LT901 Library resources and

information skills

Emma Wisher

LiFTS Librarian

October 2009

Where are you starting from?

IT literacy doesn’t necessarily equal information literacy

Information skills involve not only searching and finding, but also identifying and assessing

You may need• To develop your information/research skills

• To gain awareness of your particular research area and the wider framework of literary study

Literature searching

A key part of the process of doing a literature review

The sort of material you are looking for will affect both where and how you search

Takes longer than you may think! Not necessarily a linear process

Sources As a general rule, the purpose of your search will

determine what sources you use Start with sources where the information provided:

• Is aimed at an academic audience• Has been through a quality control process• Takes a critical rather than a descriptive approach

Such as:• MLA International Bibliography (LION)• Annual Bibliography of English Language and Literature (LION)• JSTOR/Project Muse/EBSCOHost

For very contemporary topics, you may need to look at news sources, and the internet more generally

Search strategy

Before you start looking, think about the keywords which you will use to search• Synonyms, plurals, spelling variations

• Ways of combining different search terms

May require you to investigate how a source works before you use it but will save time in the long run

Women’s cinema and women’s identity in Latin America

Women, woman, wom?n, female, feminine, femini*…

Cinema, film, motion pictures, acting, actors, act*,director…

Identity, personality, essence, characteristics…Latin America, South America, Brazil, Chile,

Argentina…(Women or female or feminine) and (cinema or

film or motion pictures)Women and film and “Latin America”

Literature Online (LION)

Primary texts Biographies and bibliographies of major

writers Indexes to secondary texts

(MLA/ABELL), and access to journal articles in full text

Refining a search If you are getting too many results, think about

ways to narrow down your search• Make search terms more precise• Include additional search terms• Combine terms with AND

If you are not getting enough results, think about ways to broaden your search• Make search terms less precise• Use fewer terms in your search• Combine terms with OR• Use truncation symbols

Searching for different types of material and getting hold of them

Books & Journal articles• Albert Sloman Library catalogue (book suggestions)

• Other library catalogues/online bookshops

• Inter library loans

• SCONUL Access Theses

• Library catalogue

• EThOS

• Index to Theses/Proquest Dissertations and Theses

• ILL/SCONUL Access

Searching the internet

Getting started on the internet• http://www.essex.ac.uk/myskills/skills/researc

h/criticalUseInternet.asp (Critical use of the internet on MySkills)

• http://www.vts.intute.ac.uk/he/tutorial/english (Internet tutorial from JISC Intute)

• http://libwww.essex.ac.uk/Subject_Guides/lit.htm (Literature subject guide)

What to look for

Who has produced the site? Who is the intended audience? How current is the information? What evidence is there of quality

control?

Contact me

Emma Wisher

ewisher@essex.ac.uk

Ext. 3181

Enquiry desk Fri AM in term or ask for me at any time