDX.
Create a
Harvard
reference.
15. If you have too many results…
• Add more keywords
• Be more specific
• “Exact phrase”
• Add limits e.g. date
16. If you don’t have enough results…
• Use alternative keywords
• Be less specific
• Split the question into simple concepts
• Try variations of the same word
17. It’s not in the Library!
• myUniHub > MyStudy > MyLibrary > Inter Library Loans
• Sconul Access http://www.sconul.ac.uk/sconul-access
30. Need further help?
Your Librarian is:
Vanessa Hill v.hill@mdx.ac.uk
http://libguides.mdx.ac.uk/pdde/Help
Notes de l'éditeur
Searching for information for your project
Evaluating information
Your finished piece of work is just the tip of the iceberg.
Below it is should be loads of research i.e. looking at theory and facts, being inspired, getting ideas, stimulating your imagination etc.
Research at Uni of Huddersfield shows that students who use library resources get better degrees.
We’re going to start off with an exercise to get you thinking about keywords.
These are some of the marking criteria for the dissertation. Proposal submitted in week 4….last week.
Need to carry out a literature review in order to:
Find information to inform, underpin and shape your research/dissertation
Find what has already been written on a subject
Identify the main trends, themes, gaps, limitations etc
Locate appropriate information: the information needs to be suitable for your need i.e. right level, current if important, sufficient breadth or detail etc
Students handed in proposal in week 4, so have a rough idea of what they are researching.
Hand out paper and pens. One sheet per person
Students in pairs.
Write their project keywords on sheet. Then tell your partner about your project. Discuss.
Accessing resources
Click on MyStudy.
You can now access library resources from the MyLibrary box……detail on next page.
Sign in for full functionality.
Need to carry out a literature search:
Finding the information available on a subject
Finding information to inform, underpin and shape your research
Finding what has already been written on a subject
Analyzing, evaluating and making judgements about the info found
Identifying the main trends
Finding appropriate information: the information needs to be suitable for your need ie. right level, current if important, sufficient breadth or detail etc
Help available here on using Library search.
Students can also search individual databases.
IEEE Xplore probably main database, but others useful depending on what you are looking for. Link below provides list of other databases including Design and Applied Arts Index, Science Direct and ACM Digital Library.
Find journal articles, theses, books, and more, from academic publishers, professional societies, online repositories, universities and other web sites.
Search across many disciplines
Locate the full-text document through your library or on the web: Change settings etc to link to MDX resources. You only need to do this once on your own laptop/device, but need to be logged on to MyUniHub.
Keep up with recent developments in any area of research
Save items in a personal library
Google Scholar is good, but limited ability to combine different keywords.
Older articles can appear first in results, so use the date limits on the left hand side of the screen.
Add more keywords to narrow your search results
Be more specific e.g. sprinting vs running
“Exact phrase” e.g. “design management”
Add limits e.g. date, gender, age, country etc
Use alternative keywords e.g. football or soccer
Be less specific
Split the question into simple concepts…….searching for all the concepts together might be making your search too complicated.
Try variations of the same word e.g. swim, swimmers, swimming or use swim*
Inter Library Loan service: request copies of books and journals not held by MDX. £3 charge. Register as DL first. More info on our website.
SCONUL Access http://www.access.sconul.ac.uk/ The SCONUL Access Scheme provides reciprocal access and borrowing rights for staff and students to approximately 170 member institutions in the UK. Apply online.
Other libraries (specialist, catalogues etc):
British Library http://www.bl.uk/
COPAC http://copac.ac.uk/ COPAC is a union catalogue that gives access to the merged online catalogues of members of the Consortium of University Research Libraries (CURL). Twenty major university libraries currently contribute to COPAC.
Search25 http://www.search25.ac.uk/: helps you discover library resources across London and the South East. You can also see where the libraries are and find out how to visit them.
SUNCAT http://www.suncat.ac.uk/ SUNCAT, a union catalogue of serials (periodicals) for the UK, is a tool for locating serials held in UK libraries.
Trend and colour forecasting, business strategy, trade news etc
Passport provides key business intelligence on industries, countries and consumers.
Mintel contains marketing intelligence reports, trends analysis and market size information for a wide range of industries and across several countries. Good for sector information in Europe and America.
IBIS world: Supply chains feature US resource but covers UK
BSC is a database of good quality academic journals. Business reports with industry, company and country profiles are also included.
Cite Them Right includes all of the referencing styles used by the University including IEEE. Use drop-down menu to select IEEE.
With reference to information. What do these words mean?
Answers next slide.
Currency
How old: How old is the information? Does it need to be up-to-date?
Last updated: When was the information last updated?
What: Do you know what was updated. Think Wikipedia. There is often an explanation of what has been updated in new edition of a book.
Authority
Author: Do you know who the author is?
Qualifications: What is the author’s knowledge base?
Verifiable: Can the information be supported? Another witness or further info from a different source. Is there any peer review?
Divide class into groups.
Hand out pack of cards.
Students have two headings ‘Authority’ and ‘Currency’ (black cards).
Plus a double set of information sources. They should put the cards in order of which offer the most currency and authority.
Discuss.