Using & finding journal articles & conference papers Watching her granny by Spyros Papaspyropoulos The Grandmasters of Washington Square by Phil Roeder Courtyard, public space by La Citta Vita Using & finding journal articles & conference papers bankok by Roberto Trombetta Hola bokkie, come sit with me by gwendolen The Sunday Read by Andrew E. Larsen

The types of literature that you will find Journal articles The types of literature that you will find Journals come in two types – “trade” and “scholarly” Trade journals deal with day to day practicalities of professional practice → they are not so useful for higher order thinking Scholarly journals report the analyses, professional debates, research findings, new theories – perfect sources to support your higher order thinking You may find scholarly articles difficult to understand – you won’t be on your own, sometimes very experienced professionals can find some journal articles difficult to understand Scholarly articles usually deal with a specific topic in detail – this makes them an idea source for higher order thinking – they provide the building blocks for your thinking and the evidence for your solutions Conference papers The types of literature that you will find See what practicing Planners are doing and thinking about at the time of the conference Reports on how Planners are putting the scholarly and research thinking into practice – eg. what’s working, where the problems are, reflections for future practice

Finding journal articles & conference papers - Preparation There are different ways to search for journal articles and conference papers. You can search individual databases, or you can use Library Search to search a number of databases at the same time But beware, Library Search doesn’t search all databases. The key database for Planning that it doesn’t search is Scopus , but Library Search should be an excellent starting point for most Planning topics (including those related to integrated transport) Just as with searching for books, when you search journal article and conference databases, your search terms are trying to match up against records for the papers and when matches are found, those records go into your search results. But the journal articles and conference paper records usually have more words to match against because they often contain abstracts So, before your fingers hit that keyboard, think carefully about how to search – higher order thinking is important for searching too If you are not used to really thinking through your search strategies, look at and listen to my pre-search thinking about transportation as a factor influencing experiences of social isolation. It should help you think through your own literature need/s.

Finding journal articles & conference papers - Searching So, now that we’ve thought through some possible search terms and have developed the first search strategy, it’s time to see the searching in action. Two demonstrations are provided: With Library Search With Scopus It does take time and practice to become an efficient searcher so don’t be disappointed if your search results are lacking a little at first – that’s how it is for most of us And, if you want help or advice (or maybe even a little re-assurance), just contact me: Email me – if email isn’t the best way to answer, I’ll contact you to arrange a mutually convenient time to call you – sandra.cochrane@usq.edu.au If you’re in Toowoomba, ring me on 4631 2673 or pop by my office – Z467 (Mon & Tues); R215 (Wed – Fri) If you’re more than 50km away from Toowoomba, ring 1800 063 632 for free If you are near a campus in Hervey Bay, Springfield or Ipswich, pop into those campus libraries and ask for help

Evaluating the quality of the literature that you find At this stage of your studies, you should be evaluating literature before you use it. You don’t want to go into professional practice with no idea how to tell whether particular information should really be informing your decision making The same goes for people moving into their fourth year research project or other Honours programs If you don’t have an evaluation criteria that you are used to using, try this one – it’s suitable for all disciplines – science-based and social sciences.

Other resources in this suite of online help Introduction to the example topic & setting the scene The Planning literature & your assignments Accessible from the platform resource – URP4001: Finding and using the Planning literature Finding & using documents from professional organisations & governments Finding & using books & videos In-text referencing If you need more help, contact the Library – we’re here for you!!

Image acknowledgements All images used in accordance with their Creative Commons licences Watching her granny by Spyros Papaspyropoulos The Grandmasters of Washington Square by Phil Roeder Courtyard, public space by La Citta Vita Hola bokkie, come sit with me by gwendolen bankok by Roberto Trombetta The Sunday Read by Andrew E. Larsen