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MCGILL LIBRARY AND YOUR THESIS
Psychiatry PGSA Thesis Day
May 23, 2014
The library’s role in your thesis
Part 1: Other people’s work (or, looking at other theses)
Part 2: The literature review: why & how
Part 3: Library services & the Writing Centre
Starting point: Look at other theses
Why bother? Understand expectations Discover extensive
bibliographies
Check out the library guide to finding theses
Image source: http://wani-loneranger.blogspot.ca/2011/02/reading-habit.html
Finding theses online
eScholarship@McGill: McGill’s digital repositorySearch by:
Keyword Faculty or Department
ProQuest Theses & DissertationsSearch by
Keyword Subject (Search options > Subject heading
(all) > Look up subjects)
Why write a literature review?
Your literature review situates your research within the scholarly conversation on your topic.
Source: Single, P. B. (2009). Demystifying dissertation writing: A streamlined process from choice of topic to final text. Sterling, Va: Stylus.
Set out to understand the conversation
Secondary sources: Textbooks,
government sources, associationsSecondary
sources: Literature reviews
Primary sources: Original research
Timeline for research dissemination
event hours days months years …and years …
social media
research-in-
progress conferenc
e proceedin
gs
news outlets
conference
proceedings
journal articles
collected articles
textbooks
Adapted from http://www2.lib.unc.edu/instruct/tutorial/index.html?section=searching
Using McGill Library to find resources
Using the WorldCat Local discovery tool (especially helpful for known items)
Finding key resources: the Psychiatry and Clinical Psychology Subject Guide
Look to other subject guides (e.g. Social Work, Nursing, Education, etc.)
Scavenger Hunt!
Image source: http://research.dejanseo.com.au/wp-content/uploads/2012/06/searching-web1.jpg
What about Google Scholar?
Strengths: Finding the
needle in the haystack (full-text searching)
Bringing your literature forward (who cited my most relevant articles?)
Image source: http://www.tophc.ca/Blog/Lists/Posts/Post.aspx?ID=42
If you can’t find what you need
Use COLOMBO for inter-library loan (remember to “Create a request”)
Books, DVDs: contact me to suggest for purchase
Remember the 15-minute rule!
Image sourcehttp://www.analomba.com/anas-blog/part-2-only-15-minutes-for-spanish-then-be-aware-of-this/
Evaluate sources critically!
• For help in assessing sources, consult: “How to read a paper” articles by Tricia Greenhalgh (PubMed Central) 10 papers on assessing different article types
Organize your research
Create accounts (e.g. Ovid, EBSCO) and save your database searches
Set up alerts to discover new information on your topic
Track what you read using a synthesis matrix (see handout)
Citation assistance
EndNote: download it here Create a library Import references directly from database Organize references into groups Attach full-text PDFs Cite While You Write (syncs with Microsoft Word) Format citations
Citing in APA: See Purdue University’s Citation Guide, Purdue Owl
Citation assistance: contact [email protected]
Library Services
Consultations (1 on 1) Search strategy Consulting the Grey Literature EndNote troubleshooting
Workshops (group) MyResearch EndNote
Non-library resource: The McGill Writing Centre
Graphos: free programs offered by the McGill Writing Centre for grad students, including: General courses Workshops* Peer Writing Groups* Tutorials (McGill Writing Centre)
*Not offered in the summer
