15th October 2013.

1. Drama and Theatre
Research Methodologies
http://libguides.rhul.ac.uk/drama
15 October 2013
Kim Coles
Library

2. Session Outline
Library
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Accessing e-resources off-campus
Developing a search strategy
Online resources for Drama and Theatre
Citing references / creating a bibliography
… anything else?

3. Access online resources off-campus
Library
Royal Holloway ‘Campus Anywhere’ (VPN)
The only way to access all of our electronic resources off
campus is to install the Virtual Private Network (VPN)
service, known as 'CampusAnywhere'.
How to set up the VPN connection:
http://www.rhul.ac.uk/it/home.aspx
and follow the link: Campus Anywhere

4. Developing a search strategy
Library
1. Identify keywords that define your research
question
2. Select relevant information sources
3. Evaluate and modify your searches
4. Select and save results
5. Locate copies of promising texts

5. Library
My essay question / research topic:
What do I want to find out?

6. Library
6

7. Identifying key concepts & keywords
Library
Alternative terms
e.g. governance / policy / regulation
Alternative spellings
e.g. colour or color; theatre or theater
Changing terminology
e.g. global warming / climate change

8. Analysing your query - an example
Library
Finding information on: ‘depictions of madwomen’
Main aspects
Alternative terms
1. madness
Insanity, mental illness,
hysteria
Female, gender, sex
2. women

9. Exercise 1
Library
Think about your own dissertation / essay topic / research
interests and spend 5 minutes planning your search.

10. Library
Now that I know what I want to find out:
What resources would I use?

11. Types of Resources
Library
Journals
Books
Statistics
Websites
Databases
Reports

12. Selecting information sources
Library
Drama and Theatre Subject Guide
Online databases
LibrarySearch
Senate house library catalogue
Other internet resources
These can also be found on the main Library webpage

13. Activity 2
Library
Spend 2-3 minutes browsing the Drama Subject
Guide and the suggested resources, and tick the box
in the handbook which resources or types of
resources/information you think you would use to
carry out your research.

14. Library
Now that I know what I want to find out
& where to find the resources:
How do I search for information
on my topic?

15. Wildcard searching – hints & tips
Library
Use wildcard characters ($ ? * -) to replace letters in
search terms
Examples
theat* - finds theatre, theater, theatrical etc.
*owl* - finds howl, howler, owl, owls, bowl, etc.
wom*n - finds women, woman, etc.
NB: Help pages in online databases will explain
which character is used as the wildcard

16. Reviewing your results – hints & tips
Library
Too many results?
Narrow your search using: AND
e.g.
female AND madness

17. Reviewing your results – hints & tips
Library
Too few results?
Broaden your search using: OR
e.g.
sex OR gender

18. Library
Now that I have found information on
my topic:
How do I know that it is what I
want and good quality
material?

19. Reviewing your research
Library
Do you have
enough / too
much
information?
Do you need to
review your
underlying
research
question?
Is the
information
current / within
the date you
require
Is it relevant to
your research?
Does it answer
the whole
question?

20. Activity 3
Library
Read the section on Web of Knowledge and conduct
some searches. Try out a few searches using your
keywords and some of the search techniques we’ve just
looked at. Try saving and emailing useful results to
yourself.

21. Library
Now that I have the information (books,
chapters, journal articles, webpages
etc) that I need:
How do I manage & reference
them?

22. Citation and referencing
Library
Acknowledge the author of the source
Enable the item to be traced
Evidence of scope and depth of your research
Reference style – the layout & format of your
bibliography - CHECK WITH YOUR DEPT

23. MLA 7th edition
Library
Gralla, Preston. How Wireless Works. 2nd ed.
Indianapolis: Que, 2006.
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24. Legal & ethical issues
Library
Copyright:
http://www.rhul.ac.uk/library/helpandsupport/teachingsupport/copyright
advice.aspx
Plagiarism:
http://www.rhul.ac.uk/forstudents/studyresources/home.aspx

25. RefWorks
Library
Bibliographic management software
Capture, save and organise references
Access it via the Online Resources A-Z lists
Contains online self-help tutorials
Library RefWorks sessions:
Check the Library Information Skills Training Sessions from the Drama
Subject guide:
http://libguides.rhul.ac.uk/drama

26. Selecting & saving results & full text
Library
Most databases allow you to:
Select and save results to a ‘folder’
Save, download or email results to yourself
Save search ‘history’ & re run them
Always make a note of your search queries and which
database you used.

27. Any questions?
Library
For more help & guidance on any of the topics explored in this course, or for
one to one training sessions, please contact the Library Information Consultant
for Drama & Theatre:
Kim Coles, k.coles@rhul.ac.uk
or email: library@rhul.ac.uk
Further information can also be found on the Library website:
www.rhul.ac.uk/library