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Library & Information Training for Geographers:Advanced Research Skills for Projects and Dissertationshttp://libguides.rhul.ac.uk/geography

Autumn 2017

Emma Burnett

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Session Outline

• Information Literacy Award• Refresher quiz• Developing a search strategy• Searching information sources – hints & tips• Citation and referencing• Options for accessing resources

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Information Literacy

• These are skills you’re already using in your academic work

• Not just for University but for:

Employability

Lifelong learning

Politics

Fake news

Online scams

Filter Bubbles

The defining characteristic of the discerning scholar, the informed and judicious citizen, and the autonomous learner. A New Currciulum for Information Literacy (ANCIL), 2011

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Information Literacy Award!

• Get rewarded for using your information skills in your essays

• Eligible essays are those submitted for this year’s Geography courses (GG2***) that are graded at 65% or more.

• One entry per student.

• Submit your application by 5pm, Wednesday 2nd May 2018

• 3 questions, 250 words for each answer:

1. Finding and identifying resources: Describe strategies that you used to search for relevant resources for your essay.

2. Evaluating and Analysing resources: Describe strategies that you used to select the relevant types of resources for this essay and explain how this may have influenced your decision to use them.

3. Library Services used: How did you use library services and/or library resources for this essay?

http://libguides.rhul.ac.uk/Geography/ilaward

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My dissertation topic/question:What do I want to find out?

Information Literacy Award: Finding and identifying resources

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Developing a search strategy

Pick out the key

words in your topic

Findalternative

terms

Identify good

sources of information

Combine your key

words

Locate texts

Read

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Alternative Terms

Synonyms: different words with the same meaning

Acronyms: this is where your keywords can be condensed into a set of capital letters e.g. Geographic Information System or GIS

Alternative Spellings: Try UK and US spellings

Alternative & Related terms: e.g. earthquake tsunami, earth tremor, seismic waves, aftershock

International Terms: e.g. hurricane, typhoon, cyclone

Former terms: Changing terminology over time e.g. climate change and global warming

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Analysing your query - an example

Finding information on: ‘population trends in Fiji’

Main aspects Alternative terms

1. population trends demographics, statistics or

data

2. Fiji South Pacific, southern

hemisphere, Oceania

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Ways you can limit your search

Date: do you only want items published after a certain date?

Language: do you only want references in English?

Geography: Do you want information about a specific place or published in a particular country

Type of publication: are you looking for journal articles, books, theses? This might influence your choice of database

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Now that I know what I want to find out:What resources would I use?

Information Literacy Award: Finding and identifying resources

Information Literacy Award: Using Library Services

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Selecting information sources

• http://libguides.rhul.ac.uk/Geography

• Databases

• LibrarySearch

• Senate house library catalogue

• Other internet resources

These can also be found on the main Library webpage

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Now that I know what I want to find out & where to find the resources:

How do I search for information on my topic?

Information Literacy Award: Finding and identifying resources

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Combining Keywords

AND – narrows results by returning results with both terms listed as keywords

OR – broadens results by returning results with either term listed as keywords

NOT – narrows results by returning results with only one term listed as a keyword

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Wildcard and phrase searching – hints & tips

Use phrase searching (“”) to search for words that should appear together e.g. “population trends”

Use wildcard characters ($ ? * -) to replace letters in

search terms

Examples

popul* - finds populous, population, etc.

wom*n - finds women, woman.

organi?ation - finds organisation, organization

NB: Help pages in online databases will explain which character is used as the wildcard

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Now that I’ve searched:

How do I access the material I find?

Information Literacy Award: Using library services

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Accessing material via the Library

Books

• Check LibrarySearch to see if we have copies

Journal articles

• LibrarySearch default is full text only

• Some databases will provide some/all articles as full text (some will let you refine your search to full text only)

• Some services will link you to LibrarySearch via “Find It @RHUL” – you may find we don’t have full text access. If this is the case, don’t panic and never pay for an article.

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Solutions to common issues with accessing resources

CampusAnywhere (VPN)Senate House Library

Suggest a book!

Use other libraries Inter-Library Loans

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Now that I have found information on my topic:

How do I know whether to use it for my essay?

Information Literacy Award: Evaluating and Analysing resources

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Evaluating Information

Authority

• Who is the author? Has the work been peer-reviewed or edited?

Accuracy

• Is there a reference list?

Objectivity

• Is the information biased? What is its purpose? Who is it aimed at?

Date

• When was the information created/updated? Is it well-maintained?

Coverage

• Is the information too basic? Too advanced

Presentation on evaluating information

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Reviewing your research

Do you have enough / too

much information?

Is it relevant to your research?

Does it answer the whole question?

Is the information

current / within the date you

require

Do you need to review your underlying

research question?

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Now that I have the information (books, chapters, journal articles, webpages

etc.) that I need:

How do I manage & reference them?

Information Literacy Award: Using library services

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Selecting & saving results & full text

Most databases allow you to:

• Select and save results to a folder

• Save, download or email results to yourself

• Save search ‘history’ & re-run them

Always make a note of your search queries and which database you used.

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Legal & ethical issues

Copyright

https://www.royalholloway.ac.uk/library/teachingsupport/copyrightadvice.aspx

Plagiarism

https://www.royalholloway.ac.uk/ecampus/cedas/onlineresources/home.aspx

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Citation and referencing

• Acknowledge the author of the source

• Enable the item to be traced

• Evidence of scope and depth of your research

• Reference style – the layout & format of your bibliography (check with the department)

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RefWorks

• Bibliographic management software

• Capture, save and organise references

• Access it via the Databases A-Z list

• Contains online self-help tutorials

Library RefWorks sessions:

http://libguides.rhul.ac.uk/training

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Further help & support

Attend a practical session this Thursday: 11am, 12 noon, 2pm, 3pm.

Emma Burnett, Information Consultant for Geography

emma.burnett@royalholloway.ac.uk

and see the subject guide http://libguides.rhul.ac.uk/Geography

Further information can also be found on the Library website www.royalholloway.ac.uk/library

Information Literacy Award: Using library services