literature search for the humanities
TRANSCRIPT
Colourbox.com
Helene N. Andreassen, PhDMarit Bull Enger, cand.philol
University Library, UiTOctober 25, 2016
Take control of your PhD journey:
Literature search for the humanities
Outline and main objectives
Outline
• The whys and hows of literature searches
• Topics in the art of searching & database illustrations
Oria & accessing, saving and asking for sources
Scopus & analyzing and evaluating database content
ProQuest & broadening and refining searches
Research data as a scholarly source
Main objectives
• Know and explain the purpose of various types of literature searches
• Know the research/information literacy skills needed to perform literature
search in accordance with good research practice
The whys of literature searches
1. Narrow topic search
– Why: Strengthen your argumentation
– How: Search that should target literature supporting as well as going against
your own hypothesis
2. Literature review
– Why: Position your research in a context, refine your research questions
– How: Extensive search that should go beyond what is recommended by your
supervisor, iterative/continuous process (until a certain point)
3. Moving from student to scholar
– Why: Development of a confident researcher identity
– How: Practice and master research/information literacy skills related to
searching and evaluating sources, and thereby make informed choices
(Garson, 2016)
The challenges of literature searches
1. Linguistic
– Familiarize yourself with terminology, genre and cultural discourse
2. Methodological
– Scoping (extent of search), analysis (interpret content), synthesis (organize
information), discussion (criticize)
3. Conceptual
– Make each reference to other literature contribute to your work
4. Ontological
– Have confidence in your own role as literature reviewer
(Chen, Wang & Lee, 2016)
How one searches determines what one finds;and what one finds is the basis of the conclusions of one’s integration of studies
(Glass, 1981)
The hows of literature searches
The traditional vs. the systematic literature review
• Traditional literature reviews typically …
– summarize what is known on a topic
– provide details on the studies that they consider
• But they typically do not explain …
– the criteria used to identify and include those studies and/or
– why certain studies are discussed while others are not
• If the process of identifying and including studies is not explicit, it is …
– not possible to assess the decision process
– not possible to interpret the meaning of the review findings
(taken from Fehrmann & Hawkins, 2015, who cite Gough, Oliver & Thomas, 2012)
Systematic literature search:
Key characteristics
• Cleary stated set of objectives with pre-defined eligibility criteria for studies
• An explicit, reproducible methodology
• A systematic search that attempts to identify all studies that would meet the
eligibility criteria
• An assessment of the validity of the findings of the included studies
• A systematic presentation, and synthesis, of the characteristics and findings
of the included studies
(taken from Fehrmann & Hawkins, 2015, who cite Higgins & Green, 2011)
Systematic literature search:
A model for the humanities
1. Begin to formulate and state a focused research topic or question
2. Initial «scoping» activity
1. What and where are the possible information sources? Clarify topic. Clarify criteria that will be used to select sources, and criteria that will be used to select information from chosen sources (IE: Inclusion/Exclusion)
3. Design a comprehensive or targeted search
4. Do searches. Screen and choose possible information sources
5. Second screening. Use your IE criteria with resources that pass initial screening: decide which items to keep
6. Identify and «extract» information from resources selected
7. Analyze the information chosen to address review topic
8. Construct the picture, integration, or “answer” that seems to grow out of the information that you have chosen
9. Create a document that can be shared that contains the «results of steps 1-8. Present this report in a manner that allows other to clear see and possibly reproduce steps 4-8.
(taken from Fehrmann & Hawkins, 2015)
Systematic literature search:
A model for the humanities
1. Begin to formulate and state a focused research topic or question
2. Initial «scoping» activity
1. What and where are the possible information sources? Clarify topic. Clarify criteria that will be used to select sources, and criteria that will be used to select information from chosen sources (IE: Inclusion/Exclusion)
3. Design a comprehensive or targeted search
4. Do searches. Screen and choose possible information sources
5. Second screening. Use your IE criteria with resources that pass initial screening: decide which items to keep
6. Identify and «extract» information from resources selected
7. Analyze the information chosen to address review topic
8. Construct the picture, integration, or “answer” that seems to grow out of the information that you have chosen
9. Create a document that can be shared that contains the «results of steps 1-8. Present this report in a manner that allows other to clear see and possibly reproduce steps 4-8.
(taken from Fehrmann & Hawkins, 2015)
Systematic literature search:
A model for the humanities
1. Begin to formulate and state a focused research topic or question
2. Initial «scoping» activity
1. What and where are the possible information sources? Clarify topic. Clarify criteria that will be used to select sources, and criteria that will be used to select information from chosen sources (IE: Inclusion/Exclusion)
3. Design a comprehensive or targeted search
4. Do searches. Screen and choose possible information sources
5. Second screening. Use your IE criteria with resources that pass initial screening: decide which items to keep
6. Identify and «extract» information from resources selected
7. Analyze the information chosen to address review topic
8. Construct the picture, integration, or “answer” that seems to grow out of the information that you have chosen
9. Create a document that can be shared that contains the “results” of steps 1-8. Present this report in a manner that allows other to clear see and possibly reproduce steps 4-8.
(taken from Fehrmann & Hawkins, 2015)
Access to literature via the University Library
• Access to electronic resources
when outside campus
VPN (Virtual Private Network)
• Log-in to identify yourself as a
local (UiT) user
AnyConnect
• Software to secure access to the
entire UiT electronic portfolio
• One-time download and
installation
• Get it at
http://en.uit.no/om/orakelethttp://www.droid-life.comhttp://computer.howstuffworks.com
Easy access to the e-resources: Mac illustration
After installation, Cisco AnyConnect is put into the top menu in Finder
Each time you need to connect, click the icon in the top menu and enter your password
Work as if you were in your office at UiT!
And please do not hesitate to contact us in case you experience problems!
ORIA Log in with your UiT usernameand password
• Search for keywords, «phrases», names or «full titles»
• Combine search terms with AND• Use * to truncate your searches, e.g.
method* method, methods, methodology, methodological, ...
• Save and manage yoursearches
• Renew your loans• Request books/articles from
other libraries
uit.oria.no
Oria: exercises
Please feel free to exchange our suggested search terms with others if you like.
1. Find books by Henrik Ibsen.
2. Find articles about postcolonialism and Marxism. Then limit to articles from peer-reviewed journals.
3. Can you find books about Knut Hamsun in English?
4. Find dissertations about expeditions and the Arctic.
5. Find a film about the aurora borealis (“northern lights”).
6. Search for the book: How To Get A PhD: A handbook for students and their supervisors by Estelle Phillips. Is it a printed book or an electronic version? How do you get access to the book?
7. If a book is on loan, how do you make a reservation?
8. Log in to your account. Find out how you can renew your loans.
9. Find the latest issue of Nordic Journal of Linguistics. Open the full text of one of the articles in that issue.
10. Find five peer reviewed articles about a subject you are interested in.
Finding relevant databases
Finding relevant databases
Scopus
- analyzing and evaluating database content
• The largest abstract and citation database of peer-reviewed literature
• Coverage
– all research fields
– 20 000 peer-reviewed journals
– 85 000 books
• Tools to track, analyze and visualize research
– Journal ranking
– Citation impact
– Author information
elsevier.com
library.uthscsa.edu
Scopus.com
Example
• Dyslexia AND School
– Analyse search results
– Source
– Author
Journals and authors
in the field
Exercise
1. Journal within a given field
– Search terms “reformation” and “England”
– Click Analyze search results
– Limit time range to 2000-2016
– View documents for the journal with the highest number of search
results
2. Publications by a given author within different subject areas
– In Author search, search for Noam Chomsky (MIT)
– Select Analyze author output
– Select Documents, by subject area
– View document list of publications within Arts & Humanities
Discussion
How should we use the analytics tools in a sound way?
" ...knowing the bibliometric features of databases, their own h-index and related metrics versus those of the alternative tools can be very useful for computing a variety of research performance indicators. However, we need to learn much more about our tools in our rush to metriciseeverything before we can rest assured that our gauges gauge correctly or at least with transparent limitations...". (Dr. P. Jacso, cf. http://hlwiki.slais.ubc.ca/index.php/Scopus_vs._Web_of_Science
Discussion
“Using journal rank as an assessment tool is bad scientific practice.” (Brembs, Button and Munafò, 2013)
2014 IF
=number of times all publications in that journal in 2012 and 2013 where cited in 2014
total number of "citable items" published by that journal in 2012 and 2013
Critics- What is regarded as citable items may vary from field to field- High IF might attract more sensational studies- Only few articles are highly cited- Visibility increased by high IF, not necessarily by quality- Self-citations, citation stacking
ProQuest Research Library
- a platform with UiT access to more than 30 databases
View by subject: Literature & Language (10)
• Advanced search
• Second language acquisition AND NorwegianAND German
Advanced search
ProQuest Research Library
Looking for the PhD work of others?
ProQuest Dissertations & Theses Global (PQDT Global)
• The world's most comprehensive collection of full-text dissertations and theses
– US, UK, Ireland
– Millions of searchable citations (1861 )
– 1 million in full-text (pdf), primarily 1997
– 2 millions available for purchase in print
– 70 000 (in full-text) added each year, partnership with 700 leading institutions worldwide
• Coverage
– Business and Economics, Medical Sciences, Science, Technology, Agriculture, Social Sciences, Arts, Humanities
Humanities: 24%
• Not indexed in Oria
wvsu.edu.ph
proquest.com
Searching in PQ Dissertations & Theses
Searching a given thesis:
Negotiating identities: Iranian Jews, Muslims and Baha'is in the memoirs of Rayhan Rayhani(1859--1939)
Amanat, Mehrdad. (2006)
University of California, LA
• Basic search
– Author name OR
– (parts of) title
Searching in PQ Dissertations & Theses
1. Basic search: Ibsen
– Limit to full text
– AND “women”
– Save search
2. Advanced search: Liminality in literature
– “gender” in Abstract
– “literature” in Subject heading
– Save search
3. Combine selected searches
– My research, saved searches
4. Get notified: Create alert
Searching a given topic (full-
text):
Henrik Ibsen
Women
Literature
PQ Dissertations & Theses: exercises
1. Remembering theme, university and recency
– Basic search: “Aurelius Augustine”
– Make it an advanced search by adding “Yale university” in university/institution and thereafter sort by recency (newest on top)
2. Searching a topic
– Advanced search on “language acquisition” AND “negation”
– Limit to full-text entries
– Add search term “second language” and specify appearance of primary search term “negation” to be in Abstract
– Save the search and create an alert
3. Searching dissertations in a field published at a given university
– In advanced search, search for dissertations in philosophy (Subject heading) published at Paris-Sorbonne
– In Publication date (menu to the left), drag the time cursor to year 2000 and update
– If no full-texts available for the remaining items, what do you do?
Research data as a scholarly source
How could other peoples’ data be relevant?
(and not only the publications per se)
Get a first-hand understanding of the data behind the text
Avoid starting data collection from scratch
Use in your own argumentation
Research data as a scholarly source
Journal articles
Research data as a scholarly source
http://www.re3data.org/
(Discipline specific) data repositories
Exercise
1. Go to Datacite.org and search a dataset on a topic related to yours
2. Go to re3data.org and find a repository relevant for your project
• What do you consider to be the best way to retrieve relevant data?
– Why?
• Would you like to see research data searchable in a different way?
– If yes, how?
Summary
What we have done
• The whys and hows of literature searches
• Topics in the art of searching & database illustrations
Oria & accessing, saving and asking for sources
Scopus & analyzing and evaluating database content
ProQuest & broadening and refining searches
Research data as a scholarly source
What you should be more confident about
• Know and explain the purpose of various types of literature searches
• Know the research/information literacy skills needed to perform literature
search in accordance with good research practice
Fill in our evaluation form!bit.ly/ubevalen
Teacher’s name: Helene N. Andreassen, Marit Bull Enger
Date: 25.10.2016
Title of course: TC
Thanks and good luck!
References
Brembs, B., Button, K., & Munafò, M. (2013). Deep
impact: unintended consequences of journal rank.
Frontiers in Human Neuroscience, 7, 291. Doi:
http://dx.doi.org/10.3389/fnhum.2013.00291
Chen, D-T., Want, Y-M., & Lee, W. C. (2016).
Challenges confronting beginning researchers in
conducting literature reviews. Studies in Continuing
Education, 38(1), 47-60. Doi:
http://dx.doi.org/10.1080/0158037X.2015.1030335
Fehrmann, P., & Hawkins, M. (2015). Systematic
literature review methods for topics in the humanities:
a presentation for the ACRL Virtual Conference, Kent
State University, retrieved from
https://works.bepress.com/paul_fehrmann/7/
Garson, D. (2016). Doctoral students becoming
researchers: An innovative literature review course.
Paper presented at Creating Knowledge VIII,
Reykjavik, June 2-3 2016.
Glass, G.V. (1981). Meta-analysis in social research.
Beverly Hills, CA: Sage.
Gough, D., Oliver, S., & Thomas, J. (eds). (2012). An
introduction to systematic reviews. London: Sage.
Higgins, J.P.T, & Green, S. (eds.). (2011). Cochrane
Handbook for Systematic Reviews of Interventions.
Version 5.1.0 [updated March 2011].
HLWIKI Canada. (2015). Scopus vs. Web of Science.
Retrieved October 24th 2016, from
http://hlwiki.slais.ubc.ca/index.php/Scopus_vs._Web_
of_Science
The Cochrane Collaboration, 2011. Available from
www.cochrane-handbook.org.
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