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Some tips and activities for researching your social work project/dissertation.
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Library
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 [email protected] 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