Your dissertation and the Library

James Webley

19 February 2013

Session outline To review the research/literature review process

How the library’s services and resources can help you with your work.

Demonstrate key resources

Further help and advice.

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Research ProcessStarting outDevising a search strategy

Locating your referencesReviewing and evaluating your results

Writing upKeeping up to date

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Starting outBooks/ebooks, textbooks, Wikipedia, previous projects, lecture notes.

Build up concepts and keywords relevant to your topic. Identify phrases.

Remember variant spellings (e.g. US and English), different meanings, synonyms etc.

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Search StrategyUse your keywords/concepts as search terms

Select appropriate resources – search engines (e.g. Google Scholar) and Library resources

Use search tools: • AND, OR, NOT• Truncation - * (e.g. dynamic* = dynamics, dynamical, dynamically)• Search within results and citation searches• Refine by year, type of publication, subject etc.

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Search Strategy - GoogleUse the Advanced Search options:

Phrase searching – “Machine learning”

Combining keywords - OR, +, -

Limit by file type, date, language etc.

Limit by domain - .org, .ac.uk, .eu, .co.uk/.com, .gov.uk

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Locating referencesLibrary Catalogue for print and ebooks

Search Engines, Subject Databases, and Ejournals

Access material via

Follow a ‘research trail’ – bibliographies, references, citations.

Find/access material not held at Bristol - COPAC/ILL /SCONUL

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Reviewing/Evaluating resultsRead the abstract – is it relevant? – Coverage

Is it free of errors backed up by reliable sources? - Accuracy

Who wrote it? Expert? Academic? Corporation? - Authority

Bias? Commercial interest? - Objectivity

When was it published? - Currency

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Writing up/Keeping up to date

Store and manage references as you search

Cite and reference properly – acknowledge your sources

Avoid plagiarism

ZETOC, Citation alerts (Subject Databases), Publishers’ Alerts, Google Alerts

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Where do you search for information?

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Google Scholar: friendCan search in the same way as Google.

Searches for scholarly information including journal articles.

Good coverage.

Links to other articles that have cited that article.

Shows articles that UoB subscribes to.

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Google Scholar: foeResults ranking unclear.

No list of journals covered.

Does not index all records from databases.

Includes non-academic sources such as blogs.

Limited search options/ no sort options/duplication.

Can’t always get the full text.

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Google Scholar: the verdict

“...a searcher who is unwilling to search multiple databases or to adopt a sophisticated search strategy

is likely to achieve better than average recall and precision by using Google Scholar.” Walters 2009, p.16.

Use Google Scholar in conjunction with other academic search tools at your disposal:

www.bristol.ac.uk/library

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Library Resources

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How can the Library help with my research?

Q. How do I find articles on quantum cryptography?A. Compendex, IEEE Xplore, Web of Science, ACM Digital Library

Q. What is the most highly cited journal in the field of artificial intelligence?A. Journal Citation Reports

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How can the Library help with my research?

Q. How do I keep up to date with what is published in my subject?A. ZETOC

Q. How do I find previous dissertations written on my topic?A. Index to Theses

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In summary, intelligent research involves:

An awareness of the search tools available to you.

A knowledge of how to refine/sort/combine your searches.

Critically evaluating the resources you find.

Using appropriate tools to manage your information.

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For ongoing help and advice…Subject Enquiries

j.webley@bristol.ac.uk

www.bristol.ac.uk/library

19 February 2013