Researchingforyour
dissertation
KateCourage
[email protected]
Image:BookLover,WikimediaCommons,PublicDomain
Todaywewillcover:
• Howisdissertationresearchdifferent?
• Planningforeffectiveresearch
• Finding,selectingandusingsecondarysources
• Tipsforstayinguptodatewiththeliterature
• Findingprimarysourcematerials
• Somepracticalsearching
Howisdissertationresearchdifferent?
Planningforeffectiveresearch
Searchstrategy
• Defineyourkeyconcepts– includingsynonyms/alternatives
• Choosingwhichdatabasestosearch
• Combiningyoursearchtermsinthedatabases
• Usingsearchtools– advancedsearch,truncation,thesaurus
• Choosingwhattoread
• Managingyourresults
Basicsearchtools
EncoreArticles
GoogleScholar
Howarethedatabasesdifferent?
• Indexedbyexperts
• Helpyoutocombineyoursearchterms
• Containsearchtools– advancedsearch,truncation/wildcards,
thesaurus,limits
• Cansortandfilterresults,todecidewhattoread
• Helpyoutomanageyourresults
Typesofresource
Introductorymaterials CambridgeCompanions,CambridgeHistories,
OxfordHandbooks,OxfordReference
Academic books
Encore,COPAC
Journalarticles,book MLA, HistoricalAbstracts,(JStor),(ProjectMuse),
chapters
FIAF,CAIRN,Persée, EIO Torrossa,DialNet
Primarysources
Early EuropeanBooksOnline,Gallica,Europeana,
Europresse,Factiva
Identify KeywordsandSynonyms
TherepresentationofgenderinFrenchsciencefictionliterature
andfilms
Keyword
Concept1
Concept2
Concept3
Concept4
Concept5
gender
French
science
fiction
literature
film
sci-fi
SF
futuristic
“newwave”
novel
fiction
theatre
plays
poetry
poem
films
cinema
movie
motion
picture
France
Synonyms/ sex
Français
alternatives women
female
femininity
men
male
masculinity
Combineyoursearchterms
(AND/OR/NEAR)
• GenderOR masculineOR feminine
• Sciencefiction
AND
(genderORmasculineORfeminine)
• SciencefictionNEAR/5(genderORmasculineORfeminine)
Searchtips
Phrasesearching– “sciencefiction”,not“genderrepresentation”
Truncation– feminin*
Wildcard– organi?ation,colo?r
Fieldsearching
• Narroworfocusyoursearch,ratherthansearchingallfieldsorfull
text(e.g.title,author,abstract,subject)
• TIP:Itisusuallybettertosearchtheabstract(ifincluded)orsubject
heading,ratherthantitle,astitlesaregenerallyshortandcanbe
unhelpful
Thesaurus/subjectheadingsearching
• Usetheindexterms,usedtocompilethedatabases
• Termsdescribetheresearchfocus
• Catchresearchthatusesdifferentterminology
Gettingtothefulltext
• Inthedatabase,e.g.JStor,Muse,CAIRN,Torrossa
• IntheLibrary
• ViaWebBridge link,e.g.MLA,FIAF
• ArticleReach/DocumentSupply/Bookrequest
Citationtracking
Usecitationtrackingto…
• traceresearchforwardsintime
• seewhohascitedaparticularpieceofresearch
• broadenyoursearch,ifyouarefindingfewresults
Searchalerts
Usesearchalertstostayuptodatewithmaterials
writtenonyoursubject.
Youcancreate:
• Searchalertsfromsubjectdatabases,whenyou
haveasearchthatworks
• TableofcontentsalertsforparticularjournalsZETOC
Managingreferences
• Keeptrackofwhatyouhaveread
• Findmaterialsagaineasily,whenreferencing
• Avoidaccidentalplagiarism,byforgettingwhere
youhavereadsomething
Possiblesoftware:EndNote,EndNoteOnline,REFME,
Mendeley,Zotero
Primarysourcedatabases
Literaryperiod
HistoricalTexts,Early EuropeanBooksOnline
Format(e.g.newspapers) Europresse, Factiva
Topic
Defining Gender,EmpireOnline,TeatroEspañol
delSiglodeOro
Generalprimarysources
Gallica,Europeana, HistoricalTexts,FranText,
Thesearchprocess…
• Isiterative
• Willbecomemorerefinedasyouprogress
• Shouldbewell-documented
• Shouldbesystematicandthorough(nosecondaryreferencing)
Gettingmorehelp
Bookaonetooneappointmenttodiscussyour
research:
[email protected]
02476528151
Officehours:Weds,4-5,H5.07