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Library Research Skills

Library Research Skills. Arts Library Services Team | University Library. Karen Chilcott | Faculty Liaison Librarian. Purpose of the session. Purpose of the session. To develop effective Research skills using Library resources, including: Preparing research strategy

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Library Research Skills

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  1. Library Research Skills Arts Library Services Team | University Library Karen Chilcott | Faculty Liaison Librarian

  2. Purpose of the session Purpose of the session • To develop effective Research skills using Library resources, including: • Preparing research strategy • Identifying Primary & Secondary Sources • Finding background information • Finding journal articles & identifying appropriate databases

  3. Research Design Preparing Research Strategy • Identify key concepts / ideas / themes • Breakdown each concept into keywords or phrases, synonyms and word variations • Identify limits – date, language, document types • Research Plan available from Library’s Information Skills webpage at http://www.library.usyd.edu.au/skills/ • Think about the different sources you may need to consult: library catalogue and collections, databases, internet, people, organisations

  4. Research Sources • Databases • For:Journal articles, book chapters, • reports, conference papers, etc • wide range of journals searched • some full text • sophisticated search methods • subject headings & mapping • items may not be held by our library • Library Catalogue • For:books, journals, reference, reports, • conference proceedings, AV, reserve • items held at USYD • some full text journal articles • limited to what USYD holds • can access other libraries’ catalogues Research Sources to consult My Research Internet For:material not found through other sources + can give links to subject related sites, organisations, etc -need to assess credibility of the site • Ejournals • For:full text journal articles by • volume/issue • + full text articles • limited collection of journal • titles searched

  5. Background Information Finding Background Information • Use Background Information to: • Define or clarify terminology • Obtain an overview of a theoretical area • Locate key readings on a specific topic • Find Background Information by • Searching the Library catalogue • Look for Dictionaries & Encyclopedia • Available in hardcopy or eBook • Internet Search Engines or Wikis

  6. Scholarly Sources What is a Scholarly Resource Scholarly means: • written by qualified academic experts for experts • supported by original research • use the jargon of the discipline • peer reviewed • cite sources in footnotes and bibliographies

  7. Determining Scholarly Sources THE REVIEW CRITERIA • R is for Relevance • How relevant is the resource to your topic or question? •  E is for Expertise of Author • What is the educational background & expertise of the author? •  V is for Viewpoint of Author/Organisation • Is the author or organisation associated with a particular view or position? •  I is for Intended Audience • Who is the intended audience for the resource? •  E is for Evidence • Has the resource been through the peer review process? • W is for When Published • When was the resource published?

  8. Checking Scholarly Sources How to find Scholarly Checks: • Look for the publisher’s name, editorial board and rules of submitting articles. • use a directory, like Ulrichs, that lists all the academic and scholarly journals in the field. • Use the Library’s catalogues and databases to check for scholarly works written by the author. • Some databases allow you to limit your search to scholarly material only

  9. Primary & Secondary Sources Primary & Secondary Sources • What is a Primary Source • Primary sources provide a first hand account of an event or time period. • Often created at the time an event occurred • Can include resources recorded later. Such as autobiographies, memoirs or oral histories • Within the social sciences Primary Sources can include articles or papers describing experiments or studies conducted by researchers and written by the researchers themselves • What is a Secondary Source • Offers an analysis or a restatement of primary sources • Involves generalisation, synthesis, interpretation, commentary or evaluation. • Examples include: dictionaries, encyclopedias, textbooks, biographies, dissertations

  10. Types of Primary Sources Some types of primary sources include: • published materials (books, magazine and newspaper articles) written at the particular time • handwritten documents, such as diaries and journals • speeches, interviews, letters • memoirs and autobiographies • manuscripts • maps • laws and court cases • records of government agencies • records of organizations • Numerical data sets such as census figures, opinion polls, surveys or interview transcripts, statistical reports

  11. Finding Journal Articles How to find Journal Articles • You can find articles in journals by searching our databases and ejournal collections. • Databases: •  provide access to the content of journals within broad or specific subjects areas • index articles, essays, conferences papers, websites, book reviews, reports and occasionally book chapters • sometimes provide full-text versions of articles • Cross Search: • a simple and fast search engine that searches multiple collections at the same time, • Searches the library catalogue as well as a variety of bibliographic databases

  12. Selecting the Right Database Selecting the right Databases • The Library has access to over 400 databases • See listing at http://sydney.edu.au/library/databases/ • Use the Subject listing to find databases specific to a particular topic • Many different types of databases including; • General (eg. Expanded Academic or Proquest) • Subject Specific (eg. Worldwide Political Science Abstracts) • Resource Specific (eg. Factiva, or ABS) • Other (eg. JSTOR (retrospective) orWeb of Science (citation) )

  13. Common Database Features Using Databases • Many databases look different, but they all have some common features: • Search a range of years • Search by subject headings or your own keywords • Download, print or email results • Limit references retrieved by date, language or document type

  14. Search Syntax Common Search Syntax • Truncation – To use truncation, enter the root of a search term and replace the ending with the truncation symbol. Common symbols used are ; * or ? or $ or % or ! • Wildcards – The wildcard indicates the symbol used is a placeholder for any unknown term(s) and then find the best matches. Common symbols used are * or ? or $ or % or ! • Phrases – use double quotation marks - “ ” determines a search for the exact words in that exact order without any change. • Boolean Operators – And / Or / Not • Nested Searches – (A or B) and (C or D)

  15. Further Help Need further assistance? • Contact your Faculty Liaison Librarian Karen Chilcott Arts Library Services Team | University Library The University of Sydney T: 02 9351 7289  | F: 02 9351 6722  | M: 0431 606 898   E karen.chilcott@sydney.edu.au • Use “Ask A Librarian” service - http://usyd.libanswers.com/ http://usyd.libanswers.com/

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