Francoise&ian deliveredpg rsession2010

SESSION TWO: FINDING INFORMATION FOR YOUR RESEARCH

FRANCOISE SULLIVAN IAN FISHWICK

Humanities Information Skills PGR Module

Lorraine

Types of research information

Journals - Scholarly / Peer reviewedThesesConference proceedingsOfficial reports / working papers

What is the difference?

Scholarly journals @ JRUL

Via the Catalogue Shows both print and electronic journal holdings

Via the E-journals a-to-z list

Via our Databases

Peer-Reviewed Journals

Means of validation prior to publication

Scholars (referees) in the author's field or specialty critically assess a draft of the article. This is to ensure that the published articles reflect solid scholarship in their fields by checking for significance, originality and clarity

Peer-reviewed journals (also called refereed journals) are scholarly journals that only publish articles that have successfully passed through this review process

Searching for Peer-Reviewed Journals

Specialist database (eg PsycInfo)

Publisher’s website (eg Journal of Graphic Novels and Comics)

Your turn!

Are the following journals peer-reviewed? Digital Creativity

The Economist

World Development

Finding up-to-date information on your research topic….

(Any of) our Subject Information pages

Databases (relevant ones!) Central username and password required off-campus

Useful Websites Education / IDPM webpage

Select “Academic Support” Select “Academic Support”

Click A to Z of subjects to access relevant discipline Click A to Z of subjects to access relevant discipline

www.manchester.ac.uk/library

More than just journal articles…

Databases may also include ‘grey’ literature (material not formally published)

Conference papers / proceedingsReports (from governments and organisations)Theses / Dissertations

Examples of refined searches

‘Counselling and children’ in Scopus – limited to conference papers

‘Educational research’ in Web of Science –

limited to conference proceedings

Task

Using Web of Science, look for conference proceedings on the following topic; Globalisation and Women

(Don’t forget to use truncation and wildcard)

How many records are displayed?

Search results

Viewing and selectingFindingSaving

What is Grey (Gray) Literature?

Officially defined as

“Information produced on all levels of government, academics, business and industry in electronic and print formats not controlled by commercial publishing i.e. where publishing is not the primary activity of the producing body”

Luxembourg 1997, expanded New York 2004

Characteristics

It is not normally produced for commercial publication Often self-published or unpublished

It may not be easy to get hold of (often unindexed)

Not peer reviewedTend to be short-lived, transientLittle in the way of bibliographical information

Examples of Grey Literature

PreprintsUnpublished research, research proposals Technical and research reportsTheses and dissertationsInternal documentsConference documentsMeeting abstractsGovernment reports (unpublished)Policy briefs

Many items are intended for limited distribution within an organisation or for limited circulation between people

Recent Developments… new forms….

Web 2.0 MaterialBlogs WikisTwitter

Discussion lists

PowerPoint slides

Dedicated space for Researchers….

Explore the links via the Researchers Page

Huge Range of Resources

Keeping up to Date……

Researchers’ Blog

Manchester eScholar……

Searching for Grey Literature

Specialist databases (eg Conference Papers Index)

General databases (egs Web of Knowledge and Scopus)

Google ScholarInstitutional websites (egs Dept. of

Health / Fade)Theses (eg EThOS) Open Access Repositories (eg

OpenDOAR)

Look for documents specific to your research interests using some of the resources listed in the “Searching for Grey Literature” slide

Your turn again!

Any questions?