LITERATURE REVIEW WORKSHOPAndrea Williams and Allison Breen, April 2011

•A literature review discusses, summarizes, and synthesizes published information in your subject area•It establishes why you are pursuing this research and expands upon the reasons behind selecting a research topic•It is often at the beginning of a large research project or can be a paper in itself that shows your knowledge in a subject area

What is a Literature Review?

Purpose of a Literature Review

•Formulates or clarifies your research topic

•Identifies gaps in the literature

•Demonstrates relationships among prior research

Differences between a Lit Review and Research Paper

Does not add to existing knowledge

Stands alone or part of a research paper

Focus of a lit review is on the sources

Adds to existing knowledge

Stands alone Focus is on the

argument

Literature Review Research Paper

•Talk to department advisor•Know specific department expectations (e.g. action research in Education department)

How to get started

•Remember not all lit review projects are kept at the library

How to search for theses collected at MSU

Use a Dissertation Calculator

A dissertation calculator can be used to create a timeline for yourself. It breaks your thesis/dissertation down into smaller parts and provides tools, tips, and resources along the way. http://www.lib.umn.edu/help/di

sscalc/

Categorize/organize what you are reading

Who are the key researchers in your field?

What are the seminal papers/classics that are frequently cited?

How can bibliographies be used to determine important literature?

Grey Literature

A term used by librarians, medical and research professionals to refer to materials that cannot be found easily through conventional channels such as publishers

•How can grey literature play a part in your academic area?•How can you find this grey literature regardless of the difficulties – email, phone contacts, etc…

Google Scholar vs Google the non-scholar

•- Using Google Scholar allows you to search through articles, legal opinions, and journals relevant to your subject area

•- Can search with results only of these types, instead of the multitude of results given through a normal Google search (many having little to do with your search topic)

•http://scholar.google.com/

Do I need a TexShare Card?

It allows registered users of participating Texas libraries to borrow materials directly from other participating libraries

Obtain a TexShare card at the MSU library

For more information go to:http://library.mwsu.edu/departments/circdept2.asp#texsharehttp://www.tsl.state.tx.us/texshare/libraryuser_card.html

You can obtain materials MSU does not have in its collection by using Interlibrary Loan at Moffett Library. For more information on how to obtain both books and articles go to: http://library.mwsu.edu/departments/illdept.asp

Use WorldCat to obtain materials MSU does not own

Primo can help you stay organized! There are many tools available on the

library homepage to help you with your research

Remember: it is important to sign in at the top-right of the library homepage to make use of these features

Link to Primo: http://library.mwsu.edu

Once you are signed in…

You can save queries:

And access them at a later time or have alerts sent to your email when new items arrive:

Save items to your personal list

Click the star to save the item to your list and access it later

Just click on ‘My List’ at the top of the library homepage

Email/Print Items and Instant Access to Articles

Click the link to open the page where the article is located

Email, print, etc…

What is the writing center?

The MSU Writing Center provides tutoring and consulting to all members of the campus community

Walk-ins are welcome for shorter projects (less than 5 pages) but please schedule an appointment for help with larger projects

Contact the director, Kristen Garrison, for more information at kristen.garrison@mwsu.edu

http://www.mwsu.edu/writingcenter/

Make Friends with Librarians Contact a subject librarian or reference

librarian to find someone to help you anytime of the day

Link to subject librarians: http://library.mwsu.edu/partners.asp

Call us at: (940) 397-4204 Or visit the library homepage,

library.mwsu.edu, for email addresses and a way to chat instantly with a librarian

For more information…

Check out the following book: Writing literature reviews : a guide for

students of the social and behavioral sciences Available at Moffett Library Book Collection,

2nd Floor (H61.8 .G34 2006 )

Visit the Purdue Online Writing Lab http://owl.english.purdue.edu/owl/