dissertation techniques 2011 sue bird bodleian subject specialist (geography)
Post on 20-Jan-2016
219 Views
Preview:
TRANSCRIPT
Dissertation Techniques
2011Sue Bird
Bodleian Subject Specialist (Geography)
Dissertation Techniques
Plagiarism v. Referencing
SOLO, OLIS & OXLIP+
Reference works
Databases
Searching techniques
Plagiarism All academic work will inevitably at some point
involve the use and discussion of critical material written by others with due acknowledgement and with references given. This is standard critical practice and can be clearly distinguished from appropriating without acknowledgement and presenting as your own material produced by others, which is what constitutes plagiarism. (Modern History and English - Preliminary Exams Handbook 2003/4)
http://www.geog.ox.ac.uk/undergraduate/info/fhs/plagiarism.html http://www.admin.ox.ac.uk/epsc/plagiarism/index.shtml
Avoiding Plagiarism"...You must always indicate to the examiners when you
have drawn on the work of others; other people's original ideas and methods should be clearly distinguished from your own, and other people's words, illustrations, diagrams etc. should be clearly indicated regardless of whether they are copied exactly, paraphrased, or adapted...
...The University reserves the right to use software applications to screen any individual's submitted work for matches either to published sources or to other submitted work. Any such matches respectively might indicate either plagiarism or collusion...
...Although the use of electronic resources by students in their academic work is encouraged, you should remember that the regulations on plagiarism apply to on-line material and other digital material just as much as to printed material..."
Section 9.5 Proctors' and Assessor's Memorandum
Good academic practice
So by following the citation principles and practices in place in your subject area, you will develop a rigorous approach to academic referencing, and avoid inadvertent plagiarism.
Referencing and Citation2 main ways of organizing your references
a) Parenthetical or author/date – often called the Harvard system
b) Footnotes on a page or endnotes for a chapter
N.B. This is not to be confused with the computer package of the same name.
References / Bibliography
Be uniform in your referencing system:- Probably use the Harvard system as
suggested on the School’s web-site – but whatever you do use – just be consistent.
http://www.geog.ox.ac.uk/undergraduate/info/fhs/dissertation/referencing.html
Citation practice Also large number of manuals available to give
guidance and sound practice.
1:Doing a literature review / Chris Hart (London, 1998)[H 62 HAR ]
2:Manual for writers / Kate Turabian (7th ed. Chicago, 2007) [LB 2369 TUR ]
3:Communicating in geography & the environmental sciences / Ian Hay (3rd ed. Oxford, 2006) [G 70 HAY ]
4:Cite them right /Pears & Shields (2010 ed.) [LB 2369 PEA]
5: Complete guide to referencing & avoiding plagiarism / Neville (1st ed. 2007) – available on-line via NetLibrary
References / Bibliography
Organize your research and manage your database of references
Include citations while you write your paper
Build a bibliography in a variety of styles
Import references from many different data sources
Create bibliographies in different document formats (Word, RTF, HTML, etc.)
References / Bibliography
EndNote system:-
Web version available within the Oxford domain http://
www.bodleian.ox.ac.uk/sers/resources/endnote
Also a software package that you purchase from O.U.C.S. but you then have it permanently
Courses laid on (http://www.oucs.ox.ac.uk)
References / Bibliography
RefWorks
http://www.bodleian.ox.ac.uk/eresources/refworks
Refworks is a free (even after you leave Oxford) web-based bibliographic software package.
Being web-based means no software to download and update, and you can access your personal account from any computer connected to the web.
Courses laid on by the Computing Services (http://www.oucs.ox.ac.uk)
Dissertation Techniques
SOLO: Search Oxford Libraries Online
Search and discovery tool for the Oxford Libraries' vast collections of resources.
Mainly OLIS (Oxford's union catalogue of printed and electronic books and journals)
Title link over 1,000 databases on OxLIP+
E-Journals
I didn't check for the hard copy - so used to getting online
access!
Newspapers
Electronic newspapers Some are freely available.
Alphabetic list on OxLIP+
Best source for the “Text Only” of huge range of newspapers and magazines is Nexis UK. Goes back approximately 10 yrs in most cases and is very current i.e. today’s daily news items
Newspapers
Legal information, cases etc.
Lexis Library (LNB) WestLaw – both UK & US editions
Both databases require SSO log-in
(if necessary ask the Law Library for help)
Dissertation Techniques
Use SOLO or OxLIP+ to access
Reference tools
Abstracting and Indexing services
Reference Sources
General reference tools
CREDO Reference : Reference works incl. Dictionaries, encyclopedias etc
International Encyclopedia of Human Geography (This is a database not a book!)
Dictionaries. OED; Oxford Reference On-line
http://www.bodley.ox.ac.uk/guides/maps/
Bibliography : Biondi, F., A. Gershunov , and D. R. Cayan “North Pacific Decadal Climate Variability since 1661.” Journal of Climate 14.1 ( 2001 ), pp.5–10. DOI: 10.1175/1520-0442(2001)014<0005:NPDCVS>2.0.CO;2.
E-books
Reference books Blackwell Reference Online SAGE Reference Online
Text books NetLibrary Oxford Scholarship Online Taylor & Francis Online eBooks Library
The Blackwell Companion to Globalization edited by: George Ritzer (under Sociology)
Dissertation Techniques
Abstracting and Indexing Services
(for finding the actual journal articles)
Vast range.
SCOPUS (includes GEOBASE) OVID SP Cambridge Scientific Abstracts Web of Knowledge
Bibliographic Databases
Excellent for locating journal articles , book chapters and book reviews (NB. References only,)
General or specific subject coverage
Different interfaces but similar functionality
Not tied to library holdings
Frequently will provide a link to full text
Databases vs. Search engines
Contents are indexed by subject specialists
Subject headings Limiting functions e.g.
publication types, language
Allow you to View Search history Combine searches Mark and sort results Print/save/email/export Save searches Set up alerts
Searches done by automated “web crawlers”
No thesaurus / subject headings – just free text searching
No limiting functions
Usually none of these!
Search Strategies Boolean logic
Truncation
Wild cards
Synonyms
Which language are you using?
Boolean connectors
AND – combines terms to restrict results
OR – useful for covering synonyms
NOT – excludes unwanted areas of research
OR, AND, NOT
Biodiversity
Climate changeAmazonia
SCOPUS
Includes data from GEOBASE
THE bibliographic database for the Earth, Geographical and Ecological Sciences
Databases vs. Search engines
Contents are indexed by subject specialists
Subject headings Limiting functions e.g.
publication types, languageAllow you to View Search history Combine searches Mark and sort results Print/save/email/export Save searches Set up alerts
Searches done by automated “web crawlers”
No thesaurus / subject headings – just free text searching
No limiting functions
Usually none of these!
Bibliographic Searching
Search Tip : 1 Important to remember that although each
database covers thousands of journal titles no single database is ever comprehensive.
If you are having difficulty finding material on a topic use the keywords you find in any relevant reference and search again.
Bibliographic Databases
Bibliographic Databases
OVIDSP CAB Abstracts – biogeography
EconLit – economic geography
Forest Science – biogeography
GeoRef – physical geography & geology
Zoological Abstracts Archive (1864-1977)
Bibliographic Databases
Cambridge Scientific Abstracts Various useful databases (not just science)
Ecology Abstracts EIS: Digests of Environmental Impact Statements Environmental Sciences & Pollution Management Oceanic Abstracts IBSS: International Bibliography of the Social Sciences Sociological Abstracts CSA Worldwide Political Science Abstracts
Bibliographic Databases
Web of Science/Knowledge
Includes Science, Social Science & Arts and Humanities Citation Indexes
Citation indexes can be used in the same way as any other abstracting and indexing service. Their extra facility is the option to search the bibliographies of any articles- a citation search. Academics use the citation index to find out who has cited their work.
Dissertation Techniques
Search :- Teleconnect* & “La Nina” 2010-11
Scopus = 25 articles
Ovid = 13 (after de-duplication of 15 articles, etc.)
C.S.A = 20 (23 before de-duplication)
W.o.K. = 29 articles
Total = 87
Dissertation Techniques Search :- Teleconnect* & “La Nina” 2010-2011
Scopus = 25 articles
Ovid = 13 (after de-duplication of 15 articles, etc.)(Refworks folder now up to 29)
C.S.A = 20 (23 before de-duplication)(Refworks folder now up to 36)
W.o.K. = 29 articles(of which 19 have now already been found)
RefWorks de-duplication = 46 unique items
Dissertation Techniques
Search Tip : 1 Important to remember that although
each database covers thousands of journal titles no single database is ever comprehensive.
If you are having difficulty finding material on a topic use the keywords you find in any relevant reference and search again.
Dissertation Techniques
Search Tip : 2 Use Boolean Logical Operators AND, OR, NOT
also proximity operators Adj (literally adjacent); Near(same sentence); With(same field)
Field descriptors: AU(author); TI(title); AB (abstract); SO(source or reference); DE (general descriptor) etc are likely to be specific to each database and won’t operate in ‘cross searches’
Combining searches: #1 and #2
Dissertation Techniques
Search Tip : 3
Take time to explore the various databases & platforms available.
Some will be more useful to you than others.
Scopus OvidSP Cambridge Scientific Abstracts Web of Knowledge
http://www.bodleian.ox.ac.uk/services/information_skills/wiser
Dissertation Techniques
Search Tip : 4 Consider subject synonyms & British and US spellings.
Apply truncation, usually * to find plurals/alternative word endings and ? to replace a single character.
Expand search by following hypertext links esp subject headings
Use tagging facilities within database to mark articles for printing, emailing, downloading or exporting.
Authors names: Check the online help for formats. Use the database index to find different forms of author’s name, otherwise truncate first initial.
Dissertation Techniques
Three ways to keep up to date:
E-mail alert – you can specify a search to be repeated and the results emailed to you at chosen intervals or Zetoc will tell you when the next issue of a journal is available.
Saving and rerunning searches – you save a search and run it again in the future.
Citation Alert – you will receive an email every time a particular article is cited in another WoK or Scopus indexed article.
Dissertation Techniques
Apart from Bibliographic Electronic Resources there are some factual databases available via OxLIP+ e.g.:-
World development indicators,
EIU Country Reports,
Demographic Yearbook etc.
If they are CD-ROM based they may require you to download software
Further assistance:
This presentation available on-linehttp://www.bodleian.ox.ac.uk/science/training/biosciences
More courses available:http://www.oucs.ox.ac.uk/itlp/
Other presentations
http://www.bodleian.ox.ac.uk/services/training/wiser/presentations
Sue.bird@bodleian.ox.ac.uk
Dissertation Techniques
Please ask a Librarian if you get stuck trying to use any of the resources or would like advice on the most suitable databases for your enquiries.
GOOD LUCK WITH YOUR DISSERTATIONS!
top related