English 311 english library skill sessions for 3rd year dissertation students

English 311

Information for your Dissertation

Library Skills

To give students the opportunity to carry out independent study at an advanced level, into a topic of interest to them;

Understand that preparation is keyDistinguish between the different types of resources

availableUnderstand why you need to use good quality information

sourcesUnderstand how to develop and implement a search

strategyUnderstand how to access electronic resourcesUnderstand how to use the Internet appropriatelyBe aware of Reference management software

Record what you find

Make sure you have enough detail to find the information again

Always record:Source used and the date you used it

Searches undertaken and results foundKeywords used, date range searched, location of material

Full bibliographic details of the material foundThis will help you with your referencing bibliography

Take a photocopy of the title page

Record search strategies

Be flexible –review searches

Define your topic.

What is it you want to say?

What is the scope?

Preparation is key

Literature, women and politics in Renaissance England

Fiction

Narrative

Story

Play

Female

Gender

Girl

Government

State

Beliefs

Parliament

Tudor

Elizabeth I

Henry VIII

Relationships between your keywords Boolean searching

Shakespeare AND Sonnet

Playwright OR Dramatist

Language NOT dialect

Politic* Wom?n

Politics

Politician globali?ation

Political

Check the Help pages onelectronic sources before you start

Established facts and figures

General information on a topic

Reviews of the literature of a topic

Publications of recent research results

Primary sources – actual documentsor scanned images of original texts

Scholarly debates

Reference books- encyclopaedias, ‘companions to’, biographies

Books of collected articles, text books, research monographs, scholarly websites

Journal articlesBooks of collected articles

Journal articlesProceedings of conferences

On-line digitised collections,Library’s Special Collections and Archives.National archive organisations

Journal articles, newspapersWebsites of relevant organisations

I have a twin sister

I’ve been held at gunpoint

I once owned a three legged hamster called Hopalong

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

Catalogue contains all the items in Library – but can only search on journal title –not journal article

Easy to search as Google

Searches Peer Reviewed (academically approved )material not available on the Internet

Search for journal articles – (plus other items)

Also contains the Library catalogue – not as easy to keep track of searches

Femmes fatales literature

Newspapers

ONLY 60 DAY ARCHIVE – ONLY 4 PEOPLE CAN USE AT THE SAME TIME – PLEASE LOG OFF WHEN FINISHED

Websites

Preparation is key

Search local to global –Catalogue

Discover

LibGuides

Additional resources

Use good quality resources

Use Internet appropriately

Use reference management software if you think it’s right for you.

Linda Crane

lcrane@liv.ac.uk

0151 794 2686

Room 210 Sydney Jones Library

Thank you

Good luck with your dissertation

VITALLibGuidesRegistration sheet

I have a twin sister

I’ve been held at gunpoint

I once owned a three legged hamster called Hopalong