Finding Theses. Transcript

Transcription

1 Finding Theses Transcript Slide 1 During the course of doing your PhD or Masters thesis, it will be useful for you to consult theses completed by other research students. Looking at other theses can, amongst other things, help you: discover what has already been written on your research topic; refine a research topic; or identify gaps in your topic of interest. It will also be useful for you to see how theses are laid out, and to see what a methodology chapter, or a literature review look like before you start on your own. Slide 2 At Charles Darwin University (CDU) you can access theses in hard copy or online. Theses written by CDU research students are available from the Library. Some theses are already available through CDU espace, the University s institutional repository. For other Australian theses, you can search the Trove database, which is accessible from the Library s web page. The ProQuest Dissertations and Theses (PQDT) database which allows you to search for international theses, predominantly those from the United States and Europe. This database is also accessible through the Library s web page. This workshop will guide you through the process of finding this range of theses at CDU. Slide To find CDU theses you need to start by searching the Library catalogue. To do this, navigate to the Library s Home Page and select the link to the Library Catalogue. Slide 5 Select your keywords and do a Quick Search. In this instance we will do a keyword search on domestic tourists. Leave your setting at Keyword Anywhere in the box alongside. Slide 6 This gives us 5 results. Of the 5, records 2 4 are theses. In fact they are the same thesis with three different records as they are available in different formats: electronic resource, microform and manuscript. The first record is a CD which is available for loan from the Main Collection. The remaining two are in the Theses Collection so cannot be borrowed. The manuscript is a hard copy of the thesis. 1

2 Select the first title to obtain more details of the record. Slide 7 The full record gives more information about the title including the call number and the location within the Library. In the past the copy in the Main Collection was in hard copy but now with newer theses, the loan copy is available on CD. The microform copy is also available from the Special Collection. Slide 8 Those theses that are in the Theses Collection (part of the Special Collection) at CDU Library are not available for loan; however, you can view them within the Library. If you are based at CDU Casuarina Campus and wish to view a particular thesis in the Special Collection, complete the details on the following online form: and pick up the thesis from the Service Desk to view in the Library. Slide 9 CDU theses are also in the process of being made available full text from CDU espace, the University s institutional repository. To search for theses in espace, go to the Library Home Page and from the right hand Quicklinks column select the link to CDU Theses. Slide 10 From here you can view an increasing number of CDU Masters and PhD theses full text. New CDU theses are being uploaded into espace as they arrive. Slide 11 To find other Australian theses, you can search the Trove database. Slide 12 Navigate to the Library s Home Page and select the link to Databases ; then from the A Z list of databases, select T then Trove database. Slide 13 2

3 Slide 14 Slide 15 The National Library of Australia s Trove database allows you to search for a large number of Australian resources including theses. Let s do a quick search for Australian theses on ecotourism. Limit the search to Available online and Australian content by ticking the boxes under the search window. Then select the Search tab. Slide 16 This gives us 182 results. We then need to narrow down our search by Thesis. From the left hand Refine your Results column, select the more tab till you can see the Thesis format. The figure alongside indicates the number of theses available select the Thesis link. Slide 17 Scroll down the list to view the list of theses. Each record gives you brief details about the record including the abstract. Let s view the first record which is a thesis about ecotourism in Thailand from the University of South Australia. Select the View online link. Slide 18 This link takes us into the UniSA Research Archive, and from here you can view an abstract about the thesis, or the entire thesis full text by selecting the pdf file symbol as indicated. Slide 19 Slide 20 If the thesis is not available full text, you can request a copy on interlibrary loan through CDU Library interlibrary loan is a service available to CDU staff and postgraduate students. From the Library Home Page select the link to Interlibrary loans under Library Services. Slide 21 Login using your CDU details and complete the online form with the relevant details of the thesis required. The Library will obtain it for you from another institution either as a loan or as a purchase depending on the conditions of the holding library. The link to Interlibrary loans guidelines will give you more information about the service. Slide 22 3

4 To find non Australian theses, there are several databases and websites that you can search. A good place to start searching is the comprehensive ProQuest Dissertations and Theses (PQDT) database. Theses available from 1997 onwards are available as full text; for theses before that period, you access an abstract to the thesis as well as the Preview the first 24 pages of the thesis. The majority of theses in this database are from universities in the United States or Europe. Navigate to the Library s Home Page and select the link to ProQuest Dissertations and Theses database. Slide 23 Slide 24 You can carry out either a basic or an advanced search of the database. Let s carry out an Advanced Search. Slide 25 Let s search for theses on ecotourism in Africa produced in the last two years. Enter the search terms, ecotourism AND Africa and limit it to the Last 2 years. Then select the Search tab. Slide 26 This search gives us 1034 results. We can narrow the list of results by selecting Modify search and adding more keywords. And it s always useful to take a look at the Search Tips feature of the database. You will notice our selected keywords are highlighted in each record. Slide 27 Let s take a look at the first thesis in the list of results, Ecotourism as a form of sustainable development in South Africa. You can select the link to the Citation/Abstract, which will give us a summary of the content. Alternatively you can select the Preview or the Full text PDF. Let s take a look at the full abstract. Slide 28 If the thesis is of interest, we can print off the abstract or it to ourselves, or to colleagues, and view the full text PDF file Slide 29 4

5 Slide 30 We can also download any records of interest into EndNote referencing software by ticking the box alongside then selecting the Export/Save button. Slide 31 Further, we can also Set up Alert or Create RSS Feed to be alerted of any new theses on our topic of interest as they are added to the database. If the thesis is not available full text, again we can request it on interlibrary loan. Slide 32 There are a number of other databases and websites that may be useful for identifying theses. Slide 33 Slide 34 For further assistance, please contact the Research Services Coordinator: jayshree.mamtora@cdu.edu.au Did you find this Workshop useful? Please give us your feedback on the form provided. 5