Library Research Skills

Arts Library Services Team | University LibraryKaren Chilcott | Faculty Liaison Librarian

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› To develop effective Research skills using Library resources, including:

› Preparing research strategy

› Identifying Primary & Secondary Sources

› Finding background information

› Finding journal articles & identifying appropriate databases

Purpose of the session

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Research Design

› Identify key concepts / ideas / themes

› Breakdown each concept into keywords or phrases, synonyms and word variations

› Identify limits – date, language, document types

› Research Plan available from Library’s Information Skills webpage at http://www.library.usyd.edu.au/skills/

› Think about the different sources you may need to consult: library catalogue and collections, databases, internet, people, organisations

Preparing Research Strategy

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Research Sources

Research Sources to consult

My Research

DatabasesFor: Journal articles, book chapters, reports, conference papers, etc• wide range of journals searched• some full text• sophisticated search methods• subject headings & mapping• items may not be held by our library

Library CatalogueFor: books, journals, reference, reports, conference proceedings, AV, reserve•items held at USYD•some full text journal articles•limited to what USYD holds•can access other libraries’ catalogues

InternetFor: material not found through other sources+ can give links to subject related sites, organisations, etc-need to assess credibility of the site

EjournalsFor: full text journal articles by volume/issue+ full text articles-limited collection of journal -titles searched

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Background Information

› Use Background Information to:- Define or clarify terminology

- Obtain an overview of a theoretical area

- Locate key readings on a specific topic

› Find Background Information by- Searching the Library catalogue

- Look for Dictionaries & Encyclopedia

- Available in hardcopy or eBook

- Internet Search Engines or Wikis

Finding Background Information

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Scholarly Sources

Scholarly means:

› written by qualified academic experts for experts

› supported by original research

› use the jargon of the discipline

› peer reviewed

› cite sources in footnotes and bibliographies

What is a Scholarly Resource

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Determining Scholarly Sources

›  R is for Relevance - How relevant is the resource to your topic or question?

›  E is for Expertise of Author - What is the educational background & expertise of the author?

›  V is for Viewpoint of Author/Organisation- Is the author or organisation associated with a particular view or position?

›  I is for Intended Audience- Who is the intended audience for the resource?

›  E is for Evidence- Has the resource been through the peer review process?

›  W is for When Published- When was the resource published?

THE REVIEW CRITERIA

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Checking Scholarly Sources

› Look for the publisher’s name, editorial board and rules of submitting articles.

› use a directory, like Ulrichs, that lists all the academic and scholarly journals in the field.

› Use the Library’s catalogues and databases to check for scholarly works written by the author.

› Some databases allow you to limit your search to scholarly material only

How to find Scholarly Checks:

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Primary & Secondary Sources

› What is a Primary Source- Primary sources provide a first hand account of an event or time period.

- Often created at the time an event occurred

- Can include resources recorded later. Such as autobiographies, memoirs or oral histories

- Within the social sciences Primary Sources can include articles or papers describing experiments or studies conducted by researchers and written by the researchers themselves

› What is a Secondary Source- Offers an analysis or a restatement of primary sources

- Involves generalisation, synthesis, interpretation, commentary or evaluation.

- Examples include: dictionaries, encyclopedias, textbooks, biographies, dissertations

Primary & Secondary Sources

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Types of Primary Sources

published materials (books, magazine and newspaper articles) written at the particular time

handwritten documents, such as diaries and journals speeches, interviews, letters memoirs and autobiographies manuscripts maps laws and court cases records of government agencies records of organizations Numerical data sets such as census figures, opinion polls, surveys or interview

transcripts, statistical reports

Some types of primary sources include:

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Finding Journal Articles

› You can find articles in journals by searching our databases and ejournal collections.

› Databases:-  provide access to the content of journals within broad or specific subjects areas

- index articles, essays, conferences papers, websites, book reviews, reports and occasionally book chapters

- sometimes provide full-text versions of articles

› Cross Search: - a simple and fast search engine that searches multiple collections at the same time,

- Searches the library catalogue as well as a variety of bibliographic databases

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How to find Journal Articles

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Selecting the Right Database

› The Library has access to over 400 databases - See listing at http://sydney.edu.au/library/databases/

› Use the Subject listing to find databases specific to a particular topic

› Many different types of databases including;- General (eg. Expanded Academic or Proquest)

- Subject Specific (eg. Worldwide Political Science Abstracts)

- Resource Specific (eg. Factiva, or ABS)

- Other (eg. JSTOR (retrospective) or Web of Science (citation) )

Selecting the right Databases

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Common Database Features

› Many databases look different, but they all have some common features:

- Search a range of years

- Search by subject headings or your own keywords

- Download, print or email results

- Limit references retrieved by date, language or document type

Using Databases

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Search Syntax

› Truncation – To use truncation, enter the root of a search term and replace the ending with the truncation symbol. Common symbols used are ; * or ? or $ or % or !

› Wildcards – The wildcard indicates the symbol used is a placeholder for any unknown term(s) and then find the best matches. Common symbols used are * or ? or $ or % or !

› Phrases – use double quotation marks - “ ” determines a search for the exact words in that exact order without any change.

› Boolean Operators – And / Or / Not

› Nested Searches – (A or B) and (C or D)

Common Search Syntax

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Further Help

› Contact your Faculty Liaison Librarian

Karen Chilcott Arts Library Services Team | University LibraryThe University of SydneyT: 02 9351 7289  | F: 02 9351 6722  | M: 0431 606 898   E karen.chilcott@sydney.edu.au

› Use “Ask A Librarian” service - http://usyd.libanswers.com/

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