1. Search strategies Literature reviews Information searching Research Skills

2. Today’s objectives 1.Become more aware of how to build a search strategy 2.Learn about different types of literature for your research 3.Learn how to search the Library catalogue 4.Learn more about the online resources available to you

3. What is a search strategy? Your search strategy is your plan of action It helps you find the information you need to complete your work. It makes you think about your work. It helps you work out what information you need, and how you're going to find it.

4. What do I do first? Look at your research project title and make sure you understand it. Use a dictionary or thesaurus to find related words If you are not in the Library you can use an online reference service: Oxford Reference Online

5. Mind mapping and keywords Research question Break down into concepts Related topics Definitions and context Keywords and synonyms Narrower concepts and specialist areas Specific theories and authors

6. What type of information do you need? a definition so you understand your main concept? an overview on the topic so you can identify key issues? statistical data to back up your arguments? a review of recent debates? the latest research?

7. Reviewing the literature What is a literature review? “The literature” means the works you consult in order to understand and investigate your research problem.

8. What literature should you review? 1. Books: ProsCons

9. What literature should you review? 1. Books: ProsCons Good starting pointLess up-to-date Accepted knowledge Provide references for further reading

10. What literature should you review? 2. Journal articles ProsCons

11. What literature should you review? 2. Journal articles ProsCons Up-to-dateMay not always be peer-reviewed For an academic audience Millions of titles! Peer-reviewed or refereed

12. What literature should you review? 3. Trade Journals / Magazines ProsCons

13. What literature should you review? 3. Trade Journals / Magazines ProsCons Up-to-dateNot peer-reviewed Company or product news not available elsewhere Not for an academic audience Easy to readMay have corporate bias

14. What literature should you review? 4. Conference proceedings: ProsCons

15. What literature should you review? 4. Conference proceedings: ProsCons Latest researchCan be hard to find in print Leading practitioners May be Un-reviewed

16. What literature should you review? 5. Theses and dissertations ProsCons

17. What literature should you review? 5. Theses and dissertations ProsCons Original researchUnpublished Often includes original data Can be hard to obtain Varying quality

18. What literature should you review? 5. Internet: ProsCons

19. What literature should you review? 5. Internet: ProsCons Usually up-to-dateUnfiltered for quality Large amounts of information Often for a general audience May be biased

20. Library catalogue Available online from all over the world http://webcat.hud.ac.uk

21. Useful electronic resources E-books Books 24x7 Safari

22. Useful electronic resources via MetaLib ACM Digital Inspec Computer Source

23. The library’s gateway to electronic resources http://metalib.hud.ac.uk/ Metalib

24. Searching electronic resources Search engines e.g. Google Subject Gateways e.g. Intute Scholar

25. Need help? Library website Information Literacy web site http://www.hud.ac.uk/cls/ Intute – Virtual Training Suite Floor 6 Subject Office