1. The Library and your Literature Review James Webley 26 September 2014

2. Today’s talk: Outline the research/literature review process. How the Library’s resources can help you with your research. Outline a few key resources. Further help and advice. 26 September 2014

3. Research Process Starting out Devising a search strategy Locating and accessing material Reviewing and evaluating your results Writing up Keeping up to date Checklist 26 September 2014

4. Starting out Build up concepts and keywords relevant to your topic. Identify phrases. Remember variant spellings (e.g. US and English), different meanings, synonyms etc. Books/ebooks (recommended textbooks), review articles, web searches, Wikipedia, previous projects/dissertations, Subject Librarian. 26 September 2014

5. Search Strategy Use your keywords/concepts as search terms. Select appropriate resources and search a variety of materials – search engines, Library resources, print and online. Use search tools: AND, OR, NOT Truncation - * (e.g. dynamic* = dynamics, dynamical, dynamically) Search within results and citation searches Refine by year, type of publication, subject etc. 26 September 2014

6. Locating material Library Catalogue for books (print and E) and print journals. Search Engines, Subject Databases, and Ejournals Follow a ‘research trail’ – bibliographies, references, citations. Find/access material not held at Bristol - COPAC/ILL /SCONUL 26 September 2014

7. Reviewing/Evaluating results Read the abstract – is it relevant? – Coverage Is it free of errors backed up by reliable sources? - Accuracy Who wrote it? Expert? Academic? Corporation? - Authority Bias? Commercial interest? - Objectivity When was it published? - Currency 26 September 2014

8. Writing up/Keeping up to date Store and manage references as you search. Cite and reference properly – acknowledge your sources. Avoid plagiarism. ZETOC, Citation alerts (Subject Databases), Publishers’ Alerts, Google Alerts 26 September 2014

9. Writing up/Keeping up to date Endnote Online: Free service that helps with collecting, storing, and sharing references. Creates bibliographies and references within coursework. Use it to search academic databases and catalogues to find resources, and import them into Endnote Online (Web) for later use. 26 September 2014

10. Literature Review Checklist Have you shown a clear understanding of the topic? Have all the key landmark studies been cited and discussed? Have a variety of sources been used? Journals, books, websites, government reports etc. Have you stated clear conclusions about previous research? Don’t leave your work open to questions like: “What is your evidence here?” “What makes you think so?” 26 September 2014

11. How can the Library help with my research ? Q. How do I find academic articles on my topic? A. Compendex, Web of Science, IEEE Xplore, ACM Digital Library, ICE Virtual Library, IMechE, Lecture Notes in Computer Science, ASTM Digital Library… Q. What is the most highly cited journal in my field of research? A. Journal Citation Reports 26 September 2014

12. How can the Library help with my research ? Q. How can I get my hands on a book/journal article/report/standard/patent that I can’t access online? A. Subject Librarian (lib-engineering@bristol.ac.uk) Q. How do I find previous projects/dissertations written on my topic? A. Library Catalogue/Index to Theses/EThOS/ Supervisor 26 September 2014

13. Search Engines only?! “...a searcher who is unwilling to search multiple databases or to adopt a sophisticated search strategy is likely to achieve better than average recall and precision by simply using Google Scholar.” “Researchers value the ease and speed of Google Scholar, but may also perceive its quality and precision limitations.” Use the academic search tools at your disposal 26September 2014

14. Good research habits : An awareness of the search tools available to you. Google: ‘Library (insert subject here) Bristol’ A knowledge of how to refine/sort/combine your searches. Critically evaluate the resources you find. Use appropriate tools to manage your information. 26 September 2014

15. For help and advice… Subject Enquiries Lib-engineering@bristol.ac.uk www.bristol.ac.uk/library @BristolUniLib 26 September 2014