1. Research using published sources
Literature searching and bibliographic referencing

2. Role of secondary sources in research:
Some research will be totally dependent on published materials
historical research
overviews
conceptual studies
most research will require some use of published sources
to provide context
to provide benchmarks
to offer comparison

3. Literature searching for MA/MSc:
Remember the scope of the dissertation
not a doctoral thesis
searching need not be exhaustive
BUT
you should have enough sources:
to properly reflect the state of affairs in your topic
to represent any differing viewpoints
to include all important publications, projects or initiatives

4. Systematic searching:
You will almost certainly need to include:
monographs
journal articles
web based material
you may also need (for example)
theses and conference papers
legislation
statistics

5. Searching for monographs:
Bibliographic databases don’t usually cover books
large library catalogues are a better source
COPAC is a good place to look for book titles
specialist library catalogues may be more extensive in terms of foreign material and non-standard formats

6. Some book databases: COPAC www.copac.ac.uk British Library www.bl.uk
union catalogue of 24 universities + national libraries
British Library
this and other big libraries have specialised catalogues independent of the main catalogue
Library of Congress
For foreign language material:
National library catalogues

7. Commercial book databases:
Not as comprehensive as catalogues
may be better for new and forthcoming publications
College library has Books in print:
be very wary of e-booksellers sites

8. Searching for journal articles:
The primary source for journal material is the bibliographic database
general databases can provide a good starting point, and enable cross-disciplinary searches
College Library databases often link to full text

9. General periodical databases:
Provide access to journal references
many include conference papers and other formats
zetoc
Web of knowledge
Current contents connect
JStor

10. Specialist LIS databases:
LISA
LISTA
Current awareness abstracts (Library and information management)
H.W.Wilson databases available via the Art Fulltext link on MetaLib
remember print resources for older material
Library literature
hardcopy LISA

11. Subject specialist databases:
The College Library has huge numbers of these
Useful ones may include:
Historical abstracts
INSPEC
Early English books online
ERIC

12. Electronic journals: Individual journals can be searched
agents’/publishers’ websites can offer cross-domain searching
Swetswise
Taylor and Francis
Ingenta
Emerald fulltext

13. Web-based material: Managed portals and hubs (RDN - www.rdn.ac.uk)
search engines
a quick way to find research publications, reports, government and official publications
use with discretion!
don’t rely on these alone
Good search engines

14. Alltheweb
Altavista
Ask Jeeves
Google
Lycos
Hotbot
Teoma
Profusion
SurfWax
Vivisimo
Kartoo
Fazzle

15. Search tips and hints: Don’t make initial searches too complex
modify searches in the light of results
opt for more obscure keywords
remember to search for synonyms
not all search software works in the same way
advanced searches usually offer field specific searching and Boolean search

16. Use results to inform more searches
look for additional keywords
identify important authors or researchers
note key journals
don’t expect to find everything you need at the first attempt
follow up references in articles and use hypertext links

20. Bibliographic referencing
How to get it right

21. Bibliographic referencing:
Why reference?
to add authority to your dissertation
to support and reinforce your arguments
to enable readers to follow up the sources themselves
to acknowledge other writers’ work
failing to do this can constitute plagiarism and have legal implications

22. What needs to be referenced?
direct quotations
allusions to content of other works
statements of fact often need to be supported by documentary evidence
this needn’t be taken to extremes in the case of common knowledge

23. What should be included in a reference?
For a book:
The name(s) of the author(s)
the title of the work
the place of publication
the name of the publisher
the date of publication

24. Book reference:

25. Journal references should include:
The name(s) of the author(s)
the title of the article
the title of the journal
the date of publication
the volume and issue numbers
the numbers of the first and last page

26. Journal reference:

27. Website references should include:
The name of the creator of the website
the name of the website
the url
the date of creation (or the last update)
the date that you accessed it
some of these may be hard to establish for individual websites, so you may have to omit details

28. Website reference:

29. Remember: Referencing is not cataloguing
you don’t have to include any physical description or other elements
the order and punctuation of elements may differ from standard cataloguing practice

30. Referencing styles: There are many hundreds of referencing styles
they usually differ in minor details
SLAIS allows you to use whichever you wish
you can follow an established style, or use your own
referencing software such as Reference Manager (Endnote, ProCite, etc.) can do the work for you
the important point is to apply the style consistently

31. Variations in citation styles of different scholarly journals:
Adams JQ, Lincoln A, van Buren M, Truman HS: An imaginary conversation. J Hist Fant 76: , 1976
Adams, J. Q.; Lincoln, A.; van Buren, M.; Truman, H. S. An imaginary conversation. Journal of Historical Fantasy 1976 , 76 (11),
Adams JQ, Lincoln A, van Buren M, Truman HS. An imaginary conversation. J Hist Fant 1976 November 5;76(11):
Adams,J.Q., Lincoln,A., van Buren,M., and Truman,H.S An imaginary conversation. Journal of Historical Fantasy 76(11):
ADAMS,J.Q., LINCOLN,A., VAN BUREN,M., TRUMAN,H.S., "An imaginary conversation", Journal of Historical Fantasy, 76, S
Adams JQ, Lincoln A, van Buren M, Truman HS An imaginary conversation. Journal of Historical Fantasy 76:

32. Basic types of referencing:
There are two main sorts of referencing:
Footnotes/endnotes
Author date systems
numerical systems also occur, but more infrequently

33. Footnotes and endnotes:
These are the same thing, except for their position in the text; footnotes appear on the same page as the reference, endnotes follow on from the text
when you want to make a reference you put a superscript number in the text
the full reference follows an equivalent number at the bottom of the page, or at the end of the piece
Word will do much of this for you
strictly speaking, there is no need for a separate bibliography, but you may like to include one

34. Footnotes:

35. Footnotes:

36. Footnotes:

37. Author-date systems:
When you want to refer to a source, you put the author’s name, and the date of the publication, plus the page reference, in parentheses, or brackets, in the text
author-date is sometimes called parenthetical referencing
at the end of the text, you provide a list of the references in alphabetical order of authors’ names

39. Reference list in author-date system

40. Author-date versus Footnotes
Is simple and straightforward
suits references to monographs and journal articles
most suitable for references to personal authors
Is better for unauthored works
particularly suitable for mss. and websites
word processor will ‘manage’ the placing and numbering for you

41. Forms of reference: The form of a reference varies slightly if it is:
a footnote/endnote
a reference in a bibliography
a reference in a list for the author-date system

42. Footnotes:

43. Bibliography:

44. Reference list (author-date):

45. Op. cit., loc. cit., and ibid.
The use of op. cit. (opus citatum/opere citato = the work cited/in the work cited), to mean a work previously referenced, is now generally discouraged
loc. cit. (loco citato = the place cited) is sometimes used if the reference is to the same page in the previously referenced work
ibid. (ibidem = the same) may be used for one or more subsequent references to the same work
none of these should be necessary with author-date systems

47. Things to remember:
Keep punctuation, including capitalization of initial letters, consistent
Don’t cut and paste from other sources without adjusting the style