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
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