DT2100 Library Skills Presentation

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DT2100: Library Skillslibguides.rhul.ac.uk/Drama

November 2013

Kim Coles

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Aims of the session

• Use LibrarySearch and subject specific resources to find information

• Plan and conduct a literature search

• Use advanced search techniques

• Manage references to generate bibliographies using RefWorks

• Access eresources off-campus

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My essay question / research topic:

What do I want to find out?

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“The role of women in Irish drama”

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What are the main concepts?

Are there any synonyms/alternative terms I could use?

Are they any limits I could use?

Role, women, Irish theatre

Role = part, function, purposeWomen = woman, actress, performer, playwright, character, typeIrish drama= Ireland, theatre, theater, performance, a specific kind of theatre, a specific play

Only in the last 10 yearsIn EnglishBooks, journal articles

Exercise One: Think about your own research topic and write down some keywords

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Now that I know what I want to find out:

What resources would I use?

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Selecting information sources

Drama Subject Guide: libguides.rhul.ac.uk/Drama

Online databases: libguides.rhul.ac.uk/Databases

LibrarySearch: librarysearch.rhul.ac.uk

Senate house library catalogue: ull.ac.uk

Other internet resources…

These can also be found on the main Library webpage

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Why can’t I just use Google?

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Exercise 2: Go to the Drama Subject Guide and note down which resources or types of resources you think you would use to carry out your research

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Now that I know what I want to find out & where to find the resources:

How do I search for information on my

topic?

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Making the most of synonyms

Use wildcard characters ($ ? * -) to replace letters in search terms

Examples

theat* - finds theatre, theater, theatrical, etc.

wom*n - finds women, woman, etc.

NB: Help pages in online databases will explain which character is used as the wildcard

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Too many results?

Narrow your search using AND

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Narrow your search using NOT

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Too few results?

Broaden your search using OR

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Combining keywords

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Exercise 3: Go to http://libguides.rhul.ac.uk/DT2100 and suggest some search queries in the Searching box

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Now that I have found information on my topic:

How do I know that it is what I want and good

quality material?

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Reviewing your research

Do you have enough / too

much information

?

Is it relevant to

your research?

Does it answer the

whole question?

Is the information

current / within the date you require

Do you need to review

your underlying research question?

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Now that I have the information (books, chapters, journal

articles, webpages etc) that I need:

How do I manage & reference them?

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Keeping track of useful items

• Emailing links to yourself

• Using the e-shelf in LibrarySearch• Log in to LibrarySearch

• Click on the star icon beside useful results

• Go to ‘e-shelf’

• Create baskets, email, export results

• Exporting references to RefWorks

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RefWorks

Bibliographic management software

Capture, save and organise references

Access it via the Online Resources A-Z lists

Contains online self-help tutorials

Library RefWorks sessions:

Check the Library Information Skills Training Session from the Drama Subject guide: http://libguides.rhul.ac.uk/drama

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Questions?

Kim Coles

Information Consultant

2-07 Bedford LibraryRoyal Holloway University of London

k.coles@rhul.ac.uk

01784 404107

Leo Reynolds. Flickr. CC-BY-NA

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