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Library & Information Training for Social Work:Advanced Research Skills for Projects and Dissertationshttp://libguides.rhul.ac.uk/socialwork

Autumn 2014Emma Woods

LibraryTo begin …

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http://www.royalholloway.ac.uk/library

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Session Outline

• Developing a search strategy• Searching information sources –hits & tips

• Citation and referencing• Using other libraries• Accessing online resources off-campus

• Open Access

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My essay question / research topic:

What do I want to find out?

LibraryDeveloping a search strategy

1. Identify keywords that define your research question

2. Select relevant information sources3. Evaluate and modify your searches4. Select and save results5. Locate copies of promising texts

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LibraryIdentifying key concepts & keywords

Alternative terms e.g. governance / policy / regulation

Alternative spellings e.g. colour or color; theatre or theater

Changing terminologye.g. global warming / climate change

LibraryAnalysing your query - an example

Finding information on: ‘population trends in Fiji’

Main aspects Alternative terms1. population trends demographics, statistics or

data2. Fiji South Pacific, southern

hemisphere, Oceania

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Activity 1

Think about your own dissertation / essay topic / research interests and spend a couple of minutes planning your search.

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Now that I know what I want to find out:

What resources would I use?

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Activity 2

Spend 2-3 minutes noting down which resources or types of resources/information you think you would use to carry out your research

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Selecting information sources

Library Subject Page for Social Work:Online databasesLibrarySearchSenate house library catalogueOther internet resources

These can also be found on the main Library webpage

LibraryTypes of Resources

BooksJournals Statistics

Websites Databases Reports

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Now that I know what I want to find out & where to find the resources:

How do I search for information on my

topic?

LibraryReviewing your results – hints & tips

Too many results?

Narrow your search using: ANDe.g.

child AND fostering

“child fostering” AND England

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Reviewing your results – hints & tips

Too few results? Broaden your search using: OR

e.g.fostering OR adoption

(“child fostering” OR “child adoption” ) AND England

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Wildcard searching – hints & tipsUse wildcard characters ($ ? * -) to replace letters insearch termsExamples bio* - finds biology, biosphere, BIOS, etc. *owl* - finds howl, howler, owl, owls, bowl, etc. wom*n - finds women, woman, etc.

NB: Help pages in online databases will explainwhich character is used as the wildcard

LibraryActivity 3Go to your subject pages and select a database or use LibrarySearch and try out a few searches using your keywords and some of the search techniques we’ve just looked at

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Now that I have found information on my topic:

How do I know that it is what I want and good

quality material?

LibraryEvaluating Information

Prezi on evaluating information

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Reviewing your researchDo you have

enough / too much

information?

Is it relevant to

your research?

Does it answer the

whole question?

Is the information

current / within the date you require

Do you need to

review your underlying research question?

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Now that I have the information (books, chapters, journal

articles, webpages etc) that I need:

How do I manage & reference them?

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Selecting & saving results & full text

Most databases allow you to:

Select and save results to a ‘folder’Save, download or email results to yourselfSave search ‘history’ & re run them

Always make a note of your search queries and which database you used.

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Citation and referencing

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 DEPARTMENT

LibraryRefWorks

• 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: http://libguides.rhul.ac.uk/training

LibraryLegal & ethical issues

Copyright:https://www.royalholloway.ac.uk/library/teachingsupport/copyrightadvice.aspx

Plagiarism:https://www.royalholloway.ac.uk/ecampus/academicsupport/studyresources.aspx

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Access online resources off-campus

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: https://www.royalholloway.ac.uk/it/faq/itfaqs/vpn/faqwebvpn.aspx

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Using other libraries

Senate House Library

SCONUL Access Scheme

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Any questions?

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 Social Work:

Emma Woods emma.woods@royalholloway.ac.ukand see the subject guide

http://libguides.rhul.ac.uk/SocialWork

Further information can also be found on the Library website www.royalholloway.ac.uk/library