Library Research Skills

Arts Library Services Team | University LibraryKaren Chilcott | Faculty Liaison Librarian

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› To develop effective Research skills using Library resources, including:

› Library Homepage

› Document Delivery / Inter-Library Loan

› Subject Guides

› Databases

› Referencing

Purpose of the session

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Document Delivery / Inter-Library Loan

› Obtaining items, including books and journal articles, that are not held in our collection

› Obtaining journal articles from a library at another campus of the University

› You will need to register before using this service

› Login to MyLibrary to register and Request

Supports Postgraduate students engaged in research by:

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Research Sources

Research Sources to consult

My Research

DatabasesFor: Journal articles, book chapters, reports, conference papers, etc• wide range of journals searched• some full text• sophisticated search methods• subject headings & mapping• items may not be held by our library

Library CatalogueFor: books, journals, reference, reports, conference proceedings, AV, reserve•items held at USYD•some full text journal articles•limited to what USYD holds•can access other libraries’ catalogues

InternetFor: material not found through other sources+ can give links to subject related sites, organisations, etc-need to assess credibility of the site

EjournalsFor: full text journal articles by volume/issue+ full text articles-limited collection of journal -titles searched

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Scholarly Sources

Scholarly means:

› written by qualified academic experts for experts

› supported by original research

› use the jargon of the discipline

› peer reviewed

› cite sources in footnotes and bibliographies

What is a Scholarly Resource

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Determining Scholarly Sources

›  R is for Relevance - How relevant is the resource to your topic or question?

›  E is for Expertise of Author - What is the educational background & expertise of the author?

›  V is for Viewpoint of Author/Organisation- Is the author or organisation associated with a particular view or position?

›  I is for Intended Audience- Who is the intended audience for the resource?

›  E is for Evidence- Has the resource been through the peer review process?

›  W is for When Published- When was the resource published?

THE REVIEW CRITERIA

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Checking Scholarly Sources

› Look for the publisher’s name, editorial board and rules of submitting articles.

› use a directory, like Ulrichs, that lists all the academic and scholarly journals in the field.

› Use the Library’s catalogues and databases to check for scholarly works written by the author.

› Some databases allow you to limit your search to scholarly material only

How to find Scholarly Checks:

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Background Information

› Use Background Information to:- Define or clarify terminology

- Obtain an overview of a theoretical area

- Locate key readings on a specific topic

› Find Background Information by- Searching the Library catalogue

- Look for Dictionaries & Encyclopedia

- Available in hardcopy or eBook

- Internet Search Engines or Wikis

Finding Background Information

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Finding Journal Articles

› You can find articles in journals by searching our databases and ejournal collections.

› Databases:-  provide access to the content of journals within broad or specific subjects areas

- index articles, essays, conferences papers, websites, book reviews, reports and occasionally book chapters

- sometimes provide full-text versions of articles

› Summon: - a simple and fast search engine that searches multiple collections at the same time,

- Searches the library catalogue as well as a variety of bibliographic databases

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How to find Journal Articles

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› The Library has access to over 400 databases - See listing at http://sydney.edu.au/library/databases/

› Use the Subject listing to find databases specific to a particular topic

› Many different types of databases including;- General (eg. Expanded Academic or Proquest)

- Subject Specific (eg. Worldwide Political Science Abstracts)

- Resource Specific (eg. Factiva, or ABS)

- Other (eg. JSTOR (retrospective) or Web of Science (citation) )

Selecting the right Databases

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Common Database Features

› Many databases look different, but they all have some common features:

- Search a range of years

- Search by subject headings or your own keywords

- Download, print or email results

- Limit references retrieved by date, language or document type

Using Databases

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Search Syntax

› Truncation - To use truncation, enter the root of a search term and replace the ending with

the truncation symbol.

- Common symbols used are ; * or ? or $ or % or !

- for example: child* will find child, children, childhood, etc

› Wildcards – - The wildcard indicates the symbol used is a placeholder for any unknown term(s)

and then find the best matches.

- Common symbols used are * or ? or $ or % or !

- for example : wom?n will find women or woman

Common Search Syntax

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Common Search Syntax

› Phrases – - use double quotation marks - “ ”

- determines a search for the exact words in that exact order without any change.

› Boolean Operators - Term X and Term Y: search results display articles containing both terms

- Term X or Term Y: search results display articles containing either term

- Term X not Term Y: search results display only articles containing Term X, excluding any articles also containing Term Y

› Nested Searches - (A or B) and (C or D)

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Referencing

› Referencing and citation style guide

› http://libguides.library.usyd.edu.au/citation

› Endnote

› A reference management software package, used to manage bibliographies and references when writing essays and articles.

› http://libguides.library.usyd.edu.au/endnote

› Library Classes

Referencing is an essential part of academic writing

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› Factiva - Full-text news, commentary, pictures and media transcripts from over 8,000 overseas and Australian news

media sources.

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› Proquest News & Newspapers- Search a wide range of international and Australian newspapers in ANZ Newsstand, Canadian

Newsstand, and Proquest Newsstand. ANZ Newsstand covers Australian and New Zealand newspapers published by Fairfax Australia and News Ltd, AAP newswires and ABC transcripts.

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› World News Connection - Compiled by the United States Foreign Broadcasting Information Service (FBIS) from non-U.S. media

sources including newspaper articles, conference proceedings, television and radio broadcasts, periodicals, and non-classified technical reports. Material is translated and either an extract, or the full publications is available from the database.

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› TVNews via Informit Online (September 2007 - present)- TVNews indexes Australian television news, current affairs programs, and selected documentaries from

the free-to-air networks. Links are to the video files and there are no transcripts available

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Further Help

› Contact your Faculty Liaison Librarian

Karen Chilcott Arts Library Services Team | University LibraryThe University of SydneyT: 02 9351 7289  | F: 02 9351 6722  | M: 0431 606 898   E karen.chilcott@sydney.edu.au

› Use “Ask A Librarian” service

http://sydney.edu.au/library/contacts/askemail.html

Need further assistance?