Turning a research question into an effective search strategy into a comprehensive literature review

Transcription

1 Bodleian Social Science Library Turning a research question into an effective search strategy into a comprehensive literature review Jo Gardner, Bodleian Social Science Librarian Ian Chilvers, Senior Library Assistant

2 Part 1: The literature review process

3 Part 2: Searching Keywords Thesaurus Natural language Boolean Citation chaining Crosssearching Pearlgrowing Relevant scholarly research

4 Part 3: Search tools Internet search engines Full-text databases Abstracting and indexing services

5 Part 4: Alerts New articles matching search terms Tables of contents from selected journals RSS / New citations referencing parent article

6 Learning outcomes By the end of the session, you should: Understand the literature review process; Be able to plan an effective and structured search for your thesis; Know where to look for different types of information; Have evaluated different methods of searching; Have developed search skills that can be applied across different resources; Know where to come for future help.

7 Part 1: The literature review process

8 Developing your literature search 1. Preliminary searching and browsing Scan abstracts and skim-read papers Identify current directions of research How will you contribute new knowledge? 2. Structured searching with appropriate syntax Identify the key articles and heavily-cited papers Establish key authors, organizations and sources Commit to in-depth consideration and re-reading of papers 3. Develop search Track citations to follow research connections Cast net more widely in terms of resources searched Set up alerts for new content Stay focused on the research question and keep a search log

9 Literature review discussion groups 1. Why is the literature review important? 2. Why be methodical? 3. How do you choose your search terms? 4. Where do you plan to search for the literature? 5. What sources are you trying to find?

10 Sources In general a primary source is a work not based on or derived from another source (e.g. contemporary records, data & statistics, conference papers, photographs, working papers, etc.) Secondary sources include the use / analysis / interpretation of primary (and other) sources LOMBARD, E Primary and Secondary Sources. The Journal of Academic Librarianship, 36, 3, pp

11 Examples of sources Primary Source Suffragette posters and pamphlets Secondary Source Book about female emancipation in Britain Tertiary Source Dictionary of feminism

12 Primary sources News e.g. Nexus UK, Factiva, Russian Central Newspapers, FT Data & Statistics e.g. IMF, Eurostat, Indiastat Official Papers e.g. Hansard, Declassified Documents US, House of Commons Parliamentary Papers

13 Grey Literature Grey literature refers to material not easily found through conventional publishing channels Produced by government agencies, NGOs, IGOs, academic departments and research groups Includes working papers, policy documents, occasional papers, briefings, conference papers, newsletters, etc. Produced in print and electronic formats Ephemeral nature has implications for dissemination, identification and access it is out there but may be hard to find

14 Sources of grey literature Conference Papers & Proceedings e.g. Social Sciences & Humanities Proceedings, ZETOC Discussion & Working Papers e.g. SSRN, RePEc Also found on institution/organization websites. e.g. World Bank, CEPR, IFS Theses & Dissertations e.g. Proquest Dissertations & Theses, EThOS, Index to Theses

15 More sources of grey literature Subject-specific websites, portals and current awareness services e.g. ELDIS, Social Policy Digest Academic institutions Governmental and Inter-Governmental Organisations NGO and campaigning sites Other access points e.g. SCOPUS, ZETOC, OpenGrey

16 Part 2: Searching Keywords Thesaurus Natural language Boolean Citation chaining Crosssearching Pearlgrowing Relevant scholarly research

17 Start with a clear research question

18 Start with a clear research question e.g. What is being done to help prevent AIDS in Zimbabwe?

19 Search method 1: Natural language searching

20 Search method 1: Google Scholar Library Links

21 Search method 2: Keyword searching

22 Search question: Main concepts What is being done to help prevent AIDS in Zimbabwe?

23 Search preparation: Keywords AIDS Help prevent Zimbabwe AIDS Prevent(ion) Zimbabwe HIV Intervention Rhodesia Acquired Immune Deficiency Syndrome Human Immunodeficiency Virus Awareness Educat(ion) Harare

24 Exercise: Search preparation 1. Write a short sentence about your research interest 2. Underline key concepts 3. Write down alternative words/phrases for each concept 4. Discuss with your neighbour.

25 Search syntax: Boolean logic AND AIDS and Zimbabwe NARROWS SEARCH OR HIV or AIDS BROADENS SEARCH NOT prevention not treatment NARROWS SEARCH

26 Further search syntax Truncation and wildcards e.g. feminis*, wom?n Search for a phrase by using quote marks e.g. graduate students Parentheses e.g. (academic OR educational) AND achievement Limit to particular fields e.g. title, abstract, keywords Apply search filters e.g. date, format

27 Example: Combine 3 searches Search 1: AIDS aids OR acquired immune deficiency syndrome OR hiv OR human immunodeficiency virus Search 2: Help prevent prevent* OR interven* OR aware* OR educat* Search 3: Zimbabwe Zimbabwe OR Rhodesia Final Search: Search 1 AND Search 2 AND Search 3 DEMO - ASSIA

28 Exercise: Run your search 1. Create a structured search from your keywords 2. Apply the search to one of the following: ASSIA - IBSS Explore the database search functionality 4. Refine your search

29 Search Method 3: Database subject headings Use database subject headings to identify new and useful search terms Terms are assigned by the database editors from a set of controlled vocabulary (thesaurus) Sensitivity (broad) brings together synonyms and related terms under one heading Specificity (focused) looks for articles about your topic, not just with your keywords in the title and abstract

30 Subject Heading example ERIC Academic Achievement Use for: Academic Performance : Academic Progress : Academic Success : Educational Achievement : Educational Level : Scholastic Achievement : Student Achievement Narrower terms: Educational Attainment Broader terms: Achievement Related terms: Academic Failure : Instructional Effectiveness

31 Search examples - ERIC Search term Free text search Academic Success 3,276 Academic Success 16,506 Academic NEAR/6 Success 5,449 Search term Free text search Subject heading Academic Achievement 62,935 59,970

32 Search method 4: Cross - searching SOLO Journal Articles Search Rough and ready Produces poor results in many cases

33 Searching for authors Use truncation to find all forms of an author s name To find articles by J.R.W. Yates search for yates j* For common names try entering the initials instead yates jrw or yates j r w Compound names may be fused together or separated punctuation may be replaced with a space To find articles by M. D Angelo search for d angelo m* OR dangelo m* OR d angelo m* Database tools can help you identify authors Author index Author search (SCOPUS) / Author finder (Web of Science) for including information about their subject and institution

34 Part 3: Search tools Internet search engines Full-text databases Abstracting and indexing services

35 Access online resources provided by the Bodleian Libraries SOLO OxLIP+ E-Journals LibGuides

36 Selecting databases for a literature review Tolan, P., Henry, D., Schoeny, M., Bass, A. & Tolan, P. 2008, "Mentoring interventions to affect juvenile delinquency and associated problems", Campbell Systematic Reviews, vol. 16.

37 Exercise: Select databases 1. Ask yourself two questions: - Which subjects are pertinent to my topic? (sociology, health, public policy, education..) - Which formats might contain relevant research? (journal articles, working papers, books, datasets) 2. Explore the subject tab on OxLIP Explore the LibGuides for more resources

38 Part 4: Alerts Search Alerts Table of Contents Alerts Citation Alerts RSS /

39 Search Alerts Create and save sophisticated searches Receive alerts when new publications match your search Newly published material Material newly added to the database Saves you having to re-visit databases and running your searches again manually Can receive alerts via: RSS

40 Bodleian Social Science Library Thank you for your attention. This presentation will be available at Subject Consultants page: