Essential skills sessions for SMLLC Finalists

1. LibraryServices
Academic Skills:
Information & Research Skills
for Dissertations
libguides.rhul.ac.uk/
February 2015
Russell Burke

2. Library
Services
Aims of the session
4 key steps to planning your searching and information research:
• Step 1 - Plan and prepare a literature search
• Step 2 - Use LibrarySearch and subject specific resources to find information
• Step 3 – Adapt & refine your searches
• Step 4 - Manage your references (& generate bibliographies using RefWorks)
Don’t forget!
• Accessing eresources off-campus
• Using other libraries
2

3. Library
Services
My essay question / research topic:
What do I want to find out?
(Describe the next slide: what do you see?
What words would you search for to find
information on what is depicted?)

4. Library
Services
Keywords ….
4

5. Library
Services
Task 1 – go to the Padlet on the Subject Guide for this session
5
“In the avant-garde films of the 1920s, everything we see, including
the human being, is subservient to rhythm & movement.”

6. Library
Services
Developing your search strategy
6
“In the avant-garde films of the 1920s, everything we see,
including the human being, is subservient to rhythm &
movement.”
Main concepts Alternative terms
1. avant-garde films Experimental, art, modernist /
cinema, filmmaking …
2. 1920s Early 20th Century, pre-war,
silent era …
3.What we see on film Mise-en-scène, frame(d),
screen, shot, represented …
4. Rhythm & movement Pace, flow, repetition,
alternation, patterns, editing …

7. In summary: Step 1 - think about your own
research topic & related concepts and write down
the keywords that you need to search for

8. Library
Services
Now that I know what I want to find out:
What resources would I use?
in your own time, see part 1 of the following prezi for an
overview of the types of material available via the Library:
http://prezi.com/24tl5r36eel5/developing-your-search-skills/

9. Library
Services
Task 2 – go to the Padlet on the Subject Guide for this session
9
Which resources and sources would
you use in your research?
Please list as many resources or types
of resources that you can think of.

10. Library
Services
Selecting information sources
Library Subject Guides: libguides.rhul.ac.uk/
Online databases (eresources): libguides.rhul.ac.uk/az.php
LibrarySearch: librarysearch.rhul.ac.uk
Senate House Library catalogue (& eresources)
Other internet resources…
These can also be found on the main Library webpage

11. Library
Services
Why can’t I just use Google?
11

12. In summary: Step 2 - use your Library Subject Guide and
select the resources or types of resources you think you
would need to use to carry out your research

13. Library
Services
Now that I know what I want to find out
& where to find the resources:
How do I carry out searches to
find information on my topic?
(By combining your search terms in meaningful way!)
See the SMLLC Library Subject Guide >Training > Searching
(for videos & more help)

14. Library
Services
Combining keywords - AND
Narrow your search using AND (useful if you have too many results)
e.g. avant-gardeAND film
14
Results
containing
AVANT-GARDE
Results
containing
BOTH
TERMS
Results
containing
FILM
ie. only brings back results where all the words searched for
are included somewhere in the title, summary and/or full-text

15. Library
Services
Combining keywords - too few results?
Broaden your search using OR (useful if you have too few results)
e.g. role OR function
15
ie. brings back results where any the words searched for are
included somewhere in the title, summary and/or full-text

16. Library
Services
Making the most of synonyms
As well as searching for alternative terms, you can use wildcard characters ($ ?
* -) to replace letters in search terms or to truncate a term:
Examples
theat* - finds theatre, theater, theatrical, etc.
wom*n - finds women, woman.
NB: Help pages in the online resources will explain which character is used
as the wildcard
16

17. Library
Services
Combining keywords – phrase searching
17
“French NewWave”
“À la recherche du temps perdu”
Use quotation (speech) marks to search for phrases where word need to appear
next to each other (e.g. specific terminology, title of books / films, names &
places).

18. In summary: Step 3 - think about how you will combing
keywords and enter your search queries in your selected
eresources (adjusting terms as you need to)

19. Library
Services
Now that I have found information on
my topic:
How do I know that it is what I
want and good quality
material?

20. Library
Services
Evaluating information sources:
In your own time have a look at
http://prezi.com/q5jglgamre6c/evaluating-information/
Reviewing & evaluating your research

21. Library
Services
Reviewing & evaluating your research
Do you have
enough / too
much
information?
Is it relevant to
your research?
Does it answer
the whole
question?
Is the
information
current / within
the date you
require
Do you need to
review your
underlying
research
question?

22. Library
Services
Now that I have the information (books,
chapters, journal articles, webpages
etc) that I need:
How do I manage &
reference them?
(You may have a lot of references and research material
to keep track of!)

23. Library
Services
Keeping track of useful items
• Emailing links to yourself
• Using the e-shelf in LibrarySearch
• Log in to LibrarySearch
• Click on the star icon beside useful results
• Go to ‘e-shelf’
• Create baskets, email, export results
• NB - most other eresources provide these functions (you can do the same in
JSTOR / ProjectMuse / MLA Bibliography
• OR you can keep all of your references in ONE PLACE and
organised them by topic, essay title or course etc. by exporting
references to RefWorks – this is really easy to do!
23

24. Library
Services
RefWorks
Bibliographic reference management software
Capture, save and organise references
Create a bibliography for your essay from containing 1 to 1000
items in your Departments Referencing Style in seconds!
Access it via the Library Subject Guides (Citation & Referencing)
Contains online self-help tutorials
Sign up to a free Library RefWorks training session:
Check the Library Information SkillsTraining Session on the Subject guide:
http://libguides.rhul.ac.uk/

25. In summary: Step 4 - save the results that you need
(references, abstracts, URL links, full text) and organise these
so that you can find them when you need them & reference
them in your assignments

26. Library
Services
Access online resources off-campus
Royal Holloway ‘Campus Anywhere’ (VPN)
The only way to access all of our electronic resources off campus is
to install theVirtual Private Network (VPN) service, known as
'CampusAnywhere'.
This is quick and easy to set up and works on PCs, laptops & Macs
Go to the IT Services website to find out more:
http://www.rhul.ac.uk/it/home.aspx

27. Library
Services
Using other libraries
Royal Holloway students all get free access to Senate
House Library (SHL):
take along your RHUL Id card if you want to borrow books or
use the study space there.
Online registration for SHL’s eresources:
see the ‘Beyond RHUL’ section on the Library Subject Guides for
more information
Access to other Libraries using SCONUL Access:
see the ‘Beyond RHUL’ section on the Library Subject Guides for
more information

28. Library
Services
Questions?
Russell Burke
Information Consultant
2-07 Bedford Library
Royal Holloway University of London
Russell.Burke@rhul.ac.uk
01784 414065
Please remember to always check:
• LIBRARY SUBJECT GUIDES
• @RHUL_Library onTWITTER
• the Library’s FACEBOOK PAGE
for the latest information and updates!
28 Leo Reynolds. Flickr. CC-BY-NA