lestremau session 1: finding information

Understanding the Lit Review

Steps to creating a Lit Review

Practice

Resources & Q&A

What is a literature review?

LITERATURE REVIEW

A summary and evaluation of significant research on a particular subject. Lit reviews are often at the

beginning of a larger research article, to introduce a topic and provide its

history and development.

What is the purpose of a literature review?

PURPOSE OF A LIT REVIEW

• Provide context for a research paper• Explore the history and development of

a topic• Examine the scholarly conversation

surrounding the topic• Shows relationships between studies• Examines gaps in research on the topic

PURPOSE OF A LIT REVIEW

A literature review is not simply a summary of different articles written on a topic. It should take a critical eye

to published research to provide insight, and make connections.

What counts as literature?

WHAT COUNTS AS LITERATURE?

Everything relevant that is written on a topic*

• books• journal articles• newspaper articles• historical records• government reports• theses and dissertations, etc.

*Your professor may have specific guidelines as to what type of materials you may include.

STEPS TO THE LITERATURE REVIEW

FIND YOUR SOURCES

Research Question

What is the effect of lack of after-school activities on minority students in urban

schools?

Identify the Key Concepts

What is the effect of lack of after-school activities on minority students in urban

schools?

Identify the Key Concepts

What is the effect of lack of after-school activities on minority students in urban

schools?

… and connect your search terms

AND OR

After-school

activities

ANDnarrows your search by connecting concepts

UrbanUrban

After-

school

activities

After-school activities AND Urban

Urban

AND

After-school activities

Minority

AND

ANDnarrows your search by connecting concepts

But what if…

…you get too few results?

Identify alternative keywords

• Synonyms or related words•Medical, legal, scientific alternatives• Explore Google and Wikipedia• Ask a friend• Thesaurus.com

OR: Broadens Search By Connecting Similar Words

UrbanORCityOR

MetropolitanOR

Inner-city

After-school

activities

UrbanORCity

AND and OR together

UrbanORCity

After-school

activities

PRACTICE

Complete 1 and 2

Where do you search?

WHERE SHOULD YOU SEARCH?

• Research Guide for Education: guides.library.jhu.edu/education

• Databases used for other assignments

• Sources you know are reliable.

PRACTICE

Complete 3

Conduct a Search

READ YOUR SOURCES

What makes a source “good”? What clues do

you look for?

cc: Valerie Everett - https://www.flickr.com/photos/66742614@N00

QUESTIONS?

emjohns@jhu.edu