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Study Skills

Top 5 tips for getting ahead with your Dissertation this summer

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1. Master search techniques

Plan your search strategy at the start and you will be able to find lots of relevant resources which will save you time in the long run.

  • What exactly is the topic you are searching for?
  • What are the main concepts or keywords for your topic?
  • Are there any similar words that describe each of these concepts?
  • How might you combine these keywords together to search? 
  • Use tricks like Wildcards and Truncation to search effectively. There is more information on this here.  
  • Look at the Cited by and Cited references for what you have found – save time by using the references in good research to find more good research. 

There is lots of help in the Library Space on Moodle about this.

This video shows you how to Search Smarter and Search Faster:


 2. Evaluate your resources

You have mastered your search techniques but you now you need to think whether your results are good enough. This presentation will give you some guidance in how to evaluate information.

http://prezi.com/q5jglgamre6c/copy-of-evaluating-information/

3. Check Senate House

You have access to all the eresources provided by Senate House Library along with those provide by RHUL. You need to register but this is easy to do and instructions are here.

You can search through their websites or you can connect to Senate House through Google Scholar. There is more information on this in this post.

4. Use the library

The library is your best friend at dissertation time. You can come in or use our virtual enquiry services to ask questions. Keep an eye on the Blog and Moodle for new training being offered. But most importantly use the Library Subject pages to find out which resources are best for your subject.

5. Manage your references and Get organised

Managing your references using RefWorks

RefWorks is an online bibliographic management program which enables you to capture, save and organize references into your own personal database. As a member of RHUL you can access it via the library homepage link to E-resources A-Z. It enables you to:

 

     Capture and save references generated from online databases

     Automatically generate a bibliography in your document

     Insert citations directly into your research (i.e. word document)

     Format your references in a wide range of citation styles

 

RefWorks includes a comprehensive set of online self-help tutorials, or you may wish to sign up for the one of the RefWorks sessions that the Library regularly runs or try the self-study start up guide:

http://www.rhul.ac.uk/library/helpandsupport/findinginformation.aspx

Use tools like Evernote and Dropbox to organise your notes.

Study Skills

Search Techniques

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Truncation / wildcard searching

 > Use to: widen your search and ensure you don’t miss relevant search results

Most databases are not intelligent, they will just search for exactly what you type in.  Truncation and wildcard symbols enable you to overcome this limitation.  These search techniques find information on similar words by replacing part of the word with a symbol usually a * or ?.

     In truncation the end of the word is replaced. For example theat* will find results including the words theatre, theater, theatric, theatrical and so on.

      In wildcard searching, single letters from inside the word are replaced with a symbol. For example wom?n will retrieve the terms woman and women.

Please note! Different databases use different symbols for truncation and wildcard searching, so use the online help option to check what is used.

 

Search operators

 > Use to: combine your search words and include synonyms

Also known as Boolean operators, search operators allow you to join terms together, widen a search or exclude terms from your search results. This means you can be more precise in locating your information. Not all databases support Boolean searching.

  • AND – Narrows your search by combining words. The results found must contain all the words which you have joined by using AND.

  • OR – Broadens your search to include resources which contain any or all of the terms connected by OR.

  • NOT – Narrows your search by excluding a term.  Beware! By using this operator you might exclude relevant records because you will lose those records which include both words.

 

Please note! Check the online help screens for details of the search operators recognized by the database you are searching; some use symbols instead of words, e.g. + or &.

 

 Phrase searching

> Use to: make your search more specific

Phrase searching is a technique that narrows your search down by searching for an exact phrase or sentence. It is particularly useful when searching for a title or a quotation. Usually speech marks are used to connect the words together. For example “Power transition theory” will find results which contain that phrase. Some search tools may use (brackets) or ‘single quote marks’ rather than speech marks so check the online help.

 

Focusing a search by date, language or document type

There are many ways to focus your search and all databases offer different ways of doing this. Check the help facilities if the options are not immediately obvious. Some of the ways of limiting your search are as follows:

     Date of publication

     Language

     Place of publication

     Publication type

     Age groups

     Type of material e.g. chapters in books, review articles, book reviews

“Cited reference” / “cited by” / “times cited” search

When you find a useful article or book, looking at its bibliography will give you information about other, older, books and articles on your research topic. Some databases also allow you to search for literature which has cited the article or book you have found. This can give you useful leads on more recent research on the same topic. There is no standard name for this type of search; depending on which database you are searching it may be referred to as “Cited reference” or “cited by” or “times cited”.

 

 

3.8 Saving your search results

You usually have the option to select specific search results to keep by marking or tagging them. Most databases will offer the following methods of saving your search results:

     Email search results to yourself.

     Save to your PC or memory stick.

     Create your own account within certain databases to save your searches to re-run later or set up alerts

     Print out

     Export to bibliographic management software such as RefWorks or Endnote

     You can use alerting services such as Zetoc Alerts to receive regular e-mails to update you on new publications. Once the alert is set up, it happens automatically, so you do not need to re-run literature searches at a later stage, unless you wish to – http://zetoc.mimas.ac.uk/

 

It is good practice to keep a record of which database you used and the search query you used.

New Media, Study Skills

Exam preparation

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The Easter eggs have been eaten and the clocks have changed. This must mean the run up to the exam period has started and people are revising all over the college.

There are also lots of tools which can help your organise your revision.

Braineos – Allows you to create flashcards and games to help recall.

Evernote – you can use this to keep track of your notes as it has a great search function so you can search for notes on a subject. You can also create check lists to keep yourself organised.

Mind mapping – There are several tools, both free and paid for available. Here are a few:

  • Popplet – allows you to add images, video and links.
  • Bubbl.us – A very simple mind mapping tool
  • Inspiration – this is a paid for piece of software which has a cheaper iPad app version which is easy to use and very good for revision.

Looking for past exams? You can find them via the library home page or this link.

The Library holds a number of books which provide you with exam tips. Many are shelved at 378.170281.

There are also several Ebooks (more are being added all the time):

Chapter Eleven of The Ultimate Study Skills Handbook has lots of tips.

4.7 of Study skills for psychology students has lots of general tips, not just of use to Psychology students.

Chapter 23 of  Study Skills for geography, earth and environmental science students

Pages 195 – 199  The Business Students Handbook

 

 

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Sharing groups of citations using Endnote Web

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Endnote Web a really useful tool for collaborative work as it has the ability to share groups of citations with other people . As long as both you and the person with which you want to share a group of citations have Endnote Web accounts, sharing citations is very easy. To register for Endnote Web see this post.

The instructions for sharing groups of citations are below.

1) Click on the Organize tab

 

Organize endnote

2) Click the Manage Sharing button next to the group you want to share

Manage my groups

3) Click the Start sharing this group link

4) A new window will open. Enter the email address of the person(s) you want to share the group of citations with (Note: the email address you enter needs to be the same one that the person you are going to share with has associated with his/her own Endnote Web account). Select either Read only or Read & Write privileges. Click the Applybutton and then the Close window link

5) To review your sharing settings. Click on the Organize tab at the top of the page. Check the box in the Share column next to the group you want to share

Note: Once you have shared a group you will see an icon next to groups you have shared on the My References page indicating it is a group you are sharing with others

shared groups

Databases, Other libraries

Linking Google Scholar to Royal Holloway and Senate House Library

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Did you know that you can link Google Scholar to the library here at Royal Holloway and also Senate House? It’s a really useful thing to do as it means when you search for things you can check both collections.

Go to Google Scholar

Login with or create a Google Account if you don’t already have one.

From the Google Scholar home page click on Settings in top right hand corner.

Gogole Scholar Settings

 

 

From the Settings Page click on Library links from the left hand side

Library Links

 

 

 

 

 

If you are on campus Royal Holloway will automatically appear, along with Open WorldCat. Off campus you may need to search for Royal Holloway (if you log in and  save this you will only need to search once).

Search for Senate House.

Library links 2

 

Check both boxes next to Senate House Libraries – Available at Senate House and University of London Senate House – Full Text @ My Library.

You will need to register to use Senate House resources.

There is more information on Senate House in this post.

Now when you search using Google Scholar you will be able to see if the article is available through Royal Holloway library or Senate House.

Find it @ RHUL will often appear to the right of the citation but if it doesn’t click More below the citations to see options for Senate House and if appropriate Find it @ RHUL

Scholar senate house and find it at RHUL

 

Other libraries

Senate House Library

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With many students thinking about dissertations it seemed a good time to remind you about Senate House Library. This amazing resource is open to all students and provides many excellent resources for all disciplines.

Online Resources

You can use their online resources without visiting. Simply register online to use Senate House Library e-resources

You can view their database collections here either by subject area or as a complete A-Z list.

These are some particularly useful databases for Royal Holloway students which you can access via Senate House:

 

Online Journals

You will also find many journals that will be relevant for your studies. If you find the Royal Holloway Library Service don’t subscribe to a journal or our subscription doesn’t cover the years you require then you should also check the Senate House catalogue.

Print Resources

You can access the print collections of Senate House by visiting them in central London. You can borrow books and return them to the drop box on campus at the University of London Depository (Building 39 on campus map). The drop box is located just outside the main entrance at the top of the stairs and there are a few things to note:

  • The box is open 24/7
  • Items deposited will be taken off your account on the same working day
  • Fines money cannot be taken at the Depository, and nor can fines disputes be dealt with there
Other libraries

Getting Started Videos from the British Library

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Have you used the British Library? If you haven’t but are interested in going there and (to quote them) exploring the world’s knowledge these videos will give you tips before you go (so it is a little less scary).

It is a great resource for researchers, staff and dissertation students.

1. Registering with the library

2. Using the Reading Rooms 

There are a few rules about using them so this is a great video so you know what to do before you go.

3. Exploring the Collections – Researcher

4. Exploring the Collections – Designer

Even if you don’t want to use it I’d recommend visiting the permanent Treasures of the British Library exhibition (see Jane Austen’s writing desk, The Magna Carta and Gutenberg Bible or any of their temporary ones.

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ISI Web of Science / Knowledge ResearcherID

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This tool allows you to create an unique online profile that shows your publication history.

  1. Click on “Sign-up/Access my ResearcherID” along the right-hand side under “My ResearcherID” or click “My ResearcherID” along the top. You will be prompted to log into your ISI Web of Knowledge account with your username and password.
    2. Some of your information will be prepopulated in the Registration form. Complete any remaining fields and click the “Submit Registration” button at the bottom of the page.
    3. Accept the End User License Agreement.
    4. Registration completed.

Add your publications

1. Click on “Add Publication”
2. There are five ways of adding
publications via:
– ISI Web of Knowledge

– Web of Science®

1. Click on one of the links in “Add Publications“ to add a publication.
2. Enter last name and initials to search for records of relevant articles.
3. A list of records from the search will be shown.
4. Browse through all records and select the records for research papers you have written by clicking on “Add Selections to List”.

– Web of Science Distinct Author Set
– EndNote® Web

1. Click on the “Go to Endnote Web” link in ”Add To: My Publications” to add a publication.
2. a. If you are not currently a user, or are  not currently signed in to EndNote Web you will be prompted to register or log in. (More Information on Endnote Web is available here)
b. If you are already logged into EndNote Web via your integrated ISI Web of Knowledge or Web of Science
login, you will automatically be taken to your “My References” page.
3. Registered, logged in EndNote Web users will be taken to their “My References” page. From there you can select existing references to add to any of your 3 Publication Lists in ResearcherID. Select the references you
want to add and choose the preferred ResearcherID publication list in the “Add to group…” drop-down menu

– RIS file from EndNote, Reference Manager (RefMan) or other reference software

1. Click on one of the links in “Add Publications” to add a publication.

2. You can upload an RIS formatted text file which can be exported from EndNote, RefMan or other reference
software. The RIS format is a tagged file format for expressing bibliographic citations.

ResearcherID interactive Labs

ResearcherID includes an interactive Labs environment for exploration of author-level metrics. These tools allow for visual analysis of research networks based on:

  • Subject Category
  • Country / Territory
  • Institution
  • Author Name
  • Publication Year
  • Geographic Location

The tools include:

  • Citing Articles Network – Visually explore who is citing your published works.
  • Collaboration Network – Visually explore your collaboration associates.
  • Create a Badge – Place an image graphic on any Web site to show your membership in ResearcherID. The badge displays a real-time summary of your Profile and publications on mouse-hover.

Find Other Authors

You can also search for other authors in your field:

  1. Click on Additional Resources tab in ISI Web of Science:
  2. Select ResearcherID.com.
  3. Select a subject from the by Top Researcher Keywords. You will see a list of the most cited authors in this field. Clicking on one of the names leads to more information about the person.
  4. Try browsing one of the other categories.
Databases

Setting up a ProQuest Account

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  1. Go to the E-Resources A-Z list: http://eresources.rhul.ac.uk/kb/Main_Page
  2. Go to any of these ProQuest databases: ProQuest Historical Newspapers, ProQuest Entrepreneurship, British Periodicals, FIAF International Index to Film Periodicals, Guardian and Observer, House of Commons Parliamentary Papers, John Johnson Collection, Literature Online (LION), New York Times, Periodicals Archive Online, PRISMA: Publicaciones y Revistas Sociales y Humanísticas (via Senate House)
  3. On the home page click the My Research (or on some databases My Archive) link
  4. On the log-in page click on the Create a My Research account link. This will take you to a registration page. You will need to enter a username and password and an email address to register. Once you have done this an email will be sent to you with a link which you will need to follow to confirm registration. Once you have registered you can sign in each time you visit the site to access your personal account and searches.

Note:  If you have not logged into ProQuest through your institution for a period of 76 days, you will be notified by email that your My Research account will become inactive after 90 days.

New Media

SimilarPages

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SimilarPages is very good for finding new content.  Simply enter a URL you know and it finds related pages.

It indexes over 50 million websites and allows you to branch out further based on new sites found.

The SimilarPages Add-On is the free Web Discovery and Search Tool by SimilarPages. For any page you land on, SimilarPages add-on automatically generates a list of similar websites. All you have to do is to follow the links you are interested in.

Type a URL into the search box.

You will then get suggested sites (unless the URL is too obscure).

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