Researching your dissertation for MA Education students

© University of Reading 2012 www.reading.ac.uk/library

Library

Using the Library for your dissertation YiWen Hon

Liaison Librarian

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We have moved from an age of information scarcity to one of information abundance…

www.internetlivestats.com This guide will help you find the most relevant materials for your research quickly and easily

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1. What to look for

2. Where to look

3. How to look

4. Additional support available

1. What to look for?

Google only searches the tip of the iceberg…

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The Deep Web Websites not indexed by search engines, including academic databases, material blocked by paywalls, and unlinked sites

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The University of Reading Library has… over 1 million books

as well as 40,000 e-journals and 30,000 e-books!

• Encyclopedias • Books • Journal articles

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}

• Theses • Government

documents • Official reports • Statistics

{

Available through UoR Library

Available freely on the internet

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You will use many different types of information during your dissertation…. • Background info, context – textbooks, encyclopaedias, Internet

• Relating your research to what others have done – journal

articles (including review articles), conference papers, theses &

dissertations, research reports

• Deciding on your methodology – journal articles, conference

papers, theses & dissertations, research reports, research

methods books

• Staying up-to-date – research papers, newspapers, conferences

• Obtaining primary data – collections of statistics, government

reports, standards, official publications

2. Where to look?

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Known item search

– items from reading lists or bibliographies

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Books and ebooks

Journal articles

Newby, P. (2010). Research methods for education. Harlow: Pearson. Oplatka, I. (2001). ‘I changed my management style’: the cross-gender transition of women headteachers in mid-career. School Leadership & Management, 21(2), 219-233

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Book – use the top search box (Enterprise). Type in title and author’s surname only

Journal – use the bottom search box (Summon). Type in article title only

• Video guide to finding specific articles:

http://www.reading.ac.uk/library/finding-

info/guides/videos/lib-video-article-from-reference.aspx

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Unknown item search

– your own research!

Education Research Complete – a ‘treasure chest’

of information

- Access via the Education subject guide

- High quality, peer-reviewed information, all available in full-text

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Video guide to accessing Education databases: http://www.screencast.com/t/seEGSg4MXj

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Summon

discovery service

- Searches across all our e-journals (all topics, not just Education)

- Good for interdisciplinary topics

- Try this video guide for more help

Pros: - See an approximate citation count - Find PDFs of articles not available through UoR

Cons: - Poor quality control - Can be inaccurate

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Article A:

very useful!

First, look in the

bibliography to find

related academic

materials

Citation tracking

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Article A:

very useful!

First, look in the

bibliography to find

related academic

materials

Then, use Google Scholar to

find more recent related

materials which have cited

Article A in their bibliographies

Citation tracking

Sometimes a good source of free articles… It’s worth checking! Can be linked to UoR Library (this will save you time and help you access more articles)

Linking Google Scholar to UoR Library Step 1

Linking Google Scholar to UoR Library Step 2

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View only recent materials (most IoE lecturers recommend using only research that’s less than ten years old)

Only material with these links on the right hand side of the page can be read

Theses can be a useful source of information,

containing up-to-date research

Search UK theses using http://ethos.bl.uk/ ; register for

free to download or request

Inter-library loans are available if you cannot access an

article or book using Google Scholar or the University

of Reading’s subscriptions.

Found a reference

to an article we

don’t have at UoR?

You can also use other libraries! Access them through

the SCONUL scheme, or pay a visit to the Bodleian or

British Libraries.

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COPAC - http://copac.ac.uk/

Search across catalogues of members of the Consortium of

Research Libraries (CURL) including the British Library

Search25 - http://www.search25.ac.uk/

Search across over 120 college and university library catalogues in

the M25 area

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3. How to look?

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Tricks for better search results

Articles containing word “grouping”

Articles containing word “mathematics”

Articles containing words: “grouping” AND “mathematics”

Helps identify only articles that are relevant to your topic

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1. Adding focus - AND

Finds articles on the same topic, but which may use different words or terminology

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Articles containing phrase

“grouping”

Articles containing phrase

“streaming”

Other possibilities?... “ability grouping”

2. Finding more - OR

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Search for exact phrases - Useful for concepts

“ability grouping”

“secondary schools”

3. Phrase searching

Helps you find different

word endings

math*

= mathematics or maths

or mathematical

child*

= children or child or

child’s

4. Truncation

• Date

– Look for more recent materials – all databases

should let you limit your results to only

materials published after a certain year

• Material type

– Some databases give you the option to limit

results to only one type, e.g. only journal

articles.

5. Limits

View only recent materials

View only recent materials

View only journal articles

View correct APA citation format

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Putting it all together

How does grouping in secondary mathematics

education affect students’ learning?

(“ability grouping” OR streaming) AND ("secondary

education" OR "secondary schools" OR "high school")

AND (math*)

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Too many results?

• Add more keywords

• Use limits

Too few results?

• Reduce your keywords

• Think of synonyms

4. Additional support

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Referencing software can help you keep your

research organised and save you time. Library

training is available to help you get started

Study Advice and Maths Support are available to help in the Library!

• Dissertation structure, time management, reading efficiently

• SPSS, analysing statistics

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Summary

• You will need to use a wide variety of information sources

throughout the course of your dissertation

• Most of these are available through UoR Library, or if they

aren’t… we can help you find them!

• Use advanced search techniques to find more relevant and

high quality information to cite in your assignments

• There is plenty of support available through UoR Library

Feel free to get in touch at any time!

YiWen Hon, Liaison Librarian (Education and Modern Languages)

[email protected] / 0118 378 7142