1. Doing Literature Survey: Some General Tips on Sources to Be Consulted
T. S. Kumbar
Resource Centre
22nd July, 2008

2. Outline Information Generation Cycle Types of Information Sources
Research Process
Literature Survey
Search in Bibliographic/Citation Databases ( Abstracting/Indexing)
Use of RC Resources
Search in Library Catalogues
Searching on the Web
Reference/Citation Style Resources
Avail RC Services & Assistance
Evaluation of Web Resources
Staying in Touch with Recent Literature
IPR issues/ Plagiarism
Conclusion

3. Information Generation Cycle
It begins with a idea.
The idea is researched & developed.
Initial findings are shared with colleagues in the research community, research guides, often by , news groups, or in person.
Preliminary results are communicated in a letter to the editor, comment in a journal or brief papers e.g., Electronics Letters.
Full findings are presented in a conference

4. Information Generation Cycle
Results appear in a research or technical reports or thesis.
Findings are submitted to a journal publication.
Paper is indexed in a database
Idea is incorporated in to text books, reviews, encyclopedia, handbooks and other sources.
Book is indexed in pub/lib. catalogue.
Information contained in these sources is used.
Information use triggers new ideas
The Cycle continues

5. Players in the Information Cycle
Scientists, engineers, academicians, researchers and others
Authors
Publishers
Abstracting & Indexing Databases
Aggregators
Libraries & Information Centres
Users

6. Types of Information Sources
The entire scholarly information sources are grouped in to,
Primary Sources
Secondary Sources
Tertiary Sources

7. Primary Sources…
Sources that include first, the publications of original research findings, record of events, original thoughts, ideas etc.
Journals
Conference proceedings
Dissertations/Theses
Patents
Standards
Reports
Plan/policy documents

8. Primary Sources Research monographs Autobiographies Manuscripts
News papers
Magazines
Annual reports
Correspondences
Speeches
Minutes of meetings etc.

9. Secondary Sources…
Sources that digest, analyze, evaluate, interpret and present the information in organized manner contained in primary sources.
Review articles
Text books
Biographies
Indexing & abstracting serials/databases
Bibliographies
Book reviews

10. Secondary Sources News digests Encyclopedia Handbooks
Dictionaries and Thesaurus
Directories
Almanacs
Geographical sources, etc.

11. Tertiary Sources
These sources are compilation of primary and secondary sources.
These serve as a guide in locating various information sources on specific subjects
Usually compiled keeping in view researches and academicians in mind
Library subject guides
Pathfinders
Computer Science and Computing: A guide to the literature
Guide to sources on nanotechnology etc

12. Research Process Selecting an area of interest
Reading background information
Selecting the promising research problem (proposal)
Determining types of information needs
Searching literature- from all types of sources
Refining the topic & restating the problem
Analyze the literature
Work on the research problem
Putting it together ( writing)
Reference & citation format/style
Reference & citation of sources collected
Presenting the final report/dissertation/thesis

13. Literature Survey… Need for literature survey
To know what others have done
To follow the trend and identify the problem
To avoid duplication
To support your argument
To follow theoretical, empirical, methodological and design work of related fields
To gather data to extend your methods, findings & discussions
Basically, it serve as basis for the practical work

14. Literature Survey… Selecting specific area Split in to sub topics
Identify keywords, phrases, subject headings, etc.
Subject Dictionaries, Thesauri, etc.
Selecting materials for background reading (use RC resources)
Encyclopedia
Handbooks
Text books
Monographs
Select articles, reviews, (print& e-resources)
Dissertations (previous batch)
Refine your area/select the topic/proposal
Write down the statement, proposal with scope, objective, hypothesis, methodology, data collection and analysis, deciding style format, compiling bibliographies

15. Search in Bibliographic/Citation Databases ( Abstracting/Indexing)
INSPEC
COMPENDEX
Web of Science
SCOPUS

16. Use of RC Resources ACM Digital Library http://portal.acm.org/
ACM Guide to Computing Literature
ASA Digital Library
ACM Computing Reviews
IEL Online Library

17. Use of RC Resources ITU Recommendations
JSTOR Archive
LNCS Online Collection
ScienceDirect (Comp. Sc.)
Springer Online Engineering Journals

18. Search in Library Catalogues
RC Catalogue
Catalogues of other libraries
Union Catalogues
Online Book shops
e.g., Amazon.com,
Firstandsecond.com & others
Publisher Catalogues

19. Searching on the Web Visible web
Invisible web- three times bigger than the visible
We strongly recommend you to use,
Scholarly Search Engines/Resources
Subject Gateways/Virtual Libraries
Open Access Resources

20. Scholarly Search Engines/Resources…
SCIRUS
CiteSeer
Scitopia.org
Google Scholar
Ingenta

21. Scholarly Search Engines/Resources
Collection of Computer Science Bibliographies
Networked Computer Science Technical Reference Library
DBLP Computer Science Bibliography

22. Subject Gateways/Virtual Libraries
INFOMINE
Intute
Internet Public Library
Internet Scout Report
Librarians Index Internet
National Science Digital Library
BUBL

23. Open Access Resources Directory of Open Access Journals
Open J-Gate
Eprints Archive [arXiv]
OAIster

24. Reference/Citation Style Resources…
IEEE Editorial Style
IEEE Computer Society Style Guide
IEEE Standards Style Manual
Chicago/Turabian Style

25. Reference/Citation Style Resources
Harvard Style
APA Style
ACS Style
AMA Style
MLA Style
AIP Style

26. Avail RC Services & Assistance
Send us your topics to assist you better
Assistance in literature searching/locating
Inter Library Loan Service
Document Delivery Services
Purchase of Reading Materials
Permission to visit other libraries
Delivering documents when you are off campus

27. Evaluation of Web Resources
Is it somebody’s personal page?
What type of domain does it come from?
Is it published by well known organization?
Is the page dated? Is it current enough?
What are the author’s credentials on the subject?
Are sources documented with footnotes or links?
If it is reproduced information ( from some other source), is it complete, not altered, not fake or forged?
Are there links to other resources on the topic?
Is the page listed in one or more reputable directories or virtual libraries?
What do others say about the author or responsible body?

28. Staying in Touch with Recent Literature
Table of Content Alerts
Visit RC site regularly
Join based discussion forums
Watch out for Conferences resources (RC site)
Visit Blogs
Visit professional/R&D org. sites
Visit major publisher sites
Subscribe to research news
Visit professional peer’s sites

29. IPR issues/ Plagiarism
Copyright
Patents
Designs
Trademarks
Plagiarism
Be aware & avoid

30. Conclusion Knowing what others have done
Referring the resources with due credit
Optimum use of RC resources
Seek RC assistance
Stay in touch with recent developments

31. Questions & Clarifications?