Researchingforyourdissertation

KateCourageKate.courage@warwick.ac.uk

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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,bookchapters

MLA, HistoricalAbstracts,(JStor),(ProjectMuse),FIAF,CAIRN,Persée, EIO Torrossa,DialNet

Primarysources Early EuropeanBooksOnline,Gallica,Europeana,Europresse,Factiva

Identify KeywordsandSynonyms

Concept1 Concept2 Concept3 Concept4 Concept5

Keyword gender French sciencefiction

literature film

Synonyms/alternatives

sexwomenfemalefemininitymenmalemasculinity

FranceFrançais

sci-fiSFfuturistic“newwave”

novelfictiontheatreplayspoetrypoem

filmscinemamoviemotionpicture

TherepresentationofgenderinFrenchsciencefictionliteratureandfilms

Combineyoursearchterms(AND/OR/NEAR)

• GenderORmasculineOR feminine

• SciencefictionAND(genderORmasculineORfeminine)

• SciencefictionNEAR/5(genderORmasculineORfeminine)

Searchtips

Phrasesearching– “sciencefiction”,not“genderrepresentation”

Truncation– feminin*

Wildcard– organi?ation,colo?r

Fieldsearching

• Narroworfocusyoursearch,ratherthansearchingallfieldsorfulltext(e.g.title,author,abstract,subject)

• TIP:Itisusuallybettertosearchtheabstract(ifincluded)orsubjectheading,ratherthantitle,astitlesaregenerallyshortandcanbeunhelpful

Thesaurus/subjectheadingsearching

• Usetheindexterms,usedtocompilethedatabases• Termsdescribetheresearchfocus• Catchresearchthatusesdifferentterminology

Gettingtothefulltext• Inthedatabase,e.g.JStor,Muse,CAIRN,Torrossa• IntheLibrary• ViaWebBridge link,e.g.MLA,FIAF• ArticleReach/DocumentSupply/Bookrequest

CitationtrackingUsecitationtrackingto…

• traceresearchforwardsintime• seewhohascitedaparticularpieceofresearch• broadenyoursearch,ifyouarefindingfewresults

SearchalertsUsesearchalertstostayuptodatewithmaterialswrittenonyoursubject.

Youcancreate:

• Searchalertsfromsubjectdatabases,whenyouhaveasearchthatworks

• Tableofcontentsalertsforparticularjournals-ZETOC

Managingreferences• Keeptrackofwhatyouhaveread

• Findmaterialsagaineasily,whenreferencing

• Avoidaccidentalplagiarism,byforgettingwhereyouhavereadsomething

Possiblesoftware:EndNote,EndNoteOnline,REFME,Mendeley,Zotero

Primarysourcedatabases

Literaryperiod HistoricalTexts,Early EuropeanBooksOnline

Format(e.g.newspapers) Europresse, Factiva

Topic Defining Gender,EmpireOnline,TeatroEspañoldelSiglodeOro

Generalprimarysources Gallica,Europeana, HistoricalTexts,FranText,

Thesearchprocess…

• Isiterative• Willbecomemorerefinedasyouprogress• Shouldbewell-documented• Shouldbesystematicandthorough(nosecondaryreferencing)

Gettingmorehelp

Bookaonetooneappointmenttodiscussyourresearch:

Kate.courage@warwick.ac.uk02476528151Officehours:Weds,4-5,H5.07