Research skills

David GodfreyFarnborough 5th December 2011

Extending the scope of your research

• Accumulation of knowledge• Making contact/networking• Connecting with published research

Generic research skills:

• Using reference management software – Zotero• Literature searching

Online resources for practitioner research in education

• Generic UK educational sites • Also useful to use subject based resources and international

resources• Farnborough’s Action Research site – This has summaries and

full reports of practitioner research at the college going back to 2005/6 (see archived reports link). There is also a resources page with links to useful sites http://actionresearch.farnborough.ac.uk/Home/Index

Using reference management software

• Zotero[zoh-TAIR-oh] is a free, easy-to-use tool to help you collect, organize, cite, and share your research sources

• Bibliographical storage• Cite and write • Groups• Networking• Forums

Getting started with Zotero

• Retrieving information with Google Scholar• Using Pdf metadata to ad stuff into Zotero library (Store copy

of file – select pdf file – right click retrieve metadata)• Using Zotero in Word articles• Setting up/joining a group• Synching libraries

Registering/downloading files for Zotero

• First download Firefox portable (you will need a USB stick to save this): http://www.zotero.org/support/kb/portable_firefox

• Open Firefox portable and then go to http://www.zotero.org• Download Zotero and re-start Firefox portable – you should see

the Zotero icon in the bottom right corner of the browser window• Create user name and password. Then go to the email address

you left and click on the validation link• Now go to plugins:

http://www.zotero.org/support/word_processor_plugin_installation_for_zotero_2.1

• Re-start Firefox• Now you can start a word document and insert citations and

bibliography into text

Tasks for this session

• Set up Zotero on USB drive• Find three published articles to add as background to your

own research• Make contact with another researcher (email, phone, add to

Zotero contacts)• Join the Hart and Rushmoor Teacher Enquiry Network

(HaRTEN) in Zotero groups. Add a document related to your research to the group library

• Set up your profile and write one sentence about your research interest(s)