PG research skills: PELP

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Research Skillslibguides.rhul.ac.uk

Rachel Sleeman, Information Consultant19th August 2016

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Session Outline

• Finding items on your reading list

• Developing a search strategy

• Sources of Information

• Searching hints & tips

• Evaluating your results

• Managing your References

• Off-campus access and other libraries

• Further Help

Finding items on your Reading List

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Finding items on your reading list

Developing a search strategy

LibraryDeveloping a search strategy

Pick out the key words in

your topic Find

alternative

terms

Identify good

sources of

information

Combine your

key words

Evaluate

Read

LibraryPick out the key words in your topic

‘The potential for social media has not been fully realised’ How far do you agree with this statement? Your answer should refer to one of the following: political change, interpersonal relationships, or marketing.

‘The potential for social media has not been fully realised’ How far do you agree with this statement? Your answer should refer to one of the following: political change, interpersonal relationships, or marketing.

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Find alternative terms

synonyms - these are different words with the same meaning

acronyms - this is where your keywords can be condensed into a set of capital letters

alternative spellings - remember to try UK and US spellings

alternative and related terms broader and narrower terms

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Alternative terms for keywords

PotentialLow/High UptakeCapacityUtilisation

‘The potential for social media has not been fully realised’ How far do you agree with this statement?

Your answer should refer to one of the following: political change, interpersonal relationships, or marketing.

Social mediaSocial media marketingTwitterInstagram

MarketingAdvertisingRetailingPromotion

Sources of Information

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BooksJournals Statistics

Websites Databases Reports

Identify good sources of information

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Identifying good sources of information

• Library Search• Subject Guides• Online databases (e.g. JSTOR, Project

Muse, Web of Knowledge/Science)• Credo Reference (good starting point)• Senate house library catalogue• Other internet resources

Searching – hints & tips

LibraryCombining KeywordsAND - Narrow your searche.g. social media AND marketing

OR - Broaden your search e.g. social media OR twitter

Brackets e.g. (social media OR twitter) AND marketing

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Reviewing your results – hints & tips

Quotation marks around phrases:

Use truncation/wildcard characters ($ ? * -) to replace letters in search terms:

e.g. “social media marketing”

Advertis* = advertise, advertisement, advertisingOrgani?ation = organisation, organization

Evaluating

LibraryEvaluating Information

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What? What is the resource you are reading? Is it a book, article, blog? Why? Why did they right it? Was it to inform, or perhaps persuade?When? When was the information written? Is it still accurate?How? How can you tell if it is unbiased? Has the author provided evidence e.g. data, quotes, referencesWhere? Where was the work published? If not in the UK is it still appropriate?Who? Who wrote this? Who says the are an expert in the field?(Bhimani, 2016)

Managing your references

DepartmentManaging References with RefWorksWhat is RefWorks? Web-based reference management software which helps you to record and organise your bibliographic references, and create bibliographies in different formats.How to access itVisit your Subject Guide, go to Citing and Referencing, and choose RefWorksHelp with RefWorksEmail the Library, attend a training session, YouTube: Learn to use RefWorks in 20 minutes19

Off Campus access and other libraries

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Off campus access & other libraries

Senate House Library

Campus Anywhere

Inter Library Loans

LibraryQuestions?

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Leo Reynolds. Flickr. CC-BY-NA

Library Services

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Further Help

Onlinelibguides.rhul.ac.ukwww.rhul.ac.uk/libraryLibraryblog.rhul.ac.uk

Social Media@RHUL_Library

rhul.library

RHULLibrary

rhul_library

Rachel Sleeman – Information Consultant Bedford Library

rachel.Sleeman@rhul.ac.uk or library@rhul.ac.uk

LibraryReferences

Bhimani, N. (2016) Ask a librarian: does mindfulness benefit children? Available at: http://www.cilip.org.uk/blog/askalibrarian-does-mindfulness-benefit-children (Accessed: 17 August 2016).

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